Authors: Tammy Blackwell
That night was much like the first time we
ran together. Wolf Scout took over almost completely without Talley
there to rein her in, and food being of the kill it and eat it
variety. Liam and I spent the majority of the night alternating
between pouncing on one another in surprise attacks and nuzzling
our noses into each other’s necks. The most amazing part of the
night was I somehow slept through part of the Change. Liam and I
had curled ourselves into a miniature wolf pile after we ate our
fill of squirrels for the night. I thought I would just lay there
and rest up a bit, but I found myself waking up in immense pain. It
took a few moments for my brain to process what was happening, but
once I realized I was Changing back, it was almost over.
Liam was waiting for me once I got my
clothes back on.
“
I have donuts, breakfast
sandwiches, and two boxes of Pop-Tarts,” he said as I made my way
towards the car.
“
Seriously? When did you
get that?”
He shrugged. “I Changed about an hour
ago.”
An hour ago the sun hadn’t been anywhere
near up.
“
What flavor of
Pop-Tarts?”
A box came flying towards my head. I
snatched it out of the air and looked at the label. “Hot Fudge
Sundae? That isn’t a Pop-Tart flavor, it’s an ice cream treat.” I
grabbed the already open box sitting on the hood of the car.
“What’s this one?” I looked down at the words “Hot Fudge Sundae”. I
knew my glare was nowhere near as impressive as one of his,
especially since I couldn’t keep the corners of my mouth from
lifting at the sight of his guilty expression. “Some of those
donuts better have jelly on the inside,” I said, leaning back
against the car, so close to him our sides grazed.
“
A full dozen,” he assured
me as I opened up the box emitting a sweet raspberry scent. “And
there is even a half dozen of sprinkles.”
“
But I don’t like
sprinkles.”
“
Oh yeah.” His grin was
both shocking and breath-taking. “It’s me that likes those, isn’t
it?”
This time I couldn’t even pretend to glare.
“Let me guess, almost all those breakfast sandwiches you spoke of
are cheese free?”
His grin grew and for the first time ever I
was able to see a resemblance to Alex that went beyond physical
appearances. “If you wanted cheese you should’ve Changed earlier
and went with me instead of being a lazy sleeping wolf.”
“
Sorry, Super Shifter, that
isn’t in my nifty bag of supernatural tricks.”
“
It could be.”
“
Is this going to be
another lecture--?”
“
You know, if you would put
a little more effort into getting control--”
We argued the entire way back. He was
obnoxious and self-righteous. I was resolute and snarky. As the
Houston skyline formed on the horizon, Liam made some ridiculous
assertion, and I realized I was laughing for the first time in a
long, long time.
Chapter 7
We arrived in Texas in a nice, respectable
Honda Civic. We left in an asphalt-colored car the size of a modest
yacht. I’m not sure, but I think the aim was to blend into the
road, Invisible Jet style.
“
The kids are going to miss
you,” Diaz said as we were loading up.
“
I’ll miss them, too.” The
little demons had used the dark powers of cuteness to worm their
way into my heart.
Diaz reached in his back pocket and pulled
out an overstuffed envelope. When he passed it to me I noticed the
bills were hundreds, not tens or twenties.
“
What is this?” I asked,
afraid I was getting ready to be asked to deliver a package filled
with cocaine or semi-automatic weapons disguised as Elmo
dolls.
“
You think I don’t pay my
nannies? You did good work for us. The kids love you. Xavier even
says he's going to marry you.” Diaz grinned as if we were old
friends. “His mama has been using it to get him to eat his
vegetables. She tells him he’s going to have to get big and strong
if he’s ever going to take you from your man.”
My man…? Oh. Yeah. Good
thing we’re hermits. I would’ve totally blown
that
cover in less than twenty-four
hours.
“
Tell him I’m keeping my
options open.”
As surprised as I was to actually get paid
for a job I didn’t think was optional, Liam seemed more surprised
when I added it to the stack of bills he got for what I chose to
believe was changing tires and air filters. He tried to give it
back, telling me I earned it, but I argued that he’d been my sugar
daddy for months. The least I could do was throw what I had into
the general finances.
Like before, our route held no rhyme or
reason. I’m not sure Liam even knew exactly which direction to head
each time we left a gas station or motel. Then again, maybe he did,
since three days after leaving Texas we found ourselves in
Cincinnati, crossing the bridge into Kentucky.
“
Oh the sun shines bright
on my Old Kentucky Home…” I sang under my breath, but had to stop
when my throat closed up. It was stupid, really. Northern Kentucky
is nothing like Lake County, but the
Welcome to Kentucky
sign might as
well have said “Welcome Home, Scout!” for all my heart
knew.
We pulled off once we got to the famous
“Florence Y’All” water tower and found a gas station. I was forced
to stay in the car, despite my overly full bladder, while Liam ran
inside. When he returned he had a University of Kentucky knit hat
and a map.
“
Put this on,” he said,
tossing the hat in my lap. “And you’ve been getting lax with the
sunglasses. Don’t take them off again.”
I did as he asked, but pouted the whole
time. The threat of being recognized had dropped drastically over
the last few weeks. No one involved in the case was optimistic
about my recovery, and with no new leads, the media moved on to the
next big story. Currently they were all about some lady who tried
to kill her husband because, according to her, he was an alien sent
to destroy the earth.
“
I look ridiculous. It’s a
cloudy October day. No need for a hat or sunglasses.”
He didn’t respond, just studied his map.
“
Where are we going? I can
probably help.” When Jase and I were kids, Dad’s idea of a fun game
was to memorize the location and county seats of all the counties
in Kentucky. This is the sort of thing that happens when an
educator is allowed to raise children. I found it ridiculous at the
time, but now I can pretty much navigate my way across the state
with just a few road signs as guides.
Of course, Liam didn’t think he needed my
help, which meant we had to pull onto the side of the road to check
his map more than once. We took back roads through Pendleton County
(county seat Falmouth); Harrison County (Cynthiana); and Nicholas
County (Carlisle). Once we passed into Bath County, I started
getting nervous.
“
Listen, I know I’m not
always up-to-date with my Shifter knowledge, but I think we’re
closing in on Matthews Pack Territory,” I said, referring to
Talley’s father’s pack, who lived in the hills of Eastern Kentucky.
“Unless you’re not telling me something about how they’re really on
our side, I think you should reconsider trespassing. Those guys
pretty much hate me.”
Liam, being Liam, only grunted in response.
Over the next forty minutes I laid out several very reasonable
arguments for why we should turn around, but he was either deaf or
ignoring me. He didn’t say another word until we pulled into a
packed-to-capacity parking lot somewhere in Red River Gorge.
“
Ummm… What are we doing
here?” I asked, not really expecting a response.
“
Going for a
hike.”
“
Hiking?”
“
Yes, hiking. We’re going
to walk around on trails through the mountains and enjoy nature.”
He looked towards where the well-worn path met the parking lot. A
family in full outdoorsy regalia stood arguing, the dad
emphatically pointing towards a map while the woman hooked her
thumb back towards the trail. “Or maybe we’ll make our own trails.
We are Shifters after all.”
It was a good thing we were in excellent
shape, because it took some creativity and effort to avoid the
crowds. The clouds had given way to a wonderfully sunny autumn day,
and the trees towering up to the sky boasted leaves of brilliant
reds and oranges. It was a perfect day for hiking, hence the
overwhelming number of people.
“
Come on,” Liam said,
offering me a hand. My legs were just a few inches too short to
scale the jagged outcropping of rocks where he stood. “We’re almost
there.”
“
There’s a there?” I asked
between grunts. Good grief, rock climbing was so not my thing. “I
thought we were hiking. You know, walking through the woods.
Enjoying nature.”
His response was the predictable glare.
Once we reached the mouth of a cave sitting
atop a 400 foot drop-off, Liam stopped dragging me over the
mountain. He paced about, exploring the inside as far as the
sunlight would allow and looking over the edge of the cliff it
opened up onto. After thirty minutes, I couldn’t take it any
longer. I wasn’t so much afraid of the cave as the things I could
hear moving around inside, and the sight of Liam so close to a
life-ending plummet made me slightly ill.
Leaving Liam at the Bat Cave, I went off to
do some exploring of my own. I didn’t go far before I found a tree
with a bench-like branch. It looked funny and inviting. The sun
warmed me as I stretched across it like a lazy cat. Usually, I
don’t find lounging across trees super-comfortable, but something
about the way the light played through the leaves and the way the
breeze kissed my skin lulled me into complacency, allowing my heavy
eyelids to get their way and slam shut.
But when a familiar scent came floating
through the air, they flew back open, and it wasn’t Human Scout
peering out from their depths.
I was nearly silent as I lowered myself to
the ground and slunk through the trees. He wasn’t alone. A girl
trailed behind him, her hand clasped in his. It wasn’t the Alpha,
but she was a Seer. I could feel it.
He didn’t know I was there until I sprung,
and by then he only had time to turn halfway before impact. Since
we were on the side of a mountain, we rolled several feet before
stopping with him on top. He didn’t stay there long. I flipped him
back over, a primal roar leaving my throat. I pinned his lower body
with my legs and then, with absolutely no finesse, started
swinging.
“
Scout! Stop!” The voice
was familiar, but I refused to listen.
Betrayer!
Wolf Scout bellowed inside me.
“
Scout, it’s Jase!” She was
standing too close. My elbow caught her in the stomach, but still I
didn’t stop until I was grabbed from behind, two arms of steel
trapping my arms by my side as they lifted me off the
ground.
“
Breathe,” he whispered in
my ear, breaking through the rage. “Deep breaths. In and out.
Relax.” And I did. I closed my eyes, pulled air slowly into my
lungs, and relaxed against the broad chest I was hoisted against.
When I was back to something that could pass as normal, Liam
dropped me.
“
You okay?” he asked,
standing above Jase. “Anything broken?”
“
Just my entire face.” My
brother took Liam’s hand and pulled himself up. Talley was
immediately there, her fingers tracing over his nose, cheeks, and
chin.
“
I think your nose is
broken again,” she said once she finished her physical assessment.
“You’re not having any trouble talking, so your jaws are okay. Of
course, I don’t really know how to diagnose a brain injury.” She
held up three fingers. “How many fingers do you see?”
“
I don’t think I’m the one
you need to be testing for a brain injury.” He looked over Talley’s
shoulders and met my eyes. “Hey, Sis. Nice to see you, too.” He
rubbed his jaw, which was already starting to swell. “Out of
curiosity, what the hell was that?”
“
You helped them.” The
fight was completely gone out of me. My words were laced with
weakness, a feeling of defeat overwhelming me. “They were going to
kill me, and you helped them.” I blinked back the tears, refusing
to let them fall. “You were going to let me die.”
Jase’s fury, which was growing instead
waning, focused on Liam. “What is she talking about?”
“
You should know,” I
answered. “You were there. Maybe it didn’t stick out in your mind
like it did mine, but there was this trial…” I took another of
those deep breaths, this time to calm the human instead of the
beast. “You know, I can’t do this. I’m done.”
I stood up and started back towards where I
thought the trail might be. I made it about three steps before a
hulking behemoth stepped into my path. I took a step to the right.
He mirrored my movement. I took a step to the left. Once again, he
moved with me.
“
What’s wrong with you?”
Liam honestly looked a little lost.
“
He told them...” Yet
another deep breath. “Jase’s testimony was one of the things that
helped the Alphas convict me. He sold me out to join the Alpha Pack
and become Sarvarna’s boy toy. Now, please let me by so I can get
the hell away before I succeed in ripping his pretty face from his
head.”
“
You didn’t tell her?”
Talley appeared at my elbow. I could see why Wolf Scout didn’t
immediately recognize her. She looked different. Her hair was
different. The way she held herself was different. Even the way she
dressed was different. “You’ve been with her for two months and
didn’t tell her Jase was a mole? You let her believe her brother
was actually on the same side as the Alphas?”