I would do anything to get out of that fucking cage.” Mara couldn’t imagine being locked up for that long.
Mara climbed into the back seat of the SUV. The overhead light cast a soft glow in the interior. Raveena sat in the middle bucket seat with Trina in the third-row bench seat. Mara pulled Raveena in for a hug.
“I’m glad you’re okay.”
“I guess we’ll find out. I don’t know what he did while I was unconscious. I don’t know how it works.” Raveena shrugged.
“If it holds, then the next time you shift, you will be something else. If your body rejects it, you might start running a fever.” Trina informed them. “I don’t know any of the specifics, but I’ve seen enough to know the patterns.”
Xeon opened the back hatch of the SUV. “Hop in the back Benny.” He tapped on the back floorboard, and the hyena jumped in.
“How long do you think Benny will be like that?” Kyro asked, climbing into the passenger seat.
“It varies. Dr. Dickhead tried to add a third variant to our DNA. I didn’t change back from a tiger for more than twenty-four hours. They did Benny after me, and he didn’t shift until this morning. Hopefully, he’ll be back to himself by midday tomorrow.” Trina reached in the back and scratched behind Benny’s ears.
“I’m glad you’re back, Trina. You know what? We should go shopping for the last of the Halloween decorations,” Raveena suggested. “We could use the distraction.”
“Yeah, I fudged that up.” Trina sighed. “I got pulled over on the way to the party shop. Next thing I knew, I woke up on the hospital lab table.” She shook her head. “I didn’t even see it coming.”
“You’re back now. That’s all that matters.” Xeon started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot.
“Hey, do you think we can invite the shifters that were locked up to the party? I think it would be a nice coming home gesture,” Trina asked the guys.
“I think that would be okay,” Xeon agreed.
“If anyone gets out of line, we’ll sic Mara’s demon on them.” Kyro joked, and everyone laughed.
They were only a few miles from the manor when firetrucks drove past, lights flashing and sirens blaring. Mara didn’t feel the least bit guilty for setting the fire. The documents needed to be destroyed along with that vile place.
Halfway to the compound, Trina and Raveena were leaning against each other sleeping. A strange snore came from the back. Benny slept soundly. Mara hoped that Xeon and Kyro wouldn’t be too tired. Once they were back at the compound, Xeon stopped by Raveena’s house to drop her off. When he dropped Trina off, she insisted that Benny come with her instead of going home alone. A minute later, Xeon pulled into his driveway.
“Well, this is familiar.” Mara laughed.
“What?” Xeon and Kyro said in unison.
“You two, taking me to your place in just a T-shirt,” she replied.
“I’ll never get tired of seeing you in just a tee.” Kyro winked at her and opened the passenger door.
Xeon got out and opened the back door for her. She slid over, took his extended hand, and stepped from the SUV. He led her to the house and opened the door. She could get used to coming home to somebody. It was something she hadn’t had in a long time.
Kyro walked into the kitchen and pulled three bottles of water from the refrigerator. Mara watched him closely. He handed one to Xeon, who chugged it down in two big gulps. Kyro opened the last two bottles and handed her one.
Mara wrapped her fingers around the cool, damp bottle. She took slow, long sips of the refreshing water, savoring the coolness that reached her parched throat. After taking a breath, she finished off the bottle.
“Thank you, Kyro. I needed that. Didn’t realize I was that thirsty.” She crushed the bottle and tossed it into the recycling bin in the corner.
Her attention was suddenly drawn to Kyro’s thick neck... to the pulsing vein. She could hear his beating heart pumping blood through his body. It called to her vampire.
Calm down, wait. Later we can feed on this delectable male specimen. Mara laughed at her vampire’s suggestion.
“Okay, what’s so funny? Let us know so we can laugh with you. We could use a good hoot right now. It has been a hell of a day. A couple of days, actually.” Xeon’s face drew into a puzzled look.
“Nothing really, just something my vampire said.” Mara giggled a