by Cali Mann
“No,” said the man, shaking his head. “I have a cure.”
Sciro blinked at him.
I sat frozen to my seat. Was he telling the truth? A cure? Doug had said he knew a way to avoid the madness. A way to be with the guys and not hurt them. My heart squeezed. It was more than I had even hoped for. I’d thought maybe a way to slow it but a cure?
“You’re lying to save your lives,” Sciro said, steadying his aim.
The man laughed and gestured to himself. “I am your living proof. I stand before you, a spirit shifter, alive and well and as old as your own father.”
Sciro’s forehead wrinkled and his gun wavered.
Grinning, the man waited. Fangs showing at the edges of his smile made him look dangerous despite his serenity.
Holding my breath, I watched them. Sciro thinking things through but still scared and holding a gun. My father—could I even call him that—seemed unruffled. How could he be so calm?
“I am as sane as you,” the man said.
Sciro opened and closed his mouth.
My father nodded gently, his hand open. “Now give me the gun.”
His shoulders slumping, Sciro lay the gun on his palm.
The man patted him on the back and gestured toward the rocks. “Come on. Let’s talk about it.”
My heart squeezed. He’d done it. My father. I couldn’t call him Dad. That name was reserved for the man who had raised me. But I could give this man the benefit of the doubt, couldn’t I?
Sciro came towards me, with my father on his heels, when an enormous brown bear charged out of the woods.
Rearing up on its hind legs, its eyes red. With a growl, the grizzly swiped its claw across my father’s back.
Father cried out, swinging around with Sciro’s gun in his hand. He raised the gun and fired, striking the bear in the shoulder.
Blood spurted but the grizzly didn’t even flinch. It smashed the gun from my father’s hand and roared.
“No!” I shouted, leaping to my feet and running toward the bear. I’d somehow grabbed the same stick I’d had before and I hammered the bear with it. He swatted me aside, and I fell against the rocks, slamming my shoulder. Pain shot through me.
Vampire fast, my father grabbed the bear’s neck, wrestling it, and the bear threw him off. Blood poured down my father’s back but he seemed to be holding his own. He danced around the bear, jabbing it and punching it like a prizefighter.
I didn’t know how. Who fights a giant grizzly bear and survives it? My breath caught in my throat. Had I found my father only to lose him again? I couldn’t let that happen. Holding my shoulder, I stumbled to my feet and charged toward them.
Sciro tried to shove his way between them, his arms waving wildly. “Stop. Professor Ward. Please.”
The bear growled, pushing him away with a shoulder.
My advance stalled. I swallowed hard. Professor Ward was the bear? I didn’t want to hurt him. But he was attacking my father. My eyes darted around looking for a weapon. A few sticks and loose rocks were strewn over the ground. I grabbed a large rock and ran back to the fight.
Not sure what good my weapon would do against a grizzly, I staggered around the edges trying to find a good place to hit Professor Ward.
Father held out his hand as he danced around the bear, motioning for me to give him the rock. When I resisted, he yanked it from my hands, and hissed, “Go.”
I stumbled back a few steps, not sure what to do.
My father hit the bear across the muzzle, and the bear swiped at him. He smashed Professor Ward in the eye and blood trickled out. The bear groaned. Using his vampire strength, Father slammed it against the bear’s head, stunning it. He did it again and again until the bear’s eyes rolled back in his head and he fell to the ground.
We stared at the unconscious bear, all of us panting. His bear form slipped away as his body reshaped itself and a naked Professor Ward lay on the ground.
I started to turn my eyes away but Professor Ward reared up, his eyes dancing wildly and gasped, “Kaiden.”
29
Hailey
My eyes darted to my father, a chill inching over me.
He smiled wryly. “I was wondering when I’d see you again, old friend.”
“Kaiden Hartsman?” I choked out. My thoughts whirled and I couldn’t catch my breath. I’d thought it possible but I hadn’t really believed it.
Scrio took a step back.
Professor Ward pushed himself up as if he was going to stand, and my father, the most dangerous Spirit Shifter alive, shoved him back down with his foot.
Pulling back his arm, Sciro took a swing at my father and Kaiden blocked it casually, shoving him back and sending him flying toward the tree line. Sciro fell in an awkward position, half on a pile of rocks. He didn’t get back up again, and I gasped, running over to him. His chest rose and fell. Alive.
“Is he okay?” the professor asked.
I nodded. Sciro was okay, the professor was hurt, and my father was Kaiden Hartsman. The red wolf. The terror of the shifting world. Sweat broke out across my skin.
Kaiden tilted his head and looked at Professor Ward. “And what am I going to do with you?”
Giving him a murderous glare, the professor pushed again Kaiden’s leg, trying to free himself. His shoulder still bled from the bullet wound.
“Takes a lot of energy out of an old bear like you, doesn’t it?” Kaiden chuckled.
My heartbeat sped up as I stood, crossing back over to them. “Let him go,” I said, forcing command into my voice even though I trembled.
A snort erupted from my father. “He came here to kill us, my dear. You know that, don’t you?”
Glancing at the struggling professor, my throat dried. “He wouldn’t.”
“He hates our kind.” Kaiden gestured in the direction of the school. “Like most of them.”
A knot formed in my stomach. I knew he was right. If he let the professor go, he’d try to kill us again. If he didn’t, then he’d return to school and expose me. I’d never be able to go back to any of them. Terrin. Adrian. Brenton.
Professor Ward yanked my father’s foot aside and jumped to his feet. He charged my father again.
Kaiden grabbed the bigger man, yanking Ward against him. He brought his fangs down on the professor’s neck.
“No!” I cried. My hand flew out to stop him. If he could throw Sciro, how could I stop him? Even in air form. “Don’t. Please.”
The Professor sagged in Kaiden’s grip, already weakened from their earlier fight. My father’s eyes glowed with something like victory as he drained the old man.
Tears wet my cheeks. I never meant for anyone to get hurt. I glanced at Sciro but he was still out cold. It was up to me. I begged my father to let the professor go. I pleaded for his life. None of it worked.
My father continued to drain the professor until he was dry. Then, he dropped the body on the ground and leaned his head back, gazing at the moon.
I sobbed.
Kaiden turned his gaze to me, his eyes wild and his lips red with blood. “It was necessary, dear daughter. To keep you safe.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head.
“Yes.” He gestured to Sciro’s limp form. “You want that one?”
“Leave Sciro alone.” I grabbed my father’s arm, not caring what happened to me. “Let’s go. Take me away.”
He frowned. “But you need to be here.”
“It’s not safe.” I took a breath, forcing my thoughts into order. I wouldn’t let him kill anyone else. I didn’t care what happened to me. “The Oracle is coming. I need to leave.”
Studying my face, he frowned. Kaiden stroked a loose lock from my face. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” I needed to get his evil man as far away from anyone I cared about as I could.
“Okay,” he said. “Let’s go.”
I licked my lips. “How did you get over the fence?”
“Spirit form.”
“I can’t
do that yet.”
“Yes, you can.” He lay his hands on my forehead. “Close your eyes and let it go, the worries, the needs, the cares of your human form. Be free.”
It couldn’t be so simple but I followed his directions and then I felt the shift. It was as if I had stepped into an adjacent world. I could see the surrounding forest but not as solid objects, more as energy, a million dancing atoms. I blinked, spinning around.
Sciro’s heart shown red in my vision, his heat signature clear. Professor Ward’s body was an empty gray space devoid of life. My heart ached.
Kaiden reached out a silvery shimmering hand, and I took it.
30
Sciro
I came awake to Headmaster Larkin’s face, and I jumped. Rubbing my head, I glanced around the room. A standard-issue dorm room, unoccupied. Could it have all been just a dream? Then why was the headmaster here?
“Good, you’re awake,” the headmaster said briskly.
“Where am I?” I winced, finding a sore on my head. What had happened? Hailey. Her dad. Professor Ward. It all came rushing back, and I bent over heaving. “Professor Ward—”
“Yes, Professor Ward is dead.” Her eyes scanned my face. “You killed him.”
I flinched from the venom in her tone. “No.”
“You were found next to his body in the woods.” She paced across the room. “With a gun in your hands.”
“No, it was Kaiden Hartsman.”
“Blaming the boogeyman, are we?” She laughed coldly.
I shook my head and groaned as pain shot through me.
The headmaster grabbed my shirt with her fingers, her nails scraping across my skin. “You were found with his body. He was shot with your gun. He was drained of blood by you.”
“That’s not what happened.” My voice sounded very far away, and I was afraid I might pass out again. “He was there for Hailey and Professor Ward attacked him.”
“Kaiden wouldn’t dare set foot on Thornbriar Academy property,” Headmaster Larkin said, her voice dismissive.
“Hailey’s a spirit shifter,” I gasped.
“A liar and a murderer.” She traced her nail along my cheek. “The Council’s going to have a field day with you, young man.”
“No,” I whispered.
“Samuel Ward was my friend,” she said. “You will pay for this.”
I swallowed hard, my heart aching. He was my friend too.
She released me and stepped away. “The Council’s guard should be here soon to take custody of you.”
I watched her leave through half-closed eyes. If Headmaster Larkin didn’t believe me, who would? I didn’t have any family to stand up for me. My pack brothers? No one had been in the clearing but Professor Ward, Kaiden, and Hailey. Would Hailey testify against her father?
With a groan, I lay back down on the mattress. She’d have to admit to being a spirit shifter, and she’d be killed. Hailey had no reason to help me.
I was alone. As alone as I’d been before I’d come to Thornbriar when the streets were all I knew. I closed my eyes.
31
Hailey
After crossing the wall, we’d come out into more forest and had to hike to the main road. We walked in silence which was just as well. I didn’t know what to say to him. The murderer who was my father.
I ran a hand through my hair. My thoughts were a mess as I kept going over and over the events in the clearing. Professor Ward was dead. Could I have done anything to stop it? But no matter how I looked at it, it was done. My heart ached. Professor Ward had always been so kind.
We came down the last hill and the road stretched before us. Well, if it could be called a road. The gravel track was muddy and worn, and a dark blue truck was parked on the side. It looked so innocent like hunters had left it for the day. I couldn’t believe that the famous Kaiden Hartsman would drive something so normal. I snorted.
“Feeling better, my dear?” he asked with a grin. He seemed refreshed and rejuvenated as if we’d just had a little adventure.
I stared at him. “You killed a good man.”
He swung open the door to the vehicle and gestured for me to enter. “I killed a shifter who was determined to kill us. There’s a difference.”
“We could have reasoned with him.” The car smelled new and fresh, and I knew we were covered with dirt and blood. I slid into the seat, wincing.
“The prejudice against our kind can’t be reasoned away, Hailey,” he said, getting behind the wheel. “And sometimes violence is our only option.”
“It wasn’t necessary!”
“Not all answers are easy.” He grimaced. “The world is a very dark place.”
I pressed my lips together. He was right. I’d lived in that darkness at Hastings House, and I’d seen the scorn that spirit shifters were viewed with, but there had to be another way. More killing wasn’t the answer, but I didn’t know what was so I stayed silent. I leaned back against the seat and we drove down off the mountain.
Once we hit the main highway, we took it for a couple more hours. It must have been the wee hours of the morning before we pulled up to a gate, and a stern-looking guard looked us over.
“Good evening, Mr. Hartsman,” he said and clicked the button to open the gate.
We drove along the winding drive until we pulled to a stop in front of a large stately mansion. The house seemed to stretch on forever, many windows decorating its walls.
My hands shook as I stared up at the imposing face.
He reached over and squeezed my hand. “It’s not like Hastings House.”
“You know?” I met his gaze. Of course, he knew. He was the red wolf from my dreams. He’d been just outside when the police had come. I don’t know how I knew that, but it was suddenly clear. My father had been looking out for me all along.
“The police rounded up Mr. Hastings and his wardens, and all the girls were reunited with their families.”
My heart eased. I’d hoped they had when I saw the police raid, but I hadn’t known. I had been carrying that worry for so long. “You called the police?”
He nodded. “Once I knew what they were doing there, it was necessary.”
“Thank you.” How could he be so evil and yet help the girls of Hastings House? I didn’t understand. I glanced back at the house. “Is this yours?”
“No,” he said climbing out of the truck. “It belongs to friends of mine, the McKinnons.”
“Oh, okay.” The name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it. I followed Kaiden up the path to the porch. The door was lit by an old-fashioned wrought-iron lantern. He rang the doorbell, and a woman answered it, dressed in a black and white maid’s costume, dipping a curtsy.
I raised my eyebrows. No one had ever bowed in front of me in real life, ever.
“Welcome, Mr. Hartsman,” she said. “They are expecting you in the front parlor.”
My father nodded his head, and we trailed after her down the wide hall.
I looked around, trying to take it all in. The floors were wood and covered with a gray oriental rug. On the walls were portraits of hunters riding through the forest and leaping small hills. Lamps sat on small wooden tables throughout the entryway.
We turned the corner into the living room. I was distracted by the enormous fireplace with its stone frame and black grating and missed the people sitting primly on the overstuffed couches.
When my gaze landed on them, my thoughts skittered to stop as I gawked at an older version of Brenton. Broad of frame with the same auburn hair and bright blue eyes, although they were missing Brenton’s telltale flame. He wore a tailored gray suit that was the opposite of Brenton’s casual blue jeans and tee shirts, but there was no mistaking the resemblance.
“William and Aileen McKinnon,” my father said. “I’d like you to meet my daughter, Hailey.”
“Lovely to meet you,” the woman said, offering a hand. Aileen McKinnon wore an off-white gown that flowed over her thin frame. She would have been pretty with h
er tawny brown hair and hazel eyes, but her face was too thin and dark circles lay under her eyes.
I took it, blinking and trying to pull my thoughts together. I blurted, “Are you Brenton’s parents?”
William McKinnon nodded, a sour frown on his face.
“Why, yes,” she said with a tinkling soft laugh.
I twitched as I looked between them. I knew that kind of fake laugh anywhere. The girls of Hastings House practiced it for when their johns asked if they were happy. “Oh,” I said. “He goes to my school.”
“He’s home now,” William growled. “He’s been suspended.”
My gaze darted around as if he’d appear from the woodwork. Did I want to see Brenton? Was he still mad at me? I licked my lips. After the way we’d parted, I didn’t know.
“Well, you’ll have company here,” my father said, his voice thoughtful. “Have a seat.”
I nodded. This was my life now. I’d asked for it, no, I’d begged for it to keep Sciro safe. I sat down on a gray chair across from the fluffy white sofa.
William leaned forward, his hand on his knees. “You’d better tell us what happened, Kaiden. So we know what to expect.”
My father leaned back against the sofa, relaxed and open. “It’s taken care of, Bill. You have nothing to worry about.”
“You let me worry about that,” William said. “We already have Greg breathing down our necks about the Turner project.”
They went back and forth over some business deal and I sighed. I knew I should pay attention. I didn’t know anything about my father and his life except for whatever I’d heard from Thornbriar. What did he do when he wasn’t attacking Council members or killing my professors?
But my eyes were already closing when a hand touched my arm and I jerked.
“You look half asleep already, Hailey,” whispered Aileen. “Let me take you to your room.”
“Okay,” I said, standing. “Thank you.”
“Of course,” she said, leading me down the hall and to the stairs. “My son’s mate is always welcome in our home.”