by Melissa Haag
“Then you’re wasting my time.”
“I promise I’m not. I have something much more newsworthy to show you. If you take me to one of your recording studios, you can broadcast live.”
Penny narrowed her eyes as she studied Charlene. I could feel her mistrust.
“I don't have that kind of pull,” Penny said.
“I do.” A wave of regret and fear rolled from Charlene with those words. I could understand her regretting her power, but why the fear?
Penny studied Charlene for a moment. Then a surge of the woman’s triumph hit me, and I wanted to grin. She had no idea what she was in for.
“This way.” She turned and started walking.
When she looked back and saw all of us following, I felt her hesitation and soothed it away. As we left the reception area, I noticed the maintenance worker stand and head toward his mop. Scary.
Carlos threaded his fingers through mine, bringing my focus back to our group as we entered the corridor. After yesterday's wandering, I didn't feel so lost when we made several turns before entering a hall with a few glass-windowed doors. Penny reached for one of the darker ones and opened it.
As she stood aside to let us in, she caught Charlene’s eye.
"Someone is going to ask what I'm doing," Penny said.
"I'll worry about that,” Charlene said to her then stepped into the room. The rest of us followed. It was a bit crowded.
“Isabelle, Carlos, Winifred, would you go with Penny into the studio to explain? I'll wait out here for whoever may come."
"I'm not taping you?" Penny asked as she shut the outer door.
"No. You're bringing the world bigger news than me, Penny. The news you were meant to reveal."
Penny was surprised and self-satisfied by Charlene’s last words. Yet, there was still a layer of annoyance and frustration as she opened the studio door for us and led the way in. She turned on the lights, flooding the second room with a brightness that almost made my eyes water. It was a small area with a fake backdrop of the city hanging on the wall behind a couch. Two chairs were positioned on either side of the couch. The staged area faced the equipment inside the room, just in front of the recording booth window.
When the door shut behind us, I enjoyed a new kind of emotional silence. The well-insulated room kept more than sound out.
“I need one of these,” I whispered to Carlos.
Penny’s gaze drifted to me, and her eyes widened in recognition.
“Hi, again,” I said with a smirk.
She glared at me a moment then turned to Winifred.
“So, what are we revealing?” Penny asked.
“The existence of another species,” Winifred said, walking toward the couch. She set down the bag she’d carried and turned to face Penny. Carlos and I stayed by the door.
“What kind of species?” Penny asked, not moving to join Winifred.
Winifred glanced at me, probably wondering if I was really ready for the freak-out this lady was about to have. I nodded.
“The shapeshifting kind,” Winifred said.
Penny laughed then grew quiet when she saw we didn’t share her humor.
“Before I put you on the air, I need some kind of proof. I will lose everything,” her gaze drifted to the booth, “if I don’t have proof.”
Charlene nodded to Penny then pointedly looked at Winifred. Penny’s gaze followed. I could see her frustration with the situation as much as I could feel it.
“You have proof?” Penny asked.
“No. I am proof.”
Winifred held out her hand and changed it to a white paw, then back again.
Disbelief and panic surged from Penny. I took both.
“I’m willing to demonstrate what I am on live TV,” Winifred said. “And will answer your questions after I explain why I’m coming forward.”
As if in a trance, Penny slowly crossed the room to join Winifred by the couch.
“Do it again,” she said, staring at Winifred’s still outstretched hand.
Awe filled Penny as Winifred’s skin slowly disappeared under a layer of fine white hairs. Her thumb shrank back a moment before the rest of her fingers. A paw at the end of a human arm. It was surreal to see. Winifred didn’t leave it like that for more than a heartbeat before everything went back into place.
“Incredible.” Penny sat heavily in the chair.
The door behind us opened.
“We’ll be ready in five,” a man said.
Penny turned with wide eyes.
“Seriously?”
When the man nodded, Penny’s gaze drifted to Charlene, who watched us from the inside of the booth.
“And you’re okay with this?” Penny said, once again looking at the man.
“Of course,” the man said. “It’s breaking news. The public needs to know.”
He withdrew again, closing the door.
“Have a seat,” Penny said to Winifred. Then she looked at Carlos and me. “There’s plenty of room if—”
“They will remain by the door,” Winifred said, moving to sit on the couch at an angle to Penny’s chair.
Behind me, the door opened. Two men came in to operate the cameras angled at Penny and Winifred. A woman came in and stood near some sort of panel. Carlos moved closer, positioning himself between me and the door. Penny patiently watched the booth.
I glanced that way, too, and saw a digital countdown in the window.
When it reached one, Penny turned to Winifred and started to speak.
“You’re coming forward with some astounding information I know our viewers won’t believe. A new species exists among us.”
“Not new,” Winifred said. “We are as old as humans. Here since the beginning.”
“And what are you?”
“The most popular term is werewolf.”
Disbelief and irritation wafted from the others in the room. I breathed both in and watched them closely. They continued to record, or whatever it was they were doing.
“You can’t expect us to believe something like that without proof.”
“Of course not,” Winifred said, standing. Penny stood, too.
“You might want to move back,” Winifred said.
After Penny withdrew two steps, fur sprouted on Winifred’s skin as she began to change forms. It wasn’t a burst like I’d seen during battle, but it wasn’t the slow shift into a paw either. We were on a schedule after all. If this were a live feed like Charlene meant it to be, we needed to reveal then peel out of there.
Winifred stayed upright long after her legs shortened and recurved. Her boobs shrank as her chest expanded, so when her shirt split open with a loud rip, there was nothing but fur to see. Her pants caught on her tail, but she shook the material free before everything fully formed. Her pearl necklace burst apart, sending the little beads everywhere.
As the panic and fear swelled in the room, I breathed it in. For just four people, there was quite a bit of it. My skin started to tingle.
Penny’s mouth had popped open at some point during the display. Seeing a hand was a bit different than seeing the whole thing.
Winifred dropped to all fours and stepped out of her shoes. She was completely transformed, now. I’d never seen a dog or wolf so big. She turned and padded to the bag she’d brought. The cameras followed her every move. She stuck her head into the bag and pulled out her white hotel robe. When she took a step toward Penny, Penny backed up.
“She wants to change back,” I said, off camera. “All she’s got now is her birthday suit.”
Penny glanced at me, then at Winifred, before she extended a shaking hand toward the robe. Once Penny held the covering, Winifred turned away from the camera and sprang back onto her hind legs. The transformation back took the same amount of time.
The stunned Penny didn’t cover Winifred’s exposed backside right away, and Winifred turned her head to glare her overly large human eyes at the woman. The look motivated Penny. She stepped close and held the
robe up to cover the almost smooth skin and receding tail. But she left the covering lowered enough to show Winifred’s back.
After the fur disappeared, Winifred threaded her arms through the sleeves and cinched the robe before she turned and sat.
It took Penny a few moments to do the same. Her stunned expression had me grinning while Winifred waited patiently for the first question.
“Are you dangerous? How many of you are there? Was that dog attack earlier this year one of you?” The rapid questions flew from Penny before she took a calming breath then asked, “Why are you coming forward now?”
“I’ve come forward because we are all in danger. We are not the only species hiding within the human population. There is another species, Urbat, who are very similar to us in appearance but not in nature. They would see the human population devastated.”
“Urbat,” Penny said slowly as if testing the word. “Why do they want our population devastated?”
“Because your numbers are a threat to their goal. They want to rule. The population, the planet, everything.”
“What are we supposed to do?”
A very muted knock on the window startled Penny. Winifred and I both looked over and saw Gabby motioning for us to hurry up.
“Our time here is over. The Urbat are coming for us because we’ve shared what they didn’t want us to. Find Blake Torrin, their leader. Cut off his connections. He’s everywhere and has enough money to do much damage.”
Winifred stood and grabbed her bag.
“How are we supposed to tell you apart from the Urbat?” Penny said, standing.
“There isn’t much difference. Only the nails. Ours are grey, theirs are black. Good luck, Penny.”
Winifred stepped toward us, ignoring the cameras that followed her. Carlos opened the door, and I quickly stepped out. The emotions in the booth were thick. I pulled as much as I could.
“How close?” I asked Gabby.
“Two are in the building.”
“Isabelle, I need you to lead,” Charlene said. “I need to maintain my hold until we are out of the building.”
“Perfect,” I said with a nod. “Gabby, Clay, and Grey can ride down with Carlos and me. I’ll see you on the bottom, whole and healthy,” I said to Bethi, pulling away her fear.
She nodded.
Our small group struck out the door, the rest following. The people we passed in the halls and open workspaces watched us, but no one moved to stop us. The emotions were a blend of disbelief and curiosity.
When we reached the elevator bank, the main part of the group hung back near the reception desk while we took the first elevator that opened. As soon as Gabby was in, she ran her hand down the first twelve floors.
“Um...” I gave her a questioning look.
“They’re right here,” she said as the doors closed and the elevator started to descend.
“What do you mean?”
“They’re standing right in front of us. On one of the floors.”
I looked at Grey.
“Tell Charlene to hold the other elevators so the Urbat can’t jump onto one.”
“Done.”
I stared at the doors with Gabby as we slowed. Clay nudged her behind him. Grey made to step forward so he was at the front.
“Stay by Gabby,” I said. “There are only two, and I need the fight.” Too many emotions were floating around the building. As we descended, I absorbed mostly fear and suspicion.
The door slid open. Two people stood waiting.
“Not this elevator,” Carlos said, holding up a hand when they would have entered.
Puzzled, the man and woman stepped back; and the door slid closed.
We checked each floor down to the third. Before the doors glided open, I knew we’d finally found the two we were looking for. I felt the impatience and anger rolling off them.
“Get ready,” I said.
The doors slid open to reveal two men standing side by side. On the floor behind them lay a bloody security guard. The rest of the area near the elevators was empty.
“Hello, boys,” I said with a smile a second before I stepped forward and planted my fist in the right one’s face. His head snapped back, but he quickly brought it forward and growled at me.
“Which one are you? The dreamer or the fighter?”
I hit him again. The blow drove him back a step, spiking his anger.
“Which do you think I am?”
I ducked under his next swing and danced around him so he was further from the elevator. Not that he noticed. He dove for me, and I stepped back several more feet.
Carlos didn’t touch the other man. Instead, he dodged the blows and neatly maneuvered him away from the elevators as well.
“Let the doors close,” he said to Grey.
I could have hugged Carlos.
As soon as they shut, I pushed. The men fell to their knees. Carlos hit his opponent hard enough to knock him out, then turned and knocked out mine before I could protest.
“We need to move. The rest are coming down. Charlene says police are coming.”
He pulled me toward the stairwell, and we raced down two flights of stairs. It was good to get my heart pumping and relieve some of the lingering tension.
On the main floor, we burst into the lobby and complete chaos. Clueless visitors to the building stood in frozen panic as police poured in through the front doors. Gabby, Clay, and Grey had almost made it to the exit.
“No one leaves!” one of the uniformed men shouted.
I glanced at Carlos, wondering how the heck we’d get out of there. He reached for my hand, and I gladly held on. He pulled me close to his side as someone shoved past us. The police were using their shields to push people back into the room. People began to panic and shove against the barriers, causing a ripple effect of jostling bodies. Carlos was my rock, my mountain shelter. No one touched me. Yet, despite his physical protection, the emotions of everyone in the room were getting to me. I started pulling and pushing emotions, just to keep from going under.
Across the room, the elevator doors opened, and Charlene stepped out. All motion stopped. Just froze.
She walked forward, weaving her way between the bodies. The rest of her group slowly followed. Carlos started leading me through the crowd as well.
“We are not the ones to fear,” Charlene said, her voice carrying the length of the room. “The ones you seek are on the third floor.”
She continued to move toward the door, joining Grey, Clay, and Gabby. A few of the people around us slowly started to move toward the exit, too. The police and security remained stationary.
As soon as we cleared the doors, everything inside went back to normal speed. We walked among the crowd of those who also sought to escape the madness. As we walked, I breathed in and out, barely sampling the emotions around me.
On the sidewalks, people were stopped, staring down at their phones or other devices. Disbelief ran rampant.
“They will discredit what they saw,” I said, walking beside Winifred. Oddly, no one seemed to notice her walking around in a robe.
“They might have. But they now have two Urbat,” Charlene said.
I felt her disquiet at the thought. Was she imagining what the government would do to them? I was. Because, since the day I’d figured out what I could do, I’d wondered what would happen to me if the world knew. I shivered.
Eighteen
“What do you see, Gabby?” Winifred said.
We walked together in a cluster—the same arrangement we used for practices—toward our vehicles that we’d parked several blocks away.
“Mass movement in their facility to the north. So many are fleeing it. I see Olivia’s spark moving too.”
“Keep an eye on her,” Bethi said.
Gabby nodded.
“So what now?” I asked.
“We wait and see where they take Olivia and go after her,” Bethi said. “She’s the last of us.”
“And when we find her?”<
br />
We entered the parking garage, and my last word echoed around us.
“The Taupe Lady has been a little vague on that part.”
The who?
“But I’m still having dreams and learning. By the time we find Olivia, I hope I’ll know more.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. It was a huge maybe. I could see Bethi didn’t like it, either.
“For now, I think it’s safe to head back to the apartments,” Charlene said.
Carlos and I went to the car. This time Grey and Jim joined us. As soon as Jim settled into the front seat, he turned to Grey.
“Think we can stop somewhere to eat? Our fridge is cleaned out.”
If their food supply had been like ours, I didn’t see how that was possible.
“Where do you put it all?” I said.
“In my stomach.” He winked at me, which earned the bottom of his seat a nudge from Carlos.
“Nice bruise, by the way,” Jim said, studying my face. “What’s the other guy look like?”
“He’s still breathing,” I said.
Jim grinned then faced forward.
Grey pulled out of the parking garage, stopping to pay before joining the slow stream of traffic.
“Gabby says Olivia is moving,” Grey said. “She thinks a car maybe.”
“What direction?”
“So far, north.”
I nodded and hoped we wouldn’t need to follow her north. It was cold enough here.
Grey turned a familiar corner and pulled toward the garage door. The security guard opened the door and waited while our three vehicles drove in.
The security guard’s gaze stayed on Winifred as she got out. Because of the robe she was wearing, she showed quite a bit of leg in the process.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” the older man said, looking at her.
I grinned at his emotion and waved everyone to keep moving.
“We’ll see you upstairs, Winifred,” I said.
Sam frowned at me and lingered enough that he walked beside me.
The guard watched us leave, making no move to say anything more to Winifred.