Bailey Bradford - Southwestern Shifters 06 - Reverence Read Online Free PDF Page A

voice inside him that kept questioning whether he really wanted to leave.
Nathan nodded. “Okay, well, I believe that’s what we said was going to happen. We just wanted your word not to tell anyone about us.”
“You have it,” Harley sniped. “For shit’s sake, who would believe me if I started spouting off about werewolves—”
“Shifters.”
“What the fuck ever.” Like Harley cared what these people wanted to be called. “Just, no one would believe me, okay? And I know what happens to people who go around telling everyone about fictional stuff.”
“You do?” Nathan asked, his attention zeroed in on Harley. “What do you know?”
“What I’ve seen on TV.” Fuck Nathan, he didn’t owe the man any explanations. And sure, okay, maybe Marcus had been held and tortured by the same fuckwad who took Harley, but that didn’t make them buddies. “I watched a lot of TV before.” Harley turned and headed out of the kitchen. “How soon can I leave?”
However soon, unless it involved going back in time several weeks, it wouldn’t be soon enough.
Chapter Two
    Three days later, Harley picked up a small blue duffle bag that Nathan had insisted on giving him. He thought there were probably clothes and basic hygiene necessities in there but he didn’t care enough to look. The rooms he’d been living in for weeks suddenly and absurdly seemed less frightening than returning to the apartment he’d been abducted from. What was going on with that? Yes, he’d been kidnapped and…other stuff, but that place was still his home, and now he knew to lock and lock and lock his doors. And windows. Anyway, the psycho who’d taken him was dead, and really, nowhere was safe from these shifters. They could find him, Harley had no doubt. But shouldn’t he rather be away from them than in their midst?
    Some kind of psych thing where I’m getting attached to my keepers. Stockholm Syndrome, that’s it.
“Are you sure about this?”
Harley squawked and smacked his head on the door frame as he spun around. He slapped a hand over his racing heart and glared at Nathan. “Jesus Christ, yes I’m sure! Otherwise one of you will kill me just from sneaking up on me like that!”
Nathan really looked like he wanted to laugh, his eyes bright and lips twitching at the edges. Harley put as much irritation into his expression, especially once he felt a fucked-up little twinge of regret at not having Nathan around anymore. What the fuck, Harley? Really? Harley examined the emotion for a second, found he didn’t feel anything for Nathan more than some weird companion-type thing, and he let it go.
“Sorry.” It was almost as if Nathan sensed Harley’s silent murder of their potential friendship. The guy seemed to slump a bit and that bright spark to his eyes vanished. “I am sorry, Harley. We’ve taken care of a few things for you—” Harley opened his mouth to argue but Nathan shook his head. “Never mind. Just… Just go, and be safe, and happy, and if you need anything—”
“I’ll take care of it myself,” Harley finished, not wanting to hear more of Nathan’s toohonest sounding words. Nathan would shatter Harley’s conceptions of shifters and that would be very dangerous for him. “Who is driving me?”
“It was going to be me, but Marcus and I have to meet some friends who are trying to find a couple of missing people.”
Harley wished Nathan wouldn’t share anything like that with him. It just made Nathan that much more human.
“But that’s not your problem, sorry,” Nathan continued. “I didn’t think you’d be comfortable with another one of our kind in the car with you, so we decided you can just take it. We’ll have someone pick it up next weekend.”
Harley wasn’t going to argue even though he didn’t particularly want to take the car. He wanted to go home—didn’t he? He scowled and held out his hand. “Okay, I’ll leave the keys in it if you have a spare.”
Nathan held up two sets. “We do.