Gemini hadn’t tried to persuade Taran to stay, nor had he attempted to follow her.

I wasn’t sure whose actions had bothered me more.

As much as their problems troubled me, I did my best to focus on the good in my life and the happiness that Aric brought me. When Aric and I first became more than bloody acquaintances who’d collided in a dark alley, I had relished his affection and his passion. My experience with males was minimal, and he was my dream come true. And yet, as sweet and adoring as he was, I could sense him holding back.

Now, after everything we’d endured, all I felt was his love.

His warmth and luscious skin had me melting further against him. A small whimper escaped my lips. “Do you have to go back to work?”

He ran his hand down the length of my back to rest on the small curve. “The world’s not going to protect itself, sweetness. I wish it would, but there’s too much supernatural shit threatening to pollute it.”

He stared at the ceiling and rubbed at his chest with his opposite hand. The gesture he made with his hand had become a habit. For some reason it bothered me, but I wasn’t certain why.

“I had a meeting with the Elders yesterday,” he said, continuing. “I have to talk to you about something.”

He’d gone to the Den to prepare for his return. He’d arrived home distracted, on edge, and irate enough that Koda and Gemini gave him ample space. He seemed to settle when I embraced him, so it reassured me that he’d simply had a rough day.

We’d spent the remainder of the evening alone, in peace, and in bed. “I could tell you were upset when you came home,” I said, remembering. “What was wrong?”

He rubbed his chest again. “Did you ever hear of Shah?”

I groaned, dreading what was coming. “You’re not talking about some hip-hop artist, are you?”

He laughed. “Oh, I wish. He or she is a sacred stone.”

I had to find a sacred stone once. It sucked. I’d almost died. Sense a theme here? Hearing one referred to as him or her was something new, though. “He or she?” I repeated.

Aric pinched the bridge of his nose, but kept his smile. “Okay, this is going to sound strange.”

“I have no doubt,” I muttered.

He laughed again. “Shah is believed to be a living entity, considering he—I’ll just say ‘he’ for now—is a large clear crystal. It’s believed he’s as old as the earth and has absorbed its power since his creation. Shah’s different from other magic stones. The majority possess a moderate amount of magic that has been amplified through witchcraft or sorcery. Shah was potent from the start and has only grown stronger with the passage of time. From what I’ve gathered, he’s also developed a personality along the way.”

Okay. Definitely new territory here. “So when someone says a person has the personality of a rock…?”

“He wasn’t referring to Shah,” Aric finished for me. “His personality borders on funny—as in, his behavior is odd and some find him humorous.”

My impression was that of a rock telling knock-knock jokes, but I doubted that’s what Aric was getting at. “All righty. So, where is this magic rock capable of ha-ha’s?”

The smile eased from Aric’s face. “We’re not entirely sure. Centuries ago he was hidden away because of his power.”

When someone needed to hide something because of its power, it was never wonderful news for the good guys if the bad guys discovered it. “This rock can’t raise demons, can it?”

“Well…”

Okay, so much for hoping. I plopped my head back down on his chest. “A rock that can raise demons. That’s just fantastic.”

“Thankfully, it’s not as simple as that.” Aric kissed the top of my head. “Shah can do anything his holder wants, but only when he feels he will obtain something of value in return. So yes, if his holder wants to raise an army of brain-sucking demons, we’re screwed if Shah feels he’s been fairly compensated.”

“The rock has a price?” It was crazy just saying it. “What could a rock want?”

Aric sighed. “Good question. That’s where his personality comes in. We’re worried about his needs being met and what his holder will demand of him.”

I pushed up on my elbows. “Who’s his current holder?”

“We’re not sure yet. But we think a bunch of software geeks discovered him and have so far had their wishes granted.”

“Software geeks have him—as in humans?”

Aric nodded like he couldn’t believe it himself. I understood his reasoning. He viewed human inhabitants of the world as those in need of protection from the dark ones. Unless they were mated to a were, humans remained unaware of the dangers lurking in the shadows. Those humans who encountered evil did so by chance and typically died a horrid death. I’d encountered enough corpses and dismembered parts to know that for a fact.

“There’s this new computer game that came out several weeks ago simply called Shah,” Aric said, drawing me away from my disturbing memories. “Alliance members in charge of policing Internet chatter caught wind of it when it was first being developed. Shah’s legend is infamous, but like most legends, humans hadn’t given it much merit. The Alliance put the software developers on their radar, but didn’t initially feel they were worth investigating.”

“Because they were only human.”

Aric nodded. “Yes. With no supernatural ties, no magic in their families, and no relationships with any weres.”

“So what changed then?”

“These geeks discovered more details about Shah and incorporated them into the game— his last known location, what Shah does, how strong he is—more information than they should have known based on existing legend. Want to hear the kicker?”

My hand passed over his hard stomach. “Probably not.”

“Since the game Shah was released a month ago, this band of geeks has already netted close to twelve million in profit—even though the game they developed isn’t anything high-tech or extraordinary. From what Koda says, their marketing and promo was also minimal. The geeks set up a website and that was pretty much it.”

There was so much wrong with this, I didn’t know where to begin. “Tell me about the game.”