"And you let him? Ronan . . ."

"He's a Shifter going through his Transition. Scott wants to fight all the time these days--at the fight clubs, at least, the other Shifters let him work it off, and they take care of him."

Elizabeth rubbed her forehead. "The more I learn about you, the more I realize I don't know. I was right in the first place. You're crazy."

Ronan grinned, the warm one that lit his eyes. "Yeah, but crazy in a good way."

"You take a big risk telling me this. You've told me a lot of things I could report to the human cops, you know. I wouldn't, but why do you trust that I won't?"

Ronan drew a finger along one of the red streaks in Elizabeth's hair. "Because I know," he said in his quiet voice. "You're one of the good ones."

Elizabeth's body heated instantly at his touch. She thought of lying in the dark with him nearby all night, loving having him there. This was getting dangerous.

A whistle pierced the air, and Elizabeth, nerves frayed, jumped. "What was that?"

"Signal," Ronan said, turning away. "Trackers have spotted something."

Her fears returned. "What?"

Ronan looked out the tiny back window, scanning the alley. "Come on. Stay close to me."

Ellison and Spike had stopped hammering and drilling and came into the office. Spike retained his hammer as he went to the back door and opened it.

Two Latino men, one about six foot, the other a head shorter, stood in front of a silver gray Lexus parked a yard from Elizabeth's door. Both men wore dark suits on this late August day. They weren't obviously armed, but the suit coats could hide anything. Both stood casually, alert but not hostile.

Spike went out first, then Ronan, with Elizabeth between Ronan and Ellison. As they emerged, three more Shifters entered the other end of the alley--Sean with his sword, a Shifter as tall as he who looked much like him, and an even taller Shifter male with his black hair buzzed short. The two human men saw the Shifters but didn't change expression.

The taller of the men nodded at Elizabeth. "Elizabeth Chapman. I'm Pablo Marquez."

Elizabeth had suspected as much. She said nothing.

"The incident with my brother has caused some problems," Marquez said in a smooth voice. "He didn't come here that night with my blessing. It was a stupid thing to do."

Elizabeth still remained silent. She knew that a man like Marquez could twist anything she said into either capitulation or a threat, so it was best to stand quietly and let him talk.

"I'm taking care of Julio," Marquez went on. "He knows how pissed off I am. But it leaves us with a little problem. He's facing charges of armed robbery, and there are two witnesses. You and your Shifter."

Ronan moved in front of Marquez and folded his arms. In spite of Marquez's relative tallness, Ronan was twice his size.

Sean and the other two Shifters drifted toward them, but not in a clump. They spaced themselves out so the one with the black hair stayed at the opening of the alley, Sean stopped about halfway down, and the third man came to a stop right behind Marquez's car.

"Your brother almost killed Elizabeth," Ronan said. "That pisses me off too."

Marquez looked up at Ronan's nearly seven-foot height without fear. "You're the Shifter who took him down?"

"I wasn't out to kill him. I only meant to stop him."

"I figured that," Marquez said. "You're a Shifter. If you'd wanted to kill him, Julio would be dead. But, see, he's my brother. I don't want him in prison. Not only would that be dangerous for him, it would be bad for business."

Elizabeth understood his concern--there might be plenty in prison with a grudge against Marquez who would use his younger brother as an opportunistic target. But she only had so much sympathy.

"So, what are you saying?" she asked. "We can come to some sort of arrangement?"

"I want to make a deal, yes," Marquez said. "Julio's going to trial--he's been released in my custody but he has a court date. Which he will keep. What I'm asking is for you not to show up. You and your sister close up shop and leave town, start over some other place. I'll put the word out ahead that you're not to be bothered. But you go, never come back to Austin, never talk to anyone about Julio and Pablo Marquez."

"Leave?" Elizabeth started for him, but Ronan dodged in her way. His Collar emitted one spark. "I can't leave," Elizabeth said. "I worked my ass off for this store. I'm not moving my whole life because your little brother is out of control."

"You haven't heard the other half of my deal," Marquez said, his hard voice breaking through hers. "You go and start again somewhere safe, or you have no life at all. Neither does your sister. I won't bother trying to scare you or harass you, or any juvenile shit like that. You're either alive in another city, or dead here. Nothing in between. I'll give you three days to pack and shut down. Then you're gone."

Ronan leaned in to Marquez. "Here's our counteroffer. You leave town, you let your brother go to prison for what he did, or your life will be a living hell. We'll put word out ahead wherever you go that you shouldn't be bothered, but you'll be watched. You're now on every Shifter's shit list, which is someplace you don't want to be."

Marquez didn't move. "You're Shifters. You're powerless. Shifters are executed for harming humans. You lay a finger on me, the whole bunch of you goes down. I don't even have to ask for a hit. The cops will do it for me."

"That's our offer," Ronan said. "If you want to get out of this alley alive, you'll give us your answer."

Marquez opened his coat to show that he had an automatic in his shoulder holster. "These sweeties will take you out quickly, leaving nothing but dead Shifters behind. You can't move fast enough to dodge bullets, and your Collars mean you can't attack me. So. I'll leave you to make your decision, Ms. Chapman. I understand about family. For your sister's sake, you'll go."

Elizabeth did not like the look of that weapon, but Ronan scarcely seemed to notice it. "Your answer," he said.

Marquez's hand drifted toward his gun, but--so swiftly Elizabeth didn't see him move-- the Shifter who resembled Sean was in front of Marquez, hand on Marquez's wrist.