At the same time, Shane said, “Don’t you dare let her.”

“No, it makes sense,” Cassidy said. “My fault for bringing him here tonight. My fault for bringing him to Shiftertown at all. There’s a lot of Shifters out there, and if he’s going to be safe from them, they need to know he’s protected. You’re leader, you’re needed. You can’t pay the price. But I can.”

“Price?” Diego demanded. “What price?”

“Cass, no,” Shane said, sounding anguished.

“Someone tell me what’s going on,” Diego said. “Now.”

“Cassidy, don’t do this.” Now Eric was pleading.

“If he’s going to be around Shifters, it’s the best way. You know it.”

Brother and sister exchanged a long look. For a moment, Eric’s eyes held pain, raw and stark. Then they filled with understanding, even sympathy.

“This is what you want?” he asked quietly.

Cassidy stepped to Eric and put her hand on his chest. “This is what I want.”

“It might not work out,” Eric said in a warning voice.

“Then it doesn’t.”

The two exchanged another look, rife with emotion, then Eric nodded once.

“No,” Shane growled. He brought up his claws.

Cassidy snarled. Her own fingers turned to claws, and she slashed quickly. Not at Shane—at her own hand.

Diego couldn’t stop her. By the time he grabbed her, Cassidy had slashed three deep marks into her palm and turned her hand upside down over Eric’s. Blood rained down to Eric’s open hand.

“I swear by my blood,” Cassidy said.

Shane’s Collar sparked. “Damn it, Cass, no.”

“It’s done,” Cassidy said calmly. “Let him go, Shane.”

Shane looked devastated.

“Cassidy, what the hell did you just do?” Diego demanded.

Cassidy plucked a tissue from a box on a table and wiped her hand with it. “I vouched for you. Now, no Shifter in our Shiftertown will give you problems.”

“What are you talking about?” Time was running out. Any second now, Xavier would try to burst in here, probably with LVPD’s finest at his back.

Shane stepped solidly in front of Diego again. His claws had vanished, his face human again, and his Collar had stopped sparking. He looked angry but resigned. “Listen to me, human cop. If you make Cassidy pay for your mistakes, I’ll kill you myself. I don’t care about Collars or human law. I’ll do it.”

Diego could arrest Shane and confine him for the rest of his life for even saying that. But he was tired of the whole confrontation. “Just shut up, Shane,” Diego said. “I’m not in the mood.”

Shane remained fixed. Beside him, Eric took Cassidy’s hands and kissed them. He gave her a worried and a loving look.

“I’d never let Cassidy pay for my mistakes,” Diego said to all of them. “Understand that.”

Shane’s dark eyes were still filled with fury. “Understand this, Diego. Cass took a blood oath for you. That means that if you step out of line, if you betray any Shifter in any way to anyone, Eric will have to kill her.”

CHAPTER TEN

Cassidy ran after Diego as he stormed down the back hall. As soon as they hit the club, he swung on her, his eyes glittering with rage.

“What crazy, f**ked-up thing was that about?” he demanded.

“Diego.” Cassidy reached for him.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Xavier start for them. Diego shook his head at him, warning him off. Xavier nodded once, took Lindsay’s hand, and led her to the dance floor.

Diego took Cassidy’s hand and turned it palm up. The slashes she’d made had already closed. Shifters healed quickly. “Trust me,” she said. “It was necessary.”

“Let me understand. If I do anything Eric considers a betrayal—to you or to him, or to any Shifter—he thinks he can kill you for it?”

“It won’t come to that,” Cassidy said. “The Shifters will know I wouldn’t make a pledge lightly. But what you had with Shane was just a taste. If I don’t protect you, you’ll have dominance fight after dominance fight with every Shifter you meet. Some harmless, some violent.”

“Damn it, Cassidy, Shifters can’t touch me, no matter what kind of dominance fights you think they’ll start. They’ll be arrested if they even try. I could haul off Shane for what he’s done, and he’d be locked up forever, if they didn’t terminate him.”

“Instinct doesn’t always listen to reason, Diego. If Eric lets me do this, then he’s essentially saying he backs me up. Shifters will know to leave you alone.”

“Eric’s word is nothing. He can’t kill you. He’d be executed—fast. He has to know that, and the Shifters do too.”

Cassidy kept shaking her head, knowing Diego couldn’t understand. “Eric is my pride leader and my clan leader. His word is law to me.”

“No, it isn’t. Even my word isn’t law—I just enforce what’s on the books. If Eric touches you, he’ll be arrested and executed before he knows what hit him. They’d make a special example of him, since he’s your Shiftertown leader.”

“That doesn’t matter. Eric will honor the pledge.” Cassidy stepped closer to Diego and put her hand on his shoulder. She caressed, loving the hard muscle beneath his coat. “You were willing to vouch for me when your Shifter Division wanted to lock me up and not let me out. It’s only fitting that I return the favor.”