Autumn's War (The Spirit Shifters Book 4) (17 page)

“See, Mommy,” the girl said, “we don’t need to be afraid.”

“No, you don’t.” Mia turned to look at the crowd of people who had gathered to watch the spectacle. She raised her voice. “Shifters may look like animals, but they have the minds of people with the spirit of the creature to guide them. They want to live side by side with us, peacefully, just as they’ve done for hundreds of years.”

She left them with the image of the small child and the huge cat, the girl’s laughter and the big cat’s purr. She walked back to where they’d left their vehicle, and where some of the other non-shifters waited. She caught Angie staring at her.

“What?”

The woman frowned. “Oh, it’s nothing.”

She remembered Angie’s ability, the thing that got her locked up in the first place. “Have you seen something?”

“It’s not clear, but you have a … cloud around you. It’s not death exactly, but it’s something.”

Mia lowered her voice. “For God’s sake, don’t say anything to Peter. He’ll whisk me out of here quicker than you can blink.”

“But what if there’s a problem?”

“If the vision gets worse, let me know. But otherwise keep your mouth shut. These people need me. I don’t want to be hidden away like some fragile little girl.”

She quickly turned away from Angie, her heart beating hard, trying not to think about what Angie’s words meant.

Mia had a job to do, and nothing would distract her.

Chapter Twenty-two

CHOGAN DID HIS best to focus on the job at hand, and not worry about Autumn. He and his team had traveled to Chicago’s South Side, leaving Autumn on the other side of the city, though he hoped they would be moving closer together as every minute passed. Despite knowing how far away she was, every time he heard the pop of gunfire, he worried the bullet had been meant for her.

Ahead, black smoke poured into the air. Several cars were piled together, blackened carcasses. The fire must have only recently burned itself out, as the vehicles still smoldered, though no flames were visible. Chogan frowned. Who had set the fire? Were there still people and shifters in the city rising up against the military? Perhaps they weren’t the only ones? He noticed a scrawl of graffiti up the walls of the building beside the burning cars. A couple of letters were across the slashed tag—a T and a C.

Chogan’s eyes narrowed at the graffiti. Should the letters mean something to him?

They passed the wreckage and headed into one of the suburbs. Autumn had instructed them to go by foot when they’d made it into the populated areas. They wouldn’t be able to connect with people simply by driving past their houses.

He rolled down his window and circled his arm in the air—a signal to those following him that this was the place. His team was made up almost equally of women to men, including Tala, and her friend, Nadie. Autumn had assigned him the young woman who didn’t speak, an empath Autumn had said, though he struggled to see what use she would be in a fighting situation. He didn’t like feeling responsible for so many women.

They parked in a quiet area and climbed out.

“What now?” asked Tala.

“We keep moving, heading downtown, and hopefully picking people up along the way.”

“I don’t see why we can’t just drive.”

“Autumn didn’t want us to. We’re supposed to be connecting with people.”

Tala gave a shrug as if to say, ‘whatever.’

The group got moving at a slow jog, crossing the streets, keeping their eyes and ears open for any sign of trouble. Within ten minutes, they heard gunfire, and the yaps and snarls of big animals.

All of Chogan’s senses went on high alert. He focused in on his wolf and sent the animal ahead to find out what was going on. On a wide street lined by Chicago bungalows and crisp-leafed trees, a fight was going on. It took him a moment to figure out who was fighting who. Military were present, as were several huge animals, who could only have been shifters, and a number of civilians as well.

Should they join in?

Something made him hold back, lifting a hand to tell his team to wait. His heart made him want to shift and dive right in with the other shifters, but he needed to use his head now. Suddenly, he recognized one of the wolves—the scar across the gray muzzle. It was one of the shifters who had harassed Madison and Billy at the car.

Also, the atmosphere with the other shifters felt similar to how it had with Madison and Billy. Even though this time the wolf with the scar faced a number of armed men and women, Chogan still sensed an air of playfulness about the situation. How they pranced forward, toward one of the soldiers they had, Chogan assumed, already unarmed, snapping at him and dancing away, while another shifter darted in from the other side. Near one of the houses, a couple of big cats had a group of civilians pinned against the wall of the house. They cowered away, their hands over their faces, the men and women clutching at one another.

These shifters were enjoying themselves.

“What are we going to do, Boss?” asked Jacy, a young man from the reservation, barely twenty years old.

Chogan knew his shifters would also have used their spirit guides to see ahead. He didn’t need to explain the situation to them.

“I don’t think those shifters are our friends,” he said. “They’ve already done half our job for us by disarming the soldiers, but we can’t have them frightening the people like that.” He thought how far he’d come. Not long ago, he’d believed regular human’s
should
be frightened of shifters. He’d wanted to be the dominating species. A small part of him was drawn toward the group, while the rest of him despised what they were doing. Autumn had been the one to issue that change in him. Perhaps these shifters were simply misled. If they could meet Autumn, listen to what she said, they might get behind her, too.

He turned back to the shifters behind him. “Shift. Take them on, both the shifters and the soldiers. But I don’t want anyone hurt unless absolutely necessary, is that understood? Those shifters just might not know any better.”

He didn’t shift. Someone needed to stay in human form in order to convey Autumn’s message. He hated not being able to fight, but sometimes other tasks were more important.

In his head, his wolf whined. The animal pushed and shoved at him mentally, while pacing around, its hackles raised. All around, the shifters began to change. He sensed them holding back on voicing their pain. Chogan winced every time a bone shattered and a muscle tore, empathizing with the pain they were going through. His wolf nudged him again, urging him to shift, but he couldn’t. The only human with him was Daisy, and she didn’t speak. Someone needed to be able to communicate with Chicago’s residents.

He took in the sight of his shifters, the wolves, the big cats, a couple of birds, and a jackal. They prowled around one another, the birds jumping into the air with a shriek and a fluttering of wings. But all eyes were on him, waiting for the signal.

He couldn’t leave it any longer. “Go.”

They bound around the corner and onto the block. Chogan set off at a run, not far behind. The girl, Daisy, ran along behind him.

His shifters dived into the fray, tackling the big cats who had been tormenting the residents. The cats fought back with yowls and snarls, a tumbling mass of fur and claws. Chogan tried to keep sight of which body part belonged to whom, cringing as someone caught an ear with a claw and blood flew. He wanted to join the fight himself, but he forced himself to hold back. His shifters were greater in number, even if they were no stronger, and that won out. The few military men who hadn’t run off now surrendered, their hands held above their heads.

The other group of shifters came to a rest, panting, bloodied, and exhausted.

Cries and screams of fear came from the people who’d been terrorized and then witnessed the fight.

The girl, Daisy, walked up to them.

Chogan’s head snapped around to her. “Daisy, wait!”

He didn’t know if they might hurt her in their panicked state. But the girl just smiled and reached out her arms as if she wanted to embrace them all.

“Get away from us, you freak,” one of the men shouted, but Daisy didn’t even flinch. Instead, she continued to smile, and the contorted anger and fear that had been morphing the man’s features slowly melted away. The peacefulness spreading across the man’s face must have been contagious, for Chogan watched calm settle upon the rest of the people.

So the girl did have her uses after all.

Chogan took this as his time, and stepped forward. “We’re here to help you all. We want shifters and humans to live side by side in peace. None of us wants the army interfering or people we love being hurt. I want you to stand with me. Stand beside the shifters and show the government that we’ve had enough of being pushed around.”

One by one, they got to their feet. Though these people had every reason to not want to support them, considering what they’d just been through, none of them argued his case.

Chogan glanced at Daisy. The girl smiled. She knew exactly what she’d done, though Chogan had no idea how she’d done it.

Chapter Twenty-three

AUTUMN STOOD LOOKING up at the building where all this had started for her. How strange to think of the woman who had so anxiously trotted up those steps to go to a job interview that would change her life. All the things she’d been concerned about back then now seemed so trivial—a poor review she’d received about one of her reports in a scientific journal, her distant relationship with her father, her distinct lack of a love life. She’d walked up those steps believing she knew so much, when in fact she’d been utterly naïve.

Her plan to get people behind the support of shifters had been successful for her group. Behind her and down the street stood several hundred people who she’d acquired during her walk through the city. They’d come across another couple of military teams, but they’d stood no chance against the shifters and throng of people behind them.

Now she waited, equally anxious, for the other groups she’d dispersed around the city. She prayed there’d not been too many casualties, and the people she loved were safe.

A shout came from down the street. She turned her head to see a number of shifters heading toward her. She squinted, trying to recognize them, but she struggled to match the animal with the people they’d shifted from. Then she spotted long black hair and broad shoulders, and her face split into a grin.

“Chogan!”

As he continued to walk, more and more people filled the street behind him. A bubble of happiness swelled inside her, and she pushed through all the supporters she’d gathered, muttering her apologies, to run to him.

“Autumn,” he said, a smile across his handsome face.

“Boy, it’s good to see you,” she said, flinging her arms around his neck and hugging him tight. She broke free and peered around him at all the people behind. “Looks like you did good.”

He glanced over at her crowd. “So did you.”

“Have you heard anything from the others?” Chogan asked.

She shook her head, but even as she did so, commotion from the west drew her attention. People needed to part to allow the new arrivals through. Her friend was hidden by all the other bodies at first, but they made way to allow Mia through, together with Peter in mountain lion form, walking at her side. Behind her, a trail of humans and shifters stretched as far as she could see.

Autumn’s hand went to her mouth, as if trying to hold her happiness. Her eyes pricked with tears, emotions welling up inside her. People stretched down every street, more than she could ever have hoped for. They vanished around the corners, lining down blocks she couldn’t even see. She’d been right in believing the citizens of Chicago needed something to stand for. They didn’t want riots, fighting, or looting. They didn’t want to be terrorized in their own homes by men with guns. Yes, they’d been asked to open their minds to things they never thought existed before, but they understood that acceptance was the only way to peace. They’d been waiting for a chance to make their voices heard, and she’d given them the opportunity to do so.

She raced up to her friend, and they embraced. “Mia, it’s so good to see you’re safe. I can’t believe how many people you’ve brought.”

“You were right. They wanted to come once they saw we were nothing to fear.”

“Do you have any injured?”

“A couple of shifters sustained shots, but they weren’t fatal.”

“Good, that’s good.”

Chogan glanced up at the building they stood before. “I hate to say this, Autumn, but it doesn’t look like anyone’s working from there.”

She’d had the same thought herself. “I know, but Vivian might still be hiding out, even if she’s not in control any more. I don’t have anywhere else to start looking for her. I can’t walk away without checking.”

He nodded. “Fair enough. We’ll get in and check it out. But don’t get your hopes up, okay?”

“Okay.”

She ran up the steps, her people following close behind. Unlike the first time she’d been here, the doors were unlocked. Holding her weapon at her side, she pushed the doors open and stepped through. No guards waited for her at the desk. The scanners she’d been made to put both herself and her bags through were unlit. Her footsteps clacked too loud on the floor, the sound of claws following behind. The glass rows of offices running down the corridor on her right still showed the signs of the struggles that had occurred here. Glass littered the floor. Several of the floor-to-ceiling windows were now no more than gaping holes, though someone had taken time to string tape across the gaps to warn people from stepping through. Some emergency lights glowed from the ceiling, but otherwise the place was in darkness.

A sudden burst of panic swept through her, and she ran to the bank of elevators opposite. The bottom level could only be accessed by the elevator, and she felt sure the power would be out on the cars, making the level impenetrable. A perfect place for Vivian to hide out. She slammed her palm repeatedly against the call button, expecting it to stay dark, but the light came on and machinery deep within the building began to move.

She let out a sigh of relief.

“Chogan,” she said, keeping her voice low. “You take your team down to the bottom level. I’ll head up with Sahale, Tocho, and the others. Mia, you stay on this level with Peter and keep a look out.”

But Peter trotted up to her and nudged her with his head. He moved back and his body began to jerk and shudder, his bones snapping and popping as he shifted back into the form of a man. He stood up, straight and naked. Mia, having prepared for the situation, had stuffed clothes into a backpack which was slung over one shoulder. She pulled out jeans and a shirt, and threw them to him.

“Thanks,” he said, tugging them on as he spoke to Autumn. “I need to go down with Chogan. Assuming the keypad code is still active, I’m the only one here able to access the bottom level.”

“Okay,” she said. “The rest of us will take the stairs. We need to sweep every floor, and taking the elevator will leave the stairwell unchecked.”

They all nodded their agreement, and a swell of pride swept over her. She was blessed to have such people supporting her.

Autumn ran to the next floor, signaling to her team to divide off to take each end of the corridor. “Search every corner. She’s got to be here, I’m sure of it.”

They all set off.

She ran from office to office, checking behind doors and beneath desks. Her shifters hunted as well, their noses to the floor, alert for any fresh trails.

With one floor covered, they headed back into the stairwell, and repeated the process with the next level. They kept going, checking floor after floor until they reach the level Maxim Dumas’ office had been on. Memories swelled over her like a tsunami. Here was the place Maxim had grabbed her and placed a gun to her head. Here was the spot Maxim Dumas had shot Blake. Here was the window he’d plummeted from. The gap had been boarded up with a giant piece of plywood.

“There’s no one here, Ma’am,” one of the younger guys, Jacy, said to her as he headed back down the hallway toward her, several shifters at his back.

“Damn it. Maybe Chogan has had more luck.”

Did she really think Vivian Winters would be cowering in a corner somewhere? No, she didn’t, but she’d been so sure she’d find the other woman here. Finding the place deserted didn’t make sense. Vivian would know by now that they’d taken out the other facility. Plus she knew Autumn had escaped and taken Thorne, her right hand man, with her. Vivian didn’t seem like the type of woman who would just let it go.

They headed back down again, but no shots had been fired and she hadn’t heard any kind of commotion. If they’d found Vivian, Autumn didn’t think she’d have gone down without a fight.

She met Chogan, Peter, and his team at ground level. Chogan shook his head before he’d even reached her.

“Are you sure? You’ve checked everywhere?”

“Sorry, Autumn. I know how much you were relying on this.”

She just couldn’t believe it. “I need to see for myself.”

She pushed past him.

“Autumn, I wouldn’t tell you that we’d checked if …”

But she ignored him, let his words fade as she headed back toward the elevators. She caught Peter giving Mia a glance, but Mia shrugged, so Peter turned and joined Autumn in the elevator. She was thankful. If he’d not come with her, she wouldn’t be able to check for herself.

Peter hit the button on the keypad for the next floor down and then pressed his thumb against the scanner. The doors slid shut, the elevator moving smoothly downward, before the doors opened again. The place had a sense of abandonment, like a hospital no longer in use, or a school that had long shut its doors. Though not enough time had passed for dust to settle on the place, the air below ground had grown musty.

She entered the lab where she had first worked on the shifter project, Peter close behind. The equipment was still out, microscopes, glass tubes of chemicals, protective goggles, sitting forgotten on the benches. No scientists worked down here anymore. She wondered if they ever would again. What was clear, however, was that no one was down here.

With a sinking certainty that she wasn’t going to find Vivian here, Autumn went back into the elevator with Peter and headed down to the final level, to the cells where the initial captive shifters had been kept. She and Blake had been here together, and she felt a pang of longing, wishing Blake was with her now. He would advise her on what to do next, and she would listen.

But he was safe back at Wenona’s house. He had his own challenges to deal with.

“Okay,” she admitted out loud. “She’s not here. Let’s go.”

Her heart was heavy as they entered the elevator and headed back to the foyer where everyone waited. The doors opened and a sea of expectant faces met her. Autumn shrugged and shook her head. She was aware of all the people waiting outside for her next instruction, and she wondered what that was going to be. She heard the thrum of helicopters circling the buildings and crowds outside. Were they military or reporters?

Sudden shots came from outside, followed by screaming.

“What the hell?”

Autumn pushed past everyone and ran for the door.

“Autumn, wait!” Chogan yelled.

She ignored him. Her head was filled with Vivian Winters and the possibility that she had something to do with the gunfire. She wanted to see the other woman held to account for what she had done, for the years of torture she had caused the paranormals they had set free, for the families, such as Mia’s, who had lived for years not knowing what had happened to their children. The idea of her walking away from this situation without so much as getting her hands dirty made Autumn blind with fury. Was Vivian Winters out there, somewhere hidden among the people Autumn had called out to follow her and stand up against the military control of the city? Was this her plan, laughing at Autumn and the others as they ran around an empty building while Vivian stood in the crowds, picking off the public one by one?

Autumn burst through the doors, out onto the raised area where Chogan had once shifted and changed the fate of this city. Frantically, she scanned across the crowd, trying to pinpoint the trouble, her eyes seeking out Vivian’s blonde hair and sharp face.

A commotion had broken out in a small area to her left. She stood, staring, trying to figure out who the culprit was. The crowds spread, leaving a space in the otherwise crowded vicinity. At its center stood a young man, who was barely out of his teens. His eyes locked with hers, and she remained rooted to the spot as he lifted his arm and pointed a gun directly at her.

She still clutched her own weapon, but didn’t dare fire it. Too many people were around, and her aim wasn’t good enough.

Autumn sensed movement behind her and she pushed off one foot to turn and run, but instead a shot rang out, and something hit her. She found herself flying backward. She hit the floor with a painful crack, her bones jarring against each other, her teeth clacking together. She was sure she’d feel instant, intense pain, that her blood would come hot and wet somewhere on her body, but there was nothing. Instead, she became aware of someone on the ground beside her.

Autumn blinked, not wanting to believe her eyes.

“Mia?”

The reality of what had happened hit her like a shock.

She reached out and grabbed her friend, pulling her into her arms. Blood oozed from a bullet wound in Mia’s clavicle. Mia’s dark eyes fluttered and then drifted shut.

“Oh, no. No, Mia?” Tears filled her eyes. “Mia? Answer me, sweetie.”

Be okay,
she prayed.
Please be okay.

Peter bound out into the crowd, his whole body rigid with fury and pain. He pushed and shoved to get people out of the way. The young man was surrounded by people and had nowhere else to go. Autumn only saw Peter throw him to the ground, until the bodies melded back together again and her line of sight was obscured.

Someone rushed forward holding a balled t-shirt, and pressed it against Mia’s wound. “Hold onto it tight. We need to stop the bleeding.”

Autumn blinked, realizing the person’s identity. Tala had shifted back to human form. She clutched a couple of other items of clothing to her naked body, but had sacrificed the t-shirt. Ignoring her nudity, despite standing in front of a large crowd, she lifted Mia slightly and checked her back.