The Change: Episode one (29 page)

The ride on the flat bottom boat was one
I’ll never forget. It was scary and wild, and I loved every second
of it. Candice sat just behind me, with a rope attaching me to her
belt in case I flew out during our driver’s frantic plunge down the
debris-filled river. Despite the river being so clear and pretty,
there were entire buildings in our path that had to be avoided.
Instead of a slow, careful pace, our driver flew in and out of
these death traps as if it were a race. We were soaked and rattled
by the time she stopped.

My reaction was one I couldn’t control.
“Again!”

I laughed, leaning back against Candice.
“Can we do it again?”

She flashed me that Network grin and shifted
for a sharp kiss that made me clutch at her arms for support. In
that moment, it was only me and my owner, and there wasn’t anywhere
else I’d have rather been.

We moved back slowly, eyes locked, and I
drew up the nerve to touch her cheek. My fingers slid along that
sensual jawline, and I felt her tremble.

The need was raging in her pink eyes, but
she moved out of my reach and stood up. I followed her back onto
the land with a small smile on my lips that I couldn’t have hidden
if I wanted to.

“
How much farther?” Candice
asked.

Baker’s tone was unreadable. “We’ll be met
right here in about five… four… three…”

The jungle around us had narrowed to a thin
path behind the small, wooden dock our crazy driver was tying up
to. After that, there was only a single path into a thin canopy
that formed an archway that made me think of old legends… and
ghosts.

The deepest shadows of this archway moved as
we waited, resolving into the forms of three people all dressed in
green. It blended them into everything they walked by and had me
staring in appreciation. As they got closer, I could see their
green clothes were actually streaks and swirls of black and green,
giving the shadow illusion that allowed them to blend so
perfectly.

Baker stepped forward and the stiff posture
of the three shadows relaxed instantly.

“
Baker!”

“
Welcome home!”

To my shock, each of the males bowed at his
feet.

C

“
It would seem we haven’t
been told the full story.”

Angelica’s comment pulled no response from
me, and she frowned, realizing I’d already known.

“
Oh, get up!”

Baker’s tone was embarrassed, and I
understood he was trying to replace their male instincts and not
having much luck. I flashed my Games grin and watched all of his
males flinch back. Didn’t he know it took a woman to bring out the
drives of a man? My eyes flickered pink… testing.

“
What the hell?”

“
Are they
Changelings?”

Baker motioned the trio away from us to
explain, and I turned to my own followers. “Stay close.”

Angelica and Daniel were clearly hoping I
would give them the careful words that Baker was delivering, but I
didn’t run my ship that way, and really, they knew it.

Angelica gave me a nasty look and then
grunted. “Thanks.”

I nodded. “You’re dealing
with enough. I
know
.”

“
You ready?”

Baker’s call sent us back
to the path, and I studied his two guards.
The only marking I saw that set them apart from their
surroundings was a tattoo that I instantly recognized. It matched
Baker’s and finished selling it for me. He hadn’t lied about his
importance, either. I already knew he was a hero to these weak men.
How could he not be? Compared to them, Baker was a legend for
surviving on his own, and for taking Network lives to do
so.

The two males wore their tattooed ribbons
lower on their arms and I smothered a grin at the sight of their
bare skin under the camouflage. They were wearing tank tops and
jeans, but the coloring had fooled my fast eyes a second time.
Ingenious.

I pinned the smaller one with a hard look.
“Are you the artist?”

D

“
I’m security. Eric makes
things pretty.”

His wide brown eyes went to the beautiful
male on Baker’s right and I understood that these were more than
just rebels, but I wasn’t sure what that meant yet.

“
I like pretty
things.”

Eric’s voice was sweet to her, I could tell,
and I moved a step closer. This one wasn’t shy, wouldn’t jump at
her touch or fear her embrace. This prissy playboy was a former
bachelor and likely a renter too, from the way he was eyeing my
Candy.

They stayed on each side of
Baker while the third man, a huge, hulking shadow with hands the
size of my head, kept watch over the path we had come down.
Each of them had a thinly supplied tool belt and a
small kit on their backs, but of weapons, all I spotted was a
knife. If someone came, what did they plan to do? Talk their way
out?

C

We followed them deeper into the jungle than
I had ever been, and I felt that sense of being watched begin to
fade. It allowed me to place a gentle hand on Daniel’s arm and give
him the comfort of a casual walk before we hit all the tension
again.

I was very aware of how hard he was trying
to fit in with us, but I had already decided he would stay with the
other mates for the next run. I just spent too much time worrying
with him here. Problem was though, I knew I’d worry no matter where
he was. Daniel had a way of getting into trouble without even
trying.

I’d no sooner had the thought than he
tripped and fell down the incline.

“
Damn it!” I dove after
him, seeing his head go under the vines, and I snagged the edge of
his boot.

“
Something’s got
him!”

It came from one of the rebel males, and
Angelica’s boots stomped over to us.

“
It’s the vines. They’re
not exactly dead, you know!”

She began swiping at the greenery with her
blade, and we were all a bit shocked to the vines retreat a foot.
She had been studying on her own again.

Daniel was huddled in a ball under the
retreating plants, and I jerked him over to me. “Can’t you be more
careful?”

I gave him a slight shake, needing the shock
of the vines to fade from his mind. He already feared me. That was
enough.

Daniel snapped his head up, voice tight. “I
was!”

The anger in his voice immediately sent my
mouth to his.

“
Help him!”

“
She’s gonna hurt
him!”

Baker’s growl was full of laughter. “She’s
the one who better watch out. Come on. They’ll catch up.”

Around us, the sound of footsteps and then
silence, but it wouldn’t have mattered. When these moments came, it
was as if only we existed.

I drew back with flames licking my insides,
the sight of his swollen lips making them leap higher. I ran my
thumb across his bottom lip, tilting his head back before I pressed
my mouth to his neck.

He tensed, hands tightening on my hips, and
then we were falling down into the sweet smelling Kudzu in an
embrace that could have melted icebergs.

I wasn’t looking to shore up my control
before we went in, but when he slid a hand toward my heat, I
considered allowing it…

Just as quickly, I chose not to and gently
drew him to his feet. The next time we got that close, I wasn’t
sure I would stop, and our first time wouldn’t be in the middle of
a jungle with skeletons buried under the leaves we were lying
on.

Chapter Nineteen

The Rebel Base

C

As soon as he saw the cave entrance and
realized we were actually going inside the mountain, Daniel turned
to me with panicked eyes.

“
I can’t.”

His endless worries and fears were usually
something I handled with tolerance, but the Network might know
where we were even now, and I wanted to be under full cover. I
swung him up over my shoulder and strode forward. He only struggled
lightly, and we entered the rebel base with him upside down and me
grinning.

Made of smooth stones for the seats and
rough for the floors, the circular room was a spacious area with
four main exits. The 5’ x 2’ stone seats were terraced from the
very top of the round room’s high walls, ending in the center to
leave a “10 x 10” ring. It reminded me of the posters in the
Network Complex of the ancient Roman death games. The architecture
was remarkably similar.

Lines for power and other
amenities ran along the stone walls, chiseled in to disappear and
reemerge like the roots of a mighty tree growing through the
quartz. The tunnels weren’t very wide, but they were long and the
floors were soft, tan sand that seemed very out of place among the
grey walls.
Natural torches lined the
rooms. Made of jungle plants woven into a cone-shaped handle, they
burned with a light smoke and heavy aroma of flowers that floated
to the top of the rooms and was drawn out through the cracks in the
gray stone.

I looked around, senses triggered. The
shadows were deceiving, telling me we were alone when I knew we
weren’t, and I was impressed that Baker had been able to teach them
that much.

We were met by a group of rebels who looked
like they were still teenagers, and I rolled my eyes at their shaky
attempts to stop me with old guns that I doubted would even work.
“Baker told you we were coming. Clear a hole!”

They flinched back at my order, and the
shout brought Angelica and Baker into the tunnel. I shook my head
at the timid response to a possible intruder. “This doesn’t look
good.”

Baker eyed my now frozen prize, Daniel still
over my shoulder. “That won’t to them either.”

I heeded his warning and swung Daniel to his
feet as Angelica moved to take the flank. I steadied him and locked
our eyes. “You can do this, and you will.”

He nodded quickly, glad to be upright, and I
moved into Stone Mountain with my own timid male following. It
would seem both Baker and I had a lot of work to do.

We only traveled in the quartz tunnel for a
minute before reaching the heavy metal door, and Baker’s now five
guards helped him to open it.

“
We don’t have electricity
for the doors,” he explained, swiping at cobwebs. “And we usually
take the long way in.”

That would be directly through the heart of
the jungle. I hoped that perhaps we wouldn’t see too much more of
it before we left. When we boarded the boat next time, it would
take us all the way out of Georgia.

The door opened to reveal an enormous stone
room and more male faces than even I had expected. Behind me,
Angelica growled.

D

The sound of her Changeling fury sent the
rebel males into halls and corners, darting for cover before she
had even moved, and I did what I wasn’t supposed to. I stepped
forward and tried to calm them down. “They’re not like the
others.”

Candice grabbed my arm and shoved me back,
turning my words into a lie. The males panicked, grabbing weapons
from the walls.

Baker stepped forward. “Stand your
ground!”

I noticed he wasn’t limping anymore, and
realized the convict was a fast healer, too, like Candice.

“
It’s Baker!”

“
They’re with the
Boss!”

“
Baker’s home!”

The males flooded into the room at the
calls, and I understood they loved him by the way they flocked to
his side, touching him. Their reaction was very much like that with
the Den Mothers at the Network complex and I started to relax a
little. These males were my own kind.

Baker was busy explaining things, and I took
the time to watch Candice and Angelica. Being around so many males
usually sent Changelings into a frenzy, but I was expecting better
from my new family and wasn’t disappointed.

Despite her first reaction, Angelica stayed
behind us, watching the rear like she was supposed to and Candice
only listened to their hurried conversation with a slightly bored
expression. I straightened my shoulders and tried to look like I
belonged with them.

Baker moved our way with his five guards,
and I did a quick count of all the faces behind them. Roughly four
dozen. How many more were behind the doors that I could see leading
from this room? Baker had an army here. What the bachelors back at
the Network complex wouldn’t give to know about this! I’d hoped for
an owner, but some of the males I’d been bullied by had dreamed of
a place like this.

And I was welcome to join. I could feel
their automatic assumption that I needed help, and it warmed me.
I’d never been around my own kind except under Network control and
it was a whole different life in those halls.