“Hey, I said I was for hire, not a charity. I have to buy fuel, maintain my plane, take you down to the middle of nowhere in dangerous country. A grand a piece, that’s my price.”

Diego started to argue, but Cassidy broke in. “Call Eric. He’ll get it to you.”

“Don’t,” Diego said. “I’ll spring for it, but, Cass, I really want you and Shane to stay the hell home.”

“No.” Cassidy came close to Diego again. She touched his face, firing his blood. “Take this as my gift to you, Diego. I understand why you need to go. Let me do this for you.”

“Where is Eric going to get four grand?”

Cassidy’s eyes flickered, but she didn’t look away. “Let Eric worry about that.”

She cradled his face between her hands, her eyes darkening, then she gave Diego a long kiss.

The fire leapt. This woman was fine, like a diamond he’d stumbled upon in a sea of sand. He opened her mouth with lips and tongue. Cassidy kissed him back, the taste of her wild.

Marlo chuckled beside them. “Looks like you mean business, Cass.”

Cassidy broke the kiss and grinned at him, but she didn’t look all that embarrassed. “Take it, Diego,” she whispered.

It was important to her. Diego saw that in her eyes. He’d discuss it with Eric later—such as how Shifters who weren’t allowed to have decent jobs would be able to cough up four grand—but Diego nodded. Cassidy kissed him one more time.

When she did that, Diego stopped worrying about petty details like money, getting to Mexico on an ex-drug-runner plane, and what he’d do when he got there. Dangerous, he thought. I’m liking forgetting way too much.

At Diego’s house that night, they slept in separate bedrooms. Diego bunked with Xavier in the room that had been Xav’s, and Cassidy stayed in Diego’s old room.

Diego’s mother had placed on the dresser a photo of a very young Diego in his Marines uniform and one of him when he’d graduated from the police academy. Juanita had also framed his military service medals and his commendations both from the Marines and the police. A proud mother honoring her son.

Cassidy touched each medal, reading the certificate that went with it, trying not to think of Diego lying warm and solid in a bed in the next room. Cassidy tried to shut out the mating frenzy that was winding her up, but when she at last climbed into bed and slept, she dreamed of only Diego.

“Sure this thing’s safe?”

Shane looked nervously out the window as they glided south, following the Colorado River as it snaked between California and Arizona. The view was beautiful, the plane far smoother than Diego had feared it would be.

“Yep,” Marlo called back from the pilot’s seat. “Just tuned it up.”

“I don’t like to fly,” Shane said. “If Shifters were meant to fly, they’d be able to turn into birds.”

“So, why can’t they?” Xav said, looking up from his magazine.

“Huh?”

“You have big cat Shifters, wolf Shifters, and bear Shifters. Why not raptors, like eagles or hawks?”

Shane stared at him. “Hell if I know.”

“The Fae created us,” Cassidy said. “They chose the animals. Who knows why? Or why not?”

“I guess an elephant would be tough,” Xav said. “You’d need a lot of space. Or whales. What if you shifted in the middle of the ocean? You’d need to stash scuba gear somewhere.”

“Very funny,” Shane said.

Xav chuckled and returned to his magazine.

Diego found Cassidy’s gaze on him from where she sat beside him. He didn’t mind looking down into her gorgeous eyes, but he wondered why she kept looking at him. Different looks every time. Coy, frank, thoughtful.

The trip was long enough for napping. Diego rested his head against the window, not minding the miles down to the ground. Airplanes didn’t bother him either, he’d discovered. But then, they didn’t have balconies.

Cassidy curled up nicely into his side. He draped his arm around her and dozed off, happy with her against him.

They landed after dark, on an airstrip Diego couldn’t believe Marlo could see. But the man brought the plane down with only a few bumps, and then they stopped.

Hot, dry air wafted over them as they climbed from the plane. “Where are we?” Diego said as he stretched.

“About forty miles from your little town of La Nébeda.”

“Forty miles?”

“Yep,” Marlo said. “I figured you didn’t want to get too close to whoever it is you don’t want to see you coming. Planes landing near a town that small are going to be noticed. My friend here has a jeep that can take you in.”

Marlo wouldn’t leave his plane, so Marlo’s friend at the airstrip gave Xavier keys to a rusty but sturdy jeep, and Xavier drove the four of them to the town. Shane sat in front with Xav, and Diego and Cassidy rode together in the back.

This part of Mexico was definitely off the tourist path. It was the territory of drug runners, human traffickers, and people looking for a place to hide. There were no resort hotels for rich Americans here, just long stretches of empty roads and bad men with guns.

“I want the two of you to keep out of sight the best you can,” Diego said to Shane and Cassidy over the whine of the engine. “Who knows how people here will react to Shifters?”

“I’m here to back up Cassidy,” Shane said. “So where she goes, I go.”

“Then you’ll both stay out of it,” Diego said.

Cassidy didn’t answer, but the stubborn way she wouldn’t look at him told him much.

The town, when they reached it, was nothing but old buildings, open bars, dogs, and insects. This was siesta country, where everyone slept during the heat of the day. The sun had gone down an hour ago, and people were emerging now into cool darkness, the town coming to life.

Lights were brightest in the cantinas, three of them in this tiny town. Xavier parked the jeep in the dark at the end of one street, beyond one of the cantinas. Diego climbed down and checked the stash of guns in the back. Shotguns, three of them, in addition to Xav and Diego’s handguns.

“Shane, can you shoot a gun?”

“I’ve done it,” Shane said. “I don’t like to. Claws are better.” He scratched the air, his dark eyes gleaming, sending Diego a sly grin.