Cynful

Chapter Two

“Is it me, or have the boys been by a lot recently?” Tabby tapped her pen against the glass and wood counter, her lime green hair glistening in the bright afternoon sunlight pouring in through the plate glass window. Cyn smiled, glad she’d gone with Emma’s suggestion to get rid of the all-glass counter and do something half wood, half glass.

She’d chosen to go all out; instead of veneers she’d done solid wood, something that could be sanded out and refinished if she ever changed the look of the shop. She was pleased with the simple mission style and the dark cherry stain. She’d even gone so far as to reframe the flash, the artwork that represented some of their best tattoos, in the same cherry.

The walls were still bright aqua, displaying the flash to advantage. A huge image of tattooed yin-yang dragons, one red, one blue, hung behind the counter. That had cost a bundle to reframe, but it was worth it. The flash in the windows and on the walls was still in silver frames, making it look even more like art. Their flash books lay open on the counter, bound in brown leather and containing more tattoos.

The floor was wood, a dark ebony stain that would hide spilled ink. She was considering replacing the tan chairs by the plate glass window; with the new countertops and frames, they didn’t seem to fit anymore. There were still four curtained-off cubicles where they worked, even though there were only three of them at the moment.

Cyn was still looking to replace the girl who’d left after learning Tabby was a Wolf, but she hadn’t found someone who met her exacting standards. At the very end was a last curtained-off area marked “Employees Only”. Tacked over the curtain hung Tabby’s crooked De Nile sign.

She still hadn’t found where the bitch had stashed her ladder, or that sign would be toast by now.

“Earth to Cyn. Come in, Cyn. Over. Bzzt.” Cyn turned to Glory, her partner in LA, and grinned. Today Glory had her waist length, powder-blue curls up in a high ponytail. She wore one of her floaty outfits, a broomstick skirt in some sort of patchwork design and a peasant top in the same blue as her hair. Bangles graced her wrists and clinked together merrily as she waved her arms. “Tabby’s right. The boys have been coming by more.” She grimaced at Cyn. “We need to get some Bear-Be-Gone.”

Tabby snorted, amused. “Yeah, let’s all sashay down to the local Save-A-Lot and pick some up. I’m sure it will work beautifully.”

Glory crumpled up a blank receipt and threw it at Tabby’s head.

Cyn laughed, happy to see her friends playing again. Six weeks ago a maniac with a grudge against Tabby had tried to smash their lives. Now they were back on track and ready to roll.

The bell over the door jangled, and in walked the reason their lives had gotten back on track so quickly. Alexander “Bunny” Bunsun stepped into LA, a huge grin on his face and a bag of sandwiches in his hand. His hazel eyes lit up when they landed on Tabby. “Hungry, baby?”

“Always, sugar.” Tabby glided out from behind the counter and let the huge Grizzly wrap her up in his arms. Even in her three-inch heels Tabby barely came to her mate’s bottom lip. She looked fragile, breakable next to him.

Today she’d told them she was pregnant. Cyn couldn’t be happier for her. Tabby had found something she’d always longed for—a permanent home. Much to Cyn’s surprise she’d found that not in Halle, but in the man who held her in his arms. Tabby would go wherever Alex led, and she’d smile the entire way.

Cyn wasn’t certain she understood it, but she was happy for her friend.

“You girls ready for the masquerade tomorrow night?” Alex stole a quick kiss from his mate, one that would have been much longer if Cyn and Glory hadn’t been present.

No. No, she wasn’t. Cyn rolled her eyes. How the hell had she allowed Tabby to talk her into this? She wasn’t the one who’d lost the stupid bet, but somehow Tabby had begged and pleaded and offered up shoes and chocolate until Glory and Cyn had agreed to go along with her. Gah. Just thinking about her costume made her butt itch. “I’ll never be ready for that costume. Pamela Anderson wouldn’t be ready for it.”

Alex smirked. “You three are going to look amazing. We’ll have to beat the Pumas off with a stick.”

“Or a well-used ball of yarn.” Glory yawned. “Bored now.”

Cyn grabbed the bag of food and practically threw it at Glory. “Eat.”

“Yay!” Glory raced for the back room, squealing like a teenager who’d just gotten the keys to Daddy’s car. “Roast beef, all for me!”

“That’s my beef, you bitch!” Tabby tore free of Alex’s arms and chased after Glory.

“Who are you calling bitch, bitch?”

“You, bitch.”

The two girls began a tug-of-war over the bag, with Alex and Cyn looking on in sheer disbelief. Tabby bared fang and growled at Glory. Glory growled back, snapping her human teeth and making Tabby laugh. Glory actually yapped at Tabby, making the Wolf lose her grip on the sandwich from laughing so hard.

Cyn pinched the bridge of her nose. “Dios. It’s like watching two Yorkies fighting over a French fry.”

Alex shook his head, chuckling softly as Glory won the battle and raced into the back room, Tabby hot on her heels. “You all right?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” She wished people would stop asking her that. It wasn’t the first time she’d been punched in the face, and she doubted it would be the last. Gary’s idiot sidekick had damaged her ego more than her cheek. She’d been more terrified for Tabby, since Gary was hoping to scare Tabby into leaving with him. If she had… It didn’t bear thinking on. “Dude hit like a girl.”

That feral something that marked him as a shifter peeked out of his gaze, his hazel eyes darkening. “I should have turned him into a pretzel for you.”

She hid her shudder. Alex wasn’t just saying that. The Grizzly could easily have taken the rogue Wolf and turned him into modern art. “Nah. From what Julian told me he’s going to be in enough pain by the time the Senate gets done with him.” And wasn’t that freaky to learn? It wasn’t enough that there were shifters in the world, but they had their own laws, their own government. Their own law enforcement—even their own jails. She was still processing everything she’d learned since Tabby came into their lives.

Someday soon, she might even be one of them.

“I’m going to pick Tabby up tonight. If anything, and I mean anything happens that makes you uncomfortable you call me, Ryan or Julian, hear? Gabe told me some unsettling news a few days ago, and I want you girls on guard.”

Great. More shit coming down on top of them? Just what they needed. “What news?”

“Gary’s main reason for being in Halle wasn’t Tabby. It was Chloe.”

“Chloe?” What the fuck did Gary have to do with Chloe?

“She was one of the people he was sent to Halle to keep an eye on. We have no idea who else he was here to watch, but I doubt she was the only one. He also told me that Hunters in other parts of the country have found three other bodies, all beaten the way Chloe was. All of them were half-breeds.”

“And Tabby is pregnant with a half-breed.” Fuck her gently with a chainsaw. This was bad. Alex was protective of Tabby on good days.

Alex smiled. It was full of sharp, pointy Bear teeth. If she didn’t agree whole-heartedly with the sentiment behind the look she’d be scared spitless.

“Right. Watch pregger-lady, call you if anyone looks shifty eyed.” She snapped off a salute worthy of Glory. “Aye aye, sir.”

He shook his head again, grinning like the Cheshire cat. The feral, overprotective look disappeared, to be replaced by a mischievous one. “How are things going with Julian, by the way?”

She shrugged, hoping it came off as nonchalant when she was anything but. “We’re dating. It’s okay. He’s not a bad guy.” And that was all Alex was going to wheedle out of her. No way was she telling Alex that Julian had to be the best damn kisser she’d ever gone out with.

“Maybe you can convince Glory to do the same with Ryan. If he doesn’t claim her soon he’s going to lose his damn mind.”

She bit back her smile. “He’s giving her fits.”

“She’s giving him hives. Just…talk to her, please? You two are the only ones she listens to, and Ryan’s slowly going insane.” Alex looked serious for the first time since he entered the shop. “You can’t possibly understand what it’s like, to have your mate right there and you can’t touch, can barely look at them before they start running away. It’s this itch under your skin, a burning need you can’t quench. You start dreaming about her. Your Bear can’t even look at anyone else, think about anyone else. She’s it. She’s the one.”

She swallowed hard. “So you’re saying Julian and Ryan are suffering?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Bad. You’ll never understand, because when they change you, they’ll mate you. You won’t go through what they are.” He held up his hand. “And they wouldn’t want you to.”

Cyn immediately bristled. “I could handle it.”

“I never said you couldn’t. I said they wouldn’t want you to. Big difference.” He leaned in close, his eyes completing the shift from hazel to dark brown. Bear’s eyes. “Perhaps you two should think about that.”

Cyn didn’t back down. Her heart might be racing, her palms damp, but Alex would sooner bite off his paw than hurt her, if only because it would hurt Tabby. “I am.”

He blinked, his eyes bleeding back out to hazel. “You aren’t afraid of anything, are you?”

“Only one thing.”

One of his brows rose, questioning her.

“Losing who I am.” And she was terrified the extremely sexy Julian could make her do just that.

Julian pulled his car into LA’s parking lot and hopped out. He hoped Cyn was ready to go. He was starving. An emergency at the doc’s office had kept him from his lunch, and his stomach was growling louder than Ryan had.

Julian took a deep breath and stretched, pulling his arms taut over his head. The scent of strange shifters, mostly Wolf, drifted through his senses. It wasn’t uncommon for him to catch the occasional whiff of other shifters. Halle housed a university on its outskirts, and the students would often come to town, especially this part of town. It was a little bit rougher than the pretty downtown area where Becky and Emma ran Wallflowers. There was Living Art Tattoos, a really great Chinese restaurant, a small bookstore that specialized in pagan books and artwork that Cyn said the students adored, and a few clothing shops that seemed to carry the type of clothes Cyn and the girls wore. He loved coming to this part of town. It was vibrant and fun and suited his mate to a T.

He walked up to the glass front door of LA Tattoos and peeked in, totally unsurprised by what he saw.

Chaos. The place was chock full of it, as usual, only this time the chaos was the fun kind. Julian smiled as he watched Cyn chase Tabby around with a rolled up set of papers. Whatever the Wolf had done, Cyn was ready to bat her nose over it. Glory was holding her stomach and laughing as Tabby skidded in her heels and went down.

Julian was through the door so fast the bell barely had time to jingle before he was kneeling at Tabby’s side. “You okay?”

“Ow.” She rubbed her hip and grimaced. “Just a bruise to my pride.”

Julian brushed his finger over the area, grinning at her sigh of relief. “What can I say? I’m better than Bengay.”

That sent Glory into another round of musical giggles.

Cyn swatted Tabby on the head with the papers. “I am not tattooing you until after the baby is born. Get over it!”

Tabby stuck her tongue out at Cyn. “Please. The needles are changed every customer, we pour the ink into those tiny little cups and toss what we don’t use. It’s perfectly safe.”

“No, it’s not.” Cyn tapped her foot. “Unless a doctor can tell me you won’t go into shock and lose the baby, I won’t tattoo you until after your flabby ass gives birth.”

Tabby squeaked and sat up. “It is not flabby!”

Cyn cocked her hip and smirked at her apprentice. “Honey, I’ve seen you naked.”

“Ooh!” Tabby jumped to her feet and grabbed the papers from Cyn’s hand. “I’ll show you flabby!” She started chasing Cyn around the tattoo parlor, waving the paper and giving a rebel yell that hurt Julian’s ears. Glory collapsed into one of the chairs by the window, seriously out of breath from laughing. Tears streamed down her face.

Julian just shook his head. He leaned back on his elbows and crossed his ankles, careful to hold still when the ladies hopped over his legs. “Welcome to the jungle.”

Julian blinked as the image of a girly bedroom superimposed itself over the tattoo parlor. He tried to clench his left hand, sighing when it wouldn’t close all the way. Damn it, Chloe was looking through his eyes again.

The spiritual connection he’d established with the Fox when he’d saved her life was much stronger than he’d first thought it would be, and this was the result. Ryan’s little sister had nearly died when she was attacked and left for dead in the middle of the road.

They still hadn’t caught the ones who’d hurt her.

“Chloe?”

“Hmm? Oh! Shit. I’m sorry, Julian. Am I doing it again? I thought I was gleaming.”

Julian ground his teeth together. “Dreaming, sweetie. And no, you’re not. Could you pull back? Remind me when I visit tomorrow, we need to work on your control some more.”

The problems with her hand and taking over his sight were the least of his concerns. Chloe kept confusing words, often with hysterical—or disastrous—results. The other day she’d told her physical therapist not to let the floor blob hit him in the ass on the way out. It had taken them five minutes to figure out she’d meant doorknob.

For someone who’d worked damn hard to earn a degree in veterinary medicine, the fact that she couldn’t keep her words straight or use her left hand properly meant her career was dead before it even started. Not one of the doctors knew if the damage was permanent.

Julian did, and the knowledge hurt both of them, because, due to their bond, Chloe knew too.

“Julian!”

He snapped his attention back to Cyn, his double vision fading as Chloe left him. He grinned weakly up at his mate. “Hey.”

She was tapping her foot. Not a good sign. “Are you ready to go?”

He got to his feet and wiped his pants off in quick, jerky movements. Please, let Chloe keep her thoughts to herself while I drive. “Whenever you are.”

She held up her purse as if that said it all.

Julian, not being an idiot, held open the door for his future mate and prayed his dinner for two didn’t get crashed by a needy, unhappy Fox.

Cyn studied Julian out of the corner of her eye as he maneuvered the quiet, dark streets of Halle. Something about the way he’d zoned out in her shop had her worried. It was like he wasn’t there anymore; his dark brown eyes had taken on that gray-speckled look; his hair had grown a thin, white strip near his face. He was using his freaky-ass powers, but doing what she had no clue.

They pulled up outside Frank’s Diner and Cyn grinned. “Oh God. How did you guess I’d kill for a burger tonight?”

Julian’s stomach grumbled loud enough to startle a laugh out of her. “I could eat a cow or two myself.” He grinned sheepishly and got out of the car.

Not waiting for him to open her door she hopped out too, smirking when he rolled his eyes. “You hungry?”

“I’ve got two words for you. Star. Ving.” He managed to open the diner’s front door before she could get to it.

She shook her head and headed into her favorite burger joint. Frank’s had the best damn burgers in the whole damn town, possibly the whole damn state. She snagged a booth and settled in, waving hello to several people she recognized.

Julian was also exchanging greetings, but his were a little more personal. Cyn hid her grin behind a plastic-coated menu as the entire Bunsun-Williams family descended on her date en masse. For once, Julian looked like the hunted instead of the hunter, surrounded by a family chock full of Grizzlies and Foxes.

“Hey.”

Cyn smiled a greeting at the shy Fox female who plunked herself into the booth across from her. The eighteen-year-old had made it a point to seek Cyn out whenever they were in the same place. “Hey yourself.”

Heather Allen, Ryan and Alex’s youngest cousin, bit her plump bottom lip and stared at Cyn’s hair like a starving kitten. She twirled a lock of her own bright red hair between her fingers. “You changed it.”

Cyn preened. She’d done the dye job just two days ago, and she loved it. “You like?”

Heather nodded so vigorously Cyn was afraid she’d snap her own neck. “I like the blend of blonde, black and pink.”

Cyn pushed her hair back over her shoulders. The hair on top was white-blonde, the middle layer cotton-candy pink and the bottom layer that rested on her shoulders was midnight black. It was striking, and she got looks everywhere she went. Cyn gave a mental finger to everyone who disapproved and smiled at everyone who did. “Thanks. Want me to do yours sometime?”

“No, she doesn’t.” Eric, Alex’s little brother, plucked the girl from the booth and scowled at Cyn. “She likes her hair red, thank you.”

Cyn’s brows rose. As much as she loved Alex she’d come to despise his high-handed brother. “I think that’s her decision to make.”

He actually shook his finger at her. “You keep your paws off my cousin, got it?”

Heather pulled free of his grip and shrank in on herself. Damn it. Getting that poor girl to open up had been one of Cyn’s favorite things lately. Too bad Eric liked to interrupt. Heather closed right back up around him. “I can dye my hair if I want.”

Shit. Heather was speaking in that little mousy voice again. If Cyn didn’t know better she’d think Eric abused the poor kid. But Eric would sooner cut off his foot than hurt the girl.

“My baby cousin isn’t going to look like some freak.” Eric’s nose wrinkled.

A low growl filled the air. Cyn, wide-eyed, stared over at Julian.

That white streak was back in his hair, thicker now. The gray in his eyes had almost completely obliterated the brown. “Stand down, Eric.”

The scary part wasn’t how quickly Eric obeyed Julian. It was Julian’s quietly furious tone that had Cyn stiffening her spine. She didn’t need Julian to protect her from bigots.

Eric’s lip curled back. His huge fangs were displayed for a split second before his father, William Bunsun, slapped a hand over his mouth and began yelling at him for being a rude dumbass. Cyn tried to blink away the image of those fangs, but it wasn’t working.

Okay. Maybe she could admit she needed protection from bigoted Grizzlies.

Julian slid into Heather’s vacated seat and winked, the silver streak already faded from his hair. “So much for a quiet meal.”

Cyn snorted. “In this town?” She waved over their waitress, who deftly side-stepped the feuding shifters. Thank goodness they remembered they were in a human establishment or Cyn had the feeling fur would be flying. “Two burgers, the works, extra ketchup, make them moo.”

“And two chocolate shakes.” A baseball hat landed on their table and Julian tossed it back into the fray. William had Eric in a headlock. He was giving his son a noogie and demanding his immediate surrender.

Thank God she wasn’t mating into that family. She’d go insane inside a week. Every single one of them was nuts.

Julian grinned weakly as the waitress side-stepped one of the fleeing Foxes. Cyn was ready to follow the poor girl right out the door. “Can you make that to go?”