Once Upon a Shifter (117 page)

“You guys are together and it’s a secret,” she said.

Thomas let her go and stood up.

“Not exactly,” he said.

Sofia knew she’d a hit nerve.

“Something, though,” she went on, pressing the issue.

It changed everything if Thomas was gay — now he was just a friendly guy who brought her coffee.

Well, and almost kissed her for some reason.

Neither of them said anything, the awkward silence stretching out in front of Sofia, the power cord to her laptop still in her bag.

She shook her head to clear it, another quick wave of nausea hitting her before it receded.

“I’m going home,” she said. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Sure,” Thomas said. “This thing’s almost fixed.”

Sofia left the library, making up some excuse for Francis at the desk, and stopped at the corner market for gatorade before she went back to her tiny sublet.

She had to think some things over.

Mostly, she needed to figure out whether she could stay in Placerville or not. Signs were pointing more and more toward
no
.

Chapter Nine

As soon as the door to the California History Room shut behind Sofia, Thomas grabbed the envelope with the card in it again, pressed it to his nose, and inhaled, deeply.

Humans had a shitty sense of smell, but it was a good thing he wasn’t exactly human. Sofia couldn’t smell it, but the person who’d sent it had a scent that was as unique to Thomas as a fingerprint.

Clearly, the sender hadn’t stopped to think that Thomas might be nearby, that he might get his paws on the envelope. That was the problem with so many shifters around Placerville — they couldn’t think beyond their own experience, or imagine that anything out of the ordinary might ever happen.

Carefully, Thomas put the card back in the envelope, squaring the edges neatly on the table. Then he picked up his phone and called Gavin.

***

Thirty minutes later, Gavin’s SUV pulled up to the back entrance of the library, and Thomas got in. Silently, he handed the fancy card to the other man, who read it, then held it to his nose.

“Gretchen?” he said, sounding surprised.

Thomas just nodded.

“You think she took the books, too?” he asked.

“Probably,” he said. “You know how desperate they are to get their daughters mated.”

Gavin sat for a moment, his hands on the wheel, thinking. His muscles flexed beneath his bear tattoo.

“Sofia’s quite a lady,” he said.

Thomas just exhaled, loudly.

“She knows,” he said. “She thinks we’re together.”

“She’s not wrong,” said Gavin. “She’s not right, but she’s not wrong.”

It had been a long time since Thomas tried to pin a label on his and Gavin’s relationship, but “friends with benefits” had been the last one that he’d been able to make stick, at least in his mind.

Emphasis on the
friends
, but also the
benefits
.

“She’s an outsider,” Thomas said. “I don’t think she cares.”

Gavin finally cracked a smile.

“I don’t care about that,” he said, shifting the car into gear. “I don’t want her thinking we’re together. Ruins my chances of getting with her.”

Thomas made a noise somewhere between a growl and a laugh.

“Only if I don’t get with her first.”

“It’s been a while since we shared.”

Thomas grinned.

“Let’s go get her books back before we plan too much.”

***

The gravel drive to the Longs’ house was still winding, but at one in the afternoon, it was considerably less spooky than it had been the night before. Soon they were at the log-cabin-type house, then the two of them were knocking on the door.

Thomas could have come alone, but he didn’t want trouble. He just wanted the books back, and to put a little fear into Mrs. Long.

“Hi again, boys,” she said, smiling and opening the door. “Glenn’s not home now, either.”

“We actually weren’t looking for him,” Thomas said very, very politely.

Mrs. Long’s eyebrows went up.

Silently, Gavin held up the envelope.

“Is that an invitation?” she asked, her eyes flicking from one man to the other.

“Where are the books, Gretchen?” Thomas asked, controlling himself, but just barely. He felt as if his bear might jump out at any moment, and he was worried that he’d just rip out Gretchen’s throat — which wasn’t at all what he wanted.

“What books?” she said, her voice going hard and flat, her grip on the heavy wooden front door tightening.

Gavin put one hand on the door so she couldn’t close it.

“We know,” Thomas said, holding up the envelope with the card.

Gretchen’s eyes narrowed and she tried to push the door shut on them, but Gavin already had it, shoving her backwards with inhuman strength, and both men stepped into her house.

“Get out,” she said. “I know how to defend my territory.”

“The books,” Thomas said, his skin beginning to prickle.

“Glenn will hear all about this,” she said, looking like an animal backed into a corner. “You mark my words.”

Thomas heard a growl behind him and turned, only to see that Gavin had already shifted into an enormous, dark brown grizzly, teeth bared, fur gleaming in the light from the windows. Gretchen watched him, uncertainly.

“You’d never hurt me,” she said, though she didn’t sound totally confident. “Glenn and Kane would have you killed before you knew it.”

Thomas stepped forward, and now he towered over the woman. Even if she shifted, with Gavin behind him, she’d never win.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

Gretchen’s eyes glinted in fury, but Thomas could tell that she knew when she was beaten. She looked from Gavin to Thomas one more time, and then seemed to deflate slightly.

“They’re in the fire pit,” she said. “Out back.”

“You burned them?” growled Thomas, feeling his fury spike. Even without looking down, he could tell that his fingernails were lengthening into claws, no matter how hard he tried to hold himself back.

“It rained last night,” muttered Gretchen. “Not yet.”

“Show me,” ordered Thomas.

The three of them — two people and a bear — proceeded through the house and out the sliding door at the back, down steps to a fire pit.

Sure enough, there was an armful of books, with titles like
Tall Tales of the ‘49ers
and
Folk Legends in Alta California
.

Thomas collected them all, still damp, as Gretchen watched, glaring.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with good shifter girls,” she said, her voice low and dangerous. “Grow up. Have some cubs. Live the old ways.”

Thomas didn’t even bother to look back at her, and Gavin shifter back to human, the danger over.

“The world has moved on for a reason,” Gavin told her. “Maybe you should do the same.”

Then they walked back to his SUV, spread the books out across the back seat, got in, and drove away.

***

Gavin and Thomas didn’t discuss where they were going, but Thomas wasn’t at all surprised when they pulled up in front of the house where Sofia had her tiny studio sublet over the garage. It was a few hours later than when he’d last seen her, and he hoped she was feeling better — after all, he’d been able to practically smell her hangover when he’d seen her that morning.

“I’ll see you later?” said Gavin, giving Thomas kind of a strange look as he collected the books.

Thomas looked over his shoulder and at the outdoor staircase that led to Sofia’s place.

“Come up,” Thomas said. “Why not?”

Gavin slid the car into park, grabbed a few of the books, and followed Thomas up the stairs.

Chapter Ten

It had taken hours, but Sofia was finally feeling better. She’d drunk about a gallon of gatorade, then scarfed a breakfast burrito from the Mexican place across the street and put on jeans and a shirt rather than the sweatpants she’d gotten into.

More importantly, she’d started looking into the resources of the Truckee Historical Society. They weren’t as good as the Placerville Public Library, but at least they didn’t have people intentionally making her life hard.

Besides, since half her research had been stolen, Placerville was a considerably less good place to do her work. Hard to write a dissertation if she had nothing to write one about, after all.

For the second time that day, she was surprised by a knock on her door.

Sofia froze.

How serious had that card been? Even though it had been beautiful and cursive, whoever had left it there clearly meant what they said, but she’d thought she had a little longer than a few hours to get out of town.

Maybe this weird creep who wanted her gone was a very impatient weird creep.

Standing, Sofia rushing to her tiny sublet kitchen and grabbed a steak knife. She was fully aware that it was dumb and probably useless, but it wasn’t like she had anything better.

Besides, if someone was coming to kill her in broad daylight, why knock?

The door had a chain, and Sofia stood back, knife in one fist, as she opened the door just that far, so she could barely see out.

There was Thomas’s face, right outside the door.

Without saying a word, he held up
Tall Tales of the ‘49ers
.

“Holy shit!” Sofia exclaimed.

She shut the door quickly, undid the chain, and then opened it wide, surprised to see Gavin standing behind Thomas, holding even more books.

“Found these,” said Thomas.

Sofia grabbed at it, then recoiled.

“Why’s it wet?” she asked.

“They were in a fire pit,” said Gavin. “The rain actually saved them.”

“A fire pit where?” she said, running her hands over the books’ covers.

The two men entered her tiny little apartment, their heads each nearly scraping the top of the door frame.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Gavin, putting his hands into his pockets and moving into the room. “Nice place.”

“You could put that knife down,” suggested Thomas.

Sofia looked at her hand, only just realizing that she was still holding the flimsy steak knife.

“Oh, sorry,” she said, and hurried to the kitchen, putting it back in the knife block. “I thought you might be whoever sent me that note.”

“So you were going to stab me with a blunt-ended steak life?” Thomas said.

Sofia looked up from the book and realized that he was grinning.

She blushed and put the books on the kitchen table, making a mental note that she needed to dry them out more.

“It was better than nothing,” she said.

She was very, very glad that she’d finally gotten off her couch, eaten something, and put on clothes that weren’t just her pajamas — the thought of facing these two handsome men without a bra on was just too much.

Even if they’re not interested,
she reminded herself.

They got your books back, though,
she thought.
Doesn’t that count for something?

“Do you want a drink?” she asked, and went to the fridge. “I’ve got, uh, gatorade.”

“I’m good, thanks,” said Gavin, as he leaned against her kitchen counter, though the apartment was so small that he was still standing in the main room, which functioned as both her living room and her bedroom.

Speaking of small victories, she was also glad she’d made her bed that morning, despite really, really not wanting to.

“No thanks,” said Thomas, who was standing at the table that doubled as a desk where she’d put the books down.

She leaned against the countertop, her back to it, and looked from one man to the other.

“I wish you’d tell me what’s going on,” she said, trying to keep the pout out of her voice.

They looked at each other, and Gavin sort of shrugged at Thomas.

“There are people in Placerville who don’t want you to look into its history,” Thomas said. He leaned back against the countertop, standing right next to Gavin, their hips nearly touching. “They don’t like outsiders, or anyone who isn’t like them.”

Sofia just shook her head.

“It still seems like a bit much,” she said. “It’s just a dissertation.” She paused and looked down at the ugly tile in the tiny kitchen for a moment.

“I was looking into doing research over in Truckee today, actually,” she said. “They’ve got less stuff, but it might be safer.”

In one step, Thomas had strode across the kitchen and was standing in front of her, holding her face in his hands, tilting her face up, his own only a couple of inches away. His touch felt electric and warm, all the more so because she was surprised by it.

“I swear you’re safe here,” he said, he voice getting low and gravelly all of a sudden.

Sofia looked up into his eyes, and thought she saw a flash of something there for just a moment, and then it was gone.

“How do you know?” she whispered.

“I guarantee it,” he said, and she saw a smile begin to pull at the edges of his mouth. “I got your books back, didn’t I?”

“I helped,” said Gavin, who was still leaning against the counter, arms crossed in front of his chest.

He was also just barely smiling, looking utterly relaxed.

Sofa had one moment to wonder what the hell was going on — why there were two hunky, handsome men standing in her kitchen, and why one was about to kiss her — but then Thomas lowered his face to hers and she stopped wondering.

He kissed her softly at first, but his kiss quickly grew harder as she opened her mouth against his, inviting him inside. As confused as she was, she couldn’t stop herself, and felt almost like her body had been completely taken over by raw animal desire.

Sofia shifted her hips away from the counter where she’d been leaning and into Thomas, and she felt his arms circle around her back, his big, warm hands pressing firmly against her lower back.