Bailey Bradford - Southwestern Shifters 07 - Revolution by Bailey Bradford Page A

a room does not always coincide with the appropriate height of the entrance.”
Luuk frowned, trying to picture that. He couldn’t. “I guess we’ll just have to see it.”
“I’m sure it’s very interesting inside.” Jamie leant forward, peering out of the window. “It’s, um, interesting on the outside.”
“Interesting, indeed,” Norbert chuckled. “I am not certain my great-grandfather, nor that his sight wasn’t quite awful, when he was working on the house, but it is unique.”
Luuk made the last turn and almost snickered. ‘Unique’ was certainly one way to describe the house, which seemed to meander in the oddest directions. Looking at the mismatched rocks, unsmoothed and protruding at odd places and angles, Luuk thought it appeared to be something vomited out from the mountainside. But—“I’m thinking there might be more to his design plan than meets the eye. With the native stone used as it has been, this wouldn’t look much different from the mountainside even through a scope. The windows are barely discernible with the turn of the walls. I suspect your great-grandfather was quite brilliant in his planning and execution of the design.”
“Hm, I think you’re right,” Jamie said. “If the stones were smooth and the walls all straight, that would look unnatural, and would stand out. And the uneven exterior would mean the interior would also be varied in height and such.”
“Ah, and I always thought of him as an unskilled builder. I have misjudged my relative,” Father Norbert murmured. “You have given me new eyes with which to view this now.”
Luuk hitched a shoulder up and slowed the car even more. “Where do I—oh.” He blinked in surprise as a portion of the rock began sliding open.
“Oh my God, it’s like, like the Batcave or something!” Jamie’s excitement was unmistakable as he bounced in his seat. “This is so cool!”
“Yeah,” Luuk muttered, trying not to feel trapped as he pulled into the garage and the doors began closing behind the vehicle. Lights kept the cavernous space from being too dark, but there were shadows and places for attackers to hide. He was trying to spot any potential threats when a large woman, in both height and weight, stepped out of an opening he’d not seen before. Another mysterious sliding wall, no doubt. The man who’d designed this place was a genius, Luuk was certain of it.
“Mem!” Father Norbert was out of the vehicle before Luuk could even shut it off. Luuk watched as the older man ran, dignity tossed aside for welcoming family, and embraced the woman.
“It’s going to be okay here,” Jamie told him, and Luuk turned to him. The certainty in Jamie’s eyes was reassuring, but Luuk couldn’t just relax. “I’m not asking you to forget everything that’s happening, but I do want you to try to consider trusting these shifters. Norbert and Piotr—you trust them, and I don’t believe they’d ever put us in danger.”
“No, I don’t either, but sometimes the people you trust are the ones who turn on you.” Luuk sighed and shook his head. “That’s not always true, though, and I didn’t trust Luther, exactly, I just didn’t think he was a true threat. That was my foolishness, not his. He was smart enough to almost take me out.”
“He isn’t smart, he’s a conniving bastard,” Jamie snapped, “and that is a totally different thing than being intelligent. Of course you wouldn’t have thought he’d do what he’s done, because you aren’t an evil fuckhead. Now.” Jamie huffed and ran a hand through his hair. “Let’s get out and meet this nice woman who is going to hug the stuffing out of Norbert.”
Luuk glanced at the two still hugging, saw Norbert’s slight grimace as he was hefted off his feet, and nodded. “Yes, he does seem to need rescuing.”
Chapter Nineteen
    Jameson tried not to stare at Mem’s eyebrow, but it was…disconcerting, as the thing seemed to have a life of its own, squirming there on her