Juneau Heat (9 page)

Kotori’s
voice broke through her reverie. “I want to know why you slept with us. As
you’ve no doubt checked into who we are, we’ve done the same with your family.
Like shifters, you close ranks and squash information that might leak out about
your methods.”

Birk picked
up the conversation. “You use beautiful women to lure the shifters into
trusting you. I thought it wouldn’t lead this far. After all, the most common
knowledge about the Keiths is that they think all shifters are killers. Yet,
your men send the women in to fuck them without qualms.”

“You don’t
know what you’re talking about!” He leaned over her, but at that point, she
would not back down. He made it sound like she and her sisters were whores, and
he knew what he could do with his superior attitude. “You think you’re better
than us? You and Kotori were right there with me in bed, and you knew who I
was, just like you said. You can say what you want about me, but you’re going
to take back insinuating my sisters are whores. They do not sleep with the
men.”

“There
again, Shiya, why did you sleep with us?”

She saw he
didn’t want to let it go, and Kotori, standing next to him, was in total
agreement. What difference did her answer make since they’d already made their
minds up about her character? If they knew all along, why did they sleep with
her? The answer came to mind as soon as she formed the question. As shifters
with a high sex drive, they didn’t care who shared their bed. Any woman would
do, and she’d seen evidence of that at Birk’s office when he accepted that
blonde’s card. A pang of jealousy hit her, but she tamped it down.

“I want you
both to leave. You’re no longer welcome.” She stepped around Birk and squeezed
by Kotori to get to the door. In the front room, she held the door open,
waiting for them.

Birk walked
up and put his hand on the knob. “We’re not done here. You do not get to
dismiss me.”

When he
slammed the door, she stumbled away from him in alarm, but before she could
speculate on whether they intended to kill her, the door burst open again. Birk
moved seconds before it did and pulled Shiya out of the way. She cried out at
the sudden sound and the fact that Joe stood in the entryway.

“Get your
hands off of her,
now
,” Joe barked.

“Joe, what
are you doing here?” Shiya thought to defuse the situation, but she realized
she helped nothing wedged against Birk’s chest, his hands still around her
waist, and her sheet slipping dangerously low over her breasts. She struggled
to get out of Birk’s hold, and he let her go after holding on for a while as if
he sought to piss Joe off.

“Who are
you?” Kotori demanded, and Shiya glanced at him. His eyes didn’t look right,
and she worried he was about to change.

“Look,
everybody calm down.” Her hands shook as she held them up, and both Birk and
Joe seemed to notice.

“Shiya, go
to the bedroom,” Joe commanded. “I’ll take care of this.”

“You’ll
take care of what?” Birk demanded.

He stepped
around Shiya to get to Joe, but Joe had been taught to strike hard and fast.
Delays would get a person dead. He produced a weapon she knew well because she
had bought it for him. The eight-inch steel blade was half serrated on the top
and sharp enough to cut through wood—or bone. She’d had the handle customized
with a bright red grip, Joe’s favorite color, and his name carved at the end.

Shiya ran
her hands through her untidy hair, only now realizing she looked a hot mess. “Joe,
what are you doing? You know you don’t handle this kind of thing here. It’s too
dangerous.”

“You want
me to wait until they drag you out in the forest to eat you, Shiya?”

“Joe.”

He lunged
at Birk, but Birk parried the attack with the flat of his hand, knocking Joe’s
hand away. Her ex winced in pain, but to his credit, he didn’t drop the weapon.
He came at Birk again, jabbing with his knife, but when Birk went to block, Joe
dropped low and kicked out. His foot slammed into Birk’s legs, and her lover hit
the floor. Joe sprung up from his crouch and swung his arm to drive the knife
into Birk’s chest, and Shiya screamed. She ran forward to somehow stop Joe from
killing Birk, but in the next instant, Kotori plowed into Joe, sending him and
his knife flying. Kotori’s growl didn’t sound human as he stalked over to Joe.
He jerked her ex up from the floor and dangled him from a powerful fist wrapped
around his neck. Shiya saw the life leaving the man and knew if she didn’t do
something, he would die. Birk, picking himself up from the floor in obvious
disgust that he’d let a human get the drop on him, made no move to stop it.

She ran
over and grabbed Kotori’s arm. “Stop, Kotori, please. Don’t kill him.”

Kotori
snarled down at her, his eyes jet-black with little white showing. Fear stirred
in her belly, but she refused to back away. Somehow she didn’t think he would
hurt her, or he already would have.

“Don’t do
this.” She stood on tiptoe to reach up to his hand holding Joe in its iron
grip. No amount of prodding could open his fingers. “Birk, make him stop! He’s
killing him.”

“What do I
care if another human dies, Shiya? He’s one of you, isn’t he? A Keith?”

“No, he’s
not. He works for my dad, but he’s not related.”

Shiya
didn’t know where Joe got the second weapon. The smaller knife, no longer than
the palm of a woman’s hand, swiped over Kotori’s arm, cutting deep. Kotori drew
back as blood gushed from the wound. He dropped Joe on the floor, who gasped
and choked trying to drag in air to fill his lungs.

“Seems this
man wants to die,” Kotori spat and started toward Joe. Shiya darted into his
path and held out her arms.

“He’s my
protector. It’s his job to look out for me. Just, please, get your arm taken
care of. If you two go like I asked you to, no one else has to get hurt.”

“I’m her
fiancé,” Joe said in a raspy tone.

Both
shifters froze. Shiya rolled her eyes.
Seriously,
Joe? Jealousy now, when Kotori almost snapped your neck?

“Be quiet,”
she demanded. “If you hadn’t jumped the gun in the first place, none of this
would have happened.”

She
expected Birk to accuse her of not only sleeping with the enemy like a two-bit
whore, but also not respecting the commitment he thought she had to Joe. He
said nothing. Rather, he strolled to the door, still standing open, and left. Kotori
grabbed a towel for his arm and followed his friend, shutting the door behind
him. Shiya took in the destroyed state of the lock and recalled the way the
door wobbled now on its hinges. How the heck would she explain it to the
manager? She closed her eyes and sank to the floor. A raging headache pulsed
behind her eyes. The last twenty-four hours had gone from amazing to a
nightmare, and it had all started to go wrong when she elected to veer off the
path set before her.

“Shiya,”
Joe called out behind her.

She twisted
around to look at him and took in the ugly purple bruises beginning to form on
his neck. She wondered about Kotori’s injury and hoped no major arteries had
been cut. Would the hospital be able to help him? Or would Birk treat him in
secret?

“Shiya!”

“What!”

“I will
have to report this to Kasen and your dad.”

She swore.
Like she would ever marry this bastard in a million years. If he loved her, he
would cover it all and say something went wrong, not that she screwed up. Well,
she didn’t need his help. She could explain it to her dad. Not about the sex,
but about misjudging Birk and Kotori. That everyone would know she wasn’t cut
out for the field was fine. She never wanted to do it again, and her experience
with Birk and Kotori could remain an insane memory—one that would fade over
time into something unreal.

Shiya stood
over her baggage, staring as if it would pack itself. She had decided to leave,
to go back to San Diego and tell her dad she’d washed out. He’d be disappointed,
but the situation couldn’t be helped. Her cell phone rang, and she picked it up
to check the display. The muscles in her stomach tightened as she punched the
connect button.

“Hey,
Kasen.”

“Do you
know where Marine Way and Franklin is?”

She thought
about it and remembered that was near the Red Dog Saloon, close to where the
Juneau Public Library was located. She’d walked all along that area with Birk
and Kotori. “Yes, I know.”

“Be there
in forty-five minutes.” He hung up, and she frowned. Who the hell did he think
he was? She didn’t answer to Kasen. Well, not directly. Her dad had given her
special permission to handle this job, and he did not say Kasen would be her
leader.

Shiya
examined her outfit, jeans and layered tops that she could remove if the weather
turned a bit warmer. She decided she didn’t need to change, and

Kasen
didn’t warrant a special outfit either way.

After
checking the clock on the nightstand, she figured she had enough time to
complete her packing. While she did so, she thought about why Kasen had come
down from Anchorage. Joe must have followed through with his threat to report
what happened with the guys. The question remained what Kasen felt about it.
Would he let it go and agree with her going home?

She left
the room, eyeing the handwork of the locksmith who had fixed her door. Not more
than a couple hours passed before it was done, and the relief at not being
tossed out on her ear had lifted a weight from her shoulders.

When she
reached the street, Joe met her and walked along beside her. She frowned at
him. “I guess I have you to thank for arranging to get the door fixed? You
moved fast. What did you tell the inn manager to keep them from throwing me on
the street?”

For a
moment, Joe gave her a blank stare. He glanced over his shoulder toward the
room, and then his face cleared. “Oh, uh, yeah, it was nothing. Don’t worry
about it.”

“I do worry
about it, because I don’t want to owe you, Joe, and we still haven’t talked
about you claiming to be my fiancé. We’re not involved, and we never will be
again.”

He slowed
his gait, but she kept her speed. When he realized she wouldn’t slow down, he
jogged to walk beside her again. “Can you stop a minute, Shiya?”

“No, I’m
meeting Kasen.”

“Shiya.” He
grabbed her arm, but she shook him off and whirled on him. “What’s your
problem?”

“What’s
yours?” She glared at him, hands on her hips. “You expected me to thank you for
telling Kasen what happened, that I failed? What, I was supposed to get back
with you so you can tell my dad at least one plan went right—the one
you
orchestrated? I know, you thought
you’d give this as evidence of why I should stay in the office and not do
fieldwork, that you’re a hero because you saved his daughter from the big bad
bears!”

The
incredulity in his expression served to piss her off even more because she knew
he wasn’t real. He reached out to touch her arm again, but she scowled so hard,
he withdrew as if she’d tried to bite him.

“Shiya, I
hate that you think of me that way. Wasn’t I there for you?”

“Weren’t
you there for every dinner party my father threw?” she countered.

“Your dad
invited me as your man, and as one of his leaders. Everyone else came, and you
don’t think they had ulterior motives. Why is it so hard for you to believe I
love you?”

She shook
her head sighing. “I believe you love me, Joe, I really do—in your own way. But
you spent more time talking to me about what my dad said or did. You asked me
more times than I can count what I thought he wanted. When I didn’t know, you
told me to ask him and let you know. But you want to know what the real kicker
is?”

He
compressed his lips, and red stained his handsome face. “I think you’ve said
enough.”

“No, not
yet.” She moved closer to him and raised her chin. “The real treat is that you
always preferred Shae.”

Joe’s
eyebrows disappeared into his hairline.

“Oh yeah,
Kasen was kind enough to tell me
after
I let you into my bed. He said you were joking around with the guys, like y’all
do, and you said the real beauty in the family is Shae because she’s got a
great combination between Shiya’s sweetness and Sakura’s ability to kick ass.
She will make a man a great wife one day.” To her disgust and anger, tears
filled her eyes.

“Shiya, I—”

“What?
You’re going to say Kasen lied? Go ahead, tell me how he lied, Kasen, who doesn’t
give a crap who he hurts when he has something to say. You know what else?”

“Damn it,
Shiya, that’s enough!”

She went on
like he hadn’t spoken. “He said, ‘But aside from that, he’s a good man. Fights
well and gets the job done. Wish he was black, but whatever, you should keep
him.’ As if my future husband should be a man who fights well and gets the job
done, nothing else being important.” She poked Joe in the chest and leaned in
close to his face so he wouldn’t miss her seriousness. “The next time you decide
to claim a woman as your fiancée, choose someone else, because it damn sure
won’t be me. Oh, and Shae wouldn’t touch you if you were the last man on
earth.”