Second Nature

by Jae

  Griffin gripped Jorie's elbow, and within seconds, the elevator doors closed behind them.

  "Jesus!" Jorie sank against the mirrored wall. She hadn't even reached the council chamber, and she was already a nervous wreck.

  "You must be Jorie." A warm voice made her look up, and this time, the brown eyes met hers steadily. "I'm Rufus Tolliver. Welcome to the house of intimidation, power games, and Wrasa politics."

  Now that sounds encouraging.

  "Thank you for helping us," Griffin said. "I know we're putting you in an awkward situation with your alpha. You're risking your career and —"

  "Madsen isn't my alpha," Rufus interrupted, all traces of submissiveness gone from his posture. "My loyalty is to your sister. And don't worry, my career is safe. I'm quite adept at playing the damsel in distress. I'll simply tell them that the big, bad liger forced little old me to let her in." He flashed them a grin.

  That wouldn't convince the council if the guards told them what had really happened. He's risking his career, maybe his life for us, Jorie thought with equal parts gratitude and guilt. I wonder if Griffin even realizes how many friends and loyal family members she has in the Wrasa community.

  The elevator doors pinged open.

  Rufus opened a heavy door for them. "Good luck," he whispered.

  "What a pile of cat poop," a booming voice came from inside of the room. "There never were human dream seers before, not even in the time before the Inquisition."

  "Actually," Griffin said as she pushed past Rufus, "that's not true."

  Jorie's knees felt like rubber, but she straightened her shoulders and quickly followed Griffin into the room. They were in this together, and she wouldn't let Griffin face this alone for even a second.

  Chairs scraped along the floor. The men and women standing or sitting around a large table swiveled around.

  Even though she was trying not to show it, panic gripped Jorie as she came face-to-face with nine predators, who were staring at her. She didn't need Griffin's nose to sense the wave of hostility that was sweeping over her. Only one councilor looked at her with kindness. They weren't identical twins, but the reddish hair and the large body told Jorie that the woman next to Nella was Griffin's sister.

  "I'm sorry," Rufus said behind them. "I couldn't stop them from entering."

  "What part of 'no visitors allowed' does your little antapi brain not understand?" the man standing next to the table barked at him.

  One of the other councilors threw a disapproving gaze at his colleague, but he quickly looked away when he earned a glare in return.

  I think he's the top dog — literally. Jorie felt the power of his gaze. One word from him, and the rest of the pack will get up from the table and kill us. Fear slowed her steps. She wanted to run away but knew she couldn't. This was it: the meeting that would decide over her life or death. She had to stand her ground.

  "I'm sorry," Rufus said again. Nothing reminded Jorie of the confident man in the elevator. He was ducking his head in fearful submission. "I tried to stop them, but a little antapi is no match for a big cat like Griffin Westmore."

  Despite her fear, Jorie suppressed a grin. He is good at playing the damsel in distress. He's using their own prejudice against hybrids against them.

  Griffin strode across the room.

  The door banged shut, leaving Rufus outside. Jorie's heart was hammering so loudly that she almost didn't understand Griffin's words, but she swallowed her fear and joined Griffin in the middle of the council chamber.

  "I know you don't want us here, but you're discussing our future... our lives," Griffin said, her strong voice carrying easily across the room. "Jorie and I have a right to be heard."

  Never show weakness to a predator, Jorie reminded herself and proudly lifted her chin. She knew she appeared small and fragile next to Griffin, and that was exactly how she felt, but she stood shoulder to shoulder with her and stared at the tall man who was probably the council's leader.

  "You bring a human into our council chamber?" a large woman shouted. Narrowed eyes hurled hostile glares at Jorie, making her want to hide behind Griffin.

  She squared her shoulders and stayed where she was.

  "Not just any human," Griffin said loudly enough to be heard over the arguing and shouting of the councilors. "As you have probably already guessed, this," she laid one arm around Jorie's shoulders, "is Jorie Price."

  Yes, all trembling five-foot-six of me.

  "We know who she is. There was no need to bring her here," the woman said, stretching her shoulders and making her big body look even bigger and more threatening.

  Jorie was grateful for Griffin's arm that pulled her closer against her side. She was careful to keep her expression neutral and hide her fear as best as she could.

  "No need?" Griffin repeated. "Oh, yes, you need to see Jorie. It's too easy to make anonymous decisions and order the death of a human when you don't even know her, but now that Jorie is standing in front of you and you can smell that she's really telling the truth, who of you wants to risk killing a human who could be a maharsi?" Her challenging gaze slid from councilor to councilor.

  "And get killed by you like you killed Cedric Jennings?" a gray-haired man whose lean build reminded Jorie of Rufus mumbled. "No, thank you."

  Griffin's wild gaze drilled into the councilor, then stalked over all of his colleagues. She didn't correct his assumption that she would kill anyone who tried to hurt Jorie. Her big body vibrated against Jorie's. She was ready to fight anyone who lifted a hand against Jorie.

  Nella and Kylin flanked them on both sides, their determined gazes fixed on the councilors.

  An odd mix of power and humility swept over Jorie. She had never been the object of such fierce protectiveness before. She looked up at Griffin with gratefulness but settled a hand over Griffin's closed fist. "Don't threaten them," she said. "We need to convince them, not threaten them into letting us go one more time, or they'll just jump us from behind at the next opportunity."

  Jeff Madsen's nostrils flared, and Jorie realized uncomfortably that he was breathing in her scent. She felt like a deer surrounded by a pack of hungry wolves. "That's not a very flattering opinion you have of us, human. We're not insidious assassins."

  His growl made her bones vibrate, but Jorie forced herself to stand still.

  "Not all of you," she said. "Just like not all humans are out to kill you. I know you probably didn't find the old human cultures worth studying, but if you had, you'd know that the Iroquois believed that in their dreams, they could travel outside of their bodies, across time and space, and even contact their ancestors or their spiritual guides. Or that Celtic druids searched for wisdom in dreams, and that people in ancient Egypt believed that dreams were messages from the gods, and that the Aborigine think that dreams are memories from the time when the world was created. Just because modern humans for the most part ignore and dismiss their dreams just like I did doesn't mean it has always been that way. A lot of the old human cultures had shamans or other wise men and women who sought visions about the future or the past in their dreams, just like the maharsi."

  It took all her self-control to keep her voice from shaking. The Wrasa gathered around the table were looking at her, but she couldn't help wondering whether they were really listening or fantasizing about hunting her down.

  "She's right about that," a small man with fox-red hair said tentatively. "I studied human cultures, and there really were a lot of cultures in which dreams and visions played an important role. How can we be sure that it's not something very similar to our dream seeing? Did anyone ever investigate this?"

  Madsen's fist crashed onto the table, making Jorie flinch. "We don't need investigations! Human shamans are entirely different from our dream seers." It sounded lame, and a few of the councilors murmured and whispered to each other.

  "Why?" Jorie asked, proud to notice that her voice sounded calm. "Because you want it to be different? Believe me, I didn't want this either, but
apparently, this gift doesn't care what you or I want or don't want."

  Agitation made Madsen's broad chest heave. He was barely holding himself together. "It's different because your shamans dream about humans, not about Wrasa."

  "How do you know that? Do your dream seers only dream about their own kind?" Jorie asked, turning toward Nella.

  Nella's lips curled into a smile. The glint of respect, even admiration in her eyes was unexpected. "Of course not. If maharsi dreamed only about Wrasa, how would they be able to protect us from humans? My father had dreams about Wrasa and humans alike, so why shouldn't human dream seers dream about us?"

  "It's unheard of," Madsen said, clearly still unwilling to believe.

  "If it is, it's only because Cedric Jennings hunted them down and killed them," Griffin said. Ice clinked in her voice.

  One councilor gasped loudly, and even Jeff Madsen blanched.

  Jorie sucked in a breath. Okay. The cat's out of the bag now.

  "And we have proof," Griffin said.

  The leather-bound diary thudded onto the table in front of Madsen.

  "It's the diary of a human dream seer. The last entries describe dreams of being killed by a white wolf — just like the dreams Jorie had before Jennings tried to kill her."

  Griffin's words and the memories that came with them sent a shiver through Jorie.

  With one finger, Madsen flicked through the book, reading bits here and there before he closed it again. "This could just be the ramblings of a madman," he said dismissively. "If it proves anything, it's how dangerous humans can be."

  The little book moved from hand to hand. Some councilors passed it on quickly, but one or two read longer passages, and when they looked up, their expressions were thoughtful.

  "Jennings killed a possible maharsi," the small red-headed councilor whispered.

  "No!" Madsen's denial cut through the discussions of the other councilors. "First of all, this man wasn't a maharsi. And second, he was killing Wrasa!" He pointed at the diary, which held proof. "He was a danger to our kind, and while Cedric didn't go about it the right way, taking him out was justified."

  "What Thomas McCree did was wrong," Jorie said, holding his gaze. "I'm not defending what he did. Killing is wrong, and I want you to know I would never use my dream-seeing skills to harm any of you, no matter what you did to me." She meant it.

  One or two of the councilors looked away from the sincerity of her words and her gaze.

  "Did you hear that?" Griffin asked, turning in a slow circle until she had fixed her gaze on every councilor for a few seconds. "I don't know about you, but I'm not very proud to be a Wrasa or a saru right now. Jennings killed humans, human dream seers, and we did nothing to stop him even though most of them meant us no harm."

  "They weren't dream seers," Madsen still insisted.

  Can't he see that killing them was wrong, no matter if they were or weren't dream seers? Jorie shook her head in despair.

  "They were, and Jennings knew it," Griffin said. "That's why he wanted Jorie dead so desperately that he even lied every time he reported to the council. He left out important facts, twisted the truth to serve his purpose, and lied about me agreeing with him that killing Jorie was the only possible solution. He did it before. Jorie had dreams about him killing half a dozen other human dream seers."

  "Half a dozen..." The shocked whisper of one councilor filled the suddenly silent room.

  Madsen was still shaking his head. "Impossible. If this had been systematical, something that he did more than once, we would have noticed. Every kill has to be approved of by the majority vote of the council."

  Griffin nodded slowly. "This is why we believe that one of you knew what Jennings was doing and was covering for him."

  "What?" Madsen's outraged shout echoed through the council chamber. "You're not accusing me of —"

  "No," Jorie said. She took a breath and gathered all her courage. "Not you. Her."

  * * *

  Kylin swiveled around with the rest of the councilors, following Jorie's outstretched arm.

  Thyra Davis?

  Gasps of surprise echoed through the room. Even Griffin looked as shocked as Kylin felt.

  "Ridiculous! How dare you!" Her brown hair thickened, and Thyra roughly scratched one of her muscular arms. She lunged at Jorie without any warning.

  Two empty chairs smashed against the wall, no match for Thyra's strength.

  Jorie stumbled, trying to get away. She crashed into the table and fell. Her scream made Ky's ears ring.

  Thyra pounced.

  No!

  Battle-ready muscles catapulted Ky forward. She grabbed Thyra's left shoulder just as Griffin's hands clasped the Maki's right upper arm in a vicelike grip.

  They were fighting side by side. This is the way it should have been fifteen years ago, Ky realized. I never should have let her fight alone.

  Nella leaped forward with a roar that made most of the councilors scramble back. She landed in an aggressive crouch, ready to strike out should anyone else try to attack her daughters or Jorie.

  Only when no one else moved and Thyra was struggling helplessly in their grip did Nella kneel down to help Jorie to her feet.

  "Let me go!" Thyra raged, her speech slurred by her need to shift. "Can't you see that the damn human is lying?" She lowered her head and tried to head-butt Griffin.

  Kylin struggled in vain to get a better grip on her.

  "Stop it!" Jorie shouted, raising her voice over the commotion. She shrugged off Nella's helping hand and tried to push between Griffin and her attacker, ignoring the danger to herself.

  Thyra swatted her away as if she were an annoying insect.

  Jorie stumbled backward and collided with Nella.

  Rage exploded in Griffin's eyes. She shoved Thyra against the nearest wall and cocked her fist.

  "No!" Jeff Madsen's fingers snapped closed around Griffin's wrist. "You know the law. No violence within the walls of this chamber!"

  Griffin stared at him, her fist still raised.

  When two bulky guards filed into the room and pulled Thyra away at Madsen's orders, Griffin turned with a grunt of contempt and walked over to Jorie. Her gaze roved over every inch of the smaller woman's body. "You okay?"

  "Yes," Jorie said. Her voice trembled. "I'm fine. I just wish you Wrasa would stop hitting me in the head."

  Clearly, Jorie was everything but fine. A drop of blood dripped from her nose, and she quickly pressed her sleeve against it.

  She's braver than all of the tough Wrasa in this room combined, Ky thought with admiration. She shoved Thyra at the two guards but stayed between them and Jorie, determined not to let Thyra get close to the brave, but fragile human again.

  Nella and the two guards dragged Thyra across the room, where Thyra kept struggling and glowering at Jorie. "You have no proof for your accusations!" Thyra howled.

  "I saw it in my dreams," Jorie said. A cloak of fear trailed around her, but she didn't flinch when she faced the Maki who had attacked her.

  Impressive, Kylin thought again.

  A murmur of surprise went through the councilors. Kylin smelled a change in their attitudes as they turned suspicious eyes on Thyra Davis.

  "Cedric Jennings told you about his suspicions," Jorie said. "He told you there are human dream seers and that he wanted to stop them... kill them."

  Thyra strained against the hands that had a tight grip on her.

  Griffin stepped in front of Jorie, stopping Thyra's attempts to break free with a glare so feral that it took even Ky's breath away.

  "But I didn't believe him!" Thyra Davis defended herself. "I thought it was just one of his crazy ideas. Human maharsi... that's crazy, right?" Her fake laughter rang through the council chamber, but no one joined in. She had lost the support of her fellow councilors when she had broken the age-old law prohibiting violence in the council chamber. It had also made her look guilty. "I thought it couldn't hurt to get rid of a few humans who could be a threat to
us."

  "You helped Jennings kill human dream seers?" the Ashawe councilor asked, his voice shrill with disbelief.

  Thyra Davis wildly shook her head. "No! I didn't kill anybody."

  "But you also did nothing to prevent it," Jorie said with a sad expression. If not for Griffin, she would have been killed too, and Kylin hung her head, ashamed that she had been a part of the group who had ordered Jorie's death.

  "You covered for Jennings and made sure no one questioned his forged reports designed to sway the council's vote toward killing humans," Griffin said.

  "I thought they were just humans, a threat to —"

  "Save it!" Griffin interrupted. Her eyes were glowing with barely leashed anger. "I've heard the Saru propaganda, and frankly, I don't believe it any longer. I once thought humans were our enemies too, but now I think that Jorie's dreams show us that we're connected somehow. We can't keep hiding from them, because in the end, it's hiding from ourselves, and it's ruining our culture and tainting our souls."

  "I think we should vote on what to do with the human," the Rtar councilor finally piped up.

  "I vote for killing her," Thyra Davis said immediately. "I think she's tricking us."

  Oh, no! Kylin took a decisive step forward. The Maki councilor still had a lot of influence, and her vote could sway some of the less powerful manarks who still weren't sure whether to believe in Jorie's dream-seeing gift. Kylin couldn't allow that. "I don't think she should be allowed to vote," Kylin said. "She's involved in —"

  "We had that discussion about being objective," Jeff Madsen cut her off. "It was you who pointed out that no one really is objective when it comes to this decision. Let Thyra vote. I can assure you it will be the last time she represents the Maki."

  "What?" The Maki's brown eyes widened. "But I didn't —"

  "It doesn't matter if you believed Cedric Jennings or not. You withheld information from the council," Jeff Madsen said. Being played for a fool was one thing no Syak alpha would ever allow. "You convinced us that the humans that Jennings killed were a threat when they very likely weren't and should never have been killed. You manipulated us, and now you got caught. You'll have to pay the price. We'll deal with that later; now let's vote."