by Cathy Clamp
“Uh-oh,” Bobby said. He reached out and pulled Rachel back through the door and backed up a pace so they could all stand together on the top two steps. “If her head has slipped back in time ten years, me being here isn’t good. Every snake was a suspect, a threat. I had to go underground for weeks until I could prove myself all over again to the hierarchy.”
Rachel shook her head, her scents a muddle of emotions. “She wouldn’t hurt you. Skew wouldn’t attack a fly.”
Bobby sighed. “And I don’t want to hurt her. But if her mind is in the past, where all snakes are dangerous, she won’t listen to reason.”
Dalvin poked his head forward, both surprised and confused. “I didn’t even know she was alpha enough to shift before the moon.”
Rachel just shrugged. “I can’t say I’ve ever seen her shift outside the moon. But there really hasn’t been any need, except for rogue attacks, and those have always been handled by the mayor and sheriff, or the Williamses. The town is pretty close to humanity, and the forest is popular with tourists. We don’t tend to shift unless there’s good reason.”
Anica saw movement outside the thick steel grate over the windows. Tristan was outside, looking in. She heard his voice in her mind: What’s happening in there? Are you okay? I heard screaming.
Skew is upset. She thinks Bobby is here to hurt the town’s children. Her mind … it’s not stable. Can you—She tried to think how it might be done. Use your power like at the house? Pop all the mousetraps but keep them from hurting anything?
She could tell that popping the first mousetrap would set off more. It would be like another bomb exploding. She saw Tristan put his hands on his hips, look over the room. Yes and no. Yes, I can, but not with all of you inside and not without damaging the building. Magic doesn’t trump physics. If you can get the falcon downstairs, I think I can handle the rest.
Anica turned her head and then ducked back into the stairwell to be heard over Skew’s screams. “Tristan is outside. He said he can help if we can get Skew down here with us.”
Rachel cocked her head and sounded suspicious. “How do you know that?”
Anica pointed at her head. “He talks to me here. When I couldn’t talk with my throat swelled up, he asked if he could. I said it was okay.”
Dalvin looked at Bobby with a questioning look. “Is that possible?”
The other man nodded. “Sure. I’m a little surprised he would with a three-day, but he’s got the ability. I’ve talked to him that way myself.” He looked up at Skew. “I could put her in a hold, but if she’s alphic she’ll feel I’m a snake and could fight to the point I have to hurt her. I don’t think Dalvin is strong enough to hold her.” He mused for a moment, rubbing his thumb and forefinger at the edge of his mouth. “Y’know, most psychotic episodes end by themselves with the right trigger. Anica, could you go get Mrs. Williams? She’s been here since the first day. You’re the smallest and can get out the window easily. Maybe seeing someone else from that same time could end this quickly.”
He stared at the doorway for a moment and Anica could hear the echo of his voice in her head: Ris, I’m sending Anica to get Asylin Williams. She should be able to reach the falcon’s brain. If you need to talk to someone from the early days, she and her husband are two of them.
Anica nodded. “Yes. I will. Dalvin, could you give me a boost?” He nodded and she turned briefly to Bobby. “Have Tristan meet me around back and I will show him way to house. I would tell him, but my head, it hurts from the mind talking.”
She bolted down the stairs with Dalvin right behind her, but not before she smelled a burst of surprised scent coming from the snake agent. She turned her head to see why, but his face was a blank slate. He just stared at her with pleasant ambivalence.
Dalvin locked his hands together into a stirrup that she put her foot in. He lifted her and she crawled through the transom opening. Tristan was on the other side and took her hand to help pull her through. An electric charge ran through her when he did, making her stomach tight and her head almost too clear. Night had fallen completely and the breeze that came from the north held the threat of ice. Not fluffy snow that she could romp through, but heavy, blue ice that would stick to her fur, weigh her down, and cut her feet to ribbons.
Tristan shuddered as the wind raised hair on his bare arms.
“You do not like the cold?”
He shook his head. “I come from a warm climate. I haven’t seen snow in years.”
She motioned for him to follow her. Even with little light to guide her, she could find her way. The Williamses were owls and their home always smelled of freshly killed rodents. It wasn’t a bad smell, exactly. It was like a meat-cutting shop. The product was fresh, but it smelled of meat, not fur and life. “This way.”
He followed without question. The pine trees that towered overhead created a familiar path. They traveled at an easy jog. She often ran through the forest in the mornings, letting the morning dew soak into her socks and shoes. It made her feel alive. After that, she would dive into the lake, a little farther each day, to catch her breakfast. Of course, she would still go back home and make a real breakfast for Papa and Bojan, but more often Bojan was doing the cooking and Papa was going to the office early, leaving her to eat alone.
“You seem to know the forest well. You jumped over a rock you couldn’t have seen.”
She smiled, feeling a strange flutter in her chest at the sound of his voice from the darkness. “I have been this way, but I smelled the rock. I don’t know how I can tell the height of things from the smell, but I can.”
“I understand. I can too.” There was a pause as the light of the Williams house came into view. “Do you hate all snakes?”
The question startled her. “Of course,” she replied with a light laugh. “They are evil. Even Bobby, I think, is probably evil. Or can be.”
Tristan’s reply was thoughtful, his scent an odd mix of emotions. “Yes, he can be. But can’t bears be evil too?”
That stopped her short. She turned to face him. “Of course. It was bears who stole me, took me to the snakes. It was bears who turned the children. But it was snakes who put them up to it. Either for money or for fear.” She stared at him, willing him to understand. He seemed angry, but she wasn’t sure why. “You understand, don’t you?”
“Strangely,” he said with a sigh, “I do.” He pointed to the porch of the large log cabin ahead. “Is that Mrs. Williams?”
It was. Anica leaped into a sprint again. “Mrs. Williams!” Asylin Williams turned and saw them running. Her eyes immediately became alert and she came down the stairs.
“Anica, right? What’s wrong, sweetie?” Her eyes had gone golden and shining and the power that surged from her was protective, like a mama bear sweeping a cub under her body for protection.
“Skew has had an attack. She is at the Polar Pops and has set traps all over the floor. She thinks the Wolven snake agent is attacking children. Rachel said she was saying words like from the first day the town was started. But now she is screaming, ‘Snakes!’ and made traps.”
“Oh, lord. I was afraid this would happen one day.” She shifted so quickly that Anica’s eyes couldn’t follow the change. One minute she was a nice dark-skinned lady, and the next a large white owl. “Okay, you and your bear friend stay here. Don’t go back there. I’ll take care of this.” She fluttered into the air and circled once. “Do me a favor. Knock on the door and tell John where I’ve gone. I might need his help too, so I need him to lock up the house.”
Anica nodded and Tristan trotted up the steps to the front door, starting to knock even before Asylin had soared out of sight over the treetops. A tall, slender dark-skinned man answered the door. “Yes?”
Anica came up to stand beside Tristan on the wide pine porch that smelled of a hundred different animals and happy memories. Tristan stuck out his hand. “Mr. Williams, I don’t think we’ve met. Tristan Davies. I was sent here by the Council for an investigation. I’m hoping yo
u can help me with some information.”
That was not what he was supposed to say. Anica stepped in front of him. “Asylin asked us—”
Tristan cut her off with a grasp on her upper arm that surprised her with the intensity. “Asylin had to run an errand. She asked us to tell you she’d be right back. Can we come in?”
Anica had heard Rachel tell of Mr. Williams’s suspicious mind. But she didn’t notice it here. He opened the door wide and stepped back. “Of course. But I don’t know how much help I’ll be.”
She walked in, followed by Tristan. John walked past the darkened living room. The television was on and she could smell Tammy, the cougar shifter about her own age, and the Williamses’ two younger children, both future owl shifters. In fact, she smelled too many owls in the room. She turned around, looking for another person, but saw only Tristan and John. That’s when she realized it was Tristan who smelled of owl. But he was a bear! How could he smell like an owl? Yet that same exotic spice was now buried under the warm fluff of feathers. How was that possible?
John led them down the hallway by the staircase to the kitchen at the back of the house. He sat down at the head of the table and held out his hand, offering chairs to them. Her chair was also made of the same pine that surrounded them, making it hard to know if her nose was smelling right. There was so much pine around. She had to close her eyes, to sort as the snake agent had told her. While she inhaled, matched scents, Tristan began to speak.
“When the town was first formed, how were the refugees selected?”
John let out a laugh that had a brittle edge. “Selected? I doubt there was any sort of process anywhere. We took all comers. If a bus showed up, from anywhere in the country, we off-loaded them and gave them a cot. We had every species, every age. Everyone was scared and cut off from their families.”
Tristan nodded, tapping his finger on the table. “Okay, then, how about after … once the dust settled and some families had reunited? Who decided who stayed and became a permanent member of the town?”
The other man shrugged. His fluffy green sweater stretched, showing just how muscular he was under the knitted wool. “I suppose Van Monk probably made the final selection, although it just sort of sorted itself naturally. We only have so much land here, just fifty acres, so we’re limited on the number of houses we can build.”
Tristan’s voice was soft and conversational: “And a lot of people didn’t want to live in such close quarters?”
“Not everyone is suited to living here. That’s true. People from big cities who were used to malls and Wi-Fi on every corner found it difficult to live in the wilderness. Those families left early on. Orphans tended to stay. Asylin and I raised them as our own.”
“I’m looking for single males in the thirty-to-fifty age group, but alphas, so they might be older.”
John leaned back in his chair, thinking while tapping a single finger on the edge of the table. “The school principal, Nathan Burrows, is single and an alpha bear. But he moved here later, probably five years ago. The Kragan brothers are both single, and so is their sister, but they’re ancient. Several hundred years at a minimum.”
Anica suddenly realized what Tristan was looking for, but he was going about it wrong. “Were there any newlyweds? Anyone who seemed more involved with each other than the snake crisis?”
She saw Tristan glance at her and smelled palačinke again. Bobby had called it pride. That was nice. John shook his head, his scent just owl, no emotion at all. “Not that I can remember. But it’s been ten years. I’ll think about it more and talk to Asylin.”
Tristan still smelled of owl, which frustrated her. He must have noticed it in her scent, because he put his hand on top of hers and patted it. “Thank you. And I would appreciate it if you would keep this low-key. If the person I’m looking for is here, there’s some danger involved.”
The front door opened and closed. Anica recognized the scent and voice of Denis, Alek Siska’s younger brother. “Man, I can’t believe you watch that crappy fashion show.” The words were harsh, but the emotion behind them was warm. He came through the door and stopped cold. “Oh. Sorry, Dad. I didn’t know you had company.” He smiled behind a curtain of golden hair that fell down over his eyes. “Hey, Anica. How you doin’?”
Denis had been very nice to her ever since she moved to town, just like his older brother. “Hello, Denis.” She motioned with her hand. “This is Tristan. He’s new in town too.”
Denis pulled his attention to the side and the smile crumbled, fell away like dust. “Hey. You here fighting the fire?”
“Just passing through.” Tristan’s voice was a little deeper, his scent not aggressive, but not friendly either.
“That’s cool.” The smile was back, a little fragile, but there. “’K. I’m gonna head to my room.”
John looked up at him, then tapped him on the forearm. “No video games until your homework is done. I want to see that term paper done before it’s late, for a change. Remember our agreement.”
Denis gave an exaggerated sigh. “Yeah, okay.” When John cleared his throat meaningfully, he added, “I mean, yes, sir.”
“Better.” He winked at his foster son. “Don’t forget to give the kids a kiss good night.”
“’K.” He pushed open the swinging door and called out, “Hey, Mom. Just headed up to do my homework!”
“Well, my goodness!” Asylin’s voice was pleased from the hallway. “What a nice surprise. Thank you.” Anica could feel warm maternal magic flow through the doorway that made her heart twinge a little. She missed that feeling when Mama hugged her, like a warm, fluffy blanket in front of the fire. Moments later, Asylin pushed open the door and let out a short laugh. “Well, no wonder he was so cooperative. You already gave him the nightly lecture.” She ruffled John’s hair. There was a warm flow of magic between the two of them … an unspoken conversation that no one else was part of.
She looked at Anica and Tristan. “Problem solved. Did you tell John yet?”
Anica shook her head. “Not yet.”
Addressing her husband, Asylin shook her head. “Poor Skew. Her mind is really going. She slipped back to our first day here this time.”
“Oh, no. Including the snake?”
She nodded and addressed the explanation to the two of them, instead of John. “There really was a snake that first night—a viper who had wrapped herself around the gearbox of one of the buses. She went for one of the elderly cats, not realizing the old girl was actually pretty tough.” Asylin shrugged. “Just now, I just told Skew that Abigail killed the snake and everything was fine. That’s what really happened, back then, so there was no lie to smell. Skew snapped right out of the past.”
“What about traps? They were everywhere.”
John winced. “She did the mousetrap thing … with the nails? Ooo. Ouch. That’s going to be tricky. They’ll scatter everywhere and impale the walls. Plus anyone standing in the way.”
She sighed. “I haven’t really figured that one out. I’m hoping I’ll think of something overnight.”
“I actually did have one idea. I thought of this when I saw Skew perched on the signboard,” Anica said.
John opened his arms wide. “Shoot. I’m open to ideas. I can’t even imagine the mess over there, but I’m betting I’m going to be stuck fixing the walls if those nails start flying.”
Anica took a deep breath. It was refreshing to be able to speak her mind without Papa interrupting. “It will take several birds working together, but if they all fly up the staircase with a large tarp, like the one on the ground by the food tables in the center of town, and all drop at same time, all mousetraps will go off at once—”
Tristan finished the thought. “But nothing will get past the tarp because of the weight. A good idea.”
Asylin smiled brightly. “We’ll have to trim it to fit so the counter doesn’t throw it off-balance, but it should work. We’ll do it first thing in the morning, before the store is supposed t
o open. Thank you, Anica. That was a very good idea.” She leaned down and kissed her husband on the cheek. “I’m going to get the kids up to bed. Don’t stay up too late.”
Anica stood as well. “We must leave too. I must go home to get Papa’s dinner ready.”
John showed them out the front door. The town was easily visible because of the blinking red and blue lights. Fire didn’t sleep, so neither did those who fought it. She blinked several times and struggled not to rub her eyes, because that just made it worse. “I am tired of my eyes burn from the smoke.”
Tristan put his fingers on her chin and turned her face into the light. A nice tingle made her neck warm like in a hot bath. “They are fairly red.”
It made her laugh. “You use red light to tell me eyes are red?”
He twisted her head a little more, and then smiled. “They’re red in the blue light too.”
She couldn’t help but smile at his twinkling eyes. She couldn’t tell whether the blue glow was from the lights or from his magic. “And yours are blue in red light. We are pair, yes?”
The smile stilled and his voice lowered, grew softer. “Yes.” He leaned forward and she didn’t stop him as his lips brushed hers. The taste of him was like his scent: rich, exotic, something that she should not be able to afford to indulge in. Her blood heated in her veins, made her heart race. When he wrapped an arm around her, pulled her close to him, and opened her mouth with his, she couldn’t seem to breathe. Not her first kiss, by any measure, but it was fast becoming one of the best. She leaned into him, feeling dazed, her eyes closing because her lids were too heavy to keep open.
A whimper escaped her throat and it urged him on. He let out a small growl and ate at her mouth, now moving one hand to slide through her hair, letting it fall through his fingers before clutching it possessively.