Chapter Three
Organized crime…
Two words and suddenly he
was
convinced that magical fox people existed and the pack of dogs that had
attacked them were really humans in their hyena forms?
Alex shook his head even as he ran through
the trees dividing the two sides of the highway. No, he wasn't quite ready to
believe Kyle's explanation, but he did understand those two words…organized
crime.
Maybe if he hadn't been working undercover
for internal affairs for the past three months, he might have been harder to
sway, but the very fact that he knew his partner was dirty had gone a long way
in convincing him to choose Kyle's side. It also went against every protective
instinct he owned to risk handing over a vulnerable young woman to a corrupt
police force when it seemed obvious his dirty partner wanted her for some
reason.
"Do you know this area?" Kyle
asked, jogging beside him as if Alex wasn't running flat out. Carrying a
passenger was obviously going to slow him down—even if she was quite tiny—but
he suspected Kyle could easily outpace him even carrying double the
load.
Considering that they seemed to be roughly the same
height and kind of the same build, Kyle's stamina was rather surprising. Alex
deliberately avoided looking at the handcuffs still around Kyle's wrists. He'd
snapped them without even breaking a sweat, so Alex really didn't want to think
about how strong that made the guy. "Alex?"
"Oh, yeah, sorry.
I kind of know the area. There's a strip of forest between the
highway and the houses. It's only about a mile wide, but it should give us a
chance to shake off our…pursuers." He bolted across the other half of the
road, grateful that it was late enough for it to be mostly deserted. "As
long as we don't break our fool necks in the dark," he mumbled as they
stepped into the thickly forested area.
Fuck was he really running from his own
coworkers? What happened to the trust and teamwork police officers were meant
to build? Oh yeah, two words…organized crime.
"We need to find a phone." Alex
had already dumped his cell phone with the car. "And then we need to find
a safe place to hole up."
"Or we can just get out of the
area," Kyle said in a low growly tone.
That would be Alex's preference too, but he
really needed to check in with his contact at internal affairs first.
"Damn it's dark," Alex said
stupidly as they moved deeper into the mini forest. It was the middle of the
night and they were moving away from the streetlights. Of course it was dark.
"I have a torch." Reaching it was kind of impossible with the woman
clinging to him in terror so he tried to indicate with his chin so that Kyle
could grab it.
"I've got great night vision,"
Kyle said. Alex really wished he could see the guy's face because that sounded
an awful lot like humor. "Unfortunately, hyenas do as well, so we're
better off without a torch. Do you trust me?"
"Not as far as I can kick you,"
Alex answered honestly, "but since I don't have much choice, you lead and
I'll follow."
"Stay close."
They spent the next hour or so traveling
diagonally across the forested area. It was surprisingly rough terrain. For
some reason, Alex had just always assumed the land was flat simply because that
was the impression it gave to someone passing by in a car. Kyle had offered to
carry the woman for a while, but the moment he'd stepped closer she'd started
to whimper in fright. Sensibly, Kyle had immediately stepped back. If the woman
managed the type of screaming she'd done back near the alleyway, it wouldn't be
long before every officer in the area converged on their exact location.
Alex almost leapt out of his skin when he
heard the screech of an eagle as it swooped overhead before diving lower. Not
only was the damn thing huge, but it was headed straight for them.
Ready to hit the ground—he wasn't going to
risk the woman or himself—Alex jolted when Kyle wrapped an arm around him and
pulled him close to his side. He held out his other arm as if to make a landing
perch. The massive bird made a noise that sounded an awful lot like laughter,
and then landed on a tree branch high above them instead.
Kyle gave the bird an annoyed look and then
started talking to it as if it was a person. "Okay, so I don't totally
hate technology. Did you bring a car?"
Alex didn't even want Kyle to explain that.
~*~
It took another half hour of leading the
night-blind human through thick undergrowth and treacherous landscape, but
eventually they managed to follow Brody to the car he'd left at the edge of the
tree line.
"Can you go back and see if they
impounded my car?"
Brody shook his head, but lifted into the
air and flew back toward the area they were running from. Kyle reached under
the car, retrieved the key from they same place they always hid them, and then
escorted both Alex and the
kitsune
into the backseat.
She wasn't very happy when Alex tried to
secure the seatbelt in place, but the man patiently showed her how to undo and
redo the fastening so that she knew she wasn't trapped. The woman eventually
settled when Alex secured his own seatbelt in place and let her lean on him.
She was asleep almost before Kyle got the car moving.
They drove several miles in silence before
Alex finally asked his question, but it wasn't the question Kyle had been
expecting.
"How did she end up in the middle of a
big city?"
"I'm not sure," Kyle said, careful
to modulate his voice so that if the
kitsune
did
awaken she would be soothed not frightened. "Foxes are omnivores so it's
likely she just followed the trail of food. We unfortunately aren't aware of a
kitsune
until she changes into her human form."
"So
kitsunes
are all female?"
"I'm not sure on that either,"
Kyle answered honestly. "I don't think they have an actual sexual
designation. They can appear as young or old women or old men in human form,
but they don't seem locked into one in particular. They don't breed in this
form, so it's kind of a moot point anyway."
"How do they breed?" Alex asked
curiously. A moment later the scent of his embarrassment filled the car's
interior. "Sorry, that's probably not something I need an answer to."
"It's okay," Kyle said, trying to
reassure Alex that he really wasn't intruding on the woman's privacy. "
Kitsunes
spend the first one hundred years of their
existence as an animal. It'll be many years before she can function in the
human word, and right now the woman in your arms doesn't understand any of our
conversation."
"Is it the same for hyenas?"
"No," Kyle said, wondering how
much he should tell this man. If Alex wanted to go back to his normal life, the
less he knew the better. Yet Kyle felt compelled to answer the question anyway.
"Hyena shifters are born in human form and learn to shift into their
alternate shape around puberty. I'm guessing that your partner and his family
are big on home schooling."
"Yeah, it came up in the briefing from
internal affairs." As soon as he said the words, Alex shook his head
tiredly. "Damn, it's been a long night. Could you maybe forget I said
that?"
Kyle glanced over his shoulder, nodded, and
then went back to concentrating on driving. If internal affairs were
investigating Alex's partner, it did help to explain why Alex was cooperating
with Kyle right now. At the moment Kyle was the saner choice, but since the
selection was between a stranger
or
a known criminal,
Kyle wasn't going to believe it was out of anything more than necessity.
And why the hell did that leave him so
disappointed?
"You can get some sleep if you
want," Kyle offered, glancing again over his shoulder to see the man shake
his head.
"If it's all the same to you, I'd
rather know where I'm being taken."
"Yeah, sorry," Kyle said. He
really should have explained that. He wouldn't have gotten into a vehicle
without knowing. The fact that Alex had—despite his police training and natural
suspicion—showed how little choice he'd been given. "There's a farm about
six hours north of here. It's run by a small family of
kitsunes
who are more than willing to take our friend in. They'll teach her how to
function in the human world, but I doubt she'll ever head back to the city.
Kitsunes
usually prefer to be close to nature. I'll warn
them about the hyena clan just in case they weren't aware of the danger."
"Are you human?"
Kyle considered lying, but in the end
settled for the truth. "I was, a long time ago, but these days, not so
much."
"Do I want to know?" Alex asked.
"Probably not," Kyle said with a
soft laugh. "I really am sorry you got dragged into this."
"It seems that I was a part of it long
before you arrived," Alex said in a low tone. "Thanks for stepping in
between me and a
Taser
gun."
Kyle grinned. "I'd like to say anytime,
but those things really sting. Maybe don't expect a repeat performance."
Alex half laughed and nodded his head.
"I'll keep that in mind."
Chapter Four
Thankfully the drive to "the farm"
as Kyle had described it was uneventful, but it was what happened once they
opened the door and introduced the woman—who apparently
wasn't
named Tyler—to the other
kitsunes
that changed Alex's life forever.
Yeah, he'd listened, he'd pretended to
believe, he'd even convinced himself there was an explanation for the dog pack
that had attacked them
and
for his
partner's strange behavior, but he couldn't quite ignore the evidence when the
woman he'd held in his embrace for more than seven hours changed into a fox
right in front of him.
A fox with three damn
tails.
"You okay?" Kyle asked, stepping
into Alex's personal space as if he somehow had permission.
Considering
that Alex felt lightheaded enough to do a very unmanly faint, the move wasn't
entirely unwelcome.
He tried to nod that "yes, he was
fine," but his knees shook so badly he was pretty sure Kyle wouldn't
swallow the lie anyway.
"It's all right to be
not
okay," Kyle said in a kind tone
of voice, the feel of the man's arm over his shoulder somehow anchoring Alex to
reality. "Everything you knew about the world has just been rewritten, so
give yourself a chance to adjust. You're doing much better than a lot of humans
I've dealt with over the years."
"Go me," Alex said in a very tiny,
breathless mockery of a victory chant.
Kyle laughed softly.
"Come on. Let's go find some
breakfast."
"I…um…don't think…"
Okay, so his brain didn't quite go where it
should have, but in his defense he was currently watching a three-tailed fox
chase, track, and then pounce on what seemed to be some sort of rodent. Alex
turned away when he realized what the fox intended. He'd watched animal
documentaries before, but watching the animal catch and eat its breakfast was
still rather disturbing when he took into account the human shape she'd been
wearing for the past several hours. Ugh, he wasn't so sure he ever wanted to
eat again.
"Yeah, no…I'm not hungry."
~*~
Kyle had seen it many times before. Humans
were quite good at deluding themselves. If he got Alex out of here and back to
his normal life, he'd likely find an explanation he could live with for
everything that had happened, and then he'd be fine.
The sad part was how much Kyle didn't want
him to do that. He flexed his fingers when he realized he'd been smoothing his
thumb back and forth over the thin sweater Alex was wearing. It was a little
strange to be feeling an attraction for a man who was nearly the opposite of
his usual type, but he supposed it might also be a little bit normal.
Dreams of Tyler had been haunting him for
months now, and despite the fact that he'd never said or done anything
inappropriate toward his brother-in-law, Kyle still had a healthy dose of guilt
weighing him down.
Being attracted to someone who was Tyler's
complete opposite might even
be
considered healthy in
a twisted sort of way.
"Come on. If you're not hungry, the
least I can offer you is a decent bed to sleep in."
Alex glanced around the farm buildings and
Kyle chuckled when he realized what the guy must have been thinking.
"Sorry, I meant in a hotel about an
hour from here.
Kitsunes
and I disagree on what is
considered comfortable."
Kyle turned back to watch the young
kitsune
as she finished breakfast and settled down in the
dirt next to an older fox.
"She'll be fine now that she's with her
people," Kyle said. "The fox beside her has been a
kitsune
for nearly fifty years. She's more than capable of
teaching your girl what she needs to know to function in both human and fox
environments."
"Are you sure?" Alex asked in a
tone that proved he truly cared about the people around him—even if they did
come in forms he was still trying to understand.
"Positive."
"Will she bite me if I try to say
good-bye?"
"Maybe," Kyle answered honestly,
"but I think it'll be okay. She trusted you even before she found the beef
jerky."
Alex smiled and nodded, and then slowly made
his way toward the small red fox with three tails. Kyle stayed well out of the
way. The little
kitsune
had grown to tolerate him
throughout her ordeal, but she was far more comfortable when it was only Alex.
Kyle smiled at the thought. The man
certainly had a natural charm to him.
It took a few minutes for Alex to be ready
to go, and it sure didn't help that the fox had decided to half curl up on his
lap, but eventually Alex and Kyle climbed back into the car and headed away
from the farm.
"So," Alex said with a wry grin on
his face, "if fox people are real, who was the eagle?"
He seemed more amused than wigged out, so
Kyle hoped it was a good sign. He really had no idea why it was so important to
him for Alex to remember what actually happened tonight and not rationalize
away the memories.
"The eagle was my brother, Brody."
"So you're an eagle too?"
"Ah…no.
For a lot of paranormals that's how it works, but well my siblings
and I aren't exactly normal shifters." Kyle had no idea why he was dancing
around the truth. He had every intention of telling Alex what he was. He had no
explanation for the compulsion, but something inside him told him it was
important that this man knew.
He shook his head hard as he tried to shake
off that weird thought. He was an Alateeka. Their
entire
lives—the actual reason for their existence—was
to keep paranormal
beings safe from humans. The best thing for everyone would be for Kyle to come
up with a plausible explanation, deliver Alex back to his life, and hope he
rationalized away the memories.
"So you're not an eagle," Alex
said in a flat tone, "and you'd rather not tell me."
Kyle reached across the seat and grabbed
Alex's hand. He almost dropped it when he realized what he was doing. The only
consolation was that Alex looked as surprised by the move as Kyle felt.
"I'm a grizzly bear."
Alex pursed his lips and nodded casually as
if Kyle had just told him something mundane, like: "Hey, the sky is
blue."
"Alex?" Kyle asked, because
really, that wasn't the reaction he'd been expecting. "You…um…don't... You
don't have any questions?"
Alex shook his head slowly. "No, I
think I'm good."
"You're sure?" Kyle asked.
Alex gave him a crooked smile and shrugged.
"Is there something you think I should know?"
"Um…I'm not dangerous… Well, that's
not…entirely true. I mean I am dangerous….in bear form…
if
I want to be, but I…um…am not if I don't."
Alex laughed softly. "You don't talk
about this often, do you?"
"I guess not," Kyle said, vaguely
wondering when the last time was that he'd needed to tell anyone. He loved
running in bear form, but since most of his assignments these days were in
plain view of humans or their blasted cameras, transforming into a bear was
never a good choice.
Hell, he'd stopped to pick locks rather than
knock down the doors at the high school where Tyler worked—even knowing that he
and Adrian were most likely facing down a crazed gunman. It was probably just
as well he hadn't yet met Tyler at that stage. It really didn't help his peace
of mind that his brother had found and married the exact type of partner Kyle
had always wanted. There was no telling how he might have reacted if he'd known
Tyler before that awful day. The school may have had some rather strange,
bear-shaped holes in their doors.
It was seriously a shock to feel Alex's
thumb smooth over the back of his. Kyle hadn't even realized they were still
holding hands. Embarrassed by his stumbling explanation, Kyle moved his arm and
placed his hand back on the steering wheel.
"I guess…um…you probably need to report
in…to…" How the fuck had he forgotten the man beside him was a cop? By
cooperating with Kyle, and running from the car when his bosses had stopped it
remotely, Alex was either considered a criminal or listed as kidnapped. Yeah,
they were several hundred miles away from where they'd met, but global
communication meant the distance was a lot smaller than it used to be.
"What did you mean when you mentioned 'internal affairs' earlier?"
Alex shook his head, perhaps trying to
decide whether to confide in Alex or not. After a long moment, he exhaled a
deep breath and answered Kyle's question.
"My partner is suspected of being
involved in some sort of crime syndicate. Internal affairs approached me a few
months ago and asked for my help." He gave Alex a crooked smile. "I
figured if he was clean, I'd be able to help clear his name, and well, if he
wasn't, then he was getting what he deserved." Alex laughed softly.
"I might have reconsidered if I'd known the guy and the rest of his family
could turn into hyenas."
"An incident like this is going to
cause trouble for your career, isn't it?"
"Probably," Alex said with a
grimace, "but my conscience is clear."
Alex nodded. It wasn't always easy to do the
right thing, but thankfully the world had people like Alex who were willing to
do it even when it cost them personally. It was a rather humbling observation.
Kyle had seen so many horrible things over the years that it was sometimes easy
to forget that there were humans like Alex among them.
"What about you?" Alex asked after
several minutes of silence. "Your ID was in your wallet and your phone is
probably smashed. My guess is that since we haven't heard anything on the radio
news, that Terry and his friends want to keep this quiet, but that might
actually be worse than having to explain
yourself
to a
judge."
"The phone has already been wiped of
information, Brody would have done that remotely once he'd identified where I
was. Kyle Barton is one of my aliases. His home address doesn't actually exist,
so the only link they have to me is you."
"And if they assume I've been taken
against my will…"
Alex didn't finish the sentence, but they
both knew where it was leading.
"Yeah, I wasn't planning on doing jail
time this century, but if that's what it takes to keep you safe, I'm happy to
do it."
"What the hell?" Alex asked, his
voice giving away his shock. "You did nothing wrong."
"And neither did you," Kyle said,
wondering how to explain, "but since keeping the secret of paranormals is
more important than me doing a few years behind bars, it's not really a
problem." Kyle laughed, hoping to lighten the mood. "Hell, after the
past few decades of nonstop work it'd almost be a vacation."
Alex shook his head, obviously disturbed by
the possibilities, but he didn't talk again until after they'd found a public
payphone and he'd checked in with his contact at internal affairs.