by Alexx Andria
“You ask the weirdest questions.” She sighed and pushed her plate away with a grimace. “No, I don’t have scoliosis. Would you like to know about any other obscure medical anomalies I might have, Random Stranger?”
“Hey now, we’re not strangers. We officially met yesterday,” I pointed out with a small smile. “But if you’re sharing…”
“I’m not.” But this time she countered with a question of her own. “How’d you know about the dreams?”
Jackpot. I hadn’t expected this win but I’d take it. I answered carefully, taking a wild swing. “Let me guess, you’re running through a forest, it’s the most amazing feeling you’ve ever known. Every sense is enhanced. Taste and smell take on a special brilliance all their own.” Her wide eyes gave her away. I pushed a little harder. “Have you dreamed yet of the kill?”
Lyric startled, drawing away as if slapped. Her cheeks burned and she looked ready to throw up but she asked, “How’d you know that?”
“Because it happens to all of us before we experience the Awakening.”
“What the fuck are you talking about? What Awakening?” she asked, confusion tinged with irritation. “Is this a God thing because I’m not really religious.”
There was no way to soften the delivery and frankly, I didn’t have time to hold her hand.
“I don’t know why it hasn’t happened to you yet, it should’ve happened at puberty but you’re going through the change. At first it happens without conscious thought and it feels like a dream state. Then, the knowledge becomes more lucid and you no longer need the subconscious to take over.”
Lyric flushed as she shook her head, reaching into her purse to lay down some cash. “I don’t even know why I am talking to you about this. You’re a total stranger and from the sounds of it, crazy as a shit-house rat.” She scooted from the booth, saying, “Please don’t talk to me anymore or I’ll get a restraining order.”
And then she bolted.
Well, I was 0 for 2.
Roswald was going to have my pelt if I screwed up this case.
In spite of her threat to toss the local cops at me if I came near her, I shoved a cold piece of bacon in my mouth and spun out of the booth to follow.
Beckham
She hadn’t gotten far but she already had her cell phone out, ready to make good on her threat.
I held up my hands in mock surrender but continued, “You woke up with dirt or leaves in your hair, you don’t seem to enjoy the same foods as you did before. Everything tastes bland and you’re hungering for raw meat but you’re disgusted by this craving that you can’t control.”
Lyric paled and lowered her phone. “How did you know that?”
“Because every shifter goes through it during the Awakening. You’re supposed to have a mentor or a pack elder who can help you through your first transitions but I’m guessing that your parents are human because you haven’t a clue what I’m talking about and you still think I’m crazy. The only reason you’re not calling the police is because what I’m saying rings true. You know I’m telling the truth even if you don’t understand why you know it.”
Her lip trembled. “What’s happening to me? Am I dying?”
Relieved, I actually laughed. “God no, you’re just evolving into your true nature.”
“My true nature? What am I?”
I glanced around seeing that we were drawing a crowd. I gestured for her to follow me to the park bench across the way. At least it was quiet and no one who didn’t need to know would hear.
Lyric followed me but I could tell she was riding the razor’s edge of total denial and admitting that I was right.
In the direction of denial meant her life wouldn’t change at least for the time being. In the opposite direction was a total destruction of everything she thought she knew about life and there would be no going backward.
It was the red pill, blue pill dilemma.
“I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this but you’re a shifter.”
“A what?”
“A shifter.”
“And what the hell is that?” she asked, incredulous.
“Um, well, it’s a species of supernaturals who can change from human to, well, a wolf at will. If you’ve already started having the dreams, chances are you’ve been running at night. Kinda like sleep-walking but instead, it’s sleep-transitioning. It’s our species’ way of easing us into our new reality. Plus the first transition is painful as hell and the black out of sleep is a natural anesthetic.”
I’d overwhelmed her. Lyric’s eyes glazed but she didn’t run away like I thought she might. For whatever reason, she remained rooted to the spot, questions brimming in her gaze. “I woke up with a twig in my hair the other night. I told Rachel but she convinced me that it was a coincidence.”
“It was no coincidence.”
“I killed a deer. I ate it.”
“Nice,” I said but then realized perhaps that wasn’t the right thing to say when she looked horrified. I tried to soothe her nerves. “All I caught was a rabbit on my first kill. That’s pretty bad ass.”
“That’s disgusting, not bad ass,” she retorted as if I’d grown a second head. “I don’t want to kill anything. Much less with my own teeth. It was barbaric.”
“But it felt amazing didn’t it?” I asked.
She looked miserable. “Yes. There’s plainly something wrong with me.”
“There’s nothing wrong with you. It’s natural for us.”
She met my gaze. “I’m not one of you.”
“You are and I knew the minute I saw you, which means the others do, too.”
Her head snapped up. “What do you mean ‘others’?”
“I don’t know what to tell you but this place is teeming with supernaturals. Hell, the detective I talked to was a shifter, too. You can’t tell?”
“How am I supposed to know? Do you wear a badge or something that says, ‘I’m not human’ or is there some kind of secret handshake?”
“No, it’s an internal compass, a knowing. Hard to explain.”
“Try.”
Maybe this was how I gained her trust. I’d never been the sensitive type and guiding newborn shifters through their transition was definitely not in my wheelhouse but the clock was ticking and I needed her help.
“Okay, the minute I saw you, the hair on the back of my neck stood on end with electromagnetic energy. The beast in me, acknowledges the beast in you with these physiological reactions. With the detective, I heard a deep ringing in my ears and we both knew.”
“So there is a secret handshake,” she murmured with the barest hint of humor, which I took as a good sign. “let's just say for the sake of argument that I believe you, how do you make it stop?
“There is no stopping the Awakening once it starts. Why would you want it to stop? Being a shifter is the best thing in the world. Don't you remember how it felt to run through the forest? How free it felt? Why would you want to give that up?"
“Because I don't have time to be some kind of wolf thing. I'm going to college in a month and I doubt I’ll get special accommodations for being a monster with fangs!”
I did a double take. “Who said anything about being a monster? I'm not a monster. I pay my taxes, I donate to charities and I put away bad guys for living. Do I look like a monster?”
“You look like a crazy person who is come to me with some really unbelievable story but seeing as something is telling me that you aren't lying either I'm going crazy or what you're saying is actually true. Forgive me if I'm not super excited about either of those prospects.”
"Fairpoint. But now that the secret is out, I have to ask, why haven't you transitioned yet?"
She gave me a hard look. "How the hell should I know? I don't even know if what you're saying is actually true but how would I know why this weird thing hasn't happened to me yet?"
"Do you have any witch ancestors?"
“Witches are real?"
"Hell yes, witches are r
eal, so are vampires, demons, the Fae, there's a whole new world out there girl.”
"I don't like this new world."
"Well, whether you like it or not you're a part of it. So I'm guessing you don't know if your friend Rachel was also shifter?”
"She definitely was not a shifter," she paused for a minute to roll her eyes as if hearing her own dialogue. "This is surreal I’m even having this conversation but no Rachel was as human as they come. Like I said she hated nature. I can't even imagine how horrified she would be if she found out that she sprouted fur and fangs on a full moon."
“Whoa girl. Werewolves and shifters are not the same and I highly suggest you not say that in certain company because it's very offensive."
She slapped her thigh in annoyance. “Great. Now I have to learn how to be PC about the shifter universe."
I tried to be patient and remember that she didn't know anything about her own heritage. "Look, I get that this is overwhelming but we really should take this conversation to a more private setting. Not everyone in this town is supernatural and I suspect they would be just as freaked out as you are to learn that there are things here that might potentially look at them as lunch."
The dawning horror in her expression told me she hadn't thought of that angle. "Oh my God, you don't think it was me who hurt Rachel do you?" Tears brimmed in her eyes. "What if I did that shifter thing and I accidentally ate her or something. How would I know? I thought it was a deer but maybe it was Rachel. I don't know. Is there some way we can find out?"
I was certain that Lyric hadn't killed her friend Rachel. How I knew that was something I couldn't exactly explain. "I've been chasing this killer for months and unless you've been hop skipping across the Western United States, I'm pretty sure it wasn't you."
She relaxed a little. "Yeah I guess that's true. But what if it was a person and not a deer that I ate." Her shudder of revulsion was almost adorable. Personally, I didn't have a taste for human flesh but my grandfather used to tell some stories. I was glad times had changed. I couldn’t imagine chowing down on the postman during a weak moment.
Lyric wrapped her arms around herself, clearly stressed about this new information. But I had to say she was handling it fairly well. For someone who had no background, no experience, and no idea that she wasn't human up to an hour ago, she was surprisingly calm.
"I wanted to go to the crime scene and see what I could find. Now that you know I'm not some creepy pervert trying to murder you do you want to go with me?"
Her face screwed into a frown. “I think stranger danger still applies even if you and I are the same. How do I know that you're not some psycho shifter thing?"
I laughed. "Because I'm the guy who chases after the psycho shifter things out there."
"Who did you say you work for again? When you flashed your badge at me yesterday I wasn't really paying attention."
This time I produced my badge so she could actually study the information. She read my credentials, her expression deepening with more confusion. "What is the Paranormal Crimes Agency?"
"Well, like I told you the other day, we chase the things that regular law enforcement don't need to know about and frankly aren't equipped to take down. We keep the supernaturals in line."
She returned my credentials. "Even though everything you say on the surface seems bonkers, I can't deny that my gut is saying that you're telling the truth."
"Good. Then we can skip past all this time-consuming bullshit and move on to solving this case."
"I don't know how much help I can be to you. I'm no super sleuth and I don't even want a career in law enforcement. I was just looking forward to leaving Diablo Falls with my best friend and going to college. That's it. I didn't even know what my major was going to be yet. Honestly I don't know how much help I can give you."
We were finally getting somewhere. "You knew Rachel best. If I can find out why Rachel was targeted by the killer maybe I'll find him or her before they strike again."
"And what are you going to do when you find this person or thing?" she asked.
Her reaction to my answer would tell me a lot about her internal fortitude. I met her gaze and didn't hesitate to answer with blunt honesty. "When I find the person responsible for the killings, I have authorization to take them down."
"And by that you mean…"
"It means putting a bullet in their skull and transporting their head to my superior for processing.”
She shivered but didn't shy away from the violence. "If this is the person who killed Rachel, I think that sounds like an appropriate punishment." Lyric’s gaze narrowed with purpose. “Where do we start?”
Finally! Progress.
Roswald would be happy. I finally had my cooperative witness.
Beckham
I should’ve made a pitstop back at my motel room to grab my medicine but I figured I could take it when we got back. I didn’t want to lose the momentum I’d gained by securing her trust and she had a lot of questions.
Once she let go of the denial, she was Little Miss Curious.
We took the drive to the location in my Range Rover. While I drove, she peppered me with questions.
“You don’t eat humans?”
“Hell no. Never have and never will. Full disclosure, my grandfather admitted to some gruesome stories back in the day but he’s long gone at this point. It’s kinda like having a racist in the family. Nobody likes to admit to it but we all know the truth.”
“Your grandfather sounds scary,” she said.
“He was actually really nice,” I said. “He would never eat anyone he knew.”
“I’m not sure that’s a comfort.”
I shrugged. “It’s just the way of life for some but there are rules. You have to get a permit and there’s a limit to your kills each year.”
“Like deer hunting?” she asked, mildy horrified.
“Yeah, pretty much. Without rules, the supernaturals would decimate the human race. I mean, we’re at the top of the food chain but indiscriminate killing just hurts everyone. Our ancestors created a pact and that pact is protected and policed by the PCA.”
Lyric’s next question, delivered in a halting, hesitant manner, “How do you…um, have sex? Like normal or…you know…when you’re wolfed out?”
Heat flushed through my body and my fingers curled around the steering wheel almost without conscious thought. I swallowed, trying to coat my suddenly dry throat. “Uh, well, yeah, I mean, we can do both. It comes down to personal preference, I guess. Both have their pros and cons.”
When she wasn’t being a snarky asshole, Lyric was actually pretty hot. I was never swayed by a pretty face but I did find my gaze drawn to her. I didn’t want to have sex conversations with her, though. Even under the guise of education that it wasn’t my responsibility to provide.
“I can, uh, see if the PCA has a mentor available that can help you out. There’s a department for orphaned shifters that help teach those who are new to their heritage.”
She grimaced, offended. “I’m not an orphan. I have a great family. My dad is an accountant and my mom is a preschool teacher.”
“Are they human?”
My blunt question drove the point home that she didn’t share DNA with the people who had raised her. “Of course they are,” she grumbled.
“Then, your biological parents aren’t around, which makes you in the eyes of the PCA, an orphan. I’m sure your human family is great but they can’t help you with your transition or how to acclimate to your new reality.”
“If I’m a shifter, that means one or both of my parents were shifters, too?”
“Yes.”
“Maybe that’s why they gave me away,” she said, thinking. “I just assumed my bio mom was like a teenager or something. I never thought about who my bio dad might be.”
“Or maybe they were just raging assholes and in a rare moment of compassion, knew they didn’t want to subject a baby to their particular brand of zero-parenting skil
ls. I wish my dad had been so considerate.”
“Your dad was a jerk?”
“My dad was an evil dick. He bailed on me when I was five, leaving me with my grandfather who wasn’t in the best position to parent but at least he put a roof over my head until he died when I was eight.”
“And then what happened?”
“I ended up on the streets until I was found by Roswald West, who took me to a supernatural boys home run by the PCA. I grew up there and then when I was old enough, I joined the PCA for my training to become an operative. Been there ever since.”
“No wife? Or girlfriend?”
My thoughts were veering into inappropriate territory. She was a goddamn kid, practically. Barely out of high school. Not my scene. Right about now I felt like the pervy old guy she’d thought me to be earlier but all I could think about was that tight body and perky tits.
Sweat dotted my brow. “Not interested in a pairing,” I answered, keeping my eyes on the road. “Never been on my radar.”
“A pairing? Is that what couples are called in the shifter universe?”
“Yeah, a pairing is when the Fated Mate genetic code is activated within two shifters and nature takes its course.”
“That sounds crazy. What the hell is a Fated Mate code?”
“Being a shifter is great but there are downsides. One of those is the inability to pick your own mate. We’re coded to mate with certain people whose genetics best favor our own. It’s how we keep the species strong and on top of the food chain.”
“That sounds awful.”
“It is.”
“So how do you make it stop?”
“Once it’s activated, you can’t.” Which is why I took medication to shut down the gene before it could go Code Red. I didn’t like anything taking away my choice. “But I wouldn’t worry. For whatever reason your failure to transition at puberty likely affected your genetic coding.”
“That makes me sound like I’m defective or something,” she grumbled.
“Be thankful. At least you don’t have to worry about being helplessly attracted to someone just because your DNA is hungry to procreate for the sake of the species. Makes us like mindless animals and it’s the least attractive part of our make up.”