Repairer of the Breach (Stones of Fire Book 4) by Sarah Ashwood (free biff chip and kipper ebooks .TXT) 📕

fury wash over him at the realization of what had happened. Ciara was a Merrow with a siren’s voice. Although her powers weren’t as strong when she wasn’t in the water, shifted into her Merrow form, she still retained some of that magic, even in this state. She’d nearly had him convinced to throw away life and limb, reopen the vein, and dash back into danger, enthusiastically pulling himself, Sean, and Nosizwe into the other world. He should have known better. Carter shook himself angrily.

“You’re very good,” he said to his boss’s wife.

The corners of her mouth turned up in a smirk. “We all have to do our part.”

“So, where are we then, now that this failed?” Sean gibed. “Carter’s blood didn’t open the way. Do we all stand here staring at each other, trading verbal blows? Do we use our powers on each other? Do we fight? Do we brawl? Do we give up and go home? Do we call another meaningless truce? Tell me, Nosizwe, what do you want to do here?”

The other shifter leader’s eyes were hard, her glare sharp as pinpricks. “What do you want to do?” she taunted back. “Do we throw away any chance of peace? Do you want to battle it out, you against me? Maybe that’s what we should’ve done years ago. You against me. Minotaur against Impundulu. Spare our people. Winner takes all.”

Sean’s gaze was every bit as deadly as hers. “I’m game. We could put an end to this forever.”

Nosizwe didn’t look the least bit afraid. “If you’re willing to do it, so am I,” she hissed.

Immediately, one of her lieutenants was there, plucking at her sleeve, whispering in her ear. A couple of Sean’s folks moved in as well, speaking rapidly, quietly. Not even a day or two ago, Carter would have been one of them, trying to persuade his boss not to risk his life. Now, he stood there still as stone, feeling as hardened as his bronze flesh when he assumed the Talos form. It was like scales had been ripped from his eyes. All this time Sean had been willing to risk him, to risk any of them, in this fight. Risk them for the greater good. Maybe this was how it should have played out years ago. Instead of dozens, hundreds of shifters on both sides losing their lives, leaving their families to mourn, maybe the two leaders should have fought it out. That might be the best way to end this, once and for all.

Who knew what would have occurred if the gamechanger hadn’t arrived in the form of an approaching vehicle? One of Nosizwe’s people, a Rakshasa with excellent hearing, was the first to draw their attention to it.

“Somebody’s coming,” he said loudly, the announcement cutting through the tension, the murmuring, the quiet arguing on both sides. “A car.”

Everyone fell silent. Nosizwe turned to look at her subordinate. “How far away?”

“Not very,” he answered. “We’ll see their headlights…”

The soft glow of a vehicle’s parking lights cut through the gloom.

“…Right about now,” the Rakshasa replied.

“Do you think it’s the gamekeepers or a warden?” somebody asked.

“Should we scatter?” put in someone else, nervousness in her voice.

Nosizwe laughed. “I know who owns this place. Why do you think we’re meeting here?”

“What if it’s the cops?”

“Let them come,” Sean scoffed. “It’s one car. How many officers could be inside? What are they going to do against all of us?”

A few still seemed concerned, but everyone waited as the vehicle approached. If it was the police, this wasn’t a standard cop car. It appeared to be a regular, four-door sedan that slowed its already turtle pace until it finally stopped fifteen to twenty feet outside the circle of gathered shifters. The lights blinked off. Everyone stood their ground as the two front doors and one back door opened. Moonlight caught on a head of blonde hair, catching Carter’s attention. His breath hitched in his throat.

Ellie?

His stomach, already twisted, tied up in knots a professional sailor would have been proud of.

“Dammit, girl, what are you doing here?” he whispered.

There was no mistaking the slight figure of his wife, nor the glint of moonlight on her glasses, nor her familiar olive-green jacket. His gaze skipped across her to her companions. Carter wasn’t surprised to see the two police detectives who’d been involved in this drama for the past several months. Detectives Ewing and Tozzi closed their doors simultaneously, the two sounds merging into one that echoed across the open expanse. Ellie closed hers a half-second later, the sound a soft echo of theirs.

The light wasn’t good, but there was enough for Carter to see the tense set of her shoulders, and that she was clasping something in both hands. What it was, he couldn’t make out.

She followed the two homicide detectives who approached slowly, cautiously. Detective Tozzi’s hand hovered near his gun—either an unspoken threat or a self-defense mechanism. Detective Ewing wasn’t reaching for her weapon, but her face was sober and showed strain. Ellie followed them into the circle of headlights. Carter could see the wrinkles of worry on her forehead. His gaze fell to her clasped hands, but this time he couldn’t make anything out. Her hands were empty and hung at her sides. Whatever it was, she’d hidden it away before she got closer.

Now, sliding into the gathering of shapeshifters, Detective Ewing stood her ground and studied the group, pinning each of them with a solemn gaze.

“Look,” she said, with enough authority to capture and hold attention. “I don’t have the jurisdiction to tell you all not to be out here. Since this isn’t my property, I don’t have the authority to tell you to break it up and go home. However, as a sworn officer of the law, I do have the duty to remind you that if you’re here to start trouble—to start fighting or killing each other—I’m going to have to intervene.” She stopped. Everyone was staring at her. “Don’t make me do that,”