Myers drove up. He was in a small four-door sedan that he seemed to have to unfold himself from as he got out. The top of it hit him at his diaphragm, and I held back every circus joke that I could think of.
As he approached, in the comfortable clothes I had instructed him, I fully realized just how tall he really was. A good six feet four and painfully awkward, as if he hadn’t grown into his feet yet. It was a familiar stature.
He stopped just before me, his hands jammed into his sweatpants. “Hello, Miss Jordan.”
“It’s Violet.” I studied him for a moment. Outside of the obvious nervousness about getting catty, his energy was low and spiky and he smelled like spices, like chai, all cinnamon and nutmeg.
I pulled my feet up and patted on the bench next to me. “Let’s start by telling me what happened.”
Myers sat. I waited patiently as he leaned forward and rubbed his large hands together. “I don’t remember much. Happened about four months ago. Woke up bloody. The next two weeks were hell and then the night of the full moon I blacked out and woke up and my apartment was destroyed.”
“Wait, four months ago?”
Myers nodded.
I bit my tongue. I wasn’t going to tell him that I was only bitten five months ago, but then again, I had been bred for this life, shifting or not. How many times had Iris told me that my psychic bloodline probably allowed me to pick it all up too fast?
“Go on.”
“I thought I’d just cracked, so I left school, went back home for a while. Got into some trouble and my parents kicked me out and that’s when she found me.”
“Who?”
“Her name was Raven, a guardian. I thought I’d officially gone insane with some of the things she’d told me. She locked me up for the next full moon and then took me to Yasmina.”
“Right.”
“And when they assessed the situation, they recommended that I come back to Dallas and find you and Iris.”
It was a good enough story and not above Spencer’s snacking habits. “And here we are. Did Yasmina show you anything?”
“Just how to hide. Gave me a book that wasn’t particularly helpful.”
I laughed. “Yeah. The idiots guide to being a shape-shifter. I got that one too.”
Myers smiled and his youth shone through. Two small dimples on both sides and wide eyes, clear of any pain or panic. It was refreshing that such innocence could exist after what he’d been through.
And now for the Shala speech that I had been working on all morning instead of the questions about the movie script that were filling up my e-mails. “The most important lesson I can teach you is that you are not what happens to you. You are still Myers. You are just a version 2.0, with certain upgrades. Understand?”
He nodded but the dimple on his left cheek deepened with amusement.
“I’m serious. You have to know who you are before you can even attempt to integrate this into yourself because you’ll have some pretty big questions that you’ll have to figure out.”
He nodded again.
I sighed and gave up on being Yoda for a little while. Philosophy is lost on the young. Guess he was just going to have to learn like I did. The hard way. “So they taught you how to hide, putting up a border? Show me.”
“I’ve got the border up right now.”
I snickered. If he did have it up, it was as thin as tissue paper. I could feel everything about him right through it. “Right. We are going to have to work on that. How was your last shift?”
“Horrific. Like it was ripping its way through me.”
I gulped and my stomach twisted. Mine had been so fluid, like breathing. I’d never thought about someone fighting the shift so badly it was torture. “We will work on that too.”
“How?”
I licked my lips and rubbed my thighs as I tried to make up the best sounding answer I could. “Slowly. Start with your borders and finding your animal and hopefully by the full moon, it will be a little easier.”
“You don’t sound sure.”
I sighed. I’d never been a good liar. “Iris said she’d train you on your days off, but I’ve never done this before, so I apologize for all the mistakes I’m going to make. I think I should also disclose that just being with me puts you at a slightly higher risk for danger.”
“Why’s that?”
I laughed and it seemed to startle him. His eyes went a little wide and his energy jumped out around him.
I shook my head then looked around the park. Katy Trail was right there, and the joggers paradise would be practically empty this time of day this time of year, so it might just be the place to show Myers what graceful looked like at fifteen miles an hour.
“Let me fill you in on a few things about Dallas while we run, shall we? And do try to keep up.”
MYERS COULD KEEP up. It surprised me actually. When I turned on the superjuice, he was able to match my lengthy stride and speed with ease. He didn’t look particularly graceful but the speed was there, so he wasn’t completely unable to access his panther.
“So you’ve done this part before?” I asked as we stopped at the end of the three-mile run, me barely panting.
Myers doubled over as he sucked in huge breathes. His brown hair was plastered to his head with sweat, but he’d kept up with me. “A little.”
“Doesn’t look like you kept it up?”
“I was too freaked out.”
“Yeah, there’s a lot of that in the beginning.”
Myers stood up and wiped his brow. “I’m guessing you run a lot?”
“As often as I can. Running, chasing, are a couple of needs you’ll have to get out of your system to help control your animal between moons.”
“What else will I need to get out of my system?”
“Food. Lots of high-protein food, which is great for the figure but not for the wallet.”
Myers snorted. “Barely making any now.”
“We’ll make it work,” I assured.
“Anything else?”
I shook my head. “Not that I know of.” The lie came out smooth. It was a little too early to discuss the last need of a wild animal. Though as a college-aged male, he might actually have an advantage over me in that market.
Myers stood up and eyed the path back.
A silver medallion had slipped out of his T-shirt. I reached out and flipped over the coin-sized silver. There was a peculiar marking on it. “That’s neat. Mean anything?”
Myers pulled the silver from my fingers and tucked it back underneath his shirt. “Just something I picked up at the mall.”
I watched him for a second but the suspicion slipped from my mind as I caught sight of a coffee shop. “Why don’t we grab a drink before we head back?”
THE INFOMART IS the most identifiable structure off of the major highway that runs through Dallas. Designed to model London’s Crystal Palace, it is roof to foundation mirrors, which made it the perfect spot for Jessa and, unfortunately, a precarious position for a frayed spot in the Veil.
“Let me give you the grand tour,” Jessa smiled as she pulled me through the completely open space, bare of anything except bad carpet and the faint smell of cigarettes.
“This is where the desks will go and the sitting area.” She pointed to a blank wall. “That’s where I’m going to put the new break room with a coffee station just for you.”
“Where’s the door to hell going?”
Jessa pulled me toward the only other door besides the front one. She opened the door and a blast of cold wind rushed out of the dark supply closet. It left my skin with a brief tingle as I recognized magic in the gust.
“It’s been pretty active,” she said as she walked into the dark room and flipped on a light. “I’ve done all the weaving that I can on it.”
I don’t know what I was expecting to see. Some sort of translucent sheet blowing in the ether? The space she was looking at was blank, but her eyes reflected enough that I got the gist: Be Worried.
It was there. When I closed my eyes, I couldn’t see it, but the feeling grew sharper. Maybe it was my history with Jessa that let me feel the ragged edges that she could see so easily.
There was a surge of something dark and hot that exploded against the Veil, like lava being thrown against cellophane, barely being held back.
Jessa and I jumped, rushing out of the supply room and slamming the door behind us.
We leaned against it and braced ourselves for the monster we both knew was perfectly capable of coming out of there. My power was hot and ready as it surged around me, ready for the fight, ready for the carnage and the taste of blood.
When it seemed nothing was going to leap through the wall, Jessa relaxed. “Yeah, that happens. A lot.”
I couldn’t relax. My heart pounded and my temples ached with the pressure. Even as I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to see the border around me, the panther paced just beneath my breastbone, the Legacy itched to get out again, and I swallowed it down.
“Hey there, kiddo,” Jessa said beside me.
Her soft energy pulsed against mine as her cool hand ran up my arm. “It’s okay, Violet.”
“I know.” I muttered out.
She pulled a strand of hair behind my ear and as my brain slid back into thinking mode instead of clawing mode. With one final push, I worked my borders back into place. “What is your plan?”
“I thought about calling in Mom to see if she could help, but she’s in Bali right now dealing with an escaped something or other. For now, I’m just going to lock it up and throw away the key.”
I pushed up off the floor and began to pace, the slow, forced movement calming me down. “How about bricking it up?”
“What?”
“Brick up the whole mess. If it rips, the beasties will meet a brick wall.”
“But what if we need it?”
The thought struck me like a mallet on a cymbal, and I stopped in mid stride. “Why would we need to open a door? Neveranth bad, remember?”
Jessa pressed her lips closed.
I put my hands on my hips. “Jessa?”
“No, no. You’re right. It’s a good idea. I’m going to need a contractor out here anyway to put in the new break room.”
“What’s going on in that head of yours?” I asked. Something was there. It gleamed in her brown eyes.
“Nothing.”
I glared that heavy, chin-lowered glare.
Jessa relented. “It’s just that it would be nice to have a good guy portal just in case.”
“In case what? We feel like chatting up Spencer again?” Anger sizzled down my arms, and I didn’t know why. Oh wait. Yes I did. That jerk had nearly killed my best friend and wasn’t letting me sleep. I fought everything just to keep my borders in place.
She shook her head. “You’re right, I know you’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“Good.”
But she looked defeated, and I couldn’t have that, so I distracted her with prettier thoughts. “What color scheme are you thinking once you brick up the Veil?”
Jessa lit up like a Christmas tree, almost literally. “Stormy gray’s and silvers, with a hint of navy blue and indigo.”
“And what exactly are you going to do here again?”
Jessa just shrugged. “I’ll do the PR thing from here for a while, but I’m getting bored with throwing other people parties.”
“If it wasn’t for your parties, we wouldn’t be friends.”
Jessa punched me lightly on the shoulder as she reached down to get the purse she’d rested on the floor. “I’ve been meaning to ask you about the mutts.”
“That can’t wait for lunch?”
I wandered around the space for a little while. I could almost see what it might look like. With Jessa’s touch, it would all look fabulous. “I believe they are sincere. I believe they want to do good.”
“I think one of them is following me.”
“Probably. They are really good at it.”
“Why are they still following me?”
“They are sorry for what they did. I think it’s their way of making sure that nothing else bad happens to us.”
“Still thinking that you can break the mark?”
I was silent as I followed her out to her car. Because it was winter, she’d changed to a four wheel drive in the hopes of getting some snow this winter. Jessa would have to wait a long time to get that.
“Violet?”
I sighed as we got in the car. “Is it weird to want to play Nancy Drew with your boyfriend for a change?”
“Not when it’s you two.”
I leaned back against the head rest as Jessa drove us to our lunch place. “I just want to spend some quality time with him, even if that quality time is spent up to our noses in dust.”
“That’s better than the last time I talked to you. What’s with the change?”
I looked out the window at the crisp winter day. “Spending time with Myers.”
“Which one is Myers?” Jessa asked.
I swatted at her arm.
“What?” she laughed. “You’ve got like a million guys in your life right now. It’s hard to keep up. I’m going to need CliffNotes pretty soon.”
I stuck my tongue out at her as we got onto the highway.
“How is progress with Myers?”
“Slow. Don’t think I have the patience for the Shala thing.”
“Come on. It’s been a week.”
“I’m serious. I have no idea how to explain this stuff to anyone. I don’t even understand half of it myself.”
“But you’re a writer. Doesn’t that help?”
I huffed. Except for that movie that was going into production in a few months, I really hadn’t tried to verbalize a lot of what I’d discovered. Written down, it all seemed so fake. “Maybe I can just hand him the script and act it out.”
“You’re being too hard on yourself.”
“When am I not hard on myself?”
We found a parking spot at Café Brazil and I could almost smell the 12 types of coffee just waiting for me. It made the day much better.
We sat down and both ordered without looking at the menu.
Jessa started up again as the waiter slowly slipped away. “So teach him the stuff you do know.”
“I don’t even know everything that I can do.”
“Then learn with him.”
I looked at her and cocked my head. “Huh?”
“He doesn’t need to know everything. Just how to control the shift. How did you learn to control the shift?”
Jessa leaned forward. I realized that we didn’t talk about that. Since December, when we talked shop, it was mostly mirrors and mutts, not so much with the shifting.
“I just did it. Chaz was in trouble and I shifted.”
“And with me?”
I shrugged. “I just knew that I could do it.”
“So make sure that he has that confidence. Start there.”
“When did you become the mentor?”
“When you became the hero.”
“Speaking of walking through fire,” I said as I reached into my bag. “I need some help.”
I pulled a little box out of my purse.
“Presents?” Jessa asked as I slid the box across the table.
“Not quite. I need you to find a hiding place for this where no one will find it.”
Jessa carefully rocked the top off of the box and glimpsed at the small silver dagger on the inside. She slammed the lid back on top.
“Why me?”
“Because you can slip all over the world and hide in a place I’ve never even heard of.”
“Why didn’t you give this to Chaz?”
“Frankly, I haven’t seen him long enough
to even talk about it.”
Jessa looked down at the box. “How did you get it?”
“The mutt’s peace offering.”
She shoved the box into her cavernous purse. Her jaw was tight as she pulverized a straw trying to unwrap it.
“Or you could just leave it in your purse; no one will find it in there.”
Jessa didn’t like my attempt at levity. She just set her wide almond eyes on me. “I still have nightmares about that night, Violet.”
I licked my lips and listened.
“I still have scars.”
I couldn’t keep my eyes from the fine white line that slipped down her forearm. Spencer had been thorough in his need for fey blood. The scar was easier to hide in these winter months, but the curl of it still showed on her wrist.
Jessa pressed her lips together thoughtfully. “I know that you need them, but just know that this is something you’re going to have to do by yourself.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
Jessa sighed and then shivered. “Okay. Enough of this dreary stuff. Have you gotten the head shots of the actors for the movie?”
A SMILE SPREAD ACROSS my face as I looked down at my ringing cell phone’s display. I’d never replaced the portrait of Chaz leaning against the Bronco in the golden reds of the setting sun. “Hey there.”
“Hi. Did you get my note?”
It had taken me a good hour to get the remnants of the flowers into a vase that was now dropping tired petals on my table. “Yes. Thank you. So what’s in Houston?”
“Actually, I’m already in San Antonio. Lost kid.”
“Wow. No rest for the wicked.” I played with the dried petals on my table. “Hey, what does San Antonio know about what’s happening in Dallas?”
“Haven’t mentioned anything.”
“Do you know a guardian by the name of Raven?”
The line was silent for a moment, and I heard the radio volume lower. “Yeah. Why?”
“She was the one who found Myers. Can you get any more details for me?”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“You mean that you don’t just have the entire Cause on speed dial, some sort of Yahoo Group mass e-mail list? You’re organization needs an overhaul.”
Chaz chuckled. “Anything else, fearless leader?”
Claws and Effect Page 4