Page 46

“Hi, Liam,” she said. “What’s going on?”

Shifting, Liam gave her a quick wave in return, coming over to join her on the beach, such as it was.

He was her chief of security – and someone she trusted implicitly. Ever since she’d given him a chance to turn his life around, he’d been dedicated both to her, and to the sanctuary. He’d gone to university, and he’d become an expert in his field – there was no one else Tahnee would have wanted in charge of keeping the sanctuary safe.

“Hey, Tahnee,” he said, as the two of them looked out over their handiwork. “Am I interrupting you?”

“Not at all,” she replied blandly, her eyes fixed on the way the sunlight shifted as a sudden breeze set all the leaves quivering. She couldn’t bring herself to look at Liam – he could read her like a book, and she knew that her turmoil was written all over her face.

Not that it really mattered, since her general air of avoidance also had to be making her mood pretty fucking obvious. She’d been far from her usual gregarious self ever since she got back.

They stood in comfortable silence for a few minutes, Liam giving her the space she needed to get her thoughts together.

“How are Jess and the kids?” she asked, working her way up toward an actual proper conversation.

“They’re good,” Liam said. “Maddy got a twenty on her spelling test.”

“That’s good,” Tahnee replied absently, and the conversation lapsed back into silence.

Just get it over and done with, she urged herself. You’ll have to tell him sooner or later, and everyone needs to be prepared for what might happen.

But she couldn’t make her mouth move. How could she say that her mate was actually her lifelong nemesis, that she’d known about him since forever, and that they’d hooked up and then split within a twenty-four hour period? Oh, and by the way, Hargreaves might be about to come down on all their heads?

A cacophonous flock of shrieking cockatoos flew overhead, the sound filling Tahnee’s ears entirely, and she was able to detect a singular cockatoo shifter amongst them, screeching its little lungs out and obviously having the time of its life. A small smile twitched at her lips despite her mood.

Sure, a cockatoo might not be a rare shifter type, but she wasn’t one to turn anyone away.

That was the whole point, really. It was a place where shifters could be who they really were without fear, whether they were cockatoos who could shift without worrying almost anywhere, or shifters with rare, extinct, or mythical forms – after all, Hector had come here on several occasions with his human mate Myrtle, and their alicorn shifter daughter, Ruby, knowing they were safe here.

“How’s the serenity,” she murmured, barely audible above the racket of the cockatoos screeching in chorus.

The cockatoos slowly disappeared into the distance, and with them, Tahnee’s excuse for staying quiet. She sighed.

“Do you want me to get the ball rolling?” Liam asked. “And just ask you why you’ve been in such a disgusting mood since you got back?”

Surprised, Tahnee turned to face him, forgetting that she was trying to avoid making eye contact.

“… Uh, sure,” she said eventually. Someone had to start the conversation, and her thoughts were in so much turmoil that she wasn’t sure where to begin. She was used to being the one who kept things moving, the one who always kept her cool, the one who enjoyed poking gentle fun at her friends. Now, the shoe was on the other foot, and she didn’t really like it.

“First question,” Liam said. “How’s things with your friend Robb going?”

The bottom dropped out of Tahnee’s stomach.

What? How the hell did he know that I saw Robb?! I didn’t mention it at all!

Apparently her aghast expression was all the answer Liam needed, because he grinned.

“For someone who likes to try and keep up a façade, sometimes you can be very obvious,” he said. “From the way you’ve been acting I’m guessing the answer is ‘not good’.”

Tahnee sighed again. Apparently her moping had been more obvious than she’d hoped.

There was no point in trying to hide it.

And, looking back, it was just possible that she hadn’t quite kept her interest in Robb as secret as she’d thought – her indirect interest, since she’d never spoken to him at any point after she’d left him at the New Year’s boat party until they’d met up again in the alleyway.

But it was just possible that when members of his team had come to stay with her, the questions of How’s your boss with the stick up his arse? and I guess that Robb Lockwood you work for hasn’t changed at all, has he? hadn’t been quite as subtle as she’d thought they were. She hadn’t meant to be obvious – she’d been pretty clear what she thought of authority, and Robb was authority – so she’d been hoping it had come off as just her having a poke at the Agency.

Clearly, it hadn’t worked. At all.