Page 29 of Waste (Legendary Shifters #4)

Good question, Drew thought. David regarded Wilson as if he were something he’d stepped in. “That’s above your security clearance, DI Wilson. You investigate your mundane crimes and leave the big ones to my department,” David sneered.

“Which is what? All I was told was that you worked for the Home Office.”

“That’s all you need to know.”

“What threat is Shelley Evans to national security? The girl works in a damn coffee shop and is so sweet you don’t need sugar in your tea,” Wilson retorted.

“Shelley Evans is not your problem. Investigate what happened to her and leave my case alone.” David got to his feet.

“Or what?”

“You’ll be fired by the end of the month if you don’t. Don’t push me. Wilson. I’ve more clout than you realise. Have a good day.” David walked out, leaving Wilson gaping like a fish.

“Someone needs to warn that girl. She’s stepped into something that is way out of her league,” Wilson muttered. He swore viciously and headed back to his desk.

An alert sounded softly on Drew’s phone, and he saw it was the camera app connected to the hidden cameras he’d placed at Shelley’s house.

Worried about her safety, Drew had placed one on the front and back doors.

It was the back door that was alerting now.

Drew frowned as he watched a figure dressed in black emerge from Shelley’s house.

Drew stiffened because nobody should have been there.

The man crept away as Shelley’s front camera alerted, and Drew saw Shelley pull up.

A sense of dread clenched in his gut as Drew watched the man pause by the back gate. There was something in his hand, and Drew leaned in and peered closer.

“Shit!” he cried and darted through his portal. He landed in Shelley’s living room just as Shelley opened the front door.

“Out!” Drew yelled, racing towards her, panic-stricken. Shelley gaped at him as Drew grabbed her and leapt back towards the mirror. As they passed through, a fireball lit up behind them, and Shelley screamed. They landed back in Mary’s tower, but Drew didn’t stop as he accessed his mirror again.

Although Mary controlled them, they could all teleport to their own homes. Drew did this now, and they landed at his London pad. Shelley staggered and pulled away from him, and only then did Drew realise what he’d just done. He’d totally exposed Shelley once again.

Drew cursed fluently and ran a hand through his hair.

“You are not killing me!” Shelley yelled, and before Drew knew it, Shelley grabbed a bowl off the table and threw it at his head.

Drew barely ducked in time as Shelley ran behind his couch, putting it between them.

“I lied and covered for you! I didn’t tell them anything!” Shelley shrieked. Drew looked at her and blinked. “What are you talking about?”

“Um…”

“Actually, why the hell aren’t you freaking out that you just ported through a mirror?” Drew demanded, narrowing his eyes.

“Um…”

“You remembered!” Drew accused.

“Er…” “Holy shit. I really believed you’d forgotten everything, but you hadn’t, had you? You sneaky little… wow. What an actress you are! You deserve an Oscar!”

“You were going to kill me if I didn’t pretend that I’d forgotten!” Shelley hissed and threw a vase at him.

“Stop throwing shit!” Drew shouted.

“Oh, you want me to stand here and let you kill me?” Shelley spat.

She looked magnificent. Her cheeks were flushed red with temper, and her eyes were narrowed, and Drew wanted nothing more than to kiss her. Her attitude was really turning him on.

“I don’t want to kill you, strangle you, though, yeah. I believed your entire act, and it fricking hurt!” Drew bellowed the last words.

“That hurt? Well, so did discovering you’re Ghoul! I trusted him and you, and you’re both liars!”

“Hell to the no, I never lied once.”

“Yes, you did; it was a lie by omission. You knew as Ghoul I was struggling, and I wouldn’t say anything.”

Shelley grabbed a china lamp off his side table, and Drew had had enough. He leapt over the settee, making Shelley squeal. She darted for the hallway, and Drew pounced. He wrapped her in his arms and kissed her.

Shelley

The fight left her as Drew’s mouth claimed her.

Holy shit. What a kiss. Shelley wrapped an arm around his neck and one around his waist as Drew shoved her backwards against the wall.

He hauled her up into his arms and pinned her there as he nibbled on her lips.

Her mouth opened and Drew swept in, his tongue seeking hers.

Shelley had never been kissed so thoroughly.

Drew was ravishing her mouth, and her toes were curling up in excitement.

It was a take-no-prisoners kiss that made her panties damp and her pussy demand attention.

Drew broke the kiss and pressed against her.

“Feel that? No woman has ever made me that hard. Never. Shelley, you have wormed your way into my head and my life. I’m obsessed with you, in a good way, and would never harm a hair on your head.”

“What just happened?” Shelley asked, bemused. She found it hard to think as his scent was driving her senses wild. Drew’s hand cupped her chin, his fingers splaying out across her throat.

“Which bit?” Drew replied.

“All of it?” Shelley said as she clung to his shirt.

“We can’t stay here. My siblings will be looking for us. Will you trust me?” Drew asked.

“Yes.” Shelley watched Drew almost expand in pride and pleasure at her words.

“I shan’t let anyone harm you,” Drew swore and grabbed her wrist. He pulled her quickly through the apartment and let them out.

“Where are we going?” Shelley asked as they walked down a flight of stairs.

“To my safe place, not even my siblings are in the loop about it,” Drew replied and checked the front entrance of the building they were in. Seeing nobody about, Drew quickly put on a baseball cap and a pair of sunglasses and entered the street.

Drew seemed to know where he was going, so Shelley followed. She was on high alert after seeing what appeared to be a fireball erupt at her home. She prayed she’d been mistaken. Then there was being yanked through a mirror again and being kissed thoroughly.

Shelley’s adrenaline was running high, and she wanted to sit down and take stock, but Drew was on edge, which meant she was too. She kept her head down as Drew took them down backstreets and little-used alleys, and finally, she gasped at their intended destination.

A pair of wrought-iron gates had two words woven into them. Highgate Cemetery.

“Not a chance in hell!” Shelley exclaimed. “Even I’ve heard of the Highgate Vampire, and this area is haunted as hell!”

“Trust me, Shelley, please. I won’t let anything hurt you. I have a safe place here. Nobody can find us, and my siblings aren’t aware of this, I swear.”

“It’s locked, and I can’t climb these gates,” Shelley muttered, staring at the high barriers. She was relieved they were about eight feet tall. Nope, she couldn’t scramble over those.

“Ye of little faith,” Drew teased and glanced about. Night was falling, and there wasn’t anyone close by. He used Ghoul’s senses and detected people, but they were far away. In the blink of an eye, Drew swept Shelley up and shifted.

Shelley’s mouth dropped open in surprise, but she wrapped her arms around Ghoul’s neck as he jogged forward and leapt.

A squeal left her mouth as Ghoul sailed over the gates and landed firmly.

Shelley had closed her eyes the moment she realised what Ghoul planned to do, and she was clinging to him like a limpet to a rock.

“Let go and I’ll put you down,” Ghoul hissed.

Somewhere, an owl hooted, and an animal screamed. The cemetery was slowly awakening, filled with noises that were eerie in the falling dusk.

“Not bloody likely,” Shelley muttered.

“Shelley, I’m the apex predator here,” Ghoul sought to reassure her.

“Good, you can carry me and scare everything away. There are rats; they might eat my toes,” Shelley replied irrationally. She was terrified of them. It was their tails and beady eyes. Shelley shook her head and tucked her face into Ghoul’s neck.

Ghoul/Drew

Ghoul stiffened. Shelley really had no fear of him at all.

It was a wonder, especially as his razor-sharp teeth were close to her face.

Shelley clearly felt protected with him, and he couldn’t understand that.

He hadn’t been lying when he said he was the apex predator here.

Even the Highgate Vampire didn’t mess with him.

Warmth spread through him as he gazed at this remarkable woman’s face, and Ghoul knew he’d kill to keep her safe. Bond or no bond, Shelley Evans was his.