Chapter Four

CHAPTER FOUR

Faith wasn’t sure how she was going to deal with the handsome lion shifter who was driving his pickup truck just a bit behind her old car. He was handsome as sin, and when she’d seen his lion form, she’d been momentarily struck breathless. He was gorgeous in either form. Yummy enough to eat, she’d thought scandalously to herself.

And he’d been sent here by her Aunt Gloria, which meant he had to be a good guy. Aunt Glo wouldn’t send just anyone to help her favorite niece.

He’d caught her a bit flat-footed, though, and she’d probably sounded weird to him. She just hadn’t expected any help, and certainly not a drop-dead-gorgeous shifter with mysterious eyes that made her want to dive in and never come up for air. Damn . She had to get her crazy thoughts under control. He wasn’t here to court her. He was just here to help her accomplish her mission.

But wouldn’t it be something if a guy like that had walked into her life just to be with her? Yeah, and pigs would fly too. Faith tamped down her disappointment and tried to figure out how she was going to work with him. She’d never worked with a partner before.

Then again, she hadn’t really been out in the world, slaying demons before the past few days. She’d known she could do it, and her mentor had trained her in all the old ways, but until just recently, there hadn’t been any actual demons to practice on. It was kind of a relief to realize that the things she’d been learning really did work, and she did have the power her mentor claimed she had.

Little by little, Faith was coming to believe in herself and her powers. She just didn’t have any belief in her ability to attract men. She’d dated a bit when she was younger, but she’d always been the awkward girl who didn’t quite fit in. She’d had a few short-term boyfriends in college, but none of those relationships had lasted, and she’d finally given up, fearing the fault was with her, not the college boys she’d dated.

As she’d gotten older, she’d had a few dates with colleagues, but they hadn’t amounted to anything, and once again, she’d given up. Her faith in the Goddess told her that, if she was meant to be with someone, well, it would happen. The Mother of All looked out for Her children. By dedicating her life to the Goddess, Faith had decided to just do what she could with this power she had been granted and trust that everything else would work out. Somehow.

Of course, it had been hard being always alone. Surrounded by friends and acquaintances, but with nobody special in her life to share the little everyday triumphs and tribulations. She had her Aunt Gloria, of course. The only member of her immediate family left to her. But Aunt Glo had a full life of her own, and Faith had gone out into the world to try to figure out where she fit.

She’d known from a young age that joining the coven really wasn’t her path. When she’d discovered her calling and decided to study with her mentor and become a Priestess-in-training, Faith had thought her life had finally taken a turn for the better. Now, out here on the road the past few days, fighting nightmarish monsters from other realms, she wasn’t so sure.

Her mentor had the knowledge, but not the power to do the things Faith could do, so she’d stayed behind when Faith had started feeling the pull to travel. Her mentor had sent Faith off with good wishes and high spirits, but once on the road, Faith felt the loneliness she hadn’t felt in a long time.

Then, the demons had started showing up, and she’d been too aghast and busy to think much more about it. And now… Now she was being followed by the most handsome man she’d ever seen up close. A handsome and brave man with a quick wit. She liked pretty much everything she’d seen of him so far and looked forward to learning more as they worked together.

Although, she still wasn’t sure what form their working together would take. She was the Demon Slayer. She was the one who had to face down whatever came at them. She wasn’t sure what he could really do.

Oh, she’d seen him kill that demon behind the rest stop building, and he’d acquitted himself well, but she really had had the situation well under control until he’d shown up and butted in. Fighting demons was what she had been born to do, according to her aunt and her mentor. And now, she was doing it.

So, why had Aunt Glo sent a warrior to watch over her? Was there some doubt about her abilities? No. Surely not. Aunt Gloria had praised Faith’s mentor to the heavens when she’d been taken on as a student. Faith knew—especially now, after having had multiple run-ins—that she had the right skills for this. So why send a warrior? Faith didn’t really understand, but Aunt Glo hadn’t steered her wrong yet, so Faith would reserve judgement.

One thing was sure. She was really looking forward to having lunch with the man at the next truck stop. She wanted to talk with him more and learn as much as she could about what he thought his role was in this odd partnership.

Plus, she just liked looking at him and hearing the growl of his lion in his tone when he talked, she admitted to herself. Oh, the man was pretty to look at, but that usually wasn’t enough to get her motor running. There had to be a spark of intelligence, a strong character that valued the intangibles like honor, loyalty, honesty, and all the rest of the things that made her respect a person. She hadn’t known Colt long enough to know if he had any of those qualities. So why was her little heart going pitter-pat when she was in his presence?

It was something of a mystery. She thought she’d outgrown the whole hormonal-attraction thing when she’d finished college. Then again, based on her surprising response to this uber-attractive man, maybe not.

She’d have to wait and see if it was just a Tarzan-Jane thing or if maybe her instincts were pushing her toward him because he really was the whole package. Somehow, she felt that, if she just gave him a chance to show her his true colors, they would be everything she was looking for…and probably a whole lot more.

There was just something about him.

Or maybe not. It was just too soon to say.

Putting her racing thoughts on hold, she made sure he was still back there, a few car-lengths behind her. Then, she put on some music and sang along at the top of her lungs in order to distract herself. That worked for a couple of miles, but then, she started thinking about lunch and what kinds of food the truck stop might have, and what they would talk about while they dined together.

Which brought her thoughts right back to the disturbing man driving in the pickup truck behind her. Mind going in circles, Faith just gave in and contemplated the view she’d had of his incredibly muscular chest when he’d decided not to put his wet shirt back on. Hubba hubba .

She turned up the air conditioning in her car another notch.

An hour later, they pulled off the highway into one of the big truck stops. It was time for lunch and a well-deserved break from the road. Colt was pleased to see that this truck stop had both a fast-food option and a sit-down restaurant. He’d opt for the latter, if he could talk Faith into it. They needed to get to know each other a little better if they were going to work together. He needed to get a better understanding of her character and how she might act or react given another emergency situation. He also wanted to learn more about the magical pull she felt toward Houston, and he had to tell her about the arrangements he’d made with Gavin.

On top of all that, he had to figure out why he found the woman so darn alluring. She was beautiful in an ethereal sort of way, but he also liked the way her eyes sparkled with intelligence, even if the words coming out of her mouth seemed a bit disjointed sometimes. The combination fascinated him.

They parked next to each other in front of the windows of the restaurant portion of the building, which was just perfect. Meeting up with her as she got out of her car and stretched a bit, Colt escorted her into the truck stop, going over their immediate plans. They agreed they would each stop in the restrooms first, then get a table and have lunch in the restaurant. Perfect.

Colt waited until she was in the ladies’ room before going next door to the men’s room. He took care of business, and quickly washed his hands, then went back into the hallway to wait for her to come out. She seemed surprised to see him when she exited but smiled, and they walked together toward the podium where a hostess waited to seat them.

Colt requested a window seat, and the hostess gave them a spot from which Colt could see both vehicles. He didn’t think anything would happen here, but vigilance was a habit with him. It didn’t cost anything to keep an eye on the cars, and it might just pay off if the unexpected should occur.

The waitress came over, and they ordered their meals before they could get into any real conversation. The restaurant was sparsely populated at this time of day. It was a bit after the traditional lunch time, but they’d had a busy morning, after all.

“I got in touch with a contact from the Clan while we were on the road,” Colt told her, being careful not to name names or give too many details where they might possibly be overheard. “They’re going to put us up in one of their properties,” he went on. “I can text you the address if you’ll give me your number.”

“Oh, sure,” Faith replied, fumbling for her phone. “And I should probably have yours as well, if we’re going to be working together.”

They spent a few moments putting the numbers into their contacts lists, and Colt sent over the address Gavin had texted him. She got it and stuck it into a map app on her phone, frowning a bit as she looked at where the place was located.

“This is probably still a little bit too close to the center of the city, but it’ll do. It’s very nice of them to give us a place to stay,” she observed.

“It is nice, but it’s also so they can keep an eye on us,” he told her. “I’m a stranger to them, and you may have heard my kind can be a bit territorial. Basically, we’re both unknown quantities, though I’m sure they’re probably researching us both as we speak. You’ve got some people they will respect to vouch for you, which will help you, but they don’t know much about me, except that they objected to my mother’s heritage, and my father stormed off and never had anything to do with them ever again.” He sighed. It really was a drag that he’d ended up in the one place where the Clan ruled. Why couldn’t the threat have been in literally any other city?

“So, does that mean they’re going to want to meet us?” Faith asked, diverting his attention from his own morose thoughts.

“Oh, yeah,” he replied immediately. “I expect there’ll be a welcoming committee at that address when we get there. With any luck, it’ll be the guy my brother met recently. They hit it off, and my brother speaks very highly of him, so I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Other than that one guy, I only know two other members of the Clan, and they’re both back east. Or they should be.”

“Well, we’ll hope it’s the guy your brother knows then,” she said primly, putting her napkin in her lap as the waitress returned with their order.

They ate and discussed nothing of real importance, just getting to know each other a little better. They talked about music and art. General things, since they were in a public place and couldn’t really talk about magic, demons, or any specifics about the Kinkaids. It was a bit stifling, since Colt felt a strange urge to know everything about Faith that he couldn’t quite explain.

She was very alluring to his inner cat. Something about her magic tickled in a pleasant way along his own magical senses. He didn’t know much about his magical heritage. He and his brothers had learned shifting from a young age, but their mother hadn’t told them much about magic, saying only that it was something they would grow into, or not.

Colt had always figured he had no magic of his own besides the innate magic all shifters had to have. For the first time, he thought maybe there might possibly be more to his magical side than he’d thought. The way he sparked off Faith made him wonder if he had indeed inherited something more from his mother’s side of the family than he’d thought.

But that was something he could explore later. Getting bogged down in self-discovery during a mission was a recipe for disaster. Still, that exciting little tingle of magic every time they touched was…intriguing, for lack of a better word. It made his inner lion want to rub up against her to feel it again and again.

Down, boy.

They got back on the road after finishing their meal and started on the last leg of their journey toward Houston. Colt resisted calling Faith on the phone, now that he had her number. He’d save that for if they really needed to communicate something important.

His lion wanted to hear her voice. So did his human side. But it would be a little weird at this point in their relationship to call her just to hear her talk. She’d think he was a psycho or something.

So, he drove, following her little car as they reached the city limits and merged onto the looping highway that surrounded the city center. It took a while to navigate around the massively sprawling city, but they eventually found the right exit and took smaller roads to get to their destination.

The building wasn’t what he’d expected, exactly. Somehow, when he’d heard the word safehouse , he’d assumed they would be going to an actual house. A single-family dwelling in the suburbs. But this was a small apartment building set right on the street. Not someplace he would immediately equate with shifters, most of whom liked a bit of greenery around them.

Colt’s phone rang, and he saw it was Faith calling. She’d pulled to a stop in front of the building, as if unsure where to go from there. Colt pulled up behind her.

“Are you sure this is the right address?” she asked as soon as he answered the phone.

Colt was going to reply when he saw a big man waving at him. Lion, he thought immediately. And a little familiar-looking. Not that they’d ever met before, but he had the Kinkaid look about him. Colt raised a hand to wave back tentatively, and the man came over to the passenger side of his pickup truck. Colt lowered the window.

“I’m Gavin,” he said, and Colt wasn’t really surprised.

“Colt,” he replied politely, though surely, the guy already knew that.