Formidable: Shifters Forever Worlds (Ever After Dark Book 1) (4 page)

The room’s ambience was heavy with emotion.

“So, what’s your second choice for the afternoon’s activity?” Isabel pushed the subject to a safer one.

Vax’s brows drew down. He looked just like a miniature Giovanni when he was in deep thought. “A board game?”

Isabel nodded. “That’s better than getting your father riled up with breaking his rules.”

Veila nodded in agreement. “You pick, Vax.”

“Nah, you go ahead.” Vax glanced out the window.

Perhaps he was sad he wouldn’t get to see the fox.

E
vening was coming
. Darkness had already begun to weave shadowy fingers among the woods that surrounded the villa.

Isabel returned to the guest bedroom to change for dinner, again, with an assortment of the dresses Tiero hospitality provided. She glanced out the window, wondered how Ana was faring. If the witch Esmerelda had freed Tino.

She thought of that moment when she’d met Tino. How she’d shifted into her tigress in order to talk to him. She could hear in her sister’s and Tino’s voices that those two were fated mates. She hoped that it would end well. Bruno was not one to be trifled with.

Isabel frowned.

Was that movement she’d seen at the edge of the sculptured lawn? With tigress’s supernaturally enhanced sight, she surveyed the area.

There it was again. A slight figure, and an even slighter furry one nearby.

Vax.

And a little red fox.

Vax was kneeling in front of the fox with something in his hand. From the fox’s reaction, Isabel was certain the something in Vax’s hand was food.

She studied the interaction between the boy and the fox, trying to determine if there was anything off about the fox; if there was anything at all that would give away the presence of preternatural beings.

Nothing. The fox seemed to be just that. A fox.

Yeah, and I’m an expert on preternatural beings.

Okay, true, she wasn’t, but still, the fox seemed wary of the boy, would it be wary if it were a familiar? Or would it be trying to entice him deeper into the forest and away from the safety of his father and his father’s shifter security team?

She watched the interaction, wishing it would end quickly, wishing the boy would hasten into the villa before his father discovered he’d ignored rules and admonitions.

Such a hardheaded boy.
And yet, she found herself admiring his rebellious spirit and hoping his father wouldn’t completely destroy it over the years.

Isabel gasped.

There, in the shadows, the same white tigress that had stood next to Giovanni’s tiger when she first met him. The newcomer tigress’s gaze was fixed on Vax, a very serious expression on her face.

Serious how, though? Isabel couldn’t tell if it meant danger or not.

It was clear Isabel’s tigress wasn’t willing to risk Vax’s safety to find out. Before she could control herself, Isabel had popped open the double doors that led to the balcony on her second floor guest bedroom. Her tigress pushed Isabel aside, insisting on a shift, and this was definitely one of those times Isabel had no desire to argue the point. Time was of the essence if young Vax was in danger from the tigress.

Isabel welcomed her tigress’s morphing, though she knew it would yield an excruciating amount of pain until the transformation was complete. She urged her tigress on, encouraging her to push forward. In her human form, Isabel’s tigress began to unfurl, her sinewy and muscular body pushing its way through the barriers of flesh. Her body sounded the change with the signature creaking and crunching of sinew, tendons, and bones.

Here we go.
Isabel braced herself, receiving her tigress into the forefront of their existence. With a tremendous push, excruciating agony seared through her body, ignoring the clothing that would remain intact, though not completely untouched.

Her tigress’s power coursed through Isabel as she dropped to all four, fingers and palms replaced by pads and claws. Skin covered in a luxurious black and white patterned fur. She arched her back as her tigress’s tail twitched against the pain.

Seconds later, her tigress stood in the guest bedroom, snarling at the danger that Vax may be in. Isabel’s tigress exploded into a leap that brought her to the stone railing of the balcony, then sprung forward, airborne, propelling herself with supernatural speed toward the immaculate lawn.

In the near distance, the other tigress raised her eyes toward Isabel’s. She released a growl, a sound that traveled across the distance, and raised the hackles on Isabel’s tigress.

Isabel landed gracefully in the grass, recognizing the other tigress’s growl as one of warning. She returned the threat and dashed toward the tigress.

Ahead of Isabel’s tigress, Vax stared openmouthed at her. The little fox turned tail and vanished into the forest. Vax sidestepped and ran toward the house while Isabel stayed between him and the other white tigress.

It took him mere seconds to cross the lawn and enter the door. In one of the windows, Isabel saw him run up to Giovanni and tug on his sleeve. She turned her attention back to the interloping tigress, only to find that she’d taken flight and was a silhouette merging into the forest’s shadows.

Oh, hell no.

She had no intention of letting the tigress vanish without answers.

She’d try to sync with her, linking in their minds in the way of shifters, the silent communication that allowed shifters to talk when in their animal form.

Isabel nudged the tigress’s mind for sync, pushing for that link. She knew the other white tigress was no regular tigress. She was a shifter’s tigress. She surely would know how to link.

There was no reply to Isabel’s nudging. No acknowledgment of Isabel’s efforts to communicate. The tigress merely kept running, dodging between trees.

Fine. So be it.
If the other tigress wouldn’t talk with her, she’d hunt her down and find out what she was doing here and if she meant harm to the Tieros.

A part of Isabel asked her why she’d do this, but Isabel’s tigress wouldn’t be talked down.

Isabel picked up the pace, following the other white tigress deeper into the trees, away from moonlight, away from allies.

G
io laughed
at Tito’s joke, took a sip of his before-dinner drink.

A slamming door jarred his attention.

He turned abruptly when the library door opened. Vittorio ran in. “Son, what have I told you about slamming doors?”

“I’m sorry, Father. But it’s an emergency.” Vittorio was out of breath, his eyes wide in a panicked look.

Gio bit back his retort at Vittorio’s response because his thoughts traveled to his young daughter.

Veila. Is she okay?

That’s where his mind first went, because usually the two of them were found together. His son looked genuinely afraid. This wasn't the time to lecture him on etiquette. “What is it?”

“Isabel. She’s run into the forest. It looked like she was being chased. Or chasing something.”

He cocked his head. “Where did you see her? Where were you?” Gio was prepared to hear an answer he wouldn’t like. He knew his son’s rebellious nature.

Vittorio looked down, then raised his gaze to meet his father’s. “I shouldn’t have been out there. I know I was disobeying you. I’ll take the punishment, but can you check on Isabel, please? She was in her tigress form.”

What?
Why would Isabel be shifted and running into the woods? Running away from the villa? From him? He pushed back his initial reaction, which he shared with his tiger. They couldn’t bear the idea of losing Isabel. He felt as if he were drowning in a whirlpool, and the life preserver he’d been counting on had disappeared. Or run away.

After we’d agreed—

When she’s supposed to stay—

He didn’t want to dwell on that. Isabel was his guest and the woods weren’t the safest place to be alone, not even for a tigress.

“Tito. Take care of the young ones. I’ll be back shortly.” He was so close to a shift, his tiger so ready to react, that his voice resembled a low growl.

“Wait,” Tito advised. “You shouldn’t go out there alone. You know—”

Gio remembered Federico’s warning before he’d left this morning. That there would be areas in the forest dangerous to a shifter and to stay out of the woods until Esmerelda had returned.

He’d wondered about that statement, wondered why Federico seemed to know about this. Had he fallen prey to the dangers he warned Gio about?

Gio raised his hand to halt Tito’s attempt to stop him and wasn’t surprised to see there was a darkening of black and white stripes forming beneath his own skin. Yes, his tiger wasn’t going to wait long to shift. “I have to go.” He opened the door to the library, sprinted to the front door and opened it. He turned to see Vittorio watching him.

“You’ve done well, son. We’ll talk later.”

Damn it. Vittorio shouldn’t have been out there alone; he should not have been able to slip out. I’ll have to talk to Grigorio. How’d Vittorio escape our security team?

He ran out, taking the steps two at a time as his body yielded to his tiger, surrendering control readily. He’d cover far more distance in his tiger’s body. And he’d be far more effective if there was anything to deal with.

Almost anything,
he corrected himself, for he knew there were beings out there he may not stand much of a chance against. His mind didn’t want to visit the ideas of what beings Isabel might find herself pitted against.

Gio’s muscles stretched, his tendons extended, his bones thickened and lengthened. In his full tiger’s form, his chest deep and wide, drawing in air in large gulps as he took long leaps across his lawn, making a beeline as he followed his son’s scent.

He could tell Isabel used block again and wondered why. He knew he’d only be able to follow the trail as far as Vittorio had gone, but from there he’d have to do some tracking, picking up clues that her hasty venture into the woods had left behind. He arrived at the spot where Vittorio had stood. He picked up the scent of a fox, rendering a solution to the mystery of why Vittorio was out here.

I’ll have to talk to that boy about the dangers.

He’d spent so much time sheltering his children from the horrors of life as a shifter. The perils of witches, vampires, elementals, hybrids, and sometimes even other shifters were not topics he’d shared with his children. He should change that, especially considering what had happened to their mother.

Yes, I’ll work on that posthaste. As soon as I bring Isabel home.

He realized what he’d just thought, a second after he’d thought it.
This isn’t her home,
he corrected himself, though he knew it was the sentiment of his tiger equally, if not more so.

Putting the cart before the horse. Yes, he seemed to be doing just that.

Or maybe it’s my tiger doing that.

He pushed his thoughts to matters that were urgent: finding Isabel.

He paused to study the ground, found signs of her egress toward the forest and took off.

Moments passed. More moments. Maybe twenty minutes later, maybe more, he noticed a change in the environment. The night sounds had slackened. He froze in his tracks in the middle of the path she’d clearly come down. Unsure of her whereabouts, and uncertain of the tension that was almost palpable, Gio’s tiger sidestepped off the path.

He saw the form as it leapt out of the tree, crashing into him, knocking him off-balance.

Gio righted himself, fangs bared, claws swiping, seeking purchase in his attacker.

It was a white tigress. He recognized Isabel’s tigress, though he’d never seen her in that form.

He pushed for a link, pushing hard, urgently, before one of them could injure the other one too badly.

Her fangs had dug into his shoulder, searingly deep, buried into his muscles.

He pushed against her mind, seeking that link, trying to establish that sync.

He noticed a change, her grip on his shoulder eased the slightest bit.

“Isabel.”
He called her name in the sync. “
It’s me. Gio. Giovanni.
”

Her grip loosened, she leapt off him, and gracefully flipped her body to face him.
“You? What are you doing here?”
Her teeth were still bared, her uncertainty evident in her stance.

“Better question would be what are you doing here?”

“I was afraid that Vax—Vittorio would be hurt.”
As if to further prove this, she lifted her head, her nostrils flared as she inhaled, her tigress’s chest filling with air.

“Why would you be worried about that? What are you scenting for?”

She didn’t respond, her eyes dark blue in the darkness, so very different from her human brown eyes. The moon’s light created lattice pattern on her striped fur. Her bearing was regal, her posture defensive. What was it she was worried about?

“I can’t stay. I have to find her.”

Perplexed, Gio’s tiger stared at her.
“Find who?”

I
sabel froze
.

Giovanni!

She’d sunk her fangs deeply into his body, trying to seek purchase, to deliver a wound that would secure her a victory.

That was before she knew it was Giovanni. Before she could taste the flavor of his blood on her tongue. What the hell was he doing out here? He should be home protecting Vax. She’d seen Vax go to his father before she’d given the phantom tigress chase.

So why was he here?

“Find who,”
he’d asked in their sync.

How could she tell him it was a white tigress who’d vanished into the darkness like a ghost, without leaving a sign.
He’ll think I’m certifiable.
No way would she share that with him.

She had to deflect his question, to keep that from being at the front of his mind.
“Are you worried about losing your collateral? That I’ll escape and run home and thereby Esmerelda won’t need to return?”

His dark tiger eyes flickered a silver color in their depths. Was that his tiger’s anger flaring up?

“I’ll pretend you didn’t ask that. Let’s get back to the villa before you find yourself in more trouble than you can possibly imagine.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you don’t know what you’re walking into. You think this is like a stroll in the park?”

Isabel studied his tiger. He was as magnificent in this form as he was in his human form. His muscular neck yielded to a broad chest. The fur, thick and protective, had made it difficult for her to bite into him—when she hadn’t known it was him. But now she knew. His gaze was direct, his tiger’s soul touching her tigress’s soul.

This thing between their tigers, she couldn’t understand it, but also couldn’t deny it. There was a connection. It was deeper than anything she’d ever considered could exist between a man or a woman, even a shifter and his mate.

“Let’s go back,”
he repeated, jarring her thoughts to the present.

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

She couldn’t tell him. Who would believe her anyway, a vanishing tigress, one that left no prints, no scent, no broken blades of grass that signaled her passage through the forest.

No shifter could hide their tracks that well, could they?

“I’ll return later. I promise,”
she told him, wishing he’d leave, but at the same time, glad he was there.

His tiger’s voice was a snarl in her mind.
“That’s not good enough. It’s dangerous out here.”

She snarled,
“I’m not a child. I don’t need an escort. I have to take care of something.”

“You’ll take care of it while I’m with you.”

Isabel debated, trying to elude him, or distract him, but finally decided that all of that would do nothing but serve to delay her ability to find the phantom tigress.

“Fine.”

“It’d go faster if you told me what you’re—we’re—doing.”

“I’m looking for someone. I thought I saw them in the shadows.”

He tilted his head, the moonless shadows of the tree he stood beneath hid his expression.
“Them?”

“Her.”

Giovanni stepped forward.
“Her… who?”

“That’s all I can say. Perhaps if we spilt up we could cover more ground?”

“If by splitting up you mean different parts of the forest, then no. But I’ll agree to being a few feet apart.”

With a low growl deep in her tigress chest, and then a huff, Isabel agreed.
“Fine.”

The two of them walked, and walked, padding softly through the forest, finding no signs of anything, and no matter how many times Gio asked her silently in their sync, she would not answer the question about whom she was looking for.

* * *

T
hey’d been
in the forest for an hour when Isabel decided she’d come hunting in vain. They’d walked between trees, taken paths, gone off-path, walked shoulder to shoulder and paces apart.

Nothing.

No sign of any creature that didn’t belong in the forested area.

The elusive tigress was nowhere. It was almost to the point that she believed she was seeking a figment of her imagination. What else could it be? No signs, nothing but a vision from afar.

Isabel flexed her paws, digging her tigress claws into the soft dirt. She didn’t understand the drive her tigress had to hunt for the other tigress.

She and Gio had walked side by side, two magnificent beings, clad in thick lustrous fur, muscled, fit, very definitely predators. Their pulses beat to the same rhythm, their steps matched. Everything about them was as if they were one.

Isabel pushed the thought aside. It was too dangerous to think of that; she’d examine why this was happening later.

Her tigress chuffed at Isabel, chastising her for not already knowing. Isabel pushed herself away from her tigress in her mind.

“Let’s get back to the villa,”
she told Gio.

“Thought you’d never suggest it.”
Gio’s tiger had a smile in his voice, and she could just picture Gio’s gloating.

“Sorry about the wild goose chase.”

“So will you tell me what it was we were looking for?”

“You’ll think I’ve lost it.”

“I may already think so.”
Giovanni’s tone was teasing, belying the deep darkness that seemed to be housed within him.

“I think there’s a shifter in the forest. A white tigress.”

“You’re saying you saw her?”

Isabel stopped abruptly, studying his tiger’s features, trying to determine how he was asking the question, what he meant.

“I saw… something.”

Though she’d stopped, Giovanni had kept padding through the pine needles. He turned back to look at her, and for a brief second, Isabel thought he was going to say something.

Instead, a bright blue light flashed, a shockwave hit Isabel’s tigress and bathed Giovanni in a spotlight, making his white fur appear iridescent blue.

The explosion smashed into Isabel with a fierceness. She turned her gaze away from the painful brightness.

“Trap. Run.”
Giovanni’s synced words were a scream in her mind.

But she didn’t run. She wouldn’t have left him.

Trap? What kind of trap?

The bright light began to fade, still blue, but not with the burning intensity of a few seconds ago. She turned her gaze toward Giovanni once more.

He’d fallen, collapsed on the forest floor, and morphed into his human form.

How did he shift when he was unconscious? Or was that his tiger’s doing?

His hand was close to the edge of the blue light, but still well within the perimeter.

Even in the blue lighting, she could see that his skin was pale underneath the tan. There was a field of light, shaped like a triangle, surrounding him. She stepped closer until she was almost touching the blue light. She took a step into the force field and was lashed back by a blaze of power that sapped her strength.

What kind of trap was this?

She tried to sync with Giovanni, though she knew she wouldn’t be able to, not in his form. Should she shift? She was not so strong and adept at shifting that she would be able to shift back easily. She’d need time to regain her power before being able to shift again. And if she shifted into her human form now and the elusive white tigress appeared, Isabel would be unable to protect herself or Giovanni.

Isabel wanted to roar to get him to awaken, if it was possible, but if she did, would she be giving their location away to the white tigress? What if the tigress had set this trap?

No, shifters didn’t do this kind of magic. This was a witch’s doing. Unless it was an elemental’s trap. An electric elemental that controlled energy and power could have done this, perhaps.

Isabel couldn’t sync with Giovanni. She couldn’t roar to get his attention. She couldn’t shift and leave them vulnerable. Damn it. Her options were getting more scarce by the minute.

She let out a soft chuff to get his attention. Nothing. Unresponsive.

Isabel paused, listening in the forest for any sounds that could indicate an enemy’s approach.

There were no sounds but the sounds of the light buzzing of the force field and the sound of Giovanni’s heart beating. She’d come to recognize it, as if it were her own.

She listened to his human heart, beating with his tiger’s. The rhythm grew slower, the beating softer. Isabel waited, listening, gauging.

A moment later, panic hit her. The beat was getting more faint. Something was draining his pulse.

That damned force field was killing him. She had to save him. She couldn’t let him die. The realization that the light could kill her as well should have stopped her.

It didn’t.

She seized his forearm, the one closest to the edge of the force field. The bright blue flash returned, pushing against Isabel, forcing her to close her eyes while her head was tethered by the electrical pulses that surrounded her with a million tentacles, seizing, seducing, pulling her closer.

She shook her head defiantly, but wasn’t able to shake loose the power that was trying to pull her fully into the field. She dug her claws into the dirt, holding her ground.

With her mighty jaws, she grabbed the flesh of Giovanni’s arm firmly and yanked, pulling him half out of the boundaries. She tugged him further and further until the buzzing sound had dissipated. She released his still limp body from her mighty jaws and stood over him, guarding, watching, waiting.

Was the danger to him gone now that he was out of the field of energy?

Her head burned, her eyes felt as if they’d been seared. She shook her tiger head side to side to clear the pain. Isabel could see nothing.

She was completely blind.

Surrounded by darkness, she tried to open her eyes, only to find they were already open. Rubbing her eyes with her paws, she found nothing wrong.

Great. Just great. What good were they? An unconscious shifter in his human form and a blind tigress.

A blazing pain seared through her brain, originating behind her eyes, flowing throughout her skull. She pushed the pain away, trying to keep it from immobilizing her.

She nuzzled Giovanni. He was still in his human form, still unmoving. Listening for his heartbeat, she could tell it was stronger than it had been a moment ago.

And if they were attacked? What then?

She’d stay vigilant listening for any intruders. More than ever, she’d rely on her other heightened shifter senses. She’d scent an intruder or hear one. Then she’d use the same senses to defend Giovanni and herself.

Now what?

Now, she’d wait until he recovered, or until her sight returned. If it returned.