“Do you hear... flutes?” He glanced at Jessie.
“Yeah. I do.”
Zach’s gaze dropped to Neil. “He’s a mess.” He shook his head. “Are we sure about this? He looks like he needs an ER.”
Jessie began to gently wash around Cara’s fingers. “Somehow, they do without.” She gestured to Neil’s body. “Take a look. He’s covered in scars. These guys get hurt all the time.”
Zach, damp towel in hand, stared first at Neil then at Jessie. “Because they’re werewolves?”
The disbelief dripped from his voice. Before Jessie answered, a deep voice rumbled from the foyer.
“Yes.” Kade stepped into the kitchen. It hadn’t taken him long to park the truck.
Zach and the big Were stared at each other. Jessie didn’t have to be an Empath to feel the tension between them. Then Zach’s expression hardened. What had he sensed from Kade?
“Listen, I don’t pretend to know everything—” Zach began.
“And you obviously don’t,” Kade agreed.
“But I know there aren’t such things as werewolves.”
“That’s where you’d be wrong.” Kade peeled his lips back from his teeth.
“Shut up Kade”—Cara interrupted the song to murmur without opening her eyes—“and show him.”
A low rumble started from somewhere deep within the big Were. His eyes went from pale brown to incandescent gold. The pupils contracted to catlike slits.
Zach stiffened and took a step back. Jessie swallowed. Those eyes were unsettling as hell, but also sexy. Man, she needed sleep. She focused on wiping blood from Neil’s face.
“Bloodyeffinghell.” Zach gasped and took another step away. Jessie looked up.
Kade had altered just his face, but it was enough. The broad head, the tufty mane, the long jaws with the incredible sabre teeth. This time she clearly noted the differences between Braden’s Dire and Kade’s Sabre. The Dire’s head lacked Kade’s mass, particularly around the forehead and jaws. And, of course, the teeth.
Zach’s face had lost all color. His eyes were wide. But to give him credit, after that first step, he stood his ground.
“It’s okay, Zach,” Jessie said. “He’s a nice Were.”
Kade growled. “Not nice,” he protested.
Jessie shook her head. “Hey, I met Braden, remember? He’s a monster. You are not.”
Kade’s lips curled into a snarl. His long, tufted ears lay flat to his head.
“Okay, Kade. You’ve made your point.” Cara, her eyes still closed.
Kade curled his lip but reversed the changes. Even as a human, his head had a rugged mass to it. The jaw was square, the face broad. He might be a Were, but Kade was an attractive man.
Dammit.Jessie gave herself a mental shake. She was more tired than she thought.
Zach glanced wildly toward Cara. “Can all Cryptids do that?”
“I am a Were,” Kade rumbled. “Only Weres shapeshift.”
“There are four types,” Jessie supplied as she rinsed her towel into the basin. “Humanoid, shapeshifter, beastoid and”—she paused, remembering the corpse disposal—“plantoid.”
“Someone was listening,” Cara murmured.
Zach straightened. When he finally spoke, his usually smooth voice splintered. He swallowed and tried again. “You’re saying I’m one of these Cryptid things?” His eyes darted between Cara and Kade.
