“I saw them when they were brought before the king. I knew it was them,” Garret snapped. At least I would have if I’d had another minute to spy on them. He turned to look at the humans and saw that one was getting closer to where they hid. “Why are they out here searching?”

  “I can’t answer that,” Solomon said. “If their minds were wiped, they wouldn’t have a reason to be out here at all.”

  “That one’s far from the others… maybe I can see what they’re looking for.” He turned to face Solomon. “The less he sees, the better. Stay here.”

  Solomon lifted his hands in mock surrender.

  Garret rose slightly and moved closer, while remaining within the high grasses. Crickets chirped, the air thick with humidity even at the late hour. The nearly full moon spread its illumination over the field, giving him a good view of the nearby human.

  The aroma in the air… the scent of wet grass and mud filled his nose. Then another smell drifted into his nose. Garret paused, hunkering down lower and trying to determine the source. The human walked closer, the scent growing stronger.

  Mine, his lion growled within.

  Garret stared at the man, shocked to his core.

  Dark hair topped a lean body. His features were masculine, yet pretty in some way. Full, soft lips were perfect for kissing. Hungry, he stared at them too long. Desire swelled through him, the need to claim pounding through his veins.

  His blood pulsed in his ears, the sound of the crickets growing even louder to his sensitive hearing. A growl rose up his throat, but he cut it off. He rose to his feet, uncaring if he was seen or not. This human before him… was his. Garret’s feet felt as if they moved of their own accord… and it almost felt as if he was floating a few inches off the ground.

  Something in the human’s hand began lighting up and beeping. The man swept it over the ground, the sound from it growing even louder. He fished the neural transmitter from his pocket and crept closer.

  How can I wipe his mind again?

  Make him forget Midnight?

  Make it that much harder for him to find me?

  It was his duty. He was supposed to check on the humans, re-wipe his presence from their memory, and report back to Eilam. He would have to find a way out into the human world—find the man again and claim what was his. Then, he could bring the man back to Midnight where they belonged.

  The human lifted his stare and met Garret’s. His eyes widened, and the hand holding the loud box lowered.

  “Who are you?” Garret asked.

  “I could ask you the same question. Is Reese okay? Is he still in Midnight?”

  Garret frowned, tilting his head. He couldn’t have heard that right. “You remember?”

  Had they not wiped him correctly the first time?

  “Where have you taken him?”

  Panic set in. He glanced down the field and saw the other humans hadn’t heard their conversation. They were busy searching, for what, he didn’t know. Garret lifted the neural transmitter and sent a pulse to the human. The man blinked a few times, appearing to be confused.

  Shit. Why did I do that? I needed to ask him what he’s doing out here in the field. I needed to make sure they’re okay so I can report back. Damn it!

  “Are you going to answer my questions or not?”

  Garret’s head snapped up, and he eyed the human. “What?”

  “Is Reese in Midnight or not? You need to release him and let him come home.”

  He remembers? How? There’s no way he could’ve come out of the pulse that quickly…

  I can’t leave him out here with that knowledge.

  I must protect Midnight.

  After another quick pulse to confuse the man, Garret grabbed the human and tossed him over one shoulder before racing toward the portal. He crossed back into the station before turning and realizing he’d left without urging Solomon to follow. The human began to scream, kicking his legs and punching Garret’s back.

  “Let me go, damned you!”

  Garret lifted the neural transmitter and wondered if it was faulty. That could explain all of this—but did that mean the other three humans also had their memories? He turned to look at the portal, ignoring the human’s commands. Luckily, the dragon followed him through moments later, ire in his expression. “What have you done?” Solomon demanded before freezing. His nostrils flared, and he let out a low growl. “Who is this?”

  “He remembers.”

  Chapter Three

  Hart was back in Midnight. Well, the station they’d arrived in by train before unceremoniously being dumped back out in the human world—without Reese. The place was as loud and chaotic as it had been the last time he’d been there. Lines queued up, filled with a bevy of paranormal entities—though he struggled to see things from his upside down view.

  Blood rushed to his head, making his ears ring. Hart beat against the strong back of the man holding him. No matter what he did, he couldn’t break free from the iron band of an arm holding him.

  His whole body shook, his mind a riot.

  Something akin to need raged within him, and he couldn’t understand it.

  He forced himself to grow calm and listened to a conversation the man holding him was having.

  “What do you mean, he remembers?” a deep voice asked.

  Hart lifted his head and caught a dark-skinned man’s eye.

  His golden eyes. They glowed when he stared at Hart. Just as the other man’s had glowed blue outside. This man was… just as handsome. But it was more than that… Hart felt drawn to the man, just like he’d felt an odd connection to the one now holding him.

  He sucked in a breath, mesmerized by the sight of those eyes.

  “Let me down,” he commanded after a moment.

  Hart was lowered to the floor. He spun to face the two men, watching them carefully. “Where’s Reese?”

  “Safe,” the dark-skinned man said.

  “And you expect me to believe that?”

  “I can bring him here to show you,” the man answered, the thick, rich sound of his voice giving Hart goose bumps.

  “No,” the other man said, the man who’d abducted him.

  “Why not? What are you hiding?” Hart demanded.

  “That wasn’t part of the job,” the man hissed to the one with glowing, golden eyes.

  “Neither was bringing him back into Midnight, I’d assume,” the dark man growled back.

  His abductor turned toward him. “We need to get a neural transmitter that works, wipe his memory of this place, and send him back to his world. That’s the job.”

  Hart took a step back. “I’m not leaving without Reese.”

  “Reese stays with his mates,” the man spat.

  Mates? Hadn’t that guy in the station said something about Reese being a mate when they’d arrived? “His mates?”

  “Reese belongs here… you, do not,” his abductor said. He turned to the dark-skinned man. “Can you help me round up the others? We need to wipe their minds, too.” Hart’s arm was grabbed in a vise-like grip. “Wait for me… I’m going to take him to a secured room.”

  Moments later, he was deposited into a small room without windows. He could hear the murmur of the station outside the door, but no matter how hard he banged and screamed on the door, no one came to check on him.

  Not until a few minutes later when Jeph, Nick, and Griffin were shoved into the room with him. Wide eyed, they looked his way.

  “Wait here until I can get a fresh transmitter—and then you’ll be free to go,” their abductor said.

  The door was slammed closed, leaving them alone.

  “Do you truly believe me now?” Hart asked his friends.

  All three nodded, silent.

  “What is this place?” Griffin asked.

  “You were here before. Sounds like they’re going take our memories away—again—and dump us outside. They have Reese here and won’t let me see him. He’s in danger.” Hart started feeling around on the walls, searching for a way out.

  I can’t leave Reese to die here.

  Just as he’d finished one wall, the door opened. The dark-skinned man walked in and shut the door behind him. He stared at Hart, and his eyes began to glow again.

  “They’re going to send you away… I’m going to come for you,” he said, his voice like fine whiskey.

  A shiver raced down Hart’s spine. He took a few instinctive steps closer. “Who are you?”

  “Solomon,” he said, taking a few steps closer. The man closed the gap between them and reached out to place a hand on Hart’s shoulder. Heat radiated from the hand. The warmth filled him with emotions he didn’t understand.

  When the man leaned down to kiss Hart, it shocked him to his core.

  The embrace was as quick as lightning and over too soon. Hart released a breath, his mind feeling a bit foggy. “Who are you?” he whispered.

  “A friend,” Solomon said. He stepped back and took a small notepad and pen out of his pocket. After scribbling something across the surface, he pealed the top page off.

  The door whipped open, and Solomon quickly shoved the paper into Hart’s pocket before hiding the pen and notepad behind him. “You’ll be okay, I promise,” the man whispered before wandering away a few steps.

  Their abductor strode through the door with two more—and a six foot, walking, talking… beaver. They’d met the manimal on their last trip there, but he knew the others were likely shitting their pants. He turned to see the horrified looks on their faces.

  “He’s harmless,” Hart said to them before turning to the beaver. “At least, he was last time.”

  The beaver turned to their abductor, an eyebrow rising. “I swear I checked the transmitter myself before we wiped their memories. We’ll have to do a check on them all.” He pulled what Hart assumed was this transmitter from his uniform pocket and pressed a few buttons.

  “The others first,” his abductor said, urging the manimal toward Jeph and the others. All three took two more steps back, their eyes large and mouths open.

  Hart met his abductor’s stare for a moment before returning to his friends.

  The transmitter was used on them, one by one. They all froze, their eyes unfocused and mouths lax.

  His abductor waved over the two human looking officers. “Escort these three out,” he said before turning to Solomon. “Can you help them?”

  “I’d rather stay,” Solomon said.

  Hart turned to Solomon, agreeing. He didn’t understand what he sensed from the man, but he knew he wouldn’t be hurt if Solomon was around.

  But then, he got a similar feeling from his abductor, which was confusing.

  “Please,” his abductor said. “You asked to help… this is the help I need right now.”

  “If it’s what you want, Garret.” Solomon eyed them both before heading out. As he passed, the man squeezed Hart’s wrist.

  After they were gone, Hart turned to Garret. “Why did you split us up? Are you going to imprison me like Reese?”

  “Reese is no prisoner. He’s chosen to stay here.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “What you believe is inconsequential,” Garret answered, his blue eyes beginning to glow again. “In a few moments, you won’t remember any of this.”

  The beaver lifted the transmitter, and Hart felt a pulse.

  For a brief moment, he felt a cloudiness come over him, but it was gone as quickly as it came, like Solomon’s kiss.

  “When should I feel it kick in?”

  Garret and the beaver-man turned to look at one another before looking at him.

  They sent another pulse.

  Once the sensation left him, he sighed. “How many more times are you going to try that before you realize it’s not working on me?”

  * * * *

  Garret lifted his hand to Matioc’s arm and made the beaver-man lower the transmitter. There was no reason to send another pulse. The human was right. It didn’t work on him.

  “This is why I saved you for last. I wondered if this would happen,” Garret said.

  “So now what?” the man asked.

  “Good question,” Matioc mumbled.

  “Leave us,” Garret said to the beaver.

  Matioc glared at him, but left in silence. The click of the door closing behind him signaled they were alone.

  “What are you planning to do to me?”

  Garret took a step closer, but the man took one back, maintaining the gap between them. “I won’t hurt you.”

  Silence fell between them.

  “I know.”

  Garret smiled slightly. “How do you know that?”

  “I don’t know. I do… somehow.” He took one more step back. “That doesn’t mean I trust you, though.”

  “What could I do to show you that you can trust me?”

  “Let me see Reese. Let me see that he’s not hurt. Or worse.”

  “I can’t make that decision. But I could put in a word and ask if you can see him,” Garret said quietly. He pulled a cell phone from his pocket and dialed Eilam before lifting it to his ear.

  “You find them?” Eilam asked.

  “Hello to you, too,” Garret murmured into the phone.

  Eilam chuckled. “Hello. Did you find them?”

  “I did. They were the ones scouting outside the portal. Three of them have been re-wiped and are now being delivered back to their world.”

  “And the fourth?” Eilam asked.

  “You might want to get down here. The neural transmitter doesn’t work on the last one. He remembers everything and is demanding to see Reese.”

  There was silence on the other end for a moment.

  Garret frowned. “Are you there?”

  “I am,” Eilam answered. “I’ll be there in five.”

  Garret ended the call and shoved the phone in his pocket. “My boss is on his way.”

  “Goodie,” the human said.

  “What’s your name?” Garret asked.

  “The answer is inconsequential.”

  Garret chuckled. The human shivered, and something about that drove Garret nuts. “I said that believing your memory would be removed. I didn’t mean that you were inconsequential.”

  The human met his stare. “Hart.”

  Garret smiled. “Was that so hard?”

  “Don’t play this good cop bit. You already showed your bad cop side.”

  “Bad cop? What did I do to hurt you?”

  “You abducted me… and you’re imprisoning me against my will. It’s against my human rights.”

  “Your knowledge of a million shifters in this city puts them all in danger. I’m sorry if I trampled on your rights just a little to protect them,” Garret said, taking a step closer.

  The human’s back hit the wall as he took his final step away.

  Garret took advantage and took two steps closer, closing the gap. “I haven’t hurt you or your friends. I only did what I did to protect the people of this city from your kind.”

  “Protect them from us? They could decimate my kind.”

  “Not all of those who grace this city are powerful. Many who gravitate here are weaker creatures, seeking the protection of those more powerful and of their kind. If any one of those beings fell into human hands, a war would be waged against people like me. What little I know of humans, one thing has always been consistent. They kill things not like them.”

  Hart swallowed, but remained silent.

  “Your minds were wiped so you could return, unharmed, to your world. Your memory issue is putting a wrench in the system.” Garret took one last half step, nearly touching the human. “Otherwise, you would be out there with your friends right now, blissfully ignorant of Midnight, Mississippi.”

  Garret looked down at the man’s lush lips, the urge to kiss him nearly taking over his whole body. Just as he succumbed to the instinct, the door flung open and Eilam walked in. Garret stepped back, putting distance where he wanted none.

  Eilam stared between them a moment before pinning Garret with a gaze. “We need to talk outside for a moment.”

  Garret glanced at Hart before following Eilam out into the hall. He closed the door behind him and turned to his boss.

  “What was that shit?”

  “What?” Garret asked, frowning.

  Eilam shook his head. “I spoke to Mantioc. He has his team going through all of the neural transmitters now, checking them.”

  “The one we used worked fine on the other three. It’s not the transmitters. It’s this human.”

  Eilam scratched his cheek, his expression inquisitive. “A human can’t fight the effects of a mind wipe. Did you sense something else in his blood? I mean, you were close enough to smell all of him when I walked in.”

  Heat filled Garret’s cheeks. “I sensed nothing but human.”

  Eilam lifted his hand. He held another neural transmitter. “Brand new. I want to see his reaction. Follow me.”

  Garret sighed, realizing it was likely a waste of time, but if his boss wanted to check it for himself, so be it. From the corner of his eye, he saw Solomon walking closer. He tilted his head and urged the dragon to leave before he closed them into the room with Hart.

  He stood back, watching as Eilam tried to wipe Hart’s mind.

  “That thing’s not going to give me cancer or something, will it? If that’s radiation, then you’ve all used it too many times at this point,” Hart said to Eilam.

  Eilam turned to look at Garret over his shoulder.

  “You’ve done your little dance… now I want to see Reese. I want to know he’s okay. And then I want you to let us both go home,” Hart demanded.

  “I can’t allow that to happen,” Eilam said.

  “Are we your prisoners?” Hart asked.

  “Reese is no prisoner,” Eilam answered.

  “Then why is he still here?”

  Eilam rose to his full height. “I think you need to hear that answer from his own lips. I’ll go get him.” Eilam turned to Garret. “Come with me a moment?”

  Garret again went outside with Eilam.

  “I’ll go get Reese. It’ll calm the human down. And then we get Solomon in here.”

  “Why?” Garret asked. He gazed around and didn’t see the dragon in eyesight.

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12