He was a cool little liar. He might dupe a person more naive than Elizabeth, but she'd seen many performances like his, most of them better. Julio had been ready to kill her last Friday night, not caring who she was or who in the world depended on her. She'd been a means to get to the money, something to be disposed afterward. That was all.
"I know you're pissed off at me," Julio said. "So I'll make a deal with you. You know the Shifter fight clubs?"
Ronan waited. He was a frightening sight out here in the dark, looming like a giant, his Collar gleaming in the moonlight.
"Here's my deal," Julio said. "You, Shifter, come out to the fight club out east of here tomorrow night and fight my champion. Spike knows where it is. My champion's a good fighter, but I've seen you, and I think you'd have a chance against him. You win, I leave you and your lady alone forever. You testify at my trial, do whatever you want. If my champion wins then you agree to not to testify, get out of town, and leave me the hell alone. Got it?"
Elizabeth longed to shout at him, to lambaste him for coming here and expecting her to cut a deal, when he'd been the one who'd shoved a pistol into her face and tried to take away everything she had. What should she do, apologize for not being a helpless victim? She clamped her lips closed, struggling against the words.
Ronan's Collar sparked again. "Not interested," he said.
He started walking, directly at Julio. Julio sidestepped, and Ronan pulled Elizabeth along past him. Nate and Spike closed in.
"You're going to want to take my deal," Julio called, voice edged with desperation. "Don't walk away from me so fast . . . Rachel ."
Elizabeth knew she shouldn't stop, shouldn't react. She should ignore him, have every inch of her body language say, Who's Rachel?
But she froze, one foot in the act of striding, while fear hit her so hard she wanted to be sick. She sensed Ronan slow beside her, felt his curiosity, his caution.
"Rachel Sullivan," Julio went on, glee in his voice. "You have a juvey record longer than mine. Yeah, I can see what's in old files. My brother got into bed with a hacker--literally, she's screwing him. Mouthy bitch, but she knows her stuff. You got mixed up with a very, very bad dude, didn't you? I bet he'd love to have Pablo call him and tell him he knows where Rachel Sullivan is."
Ronan's growls rose as he spun around, his Collar throwing out sparks like lightning. Nate and Spike flanked him.
Julio backed away, but he didn't run. "Kill me now, and an email gets sent to his phone in the morning. If you agree, and I make it home before the message is timed to send, I'll erase it. You say no, or you kill me . . . well, there will be no one to push the delete key. Then you have to deal with him ."
Elizabeth finally spoke. "I take it your brother doesn't know about this little deal?"
"Pablo told me to take care of my problems on my own. So I'm taking care of them. But my brother and his hacker chick know all about you and your sister. The foster homes, your arrests for pick-pocketing and shoplifting and your little scams, you avoiding jail by the skin of your teeth."
"I never went down for armed robbery," Elizabeth said, voice tight.
"You would have, eventually. You were a desperate little chiquita ."
"You aren't desperate," Elizabeth snapped.
"I told you. I did it for fun. Well, Shifter? You gonna show up and fight? Or let your punta 's ex find her and let her know how pissed he is at her for leaving him? Probably he'll show you too."
"No, Ronan," Elizabeth said. "Don't bargain with him."
Ronan's voice cut over hers. "Get the hell out of here, you little shit, before I let Spike rip you apart."
"Take my offer, Bear," Julio said, stepping backward toward the darkness. "Take it or that email goes."
"Fine. Spike."
Spike rushed him. Julio turned and ran, satisfactorily fast, but he called back, "See you tomorrow night!"
He melted into the darkness, a kid well versed in getting away as quickly as he could. Spike loped after him and Nate followed.
Ronan watched them go, remaining planted until he was well out of sight. He took Elizabeth's hand again. "Come on. Let's go home."
Elizabeth ripped herself out of his grasp. "Don't you dare say let's go home like nothing's wrong."
"Let's go home and talk about it, inside," Ronan said emphatically.
"Yes, all right." She was shaking. Hearing her real name come out of Julio's mouth had made bile rise in her throat. "You can't seriously mean you'll do what he wants."
"I don't," Ronan said. He leaned to her. "Now, let's go home. "
Elizabeth held it together long enough to ride behind Ronan through the streets of Shiftertown to his house tucked beneath spreading trees. Ronan drove around to the back of the house and shut off the bike. No lights glowed in the house and they didn't have outdoor lights to illuminate the back--Shifters saw well in the dark.
Ronan lifted off his helmet and hung it on the bike, and did the same with Elizabeth's. Before she could move toward the house, he put large hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him.
"Tell me the guy's name."
"Not if you mean you'll go after him. He's too dangerous, Ronan. If you think Pablo Marquez is dangerous, he's small potatoes compared to this man."
"I know he's dangerous, and I know Marquez is too. I told Julio I'd agree to the fight so he wouldn't send the damn email. Julio's a brat, but he can hurt you just by being stupid. Tell me his name. We need to know."
"What is wrong with you?" Elizabeth's voice rose, and she didn't care. "You Shifters think you're unstoppable. Well, you're not. You wear Collars, for God's sake. You have to live in Shiftertowns, you're treated like second-class citizens. What makes you think you can go after a huge drug lord and survive when the cops, the FBI, and even other gangs can't make a dent?"
"Because Shifters don't give a rat's ass about Collars and Shiftertowns and idiotic human rules!" Ronan shouted back. "The humans feel so good that they've restricted us and controlled us, don't they? So safe, because the beasts are in the cage. Meanwhile, if you hadn't noticed, we do whatever the hell we want."
Yes, Elizabeth had noticed that. She remembered the courtroom, where the judge, prosecutor, and bailiff had been nervous and ill at ease, while Liam and Ronan hadn't been worried at all. They'd been in control, and they'd known it. Ronan, also, nonchalantly escorted Elizabeth to her store every morning, blatantly disregarding his restriction to remain in Shiftertown. He took precautions not to be caught, but he went.
"I still don't want you fighting whoever Julio's coerced into working for him," Elizabeth said.
The glint in Ronan's eye was maddening. "Why not? It might be fun."
"Ronan ."
"You let me worry about the fight, and you let me worry about this drug lord. Now, who is he?"
"Damn it, Ronan, if you go up against him, he'll kill you. He won't wait to talk. He'll kill you and all your Shifter friends. I'm not kidding."
"I'm not kidding, either. Why do you think Pablo Marquez has left you alone all week? Because Dylan and Sean went and had a little talk with him. Marquez is making plans to shut down his business here and open up somewhere else."
"I never heard that."
"Of course you didn't. The Morrisseys, they do their shit, and they shut up about it. I didn't tell you, because I liked seeing you not worry about him. Now I want to make sure you never have to worry about this other guy--whose name you're about to give me."
Elizabeth pressed her hands together. She didn't know what to do, and her indecision and fear made her eyes blur with tears.
Ronan softened his touch. "Sweetheart," he said in the tender tone she'd come to love. He drew her against him. "Don't be scared. I take care of you now. That's what it means to be mate-claimed."