Mate Bond(50)

Cristian studied him for a moment, then gave him a nod. "Yours first.  Then I want a go at him. If he is still alive after you are finished."

Bowman said nothing, only pushed past Cristian-who moved before Bowman  could touch him-and out of the house. For once, he and the crazy  Romanian Lupine agreed on one thing: Get Kenzie back, by any means  necessary.





CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO




The mists rolled in and rolled back again. When they cleared, Turner was standing a few yards away.

Kenzie was on her feet, shifting as she rose. She landed in her wolf  form and charged, intent on killing her enemy. Turner watched her come  without worry and held up his hand.

Kenzie hit him full force, and they went down in a tangle. Her Collar went off at the same time as the Taser in his hand.

A cross between a yelp and a scream left Kenzie's throat. Pain flashed  around her neck and down her spine, then through every nerve in her  body. Her fur crackled, her eyes burned, and a high-pitched eeeeeeeeeeee  tore through her ears.

She managed to roll away and landed on her belly a few feet away,  panting hard, her Collar shocking her. Turner climbed to his feet, still  holding the Taser.

Brigid hadn't moved. Not because she didn't want to, Kenzie realized,  but because she couldn't. She must be under the influence of the spell  she'd told Kenzie about. Brigid struggled to take a step, her booted  foot inching in the dirt and then stopping. Her dark eyes burned with  frustration and hatred.

"You know you can't touch me," Turner said to Brigid, sounding far too  calm. "I learned a trick from a half Fae," he told Kenzie. "I have taken  some of her blood"-he nodded at Brigid-"which I used in a binding  spell. I have some of yours now, and some of your fur." He held up his  hand, showing Kenzie a tuft of wolf hair between his fingertips. "Thank  you. Though Tasers coupled with Collars are excellent at stopping  Shifters."

Kenzie snarled. She longed to leap up and tear his face off, but the  double shock had robbed her of strength. Her Collar continued to snap  curls of electricity through her-it knew her aggression and wanted to  stop her. She'd arrogantly told Bowman she'd be among the last to have  her Collar removed, taking the pain so others could be freed first. Way  to go, Kenzie.

Turner waved a hand at her. "Shift back. I can't talk to you when you're like this."

"Don't," Brigid said. Her voice was strained, teeth clenched.

Kenzie had no intention of shifting, but she felt her fur receding, her  limbs changing shape against her wishes. That scared her more than  anything.

Kenzie came to her feet, naked and breathing hard. She had enough  strength of will to snatch up Brigid's cloak from the ground and wrap it  around her. She never minded being nude after shifting in front of male  Shifters, but the way Turner gazed at her with frank interest made her  skin crawl. Kenzie pulled the cloak around her, finding it surprisingly  warm for fabric so thin.

"You have no need to be afraid of me, Kenzie," Turner said, his blue  eyes innocent behind his glasses. "My work can benefit you. Can benefit  everyone, really. The Fae were trying to make a race of skilled fighters  to conquer their enemies, and it worked. It cut their casualty rates in  half. Think what a contribution you can make to national security."

Kenzie struggled to speak. Her Collar had calmed down, but the pain  remained. "Fae casualties were cut in half, you mean. Shifters still  died. Now you want Shifters for national security? Like joining the  military and so forth? We tried. They won't let us."                       
       
           



       

Turner shook his head. "Not Shifters necessarily. Beasts stronger than  Shifters, which the military can control. I am very close to making a  breakthrough."

"You mean that poor thing you let loose near the roadhouse? It was strong, sure, but didn't last very long."

Turner roved his cold gaze over her. "That ‘poor thing' nearly killed  you all. I was conducting an experiment that night, admittedly, to see  how well my creation stood up to the fighting prowess of Shifters. You  handled yourself very well, I was pleased to see."

"You were there?" Kenzie adjusted the cloak. She and Bowman had been  climbing each other just before the thing attacked. The thought that  he'd been watching was repulsive. "I thought you hired a lackey to drive  the truck."

"I did. I can't drive a rig. But I rode along, and yes, I watched." His  smile made her know he'd seen everything she and Bowman had done. "I  wanted to see how my baby performed. Doesn't a mother wish to watch her  child's first steps?"

Brigid threw him a look of haughty disgust. "You do not know the first thing about being a mother."

"Yes, women can be so superior about children," Turner said. "My mother  never was-if she had been, maybe my father would have been nicer to her.  Not that I knew anything about that until after he died. My father was a  complete bastard."

Kenzie had little interest in Turner's family and problems at the moment. "Why the hell am I here?" she asked.

"You being here is not my doing. I have found a way to stabilize this  gate, yes, but you blundered into it all on your own, chasing that cop.  The mists opened to you, so they must have wanted you here, for whatever  reason. The gates can be very powerful. But I am glad to see you.  Brigid I trapped on purpose. She has the equivalent of what we would  call a doctorate in genetics. She's amazing. You are a strong Shifter,  an alpha female. Your DNA will be of great use to me."

Turner's words indicated he knew nothing about Gil not being a human  cop. Interesting. "If you already have my blood and fur, you have my  DNA," Kenzie said. "I'd like to know how to get out of this place,  whatever it is."

"It's a world out of time," Turner said. "Or something like that. I'm  not sure. It's a different plane of existence anyway. I haven't explored  it much-I only know how to access it. A good place to keep you and  Brigid-much better than a cage or a locked room, and much harder for  anyone but me to find."

"I found it," Kenzie said. "That means my mate or my friends could find it too."

"No, you chanced upon it. That cop is very interested in you, Kenzie, in  a sexual way, I'd say. You know, it was once thought that Shifters and  humans couldn't produce viable offspring, but that idea has been proved  wrong many times in the last twenty years. A professor from Chicago  presented a paper on it at the last symposium I attended."

"Shifters don't exist for your entertainment," Kenzie said irritably.

"Ah, but you know, entertainment was another reason they were first  created. To fight and hunt, yes, but also to perform tricks-Fae would  boast to each other how clever their Shifters were. Fae also used them  as sex partners, sometimes in their animal forms, if they had such a  fetish."

Kenzie hoped to the Goddess Turner didn't. But he spoke with only  clinical interest, a curious side note he'd found during his studies.

"Such a thing might be strange to you and me," Turner went on, "but Fae  are almost as fascinating to me as Shifters. Not quite." He sent a smile  to Brigid that looked apologetic. "I didn't even know of their  existence until after I figured out that Shifters were real. Even though  my first findings were scorned, I continued hunting for evidence of  Shifters. Found other places with similar stories to the ones in Ireland  and traveled to them. During my journeys I met a man-I thought he was a  man at the time-who believed me about the magical shape-shifting  people. He promised to show me more. He took me to Morocco, in the Atlas  mountains, up to where a small pack of wolves lived. There were two  mated pairs, a few cubs, and an older male who was the obvious leader."

He relaxed his stance, warming to his story. "We hid and watched as they  milled around, doing whatever social things wolves do, then, before my  eyes, the older leader suddenly turned into a man. I couldn't believe  it. All this time-I'd been right. I missed the actual transition, I was  so amazed, but I photographed the Shifter man talking to the other  wolves, being nuzzled by them, acting as one of them.                       
       
           



       

"This fellow who'd brought me up there at last revealed that he was half  Fae. He helped me. He taught me much about Shifters, and also about the  Fae and their magic. He gave me talismans and showed me how to move  through the mists. He has passed on now, sadly, but I believe his son is  helping humans understand and control Shifters. I've learned so much  since that day in the mountains, and at last, I am being recognized for  my expertise on Shifters. I'm up for full professorship, finally, after  all these years. This last research is going to make me famous."