Page 15 of His Place in the World (Legendary Shifters #9)

It would have made more sense for Tyler to trust shifters, but every time a shifter in the room moved, he pressed closer to Del’s father.

Del didn’t mind. His father had made him feel safe his entire life, so he got it.

He wanted Tyler to be okay and to feel comfortable, and if what he needed for that to happen was to be with Del’s father, then Del was more than okay with that.

“We can’t just barge in there,” Remi pointed out. His voice was soft and gentle, as if he were afraid to hurt his friend. He probably was.

“Why not?” Ryland asked.

“Because someone could get hurt.”

“I don’t care if I get hurt. I only care about Pembroke.”

“What if the person who gets hurt is him?”

That gave Ryland pause. He stopped in the middle of the room and stared at Remi.

“Remi’s right,” Cam said. “If I had my way, I’d go right now.

I don’t want anyone to be in Pembroke’s position for a second longer than strictly necessary.

It’s not exactly the same, but my mate was a prisoner for a long time.

Thinking about what he went through, even without being auctioned, makes me want to tear the world apart.

We can’t put anyone in danger, though, least of all Pembroke.

Even if we find out where Colbert lives, we need to look into the blueprints of the house, the security system, the security company that works for him, and to be sure we can get to Pembroke.

Rushing into this would only complicate things, and we can’t afford for that to happen, especially not if we want to take down the entire operation. ”

“Unless you changed your mind about that,” Angus said.

He’d spent most of the time Ryland had bitched about leaving right away on the phone. Del had no doubt he was working on Colbert’s cloned phone already.

“I haven’t,” Ryland said.

Angus finally looked up. “Are you sure? Because no one would blame you. You agreed to help us so we’d find your brother, and we have. If you want out of this operation as soon as Pembroke is back with you, I’m sure we can find a way to make that happen.”

Del wasn’t as sure as Angus that that was the case. He was only marginally involved, but even he knew that they needed Ryland’s money and his security company. Without him, the operation would be a disaster, and they couldn’t let that happen.

They needed Ryland to continue being involved.

Thankfully, Ryland shook his head. “I told you I wanted to take down the entire operation, and I will. We will.”

“Then let us do our job. Let me do my job. I understand you want to help your brother right away. I do, too, especially after seeing what we saw last night. But we have no idea what we’d walk into, and I don’t know about you, but I have no doubt that shifters are guarding the place.

You never told us what kind of shifter your brother is, just that he’s a rare shifter. What would Colbert use him for?”

Del hadn’t been there in person yesterday, but he’d seen enough to understand that the humans who bought the shifters had different uses for them.

Some of the shifters had been unicorn shifters, which meant they could heal people with their hands.

Some shifters, like Tyler, could be good guards.

He probably wouldn’t do any good in his human form, but in his gargoyle form?

Del didn’t know a lot about rare shifters, but he knew enough.

The kind of shifter one was impacted what was done with them.

And to them.

“He’s a hydra shifter.”

Del blinked. He hadn’t expected that, but then, he hadn’t expected Tyler to be a gargoyle shifter, either.

As with every human, most of the shifters he knew were common, like wolves, bears, and big cats.

He’d heard about rare shifters before moving to Rosewood, but those stories had always felt like they belonged in fairytale books rather than in reality.

Finding out that unicorn and tiger shifters existed felt a bit like a dream, and Del couldn’t believe he was in contact with these people every day and that they were as normal as he and his father.

“That’s the dragon with three heads, right?” Angus asked.

Ryland nodded. “I don’t know if I’d call him a dragon, but you get the idea, yes.”

“Is it true that his heads grow again when they’re cut off?”

Ryland’s eyes narrowed. “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never tried cutting my brother’s head off.”

“Right. Sorry. Anyway, considering that your brother’s a hydra shifter, if I had to take a guess, I’d bet that Colbert uses him for security. It would make the most sense.”

“Since when have bad guys made sense?” Remi muttered.

“You’re not wrong, but we have to start somewhere.

I have Colbert’s phone cloned, but I don’t know where to start looking, and poking around aimlessly hoping I’ll find the right information, isn’t doing much.

Knowing the kind of task Pembroke was probably given will make my job easier, which means research will be easier and we won’t have to wait as long as we would otherwise. ”

Ryland crossed his arms over his chest. “When do you think we’ll be able to go?”

“I have no way to know. There’s not much any of us can do for now except look through this phone. I’m sure Everly is already researching Colbert, Fulton, and anyone else involved he can identify. Once we know more about them and where they live, we’ll be able to come up with a plan.”

They talked for a while longer after that, but Angus was right.

There was nothing any of them could do at the moment except for Angus and Everly, and repeating the same things, again and again, wouldn’t help anyone.

Ryland needed to put his energy into something productive, so Del was relieved when Remi told him they needed to get back to work.

Del should train for a bit or maybe try to study, but he wasn’t sure he’d be able to focus.

Unfortunately, his college professors wouldn’t care about what was happening in his personal life, and besides, it wasn’t like he was about to tell them any of this.

Since Angus was busy, Del moved closer to his father. Tyler was still there, peeking around Matt, but he disappeared behind him again when he noticed Del.

Del frowned. Should he stay away from his father so he wouldn’t scare Tyler?

Matt solved Del’s dilemma by waving him closer. Tyler didn’t look convinced, but Matt turned around and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, pulling him forward. “This is Del. He’s my son, and you don’t have to be afraid of him,” he explained.

Tyler peered up at Del. “You were there last night.”

“I was.”

“Why?”

Del had no idea how to answer that, or rather, he did, but he wasn’t sure it would help Tyler not be afraid of him. “Because my mate was there.”

Tyler looked away from Del and at something behind him, and Del suspected that something was Angus. “You’re a shifter’s mate?” Tyler asked.

“I am.”

“I didn’t know that was possible,” Tyler murmured.

His gaze strayed to Matt, and something in it took Del’s breath away.

Yes, Tyler was terrified of what was happening to him and of the people around him, but Del suspected that wasn’t why he clung to Matt the way he did.

But why did he, then?

* * * *

Angus was only vaguely aware of what was happening around him. He was poking through the information he’d cloned from Colbert’s phone, and while he kept an ear open on the meeting, he was busy.

Still, he wasn’t so busy that he didn’t notice when Tyler suddenly shifted.

Angus blinked, looking up. The last time he’d seen Tyler, he’d been clinging to Matt, and the two of them had been talking to Del.

Del wasn’t the one standing in front of them now, though.

He was slightly to the side, looking alarmed as Tyler pushed Matt behind himself, clearly trying to protect him from Ryland.

“Everyone stop,” Cam ordered.

Angus locked up the phone in his hand and pushed it into his pocket as he got to his feet. What was happening? He didn’t know Ryland all that well, but he doubted the man would attack anyone, least of all Tyler and Matt.

Ryland raised his hands and stepped away from the two of them. “I apologize. I’m not sure what made Tyler react this way, but I mean no harm to him or Matt.”

Angus stayed where he was, but Cam moved closer to the little group. Angus desperately wanted to go to his mate, but Del wasn’t actually in danger. Tyler was trying to protect Matt, not to attack anyone.

“Ryland suggested that maybe Tyler wanted to go with him,” Matt said.

He had a hand on Tyler’s shoulder. That wasn’t what caught Angus’s attention, though. No, what did was Tyler in his gargoyle form. It was impossible for him to look away.

Angus suspected most people in the room felt the same way.

Tyler was still small, but his muscles looked like they’d doubled in size.

His arms, chest, and stomach tightened as he moved and tried to keep Matt in place, his borrowed t-shirt slipping down his front in shreds.

His skin had turned gray, and Angus suspected that it would feel hard and cold like stone if he touched it.

Then, there were the wings.

They were massive, and when Matt tried walking around Tyler, Tyler wrapped one of them around him. He used it to pull him back, but Matt didn’t appear angry. Exasperated, yes, but he seemed to understand why Tyler was behaving this way.

He put a hand on Tyler’s arm and gently pushed the wing away.

“Ryland wasn’t trying to hurt you or me, and he won’t take you away if it’s not what you want,” he promised.

“I just thought that since you said you were Pembroke’s best friend, you might want to stay in his room until he comes back,” Ryland explained.

Tyler stared at him. His ears had grown, too, and they were now pointed. The hardness and scariness of the gargoyle was an odd contrast with Tyler’s tiny figure. In his human form, Tyler wouldn’t have scared anyone. The difference between his two forms made him even scarier in his gargoyle form.