Page 10 of A Secret Crush Valentine’s (Holiday Shifters of Frost Mountain #9)
The Frost Mountain Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Back in high school, Damon had always tried to avoid a fight. Even when it meant getting beat up, he’d held back. As a dragon shifter, he was stronger than pretty much every other kid at Laudville High, not to mention he never really had a reason to fight.
On Frost Mountain, the rules were different. Here, you had to fight because if you didn’t, your chances of survival were slim—very slim.
Now, Damon eyed the men. There were five of them surrounding them. As he watched, each of them drew a weapon. Damon counted three daggers, a sword, and a hammer.
It took him two seconds to realize who they must be: Collectors.
He’d never met them all because Collectors were scattered all over Frost Mountain, but he knew in his gut that Grim Jim sent these men.
Jan’s words resounded in his memory: He’s growing impatient—
and desperate, it seemed, if Grim Jim had sent other Collectors after him. He must have figured something was up.
Next to him, Julia’s breathing quickened. Damon reached for her hand and squeezed it.
To the men, he said, “I’m going to give you all one chance to drop your weapons and leave before things get ugly.
They did not respond, but Damon thought he heard one of the men snicker. He found that irritating.
Grim Jim had sent these men here for one of two reasons. First, was that the Ice Melter already knew that Damon was with his prize and wanted to take it from him by whatever means necessary. That seemed improbable. However, the second reason made more sense: Grim Jim had sent his Collectors to punish him.
The men inched closer, tightening the circle. Damon clenched his fists as his pulse slowed. His mind was racing a thousand miles a minute, calculating his possible moves. He couldn’t shift, not with Julia so near, not to mention shifting would draw too much attention. His only option was to fight these men.
“Stay close to the ground,” he whispered to Julia. “Things are about to get ugly.”
She nodded and dropped to a crouch. But when he glanced down at her, Julia was gone. In her place, sitting atop a pile of clothes, was a snow leopard.
“Red, what are you—?”
Gasps erupted around them.
“Snow leopard!” one of the Collectors exclaimed.
That was all he got out before Damon slammed his elbow into the man’s jaw, which made a satisfying crack, and the man hit the snow. The other Collectors, momentarily shocked, quickly recovered their wits and attacked. Damon snatched the dagger from the fallen man’s hand and hurled it at the man standing nearest him. It stuck in his thigh. With a howl of pain, the man dropped to the ground and, in the process, knocked himself out with his own hammer.
Then, there was a snarl that made Damon look up just in time to see Julia slam into one of the men, knocking him to the ground. The man was quick to react. The next thing Damon knew, the snow leopard was sailing through the air straight into a tree.
Julia!
Damon slammed his boot into the man’s head, and the guy passed out with a grunt. The last two guys ended up on their backs in the snow, groaning in pain.
He thought he heard some movement in the trees, but when he turned toward the sound, there was no one. Adjusting his bag, Damon scrambled over to Julia, who was getting up on all fours.
“Shift back,” he told her, “now.”
Ten seconds later, a very naked Julia lay at the foot of the tree. Under different circumstances, Damon might have taken his time admiring her inviting curves and rosy spots, but between the sight of her shivering and the fact that Collectors had just attacked them, he was too distracted to care about that right now.
He took some clothes from his bag and helped her shimmy into them. His voice was thick with concern as he said, “What the hell were you thinking?”
“You asked me to stay close to the ground,” she pointed out.
“You could have been hurt.” He pulled out another article of clothing and handed it to her. It was a blue windbreaker with gold lettering on the back.
She blinked, holding it up. “Is this… is this an FBI jacket?”
He shrugged. “I told you, Red, all kinds of people and items end up on Frost Mountain.”
“I’m guessing there’s a Frost Mountain Bureau of Investigation?”
He smirked. “If there is, I’d like to meet the agents someday.” The smile vanished from his face. “But not today, when we’re being attacked in the woods by men with weapons. You need to promise me you won’t shift again, at least not until we get to Caprichor.”
“Why? What’s the problem with…?” Her voice trailed off when she caught his stern look. “Fine, I promise.”
“Good.” The last thing he needed was to be discovered traveling across the mountain with Grim Jim’s latest prize. In human form, she’d be harder to spot. “Let’s go.”
They got up and left the clearing, moving as quickly as their tired legs would carry them.
“Who were those men?” Julia asked once they’d gotten far enough away to slow down.
“Collectors,” he replied before he could stop himself, hoping he hadn’t just made a mistake.
Her expression grew more troubled. “What could they possibly want from us?”
Not from us, from me.
“Whatever it is, we can’t afford to get discovered again,” he told her. “We need to move faster.”
She touched his arm, and he felt his pulse quicken.
How ironic , Damon thought.
Earlier, when they were surrounded, and he knew he’d have to fight, his heart rate had dropped steadily, and his respiration slowed. But when Julia was involved, it was a whole different matter. Damon couldn’t tell whether that meant that her presence was somehow more dangerous than an attack by Grim Jim’s Collectors.
He sucked in a deep breath. “Neither of us can shift, for now, Red. Flying is only going to give us away. And if we hope to get anywhere quickly, we’re going to need to take as many shortcuts as we can.”
When she looked at him, her eyes were wide. “What does that mean?”
“It means,” Damon said grimly, “that we’re going to have to cross that lake.”