Bear Fire: Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (BBW) (Pine Ridge BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance Series Book 4) by Belinda Meyers Page B
Authors: Belinda Meyers
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it
my business to steal that amulet. Later I learned of a mage doing nasty things
with a seeing stone. And so on. One thing led to another. I learned there were
a lot of bad guys in New York, so I went there. There’s a whole magical
community there, and of course where there’s enough people some of them will be
assholes. I made it my business to take them down a peg. To take away anything
they were using against others, like Walsh used his ring against me and my dad.
I turned it into a career of sorts, selling the magical items to fences in the
community—under the condition that they wouldn’t sell them to bad guys. And I
made damn sure they didn’t.”
Anger sparked in her eyes, and
determination, and Matt liked the strength he saw there. But he also liked the
fact that she’d trusted him enough to be vulnerable in front of him, to open
her secrets to him. Maybe … just maybe …
“And Walsh?” he said. “What about
him?”
Jackie wiped at her eyes
impatiently. “He was always my endgame, my ultimate target. All those jobs I
pulled before were just practice. Building up my skills to one day break into
his lair and steal … it.”
Matt snapped his fingers. “The
ring!”
“He would feed on a dragon’s fire
for decades. He could make one dragon’s fire last him for half a century. So I
knew mine would still be there. Just waiting.” Her toe prodded her purse on the
floor next to her pile of clothes, and Matt suddenly realized what she’d been
protecting. What she’d ferried here from New York.
“You did it,” he breathed. “You
stole the ring!”
Pride showed in her face. “Finally,
last week, I decided I was ready. I was really going to do it. I spent several
days casing his penthouse, then broke in. I deactivated all his alarms and
survived his magical booby-traps. He was asleep, and it was night—my element. I
slipped into his bedroom and took the ring. I was almost out—I could have
escaped without him knowing who took it—but I paused.”
“What for?”
For a moment, doubt entered her
eyes. “I … I wanted to kill him.”
Matt could see that this really
bothered her, that she had never forgiven herself for the impulse to murder the
man that had ruined her life and taken both her father’s and grandmother’s.
“You wanted revenge,” Matt said.
“Yeah. I’d been about to leave, but
I saw him lying there, helpless, and I knew I’d never have a chance like that
again. I could avenge my dad and grandmother, and who knew how many lives I’d
be saving if I did it? Because Walsh would definitely kill again, if he hadn’t
already.”
Matt kissed her temple, which made
her blink. She rounded on him in confusion.
“What was that for?”
He smiled what he hoped was a
gentle smile. “Because you hesitated,” he said. “ I would have simply torn the bastard’s head off.”
Moisture glimmered in her eyes “So
you don’t hate me? For almost killing him?”
“Hell no! I wish you had. Then we
wouldn’t be here.” Immediately he added, “But I’m glad we are. And I’m glad you
didn’t.”
“Why?”
He grinned. “Because now I can kill him.”
“You really think we can?”
“Hell yeah. Anyway, finish your
story.”
“Well, you know the rest. My
hesitation gave Walsh the chance to wake up. When I saw that, I got out of
there, but too late. He recognized me. Put out the alert to all of his
contacts, which are plentiful. I needed a mage to interact with the ring. I
know a few spells, but nothing that could transfer the fire from the ring back
into me. My regular contacts in the Big Apple trembled in terror when I asked
for their help—thanks, guys. So I cast my net wider, looking online for mages
for hire, and came across Tannenbaum. I spoke with him on the phone, and he
seemed nice and honest, and the mountains might be remote enough to be safe
from Walsh. But somehow he was able to figure out where I was going, obviously,
and set a trap for me. I’m so sorry
my business to steal that amulet. Later I learned of a mage doing nasty things
with a seeing stone. And so on. One thing led to another. I learned there were
a lot of bad guys in New York, so I went there. There’s a whole magical
community there, and of course where there’s enough people some of them will be
assholes. I made it my business to take them down a peg. To take away anything
they were using against others, like Walsh used his ring against me and my dad.
I turned it into a career of sorts, selling the magical items to fences in the
community—under the condition that they wouldn’t sell them to bad guys. And I
made damn sure they didn’t.”
Anger sparked in her eyes, and
determination, and Matt liked the strength he saw there. But he also liked the
fact that she’d trusted him enough to be vulnerable in front of him, to open
her secrets to him. Maybe … just maybe …
“And Walsh?” he said. “What about
him?”
Jackie wiped at her eyes
impatiently. “He was always my endgame, my ultimate target. All those jobs I
pulled before were just practice. Building up my skills to one day break into
his lair and steal … it.”
Matt snapped his fingers. “The
ring!”
“He would feed on a dragon’s fire
for decades. He could make one dragon’s fire last him for half a century. So I
knew mine would still be there. Just waiting.” Her toe prodded her purse on the
floor next to her pile of clothes, and Matt suddenly realized what she’d been
protecting. What she’d ferried here from New York.
“You did it,” he breathed. “You
stole the ring!”
Pride showed in her face. “Finally,
last week, I decided I was ready. I was really going to do it. I spent several
days casing his penthouse, then broke in. I deactivated all his alarms and
survived his magical booby-traps. He was asleep, and it was night—my element. I
slipped into his bedroom and took the ring. I was almost out—I could have
escaped without him knowing who took it—but I paused.”
“What for?”
For a moment, doubt entered her
eyes. “I … I wanted to kill him.”
Matt could see that this really
bothered her, that she had never forgiven herself for the impulse to murder the
man that had ruined her life and taken both her father’s and grandmother’s.
“You wanted revenge,” Matt said.
“Yeah. I’d been about to leave, but
I saw him lying there, helpless, and I knew I’d never have a chance like that
again. I could avenge my dad and grandmother, and who knew how many lives I’d
be saving if I did it? Because Walsh would definitely kill again, if he hadn’t
already.”
Matt kissed her temple, which made
her blink. She rounded on him in confusion.
“What was that for?”
He smiled what he hoped was a
gentle smile. “Because you hesitated,” he said. “ I would have simply torn the bastard’s head off.”
Moisture glimmered in her eyes “So
you don’t hate me? For almost killing him?”
“Hell no! I wish you had. Then we
wouldn’t be here.” Immediately he added, “But I’m glad we are. And I’m glad you
didn’t.”
“Why?”
He grinned. “Because now I can kill him.”
“You really think we can?”
“Hell yeah. Anyway, finish your
story.”
“Well, you know the rest. My
hesitation gave Walsh the chance to wake up. When I saw that, I got out of
there, but too late. He recognized me. Put out the alert to all of his
contacts, which are plentiful. I needed a mage to interact with the ring. I
know a few spells, but nothing that could transfer the fire from the ring back
into me. My regular contacts in the Big Apple trembled in terror when I asked
for their help—thanks, guys. So I cast my net wider, looking online for mages
for hire, and came across Tannenbaum. I spoke with him on the phone, and he
seemed nice and honest, and the mountains might be remote enough to be safe
from Walsh. But somehow he was able to figure out where I was going, obviously,
and set a trap for me. I’m so sorry
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