Rodney: Marshall’s Shadow – Jaguar Shapeshifter Romance by Kathi Barton (books for new readers TXT) 📕

She was keeping up a steady stream of information to him after that. They needed to hire three people, and so far, it looked as if Wanda was going to be one of them. Also, the woman that had come with her, for security reasons, she told him, Caroline Jamison, was going to fit the bill.

It didn’t take them long to finish up the interviews after that. Harris said she was sorry a few more times, but they were on track to getting done, and he was happy with that. Even Rebel told him not to worry about Harris. If she gave him any shit, she’d take care of her.

The women in his family were very powerful. Scary powerful. His own mate was a grand witch, and she scared the shit out of him on a daily basis. And she wasn’t able to hurt him. As he was packing up his things and taking Rebel’s too, he felt a sudden wash of fear roll over him.

“Someone that we know is in trouble.” He asked Rebel if she knew who it was. “Nope. I’m not even sure if it’s trouble, pain, or just that we know them. This is some weird assed shit if you ask me.”

“I agree.” Then when she stiffened again, he waited for whatever was going to happen. “What is it, Rebel? Do we need to take off?”

“I do. Not you.” He asked her why not him. “She’s not terribly trusting. I’m going because she is a little bit of a witch and needs me.”

“All right. I guess.”

Then she was gone. Getting into his car, he wondered if he’d get used to this happening. People bouncing in and out of his life. The magic would wake him from a sound sleep. It was always important, but so was his rest. Going home, he wondered what he’d get himself into tonight. Nothing that he’d had planned, that’s for sure.

He ate his dinner in the kitchen, watching television with their cook. After he was finished, he went to the living room to take a nap. He loved the fact that there wasn’t a television in this room. Rodney could do whatever he wanted, nap or read, and there were no distractions. Hell, he could—

“What is it?” Rebel appeared in the room with him, and she had a man over her shoulder. Taking him from her, she disappeared again, this time returning with a woman over her shoulder. Taking them up to the bedrooms, he put the man on the bed and began undressing him to see where all the blood had come from.

“Where am I?” He didn’t get a chance to answer the man before he started telling him he couldn’t tell anyone he was there. Not even his family. “The woman that came for us, did she get my sister too?”

“Yes. I didn’t see much of her, but she’s in the other room.” The man closed his eyes, only to open them a few seconds later. “Where are you hurt?”

“I’m shot, but I just need to shift. I’m all right. Go to my sister, she’s not all right. Nor can she shift right now. It’ll weaken her more.” Nodding, he asked the man if he could do anything for him now. “No. I’m just desperately wanting Paige fixed up. Go on, I’ll be all right. I swear to you.”

After checking the wound that had indeed been a through and through, Rodney went to the other room to help Rebel. The woman in there would not be able to shift her wounds away. Nor would she live long if she even tried to shift into whatever she was. It occurred to Rodney that he had no idea what the man was either. Helping Rebel, he told her what he’d found out about the man.

“Which is very little. How about you?” Rebel told him where she’d gone and how she’d found the two of them. “You just entered a warzone and got them both here? Christ, that’s amazing. I’m proud of you.”

“Don’t be. I have a feeling that if either of these two dies, we’re going to be on a long list of shit jobs for the rest of our days.” Rodney asked her if she knew who the woman or man was. “Nope. I mean, other than a name, nothing. She’s Paige, and he’s James. All I heard about them as I boogied out of there with him. When I returned for her, I had to break her out of a jail cell that looked like something you’d see in zoos. Where you’d want to keep the animals that misbehaved a great deal.”

They worked on Paige for nearly three hours. Setting up an IV was the hardest part. Nothing would penetrate her flesh very well. Finally, they had to resort to using a very large needle to make the mark, then stab it into her that way. The two of them put nearly four hundred stitches in her body alone. Her legs and arms were a different matter altogether.

As they were finishing up, James came into the room looking as fresh as a daisy. “I hope you don’t get too upset with me. I put a couple of scratches in your flooring. I’ll pay for its repair.” Rodney told him not to worry about it. “How is she doing? I’ve never seen her down before. In all the years we’ve worked together, I’ve never seen her wounded or even hurt with a broken nail. This is scary for me.”

“Are you related to the people at my brother-in-law’s house?” He told Rebel he was their father. “They’re good and well trained. I have to admit that to you. When I went there to talk to Harris about something, I was down on the floor and spread out before I even knew there was anyone else in the house.”

“Good to hear. Just because they’re on domestic soil doesn’t mean they should be lax. I’ll