Free A Shift in the Air by Patricia D. Eddy Page A

Caitlin’s? Every time I close my eyes, I
see a man—Fergus—and there’s pain and fear and shame, and I don’t
know why or how or even where or when.” She swiped at her
traitorous tears, unwilling to look at Liam for fear she’d see the
one thing she couldn’t stomach—love. She didn’t deserve it, didn’t
deserve him. She’d never deserved him.
    A finger hooked under her chin, and he
tipped her head up, covering her lips with his. Chaste, compared to
the previous night, the kiss held everything she couldn’t ask for:
patience, understanding, and protection.
    When he pulled away, she leaned into
him, unable to stop herself from wanting more. “Who am I?” The name
Caitlin Brannigan felt natural on her tongue, but she’d found
precious little about her former life in her few hours of
searching.
    “ I don’t know who ya are.
But I can tell ya a little about who ya were.”
    Liam spoke for almost an hour.
Endearing tales of young love, nights spent in the pubs of central
Dublin, days walking along the River Liffey, visiting museums,
reading in the central library, sampling chocolates at a shop
called Baker’s, pints in Temple Bar. Each story brought a hint of a
memory, but as soon as she reached out and snared the feeling, she
lost her tenuous grip.
    “ Our last day,” he said
with a sigh, “we were headed to the pub. Ya changed—like a switch
flipped.” He recounted as much of the day as he could remember,
though eleven years had muddled some of the details. “When ya left,
ya compelled me then, too. I spent weeks searchin’ for ya—and
Fergus—but ya hid yourself well. Or he did. When I got your letter,
I lost myself. Mike—my alpha before Cade—threatened to kick me out
of the pack if I didn’t get my head on straight. Took a year. Took
meeting Cade for me to want to live again.”
    Shame forced her up, drove her to
pace. “Why are you here? If all I ever do is hurt you, why do you
want to be around me?”
    “ I loved ya, Caitlin. I
never told ya until that last day, but I loved ya. I thought—I
hoped to mate with ya.”
    Oh shit. No.
    Liam stilled her frantic movements,
stroked his hands down her arms. She could lose herself in the heat
of him, the delicious kisses, the taut muscles, his scent. He
dipped his head and feathered his lips over her jaw, along her
neck, and down to her collarbone. “I can’t get enough of ya. Now
that I found ya again, I’m going to do whatever I can to protect
ya. Can’t ya see that?”
    “ You’re mine, Catie. No one
can protect you like I can. Can’t ya see that?”
    She sobbed, cowering
against the wall, the stale, unmoving air sapping her strength.
“I’m sorry. I won’t run again. Ye’re so good to me, why would I
ever leave?” The lie rolled easily off her tongue, though she
struggled to force the words out of swollen and bloodied
lips.
    “ I can smell him all over
ya. What did he do for ya that I can’t? Did he fuck ya? Tell me how
to find him, and I’ll ease yer pain. What’s his name,
Catie?”
    The compulsion charm
settled over her, urging her to confess everything. But enough of
her own power remained to keep Liam safe, and she stared up at the
wild eyes, the tufted black hair, and the snarling, twisted face.
He’d been handsome once. Kind. The sweet boy still existed within
the madman—but she couldn’t find him now. “There’s no one. No one
but you.”
    Caitlin jerked back. Fergus’s angry
face in her vision faded, leaving only Liam. Her entire body shook,
the terror spreading from her heart like wildfire, consuming
everything, stealing the air from her lungs. “Please go. I can’t be
with you, Liam. Don’t make me compel you.”
    His eyes hardened, and the wolf
escaped in a rumble. “Don’t do this. Not again.”
    With a burst of her element, she flung
the door wide and pointed to the hall. “You’ve got thirty seconds.
I’m not the woman you knew. Not anymore. Caitlin Brannigan died
eleven years ago. Go home to your