Read Online Highland Shapeshifter by Clover Autrey - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Clover Autrey
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wounded and trust me on this, where I’m going, all sorts of creatures will hone in on that weakness and will be on you like the last tequila at closing time. Your presence will put me in more danger. Stay here, Gabe. Please.”
His mouth thinned into a hard tight line. “Fine. Go. You’re going to do what you want anyway.” He swiped one of the cloths down his gore-covered face.
Saying anything to soothe him now would be pointless. She grabbed the portable phone where it’d fallen in the corner behind the table by the toaster, checked it for a dial tone, and then handed it to him. “You have someone you can call?” She glanced around at the mess. “For your leg? Who can get you to a clinic.”
“I’m not friendless.” No. That’s one thing she could never accuse him of.
He snagged her wrist. “One hour. Call me in one hour so I know you’re all right. You owe me that.”
She glanced around the dripping gray-coated countertops and nodded. She owed him much more than that.
Chapter Nine
Col doubled back. He lost the creatures following him in a tangle of alleys and tall buildings, then flew back to the man’s—Gabe’s—home. He perched in the shadow of a flowering tree. A small flock of sparrows fluttered away, squawking at the intrusion of the large hawk in their midst. The feral instincts within him honed in on the little birds with intensity.
Tamping the predator down, Col focused on the house, looking for signs that any of the monsters were still around to trouble Gabe. He didn’t want that. Not when Gabe was the only person in this ill-forsaken time that had tried to help him.
Not entirely true.
There was the woman, though she was a blurry memory at best of large eyes and wide lips.
There was also the fact that Gabe knew Charity and could direct him to her.
The place was as he left it. Glass strewn beneath the broken windows, but no movement, except for a few of the horseless cars that traveled along the quiet hardened roadway. None of the occupants appeared to notice or care that one of their villagers had lost his precious glass panes.
Col curled his talons around the branch, turning his head to survey the area. It seemed all of the beasts had indeed chased after him. He was about to fly into the window and transform back into himself when the main door opened and the woman who brought him to Gabe in the first place stepped out.
Seeing her, knowing she was real, felt like a punch to his gut. His essence flared within him, the compulsion to change back into a man and reveal himself as he was to her cursedly near overwhelmed his senses.
He shimmered already starting the shift, in total response to her.
He clamped down hard—remaining the hawk. What came over him? To shift while still in a tree? He had more restraint than that.
Her face tilted upward, searching the branches he hid within. Col’s tiny avian heart fluttered rapidly in his ribcage. She was beautiful.
More so than he’d given his delirious mind credit for conjuring. She was fine-boned and delicate, as ethereal as the Fae. White-blond hair floated around her like a wispy cloud. He felt pulled toward her, a connection strung taut between them, a frizzle of magical current upon the air.
His wings spread, though he didn’t realize he’d moved even a fraction, ready to dive out of the tree to go to her.
Her gaze snapped upward again. A slight frown of puzzlement tilting her slender brow. She looked quickly around some more before climbing into the white carriage that growled to life and carried her away.
Col had a rare moment of hesitation. Follow the woman or stay and get answers from Gabe? He went with his instincts, or rather the urge to keep her in sight if he was honest with himself. Besides, he knew where to find Gabe.
He soared after the low car , easily keeping its bright color in the hawk’s overly keen sight. She drove into a darker area of town, the streets running with filth, the inhabitants obviously
His mouth thinned into a hard tight line. “Fine. Go. You’re going to do what you want anyway.” He swiped one of the cloths down his gore-covered face.
Saying anything to soothe him now would be pointless. She grabbed the portable phone where it’d fallen in the corner behind the table by the toaster, checked it for a dial tone, and then handed it to him. “You have someone you can call?” She glanced around at the mess. “For your leg? Who can get you to a clinic.”
“I’m not friendless.” No. That’s one thing she could never accuse him of.
He snagged her wrist. “One hour. Call me in one hour so I know you’re all right. You owe me that.”
She glanced around the dripping gray-coated countertops and nodded. She owed him much more than that.
Chapter Nine
Col doubled back. He lost the creatures following him in a tangle of alleys and tall buildings, then flew back to the man’s—Gabe’s—home. He perched in the shadow of a flowering tree. A small flock of sparrows fluttered away, squawking at the intrusion of the large hawk in their midst. The feral instincts within him honed in on the little birds with intensity.
Tamping the predator down, Col focused on the house, looking for signs that any of the monsters were still around to trouble Gabe. He didn’t want that. Not when Gabe was the only person in this ill-forsaken time that had tried to help him.
Not entirely true.
There was the woman, though she was a blurry memory at best of large eyes and wide lips.
There was also the fact that Gabe knew Charity and could direct him to her.
The place was as he left it. Glass strewn beneath the broken windows, but no movement, except for a few of the horseless cars that traveled along the quiet hardened roadway. None of the occupants appeared to notice or care that one of their villagers had lost his precious glass panes.
Col curled his talons around the branch, turning his head to survey the area. It seemed all of the beasts had indeed chased after him. He was about to fly into the window and transform back into himself when the main door opened and the woman who brought him to Gabe in the first place stepped out.
Seeing her, knowing she was real, felt like a punch to his gut. His essence flared within him, the compulsion to change back into a man and reveal himself as he was to her cursedly near overwhelmed his senses.
He shimmered already starting the shift, in total response to her.
He clamped down hard—remaining the hawk. What came over him? To shift while still in a tree? He had more restraint than that.
Her face tilted upward, searching the branches he hid within. Col’s tiny avian heart fluttered rapidly in his ribcage. She was beautiful.
More so than he’d given his delirious mind credit for conjuring. She was fine-boned and delicate, as ethereal as the Fae. White-blond hair floated around her like a wispy cloud. He felt pulled toward her, a connection strung taut between them, a frizzle of magical current upon the air.
His wings spread, though he didn’t realize he’d moved even a fraction, ready to dive out of the tree to go to her.
Her gaze snapped upward again. A slight frown of puzzlement tilting her slender brow. She looked quickly around some more before climbing into the white carriage that growled to life and carried her away.
Col had a rare moment of hesitation. Follow the woman or stay and get answers from Gabe? He went with his instincts, or rather the urge to keep her in sight if he was honest with himself. Besides, he knew where to find Gabe.
He soared after the low car , easily keeping its bright color in the hawk’s overly keen sight. She drove into a darker area of town, the streets running with filth, the inhabitants obviously
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