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Sorry, guys, but I need to get going. Send me a message about what you decide, and I’ll get started on it tonight.”

She hit send, knowing that they wouldn’t bother. A few wished her a good evening.

At least they’re nice about it,she thought as she logged out for the day.

She was halfway down the hallway when the knock came again, and it was the front door this time. She didn’t bother to look through the peephole before opening it.

“Thanks, Elliott. I—" She stopped as soon as she realized it wasn’t Elliott standing in front of her. Instead, it was three men dressed in suits, wearing sunglasses and looking menacing. Before she said anything, the one in the middle held something up and pulled the trigger.

Astrid looked down to see something sticking out of her chest. When she looked up, the world turned fuzzy. Taking a step back, the cat shifter shut and locked the door.

Then she passed out.

Chapter 9

Either You Or No One

“Come on, Astrid, wake up.”

Astrid felt something warm on her shoulders, then something warm on her neck, as if taking her pulse. The voice was familiar, but she was having a hard time placing it. Something about it sounded desperate. However, she was having trouble focusing because there was a strange tingling sensation across her limbs and a concerning pain in her chest. Then her body jolted, almost like she was being hit with something electrical or experiencing a seizure.

That’s not right.

Her mind was trying to make sense of the problem. When she was young and stuck her finger in a socket, the same thing happened. Her brother and father had been beside themselves with worry, and she had spent a couple of days under close surveillance. They never took her to the hospital, and while they never told her why, Astrid felt certain it was because she was a shifter. Instead, they monitored and cared for her until she was back to normal.

Something warm slid under her back. The spasms stopped, and her body felt more relaxed. The man let out a sigh as her body stilled and her breathing stabilized. She caught the scent of lavender and leather. Turning her head, she breathed in a little deeper, and a slight smile formed at the edges of her mouth.

As she settled down, he whispered. “Just be ok, and I swear, I won’t contact you again. I’ll leave you what I have and will stay away from here. Just wake up. Please, wake up.” She felt something touch her forehead, and a warmth spread out from there.

Groggily opening her eyes, she saw a pair of shiny blue eyes framed by some very prominent cheekbones and somegorgeous black hair. Something flashed through her mind, so she looked down at her chest. The little clamps and wires were gone. “Did they… Tase me?”

Instead of an answer, the man pulled her into a hug. “Thank you. I could not have lived with myself if I caused your death, too.”

Astrid rubbed her tongue against the roof of her mouth, tasting metal. She started shivering. “I don’t think they used anything deadly. They just shot me with a Taser or something. I remember the prongs sticking out of my shirt and the wires going back toward the man.” She moved a bit, but her arms felt like jelly. “My body isn’t quite working properly. Is that normal?”

The man set her down carefully, and she realized that she was in an unfamiliar bed. Looking around, Astrid tried to think about what led up to her being shot.

As she tried to process everything, the man stood up and moved away from the bed. “I believe it is normal for humans, but I’m not sure about shifters. There’s a good chance they did something to alter the charge, something that would enhance it to make sure you weren’t able to resist it. I’m running some tests now to see if there was anything else because your response suggested it wasn’t just electrical. I mean you…” He turned and looked at her and placed his hand on his chin as if thinking.

Astrid looked away, feeling some heat spreading across her neck. “I’m sorry, I’m having a hard time remembering who you are.”

When he didn’t immediately respond, she looked up at him. The man was just looking at her, concern in his eyes. “I mean, you look familiar, but I don’t… I can’t quite place you.”

“Do you remember what happened? Did you hit your head?”

“I…” Astrid tried to think back, but what stuck out was the wires and the three men.

The man walked over and started feeling the back of her head. “Ah, yes. You have quite a knot on the back of your head. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that. Hold on.” He closed his beautiful blue eyes and placed his hand over the back of her head. It hurt for a second, but Astrid realized that as it warmed, the pain dissipated.

“Oh. You’ve been healing me.”

He opened his eyes and gave her a weak smile. “I’m sure you could have done that yourself, but I think that the current in your body is going to make healing a little more difficult.”

“Yeah… that sounds right. I managed to get myself electrocuted when I was little by playing with an outlet with my fingernails.” She usually would stop there, but since this guy was able to heal her, she kept going. “I was in my other form, so you know, claws really, not fingernails.” She feebly held up a hand and wiggled her fingers.

The smile widened, but there was still sadness in his eyes. “You shifted into your cat form to play, and you were trying to play with the outlet?”

She showed her teeth and wrinkled up her nose. “Yeah. My dad would have been furious if he hadn’t been so afraid that I was going to die.”