Shapes of Autumn (Boxed set, books 1 - 5)

by Veronica Blade

  After we ordered, I contemplated any possible way we could speed up the search and end my suffering. Except, as soon as I got what I needed, Zack would want to leave and go back home. Then we’d have to go back to pretending.

  “Anxious to get back?” I asked.

  “Not really. But we should leave as soon as we can.”

  “What’s the hurry?” He and I were better off here, away from outside influences — like Gina. Once we returned home, Zack might totally close up. “Maybe that wasn’t Renzo behind us. I haven’t sensed any werewolves since we got here, which means we’re safe. Don’t you think?”

  When he only frowned, I barreled on. “At least here, I don’t have to watch Gina making moves on you.” I hoped bringing Gina up would trigger memories of Cameron hitting on me. I was pretty sure Cameron had accepted my rejection on Friday, but Zack didn’t know that.

  Zack stared out the big window of the diner. “With all these trees here, you’d think there’d be werewolves around.”

  Or maybe he didn’t care about me anymore. Maybe he was just trying to rescue the damsel.

  I sighed. “Maybe it’s more about the people and less about the forests. With bigger cities, it’s easier to get lost in a crowd. And doesn’t the werewolf king keep tabs on his people? If a lone werewolf were on the loose, chances are, he doesn’t want to be found, even by us.”

  Zack nodded. “But if I didn’t want to be found, I might hide out in the woods.”

  I’d store that in the mental vault in case I ever had to look for Zack. Thinking about his inevitable departure made me wonder if I was being petty over the Gina thing. Maybe he really had been just trying to help me…

  “We should consider seeing some sights before we leave. Seriously, when will we get another chance to come back here? Besides, it’s tourist season and a weekend. I doubt we’d be alone, even in the woods. If we find the information we need today, we can be tourists tomorrow.”

  “It’s your call.” But he didn’t seem thrilled.

  “Zack, I know you’re mad at me and, yes, I’m pretty pissed at you, too. But we don’t have all the time in the world, so can you at least try to enjoy this trip?”

  His jaw ticked and his shoulders tensed. “It’s not you I’m mad at. Well, maybe a little bit. It’s… everything.”

  “Like?”

  His eyes darkened. “Not now, Autumn.”

  “When then?” I waited for him to answer, then reached across the table and covered his hand with my own. “So you’re just going to be cranky? And ruin the entire weekend? Who knows when we’ll be alone together again? Could be never.”

  The realization made my stomach drop.

  He lifted his chin, his green eyes melting into mine. “Okay, let’s go sightseeing, but only after we’ve covered more ground.”

  † † †

  The next few houses were a bust, and disappointment smothered me as we parked in front of yet another house. As if weighted down, I slowly climbed out of the passenger side. “Zack, I can’t leave here empty-handed. I can’t continue in ignorance. I can’t.”

  He rounded the hood, surveying the area.

  I stayed put, waiting to see what was up. “What are you looking for?”

  “We’re getting farther away from the store with the old man,” Zack said. “Where we are, right here, you’d have to drive four miles to his store.” He flipped his thumb in the opposite direction. “Or you could go the other way and add a few minutes to your trip for a bigger store with a wider selection. We need to canvas the area where residents most likely went to his store. This isn’t it.”

  “Makes sense. Let’s bail and restart on the other side of his store.” I hurried into the Mustang with renewed hope.

  Zack pulled over several minutes later. We knocked at the first house and a bleached blonde with very big hair opened the door. I guessed her to be around my mom’s age or a little older. She wasn’t too bad looking and kept herself in shape. Especially her top half which screamed boob job and Botox.

  “What can I do for you, honey?” She curled her full red lips.

  I gave her my spiel and waited for her to tell me she’d just moved there or one of the other half dozen things we’d heard since breakfast.

  “Richard and Patricia Nicholson…” She nodded thoughtfully.

  “Somebody looking for the Nicholsons? From twenty years ago?” a deep voice boomed from behind the well-endowed blonde.

  “Yeah.” She dropped her arm and let the door swing open.

  A man appeared at her side. He wasn’t much taller than her, balding and wearing a handlebar mustache. “I remember them. Kind of hard to forget. That Patricia...” He whistled. “She was a knock-out.”

  The blonde raised one eyebrow. “My exact thoughts about Richard.” She pretended to fan herself with her hand.

  My heart raced. I’d found someone who actually knew my parents. I’d ignore the part about their hotness… Eew. “So what else do you know about them?” I bit my lip.

  The man shrugged. “They didn’t say much. Stayed inside most the time.”

  “Did they have a baby?” Zack asked.

  “Yes, though Patricia’s pregnancy was difficult,” she answered. “Spent most of it on bed rest, so we didn’t see much of her and Richard rarely left her side. They stayed a few weeks after the baby was born, then moved away. Kind of odd to just up and move with a newborn and all. Never said good-bye or anything.”

  “Do you know where they lived?” I asked.

  “Sure, they were our neighbors.” The man pointed directly behind us. “We had the best view of them.”

  “I’ll say.” The woman giggled. “They seemed very much in love, if you know what I mean.”

  I bit my lip, not wanting a visual of that. But I kept my mouth shut not wanting to derail them from coughing up any new information.

  “Being neighbors, you talked to them now and then, right? Maybe had them over for a barbeque?” Zack asked.

  “They were good neighbors. Always waved, always friendly. But they never accepted party invitations.”

  “Before they moved, did they say where they were going?” Zack asked. “Or mention putting the baby up for adoption or anything like that?”

  She looked to the man and they shook their heads. “No. But they talked about New York, I think.”

  No, no, no. Too far away. How would I ever find them among all those people?

  Zack took my hand and gently squeezed. They could’ve remembered wrong or maybe your parents were covering their tracks and lied about where they were going. We don’t know yet. He switched back to speaking aloud. “Can you think of anything else that would help us find them?”

  The couple looked at each other, shaking their heads. “No,” they said in unison. “Sorry. That’s all we remember of the Nicholsons.”

  † † †

  Over the next two hours, most of the people we interviewed had no idea who Richard and Patricia were. Anyone who remembered them didn’t have any more information than we already had — which was where they lived, what they looked like and that they had a baby. I was hungry again and the sun was already disappearing behind the trees.

  “We should do dinner and call it a night,” I said, standing in front of a house that looked like so many others we’d stopped at. Or maybe we’d already been there. Had we gone around in a circle? “The houses are beginning to look the same. It’s becoming a blur. You sure we weren’t already here?”

  “Positive.”

  “So far, the only thing we’ve learned is that my parents were here and they had a baby. I already knew all that. What an epic failure this trip has been.”

  Plus, Zack still wouldn’t talk to me about us and that drove me nuts.

  “Let’s hit one more and we’ll eat, okay? Then we’ll do something fun tonight and start again tomorrow.”

  “And what if we don’t find anything tomorrow?” I asked.

  “Shh.” He laced his fingers through mine a
nd held my gaze. “Then we’ll come back next weekend.”

  “Really?” My eyes burned in gratitude. Zack may have poor judgment on where to draw the line when trying to get info from skanks, but in the end he was always there for me.

  “Really. C’mon.”

  We walked the stone path to the modern stucco covered house, carefully avoiding the rose bushes that reached out to snag our clothes. I knocked on the door.

  It seemed like the door opened by itself until I lowered my gaze to a tiny, older woman peeking out from between the narrow gap. I told her why I was there and asked her about my parents.

  The crack widened and she stepped into the doorway. “Yes, I remember them. Lived just a few houses away. They were nice neighbors. The couple that lived across from them was noisy though, always throwing parties.” She shook her head.

  I smiled, remembering the mustached man and the busty blonde. I could totally see them loud and partying. “Yeah, we met them earlier today.”

  “Do you remember anything about Patricia or Richard that might help us find them?” Zack asked.

  “Not really. My memory isn’t as sharp as it used to be. Sometimes I think of something days later.”

  “How about I give you my cell phone number? Then you can call me if you remember anything.” Reaching into my purse, I fished for a pen. After rummaging a few more seconds, I found a receipt to write on. As I pulled it out, my mom’s ID clattered to the ground. I bent over, snatched it up and stuck it between my fingers while I wrote my cell number on the tiny piece of paper.

  “That’s her,” the woman said.

  I hadn’t realized she’d stepped out of the house. She peered up at my hand — the ID actually. Stuffing the pen back in my purse, my gaze shifted from the plastic card between my fingers to the little old lady. “Excuse me?”

  She thrust a finger at my mom’s picture. “That’s Patricia.”

  Chapter Thirty

  I stared at my mom’s picture, my pulse speeding. She was Patricia Nicholson, my birth mother — the same mother I had always known. Which meant she was a shape-shifter and I hadn’t been given up for adoption. “Are you sure? Here, look again.”

  “I’m positive,” she answered.

  “There’s no doubt in your mind that this is Patricia Nicholson?” Zack asked.

  “None at all. Except when I knew her, she had dark hair. Strange…” She eyed the ID more closely. “That license hasn’t expired yet so it’s not that old. Funny, she looks exactly the same as she did eighteen years ago.” She looked up at me as if somehow I’d be able to explain it. “Like she hasn’t aged a day.”

  Chills ran through me, but I shrugged, knowing I couldn’t tell this woman the truth — that my mom hadn’t aged because she was a shape-shifter. “The picture’s deceiving. She still looks young now, but I think—”

  “She must have renewed by mail a couple times and they used her old picture,” the woman explained, grinning as though proud of herself for figuring it out.

  “That must be it.” I beamed.

  “Her name is different here. She changed it, did she?”

  “Apparently.” I had to get away before she learned something she shouldn’t. “Which is why I’m here. I saw the birth certificate, which had different names so I automatically assumed they were different people.”

  “Didn’t you ask them about it? You could’ve saved yourself a trip,” she said.

  “She didn’t want to make them feel uncomfortable, like she didn’t trust them,” Zack said. “They went out of town so we seized the day.” I’m nervous about giving out too much information, Zack slipped in silently. We should get going. He grabbed my hand and turned to go.

  “Just one more thing.” Jerking Zack to a stop, I pulled out my cell phone — something I should’ve done hours ago. Between finding that birth certificate and everything else I had going on back home, I must’ve gotten brain damage or I would’ve thought of the pictures I’d taken with my phone.

  After locating one of my dad, I flashed the screen at the old woman. “Is this Richard Nicholson?”

  “That’s him.” Her eyes narrowed at the picture, then shifted to me suspiciously. “He looks exactly the same, too.”

  Oh, God. My parents were so not human.

  “It’s a really old picture I scanned and e-mailed to myself.” I put my phone away, so she couldn’t examine it further. “Well, thank you so much for your help.”

  I could barely concentrate as Zack guided me to the car. My ageless parents — both total liars. How could they not tell me what they were and that I was a shape-shifter too? It was a huge thing to leave out. I itched to tell them what I thought of their lying to me my whole life.

  As soon as we were back in the car, I pressed the button to wake up my phone.

  “What are you doing?” Zack asked. “Calling your mom?”

  “Of course.” My thumb moved to press the send button.

  He snatched the phone away from me.

  “Hey! Give it back.”

  “Autumn, how long have they been gone?”

  “Three or four weeks, I guess. Why does it matter?”

  “Think for a minute. They’ve been over-protective your whole life, then you blackmailed them into taking a vacation without you, now suddenly they’re everywhere but here. They hardly even call. Why would they desert you like that when it’s so unlike them?”

  I froze as reality hit me. “They’re probably on the run from werewolves.”

  “Exactly. Maybe the reason they stay away is because they’re having a tough time shaking the guys who are tailing them.”

  I stared at my phone in Zack’s hand, knowing I couldn’t use it. “That’s why their trips are so quick and probably spur of the moment.”

  “Because they have to be careful. The last thing they’d want to do is come back and lead anyone to you.”

  “Great. Thanks, Zack. Now when I should be angry, I’m afraid for them.”

  “I’m not suggesting you forgive them and I’m not saying you shouldn’t be mad. I’d be pissed as hell. But it might be a good idea if you didn’t unleash your fury just yet and add to their problems. We don’t want to throw them off so they do something careless and put themselves in danger.” He handed me my phone. “Also, keep in mind that once they know you’ve hit shape-shifter maturity, they’ll want you to run with them.”

  My heart stopped at the thought of moving again — of moving constantly. “I won’t go.”

  Zack’s frown disappeared and he looked relieved. Did I dare hope he was glad I’d be around a while?

  “They could be very insistent. And, let’s face it, you’d be safer with them. They’ve been running for a while now and they’re still alive. I’m thinking they know what they’re doing.”

  Trying to get rid of me now? “For someone so convinced they were human, seems like you’ve given this a lot of thought.”

  “I like to be prepared for anything.” He started the car. “After we eat, what do you want to do tonight? It’d be cool if it was something we can’t do back home.”

  I laughed, glad that he was loosening up at last. It almost felt like old times. “That’s easy since we pretty much can’t do anything together at home.”

  He chuckled softly. “We have tonight and part of tomorrow to make up for it.”

  That sounded promising.

  † † †

  We drove into the next town where they had a mall and other normal things as well as an endless selection of restaurants of every kind. We picked Mexican food because Zack was in the mood for salsa.

  “You think everything out so thoroughly,” I said. “Have you thought about why my parents would keep a secret like this?”

  He dipped a tortilla chip into the small bowl, filling the curve with salsa. “No. Sorry.”

  I broke a chip in half. “Maybe my dad is human and they weren’t sure I’d be anything but human, just like him.”

  “According to their neighbor, he’s
not aging. My money’s on shape-shifter.”

  “You were wrong about them last time,” I teased. “It’s possible my dad just looks young. And they might have thought I’d be human too.”

  “It doesn’t work that way. I’m full werewolf even though my mom is human. It’s the same with shape-shifters. They’d have to know that.”

  I stared down at the tortilla chip I’d just picked up. “I can’t think of any other reason they’d need to keep it a secret.”

  “Maybe they didn’t have a reason. Maybe they just couldn’t figure out the right way to say that you were different. Then so much time passed and they decided to wait until you began maturing.”

  “That could be why they always hovered over me — they were watching for signs.” I moved the chips and salsa out of the way when I saw the food arriving. “But that’s no excuse. They shouldn’t have kept it from me for so long.”

  After spending the rest of dinner discussing our evening plans, we finally decided on a movie. We liked the idea of not having to drive far since we’d already done our share to get to Yosemite — with more ahead tomorrow.

  Zack held my hand in the theater and it sent tingles up my arm. But that was as far as he went. God, we hadn’t kissed since Thursday morning and I had the strong urge to throw myself at him. Then I remembered what had happened with Gina. I was still angry for what he’d done, wasn’t I?

  Back in our room, I grabbed my e-reader and wiggled around in bed until I was comfortable. Would he sleep next to me or in the other room? I didn’t have to wonder for long.

  “Is that a good book?” He sidled up to me.

  “Yeah, it’s great.” Especially now that I could concentrate on the words. I kept reading, but I wanted to reach for Zack. It had been way too long since I’d felt his warm lips on mine. But I had no intention of indulging myself until he talked to me.

  “Let me see.” He snatched the e-reader out of my hands and set it on the nightstand near his side of the bed.

  I flipped over and shot him a mock glare.