Free The Shifters by Alexandra Sokoloff Page A

don’t need him butting in.
    But her sister’s windows were dark. They’re probably otherwise engaged, Caitlin thought with ire, and she shut the door behind her, a little harder than necessary.
    Inside, Case had already made his way to the liquor cabinet; she found him pouring himself a straight whiskey. “What can I get you, cher? ”
    â€œI’m fine,” she said, folding her arms as his eyes lingered on the open V of her robe.
    â€œFine as wine,” he agreed lazily. “But tense.” He drank deeply, smiling at her.
    She felt a wave of fatigue, and something more disconcerting, too—attraction. Get a grip. After all he put you through? How hard up are you? Aloud she said, “It’s three-thirty. What do you want, Case?”
    â€œIt’s more about what you want,” he said suggestively, as if he’d read her thoughts. And she knew too well that might have been exactly what he’d done. “I’ve decided not to deprive you.”
    This was all taking a turn down a road she didn’t want to go down.
    â€œOf what?” she asked, stalling. “Is this some kind of riddle?”
    He circled back to the liquor cabinet for another drink. “You still want to see Danny, don’t you?” he asked her casually as he poured again.
    She felt a prickle of anticipation. “Yes. I do.”
    Case shrugged. “I don’t see any reason that can’t happen.” Instant paranoia. And what’s the catch? “I appreciate that,” she said slowly. To her surprise he laughed. “Aw, now, cher, don’t be like that. No strings—unless you want them, that is.”
    â€œWhy the sudden change of heart?” she couldn’t help asking.
    He shrugged. “It’s important to you.” He circled closer. “But it would help if you told me what’s so urgent.”
    She hesitated, but what was the harm? “Those tourists are dropping dead because they’re being possessed by…entities. They’re called walk-ins. They’re taking over human bodies and going on rampages,and when they leave, they burn out the bodies in a way that looks like a meth overdose.”
    â€œWalk-ins,” Case repeated, quirking an eyebrow. “Never heard of them.”
    â€œI hadn’t, either,” she admitted.
    â€œWhat do you think Danny can do?” He frowned.
    Now that she’d decided to tell him, she found it was a relief to be able to talk to someone familiar. “These things are completely formless. When they’re not in side a body, they spend all their time in the astral. And we need to find them before—before Halloween would be good, because that’s when they’ll have the chance of doing the most damage.”
    Case looked skeptical but intrigued. “That is a wild story, cher . How do you know all this, anyway?”
    Caitlin took a long pause, but then felt reckless. “There’s a shapeshifter in town who says he’s been hired to track them.”
    â€œHow do you know he’s not blowing smoke up your ass?”
    Caitlin flinched at the language, but this was Case; she should expect it by now.
    â€œDon’t tell me you trust him,” he pressed her, his ice-blue eyes probing her face.
    â€œHardly,” Caitlin scoffed. “He’s a shifter, through and through. But I think he’s right about these things. I saw…” She shuddered, remembering. “I saw aman die tonight. There was something inside him, struggling to get out, and then…there wasn’t. And whatever it was, when it left, it left the body fried. It was awful.”
    She realized she hadn’t had time to process the fact that a man had died right in front of her, a grotesque, horrific, painful end to an innocent human being who had wanted nothing more than a good time in her city. She found she was shaking, tears stinging her eyes. She turned away, fumbling for the