Shifting Dreams

by Elizabeth Hunter

  Jena was tilting the bottle up, but most of the water was trickling down the side of her mouth.

  “Try to drink a little more.”

  “I’m sorry you had to see that, Caleb.”

  He fought past the tightness in his throat. “What? I’ve seen you spill stuff before. I love you despite the clumsiness.”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  “I know. Don’t try to change the subject.”

  She frowned. “There was a subject?”

  Caleb forgot for a moment what had happened. Forgot where he was. Forgot she was injured. A single question burned his mind.

  “You love me, Jena Crowe?”

  She looked over at him and he knew the answer. He could see it shining in her eyes. “Course I do. I think it was the canned cheese that did it.”

  He choked out a harsh laugh, and her eyes flickered closed.

  “Jena!” What the hell could he do? It was too far to Indio. The blood had soaked through the jacket that lay across her chest and belly. Caleb reached over and yanked on a chunk of her hair. “Wake up!”

  “Damn,” she croaked. “You’re a mean one.”

  “Only when I need to be.” He ignored the sheriff’s car that passed him and swung around, flipping on his lights.

  “Ooooh, you’re in trouble now, Chief Not-just-passing-through. Got the po-po after you.”

  He tried to push back the terror at how weak her voice sounded. “The po-po?”

  “Yeah, I’m down like that. I know how the kids talk these days.”

  Caleb watched as the cruiser’s lights came closer. He reached for the phone he saw in the center console, hoping it had some charge. “I’m gonna call the sheriff’s office, Jena. Just hold on.”

  “Do I look like I’m going anywhere?”

  He punched in Dev’s number and waited.

  “Yeah?” Second ring. Thank God.

  “Dev? This is Caleb Gilbert. I need you to call your department right now. One of your boys is following a late model green Jeep out on the highway headed to Indio. I cannot stop. I’ve got Jena in the car and she was attacked by a mountain lion. I’m headed to the hospital going about one-ten and I’m not going to stop. So tell them to stay out of the way.”

  “I’m on it.” The sheriff’s deputy hung up and Caleb put the phone back down. “Jena? You awake?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Talk to me.” He shook his head, willing the panic back. “Honey, please talk to me.”

  “If you can turn into anyone, can you try George Clooney some time? Because that would be awesome.”

  He blinked. “Did you… did you really just ask me if I could turn into George Clooney?”

  “Brad Pitt would be cool, too.”

  “Hey!”

  “You asked me to talk. I’m talking.” She winced as he went over a bump.

  “Shh.” He reached over to squeeze her hand. “All this talk of George is making you lightheaded. Maybe you should be quiet.”

  “Make up your mind. Talk to me, Jena. Shut up, Jena…” She trailed off and her hand went limp in his.

  “Jena!”

  Her head jerked up and she blinked at him with owl eyes. “I want you to stay and help the boys.”

  He cleared his throat and ignored the panicked sound in her voice. “You know I will. I’m not going anywhere. You’re gonna have to evict me at this point, and we all know that takes a long time.”

  “If something happens—”

  “Nothing is going to happen! Ted said you were going to be okay.”

  “If Ted’s wrong… Just don’t leave. It might not be what you want to do, but they’ll need you. And you’ll need them, too.”

  “Jena—” He choked. “Just—just shut up, will you? Nothing’s going to happen to you.”

  “Promise me.”

  “I’m not promising anything! I’m an ornery asshole and you’re just gonna have to stick around to keep me in line.” He winced when he went over a pothole that made her yelp and clutch her side. “See? Asshole. And you’re going to marry me and make me behave in polite society.”

  “I am?”

  He could see the lights of the city in the distance. “Bet your ass you are. We’re going to get married and I’m gonna love you so much it’ll annoy the shit out of you, but I’m not gonna care because you’re gonna be my wife, and Bear and Low are gonna be my kids—” He tried not to choke. “And I’ll be the happiest bastard on the planet, Jena Crowe. You just stay alive, okay?”

  “You’re cocky… even when I’m bleeding out.”

  “You’re not bleeding out!” He rammed his foot to the floor, barely noticing that the sirens had stopped behind him and the police car had pulled ahead, turning on its lights and giving them an escort as they hit the outskirts of the city. They blasted through the first set of lights. All traffic pulled over to the side of the road as they tore into town.

  “Fuck that, Jena! You better not die, you hear me? I love you too damn much. And I love those boys. And if you go and die and leave us alone, I’m gonna be so pissed off at you. So don’t you dare die. Don’t close your eyes…” He saw the hospital. “Don’t even blink.” He chanced a glance across the car, but her head was rolled to the side and her hand was limp on her stomach, stained with fresh red blood. “Jena, wake up!” He tore through the parking lot and screeched into the emergency bay to see a team of doctors and nurses waiting with a stretcher. “Jena!”

  He jerked to a halt and then it was out of his hands. A man pulled open the door and two women caught Jena as she slumped out of the Jeep. Within moments, she was strapped to a board and going through the doors, doctors and nurses shouting as they walked.

  No one looked at him. No one told him she was going to be okay.

  Caleb lowered his head to the steering wheel and screamed.

  He blinked and looked around when his head lifted. Jena was in a hospital bed, out cold. But nothing was hooked up to her. There was no blood anywhere. And it wasn’t night anymore. In fact, they weren’t in the hospital, either. The bed was in the middle of a canyon. Red cliffs rose on either side of him and soft trees lined the edges of a creek that trickled by. He heard a laugh and looked up.

  “You should see your face right now.” Charlie laughed and snickered just the way Caleb remembered him. Not wasted away and sick. Healthy. His cousin was sitting across from him on the other side of Jena’s bed.

  “We’re not dead.”

  “Of course not, stupid.”

  “So why are you here?”

  Charlie nodded toward Jena. “She’s a portal. One of the special ones. When she’s around, I can show up like this. I just have to…” He looked around the canyon. “Alter things a bit. Do you remember this place?”

  “Of course.”

  “Remember Dad taking us here?”

  “There was a sing. I remember that part. But it was at night.” Caleb looked around. It was a canyon in Arizona. A sacred place. His uncle had done a Blessing Way there for a friend.

  “He loves you so much. It kills him that you left.”

  Caleb looked across at the cousin that he’d sacrificed. “I had to. Don’t they understand?”

  “Some do. Some don’t. I understand why you stayed.” Charlie nodded toward a sleeping Jena. “She’s gorgeous, man.”

  “Hands off.”

  His cousin only laughed. “And serious magic. Serious stuff. It’s in her bones and shit. Dad borrowed magic. You borrowed magic—”

  “No, I didn’t.”

  Charlie rolled his eyes. “Of course you did. You just didn’t know it. It came as natural as breathing for you. He wanted you to follow him, you know? Not me. It was always you.”

  “I didn’t want to.”

  “Doesn’t matter. That magic clings to you, cousin. You can try running away, but it finds you. And when it found you here…” Charlie trailed off, a sly look in his eyes.

  Caleb’s eyes widened. “It was you.”

  His cousi
n tried to look innocent. “What are you talking about?”

  “That fucking coyote, Charlie. That was you. I should have known. Trickster god, my ass. I knew that thing wasn’t normal. Why’d you lead me to the water? Did you know what it would do?”

  Charlie only smiled. “I led you where you needed to be. Maybe I knew what would happen. Maybe I didn’t. But that magic following you…” His face turned grim. “It was going to poison you, cousin. You were a little darker every day. But the water… it cleaned you up. Drew the magic inside. Made it a part of you, not some shadow hanging on.”

  “Is it evil?” Caleb hesitated. “Like Grandma said?”

  “Do you feel evil?”

  “No.”

  Charlie’s eyes looked old then, older than even his grandmother’s. “Your magic is what you make it, Caleb. Just like any part of you. You can use it for right. You can use it for wrong. But you’re you.” He smiled. “So you’ll use it for right. I’m not worried.”

  “Why didn’t I turn into an animal like the rest of them?”

  He shrugged. “Hell if I know. It’s not science, dude. This shit has a mind of its own.”

  Charlie stood, as if he was ready to leave. “Where are you going?”

  “Away.” The bright day around him was starting to fade. “But don’t worry. I’ll visit again. Just keep hanging around her, and I’ll be able to see you without the fur.”

  His eyes darted back to Jena’s still face. “She’s gonna be okay?”

  Charlie just shrugged, like it was no big deal. “Of course she is. What kind of happy ending would this be if your girl bit it? That would suck.”

  His cousin may have been dead, but he hadn’t changed much. “I miss you, brother.”

  Charlie stuck his hands in his pockets as he started to fade. “I’m sorry I made you do it, Caleb. I’m really sorry.”

  “Charlie—”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll see you around.”

  Caleb woke to see the monitors hooked to Jena still humming normally. Low had pulled up another chair and was leaning on one shoulder as Aaron curled in Caleb’s lap. He wanted to stay awake. There was something important he needed to tell Jena. Something about the past…

  He just couldn’t quite remember.

  The steady beeping of the monitors lulled him back to sleep, and Caleb drifted into a dreamless slumber.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Jena blinked open her eyes. There were florescent lights above her. Where was she? She hated florescent lights. They hummed; she didn’t care what Allie said. Gave her a headache. She had a hell of a headache. Why was she staring at florescent lights with a headache? And beeping. There was beeping.

  She closed her eyes. Opened them again. Hospital. The last time she’d been in a hospital was when she’d had Aaron. And then with Lowell… Was Lowell here? She moved her head to the side. Owwww. Even the small movement made her ache. She let out a low breath and that hurt, too. From the corner of her eye, she saw someone. Turning her head farther, she saw the dark window of the hospital and Caleb.

  Not Lowell. Caleb. Caleb, who she loved. Tears came to her eyes, but she couldn’t reach up to wipe them away. He was stretched out in a crummy hospital chair with Aaron splayed on his lap. The seven-year-old’s legs dangled awkwardly into his brother’s chair, which was pulled up close to Caleb’s so Low could rest his head on the man’s shoulder. They were all sleeping. Her man. Her boys. She sniffed again and Caleb’s eyes shot open.

  His face split into a smile. “You’re awake. Is it for real this time?”

  “Did I wake up before?”

  He nodded. “Just for a few minutes. You owe Bear about twenty bucks for the swear jar.”

  She laughed a little, then winced. “Laughing’s not a good idea right now. I don’t remember what happened.”

  “You got jumped by a big-ass mountain lion. You remember that part?”

  She took a shallow breath and it all came flooding back. Missy’s flight. The canyon. Rage filled her when the lion had pounced on her mate. She’d shifted to the strongest thing she knew, then plunged. She could remember the feel of the thick pelt beneath her claws. The screaming. The bullet—

  “Is she dead?” Her eyes flicked toward the door. “Is it safe to talk?”

  “I haven’t seen anyone for a bit, but…” He cleared his throat and glanced at the boys. “You were lucky. I don’t think Missy made it out of the canyon. I had to race patrol cars to get you here. You… uh.” His voice broke a little. “Your heart stopped once, but you’re gonna be okay. You had pretty serious internal injuries and there was a nicked artery. That’s why your heart…”

  He looked about two seconds away from breaking, so Jena said, “But I’m gonna be okay, right?”

  Caleb nodded and shifted as Aaron snuggled closer.

  “I love you,” Caleb said in a rough voice. “Do you remember that?”

  She nodded. “I love you, too.”

  “I’m holding you to it.”

  “Good.”

  They were sitting quietly, just smiling at each other when Ted entered. She looked between the two of them, keeping her voice quiet, so as not to wake the boys.

  “You’re awake for real now, I’m guessing, or he wouldn’t be smiling like that. How are you feeling?” Ted had her doctor face on and was flipping through a chart at the base of Jena’s bed.

  “I feel like I got clawed up by a big cat.”

  Ted cocked an eyebrow. “Can’t imagine why. You have two fractures in your left leg and your left arm was broken. That must have been a hell of a fall. The gashes in your abdomen are healing well.” She lowered her voice. “In fact, you’re going to leave the hospital against medical advice by tomorrow or we’re going to have a lot of curious people who want to know how you heal bones so fast. Got it?”

  “Got it.”

  “You’re also going to have a lot of scarring on your stomach. I got Dr. Perry to work on you, and he’s a whiz at closing, but bikinis are probably not gonna be an option. Sorry.”

  Jena managed a glance at Caleb. He just winked at her. “Scars are cool. Ask the boys.”

  She felt herself blush, and Ted snickered. “You’re so whipped, Chief.”

  “Shut up. Let’s talk about fancy-fur kissing you the other night. That was interesting.”

  Ted glared at him and Jena frowned. “Fancy-fur?”

  Caleb said, “Didn’t you see Alex go all alpha-boy and kiss his woman the other night? Ted loved it. I could tell.”

  “Shut up, weirdo,” Ted muttered.

  “I don’t remember that. Was I already gone?”

  Caleb’s eyes danced. “You must have already flown the coop. Metaphorically speaking, of course.”

  “Of course.”

  “You guys are too cute for words,” Ted said. “You’re going to be insufferable together.”

  They were all whispering, so as not to wake the boys, but Low shifted and mumbled something anyway.

  Jena looked at Ted, turning too quickly and jerking the stitches in her stomach. “Okay, fill me in quick. Missy is gone?”

  Ted nodded and Caleb said, “Matt confessed to shooting at us as we were leaving Quinn’s, but he didn’t have any hand in killing Alma. He didn’t even mean to get that close to the truck. Killing your grandmother was all Missy. He was just like her sisters, trying to cover for her. He was terrified what would happen to him and the kids if anyone found out.”

  “And I talked to her sisters,” Ted added. “It sounds like Matt was fed up with the Springs. He told Missy if Alma didn’t approve the hotel, they were gone. He’d quit and they’d have to live away. Missy panicked. Amanda said she had a hard time in college when she lived in Phoenix. Said she went crazy at the thought of having to hide again.”

  Jena felt her throat tighten. “But she risked her own baby?”

  “Lisette said that Missy called her the morning after she killed Alma with the same story she’d told us, blaming everything on Matt. They… d
idn’t know what to think. Everyone covered for him because Missy asked them to. And… well, they’re cats. We’re stupidly loyal sometimes.”

  Caleb said, “Matt shot at us because he thought we’d blame Old Quinn, since we had just left his house. I guess he forgot about you tracking him. He panicked and ran. He’s the bobcat you saw that night.”

  “But he didn’t have anything to do with Alma’s death?” Jena asked.

  “Not that we can tell. And he’s spilled his guts about pretty much everything else.”

  “He’s leaving,” Ted said quietly. “Taking the kids and leaving town. The Elders didn’t want to punish him for his mate’s insanity, and they didn’t want to leave their kids orphans. They told him not to come back. The children can when they’re older, but not him.”

  “He’s banished,” she said in a whisper. Jena had heard rumors about shifters who had been banished, but it wasn’t something she’d ever seen happen. Matt was cut off from the spring, from his clan. Forever. Despite her grief for Alma, Jena’s heart ached for him and his children. “And her sisters?”

  “They’re gone, too. But they’re trying to fight it. Their clan is making restitution to your father for stalking his grandchildren.”

  “Good,” Caleb said with a growl. His arm tightened around Aaron.

  “So it’s done,” Jena leaned back and closed her eyes. “It’s done.” She could feel the tears gather at the corners, then slip down. She heard shifting around; then Caleb was next to her. She could smell him. Feel his hands on her cheeks. His lips on her forehead.

  “It’s okay, honey,” he whispered. “It’s okay now.”

  “She’s still gone,” Jena sniffed. “Alma’s still gone.”

  “I know.” He tucked her head under his chin. “But she’d be so proud of you, Jena. You were amazing back there. An eagle? What the hell? That was scary and cool at the same time.”

  “You were mad at me because I got in the way and you couldn’t shoot her.”

  “Only a little. I still like you, though.”

  Jena’s laugh broke into a quiet sob. She shoved a hand into her mouth and bit down to stop, but she couldn’t. Caleb leaned down over her, embracing her as best he could in the horrible hospital bed. He was whispering in her ear.