Second Chance with the Shifter

by Leela Ash

  “Cain!” Joe called, waving his cell phone in the air. “Phone call!”

  “What?”

  Cain lowered the beam in confusion. Why would anybody be calling him at work? Was it his mother? Was there some kind of emergency?

  He dropped his load on the ground with a loud clanging and hurried to Joe.

  “Thanks,” he said, taking the phone and holding a tight, nervous breath. “Hello?”

  There was a brief silence, and then a beautiful, familiar voice reached his ears. “Cain?”

  “Who is this?” Cain frowned, trying to place where he had heard the voice before.

  “It’s Kyna.”

  “Jesus Christ!” Cain was so startled that he nearly threw the phone away from himself. If it had been his own, he might have, but Joe was watching him like a hawk. “How did you get this number?”

  “…phone book.”

  “Yeah right.”

  “Can we talk?”

  “I’m at work!”

  “It’s important. After work?”

  “I really don’t know…” Cain frowned. He hadn’t told anybody about the strange incident in the woods. Not that anybody would have believed him anyway. In fact, he had almost been able to convince himself that it had all just been some kind of ridiculous dream that he’d had after eating some bad deer meat or something. It was jarring to have Kyna’s voice in his ear so unexpectedly.

  “I understand that this seems strange,” she said.

  “You don’t understand anything!” he exclaimed. Joe, who was standing a few feet away from Cain, raised his eyebrow. Cain lowered his voice and growled into the phone. “I’d appreciate it if you’d leave me alone.”

  “…I’m sorry you feel that way.”

  There was a click and he was cut off from Kyna’s voice. Cain stared at the phone in his hand, somehow feeling even more despaired that she had hung up than he was that she had called in the first place. He couldn’t get himself tangled up with someone crazy, even if she was beautiful and kind. He knew who he was, and that’s all there was to it.

  He handed the phone to Joe, who knew better than to ask, and stomped back to work. Who did she think she was, anyway? Interrupting a man during a hard day’s work? He didn’t need that.

  Still, he couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if he had allowed her his time. What kind of stuff would she spew out of her mouth next? But behind his anger was pure intrigue. He had really liked her at first. He’d never seen a more beautiful, enchanting woman. But the construction site wasn’t the kind of place for that kind of thinking.

  He finished out the work day, his chest tight with apprehension. It was hard enough not to know who your parents were or why you were abandoned. If he got himself sucked into whatever twisted game she was playing, he would just end up getting himself hurt.

  ***

  Kyna sighed, winding through the corridors to return Krista’s phone. Had she really thought that would work? She’d divined the phone number, thinking it would be the answer. Why was she disappointed that it didn’t work when it was clearly a stupid idea to call from the start?

  After speaking with Cain, it sounded really unlikely that she would be able to get any help from him. How was she supposed to lure him back to Clayton? It wasn’t something to blow off when the leader of the clan asked you to do something. But Cain, the stubborn man that he was, wanted nothing to do with any of them. She couldn’t blame him but it was still really frustrating.

  “Didn’t go well?” Krista asked, offering her a sad smile. Kyna shook her head.

  “I’ll figure something out,” she said.

  She refused to believe that it was hopeless. Kaldernon had called on her to send her message, and she knew there was nothing she could do once fate had her in its grip.

  She could feel Krista’s eyes on her as she left the room. If he wouldn’t talk to her on the phone, she would just have to go and find him for herself. Nobody bothered her as she packed her things in a small satchel, and nobody asked questions when she left the safety of the underground burrows. She would just follow the same intuition that had told her how important Cain was and hope it would be good enough.

  The cool air of the forest rushed at her when she stepped outside. It was both comforting and intimidating. She had never ventured far without the other Lonis. But if she went with anybody else, she was sure that her mission would fail. It was too sensitive to risk.

  Kyna closed her eyes, centering herself. She would follow her feet instead of the other way around. That’s how they had been able to find the Kersh clan. It would have to be the same way that she found the man who was to liberate them and bring them back to Kaldernon.

  Chapter Seven

  Cain tossed and turned that night. Usually, he had no problem falling asleep right away, but for some reason he couldn’t seem to be able to. The phone call from Kyna had left him shaken up all day. He had even dropped a beam, nearly breaking another guy’s foot as he tried to continue on with his day like nothing had happened. The guy was fine, but it had left Cain pretty shaken up, and Joe started asking questions.

  What if Kyna had been telling the truth? It was a possibility he hadn’t entertained yet, and just the thought of it made him recoil. It was impossible. Insane, even. But what else would explain the strange underground caverns he had seen, and the ethereal woman who shimmered like the bizarre lights he had seen in the sky? What was that place? Had anybody else ever seen it?

  Finally, Cain gave in to the reality that it would be impossible to sleep and walked to the kitchen. He sat at the table, sipping milk and staring out the window of his condo. He had worked hard to make his way in the city, regardless of the fact that a simple country life would have been preferable, but he enjoyed the anonymity of the hustle and bustle. But what would happen the next time he went for a hunt? Would he find another woman to feed him miserable lies?

  Suddenly, Cain felt furious. He had gone out for the hunt, but came back without any meat to put in his freezer. He had been depending on that to get him by for the next few weeks. Money was about to be tight. Construction was seasonal work, and winter was just a couple of months away. Somehow, he had let those insane people distract him from his cause.

  Cain stood as if compelled by a force other than his own and pulled his jacket and boots on. He was going to go out and get the meat he needed, and he wasn’t going to let anything or anybody distract him from it.

  ***

  Kyna had been walking for hours without stopping to rest. Once she found the little stream, she began following it. It felt nice to drink when she felt thirsty. She sighed, thinking about Cain. He hadn’t been far from her thoughts since they’d met.

  Kyna had seen the city where Cain lived briefly when the small Loni tribe was heading toward the Kersh clan’s settlement. It was a huge, terrifying and intimidating place. How was she going to be able to navigate it to find him there?

  Kyna ran her hand through her silver-blonde hair and sighed. There was no choice but to stay focused. She had no other option if she was going to help to liberate them all to Kaldernon before the Guardians retaliated. When they did it was going to be a massacre, so they had to hurry.

  “Well, what have we here?” a man’s voice said from behind her. Kyna whipped around, her heart thudding in fear. The man didn’t sound particularly friendly.

  “What the hell are you wearing, girl?” another man asked with a cackle.

  Suddenly, Kyna found herself surrounded by five men. The first man who spoke stepped forward gripping her gown in his dirty hands. She tore it away from him and the men snorted at her.

  “Are you sure that’s how you want to play it?” the man asked with a grin. “Cuz it’s looking to me a lot like you’re out numbered here.”

  “I’m not playing anything,” Kyna said, glowering at the man.

  “That right?”

  The men chortled and suddenly she realized that there was danger. She was used to being with a gr
oup who could help to protect her, but she had gone out alone without even telling anybody where she had gone. She had put herself right in harm’s way.

  “You look a little funny,” the man said.

  “You’re one to talk, Ralph!”

  The men cackled again and Ralph glowered at them.

  “Shut up, will ya? I’m trying to have a conversation with the lady here.”

  “I have nothing to say to you,” Kyna said.

  “Well, that’s all right, so long as you’re a good listener. What would you say? Are you a good listener, honey? You look like one.”

  Kyna’s stomach churned as the man came up in her face. She turned away and tried to hide her face in her arm, but Ralph pulled it away and gripped her by the shoulders, forcing her to face him.

  “Now that’s not very nice. We just came over here to make a little friendly conversation. What crawled up your ass?”

  “I told you I don’t want to be bothered,” she said.

  “Well that’s just too bad,” Ralph said, pulling out a hunting knife. “Because I’ve been needing somebody to talk to.”

  ***

  A sharp scream startled Cain as he made his way through the dark forest surrounding the city. He had gone in the opposite direction of the strange underground settlement, and yet the voice sounded like it could be coming from Kyna.

  He took off running with all of his power and arrived just as a stout man shoved Kyna to the ground. Cain was instantly filled with rage as her head bounced off the ground and an expression of pain filled her face.

  The man didn’t know what had hit him by the time Cain was done with him. Two had already escaped, but Cain caught the others. He blacked out as he boxed them senseless, his anger fueling his power. He nearly lost control of himself and went too far, but Kyna’s gentle hands draped over his shoulder and they locked eyes. He suddenly felt his strength dissolving as his rage fled his body, and he moved away from the limp bodies of the men.

  “They won’t hurt you anymore,” he said, turning away with every intention of walking away.

  Kyna nodded, and he could feel her eyes on him as he began to leave the scene. She tried to walk after him, but staggered and fell heavily to the ground. The man had caused her to hit her head pretty hard, and she was having a hard time staying conscious.

  “Shit,” he mumbled, walking over to examine her. She was alive, but badly injured. “You need to get out of here until you feel better.”

  She opened her mouth to try to reply, but he silenced her.

  “Come on,” Cain said, lifting her to her feet. He cradled her close to his chest and headed back toward his truck. It had been a crazy idea to go hunting, anyway. And now he had found the one person he had been wanting to avoid more than anything. And, if that wasn’t outrageous enough, he was taking her back to his apartment.

  Cain situated Kyna in the passenger’s seat and she opened and closed her eyes heavily as he tore out of the parking lot and headed toward his home. He didn’t want to involve the hospital in case they investigated the men and found any of them brutalized to death. Cain knew how to treat bumps and bruises anyway.

  “Hey,” he said, snapping his fingers in front of Kyna’s face as he sped toward the highway. “Don’t go to sleep, now.”

  Kyna’s golden eyes fixed upon him and Cain felt his heart thud despite himself. She sure was something else. He was furious that anyone might want to harm her. Cain felt responsible for her somehow. As if they had a connection that nobody should interfere with. He wanted to protect her, even if he thought she was a little bit out there.

  “Where are we going?” Kyna asked quietly.

  “To my apartment,” Cain said with a heavy sigh. “If that’s all right.”

  “You can just take me home,” she said. She was tired of fighting. “I know you don’t want to be near me. You probably think I’m insane. Or maybe some kind of witch.”

  Cain was surprised by the assumption. The idea of witchcraft hadn’t entered his mind. Though now that she mentioned it, she did have a strange, otherworldliness that being a witch would explain. Still, he couldn’t help but be drawn to it.

  “Well, I don’t think I believe what you believe about me if that’s what you mean. But I don’t hate you for thinking it.”

  They were quiet for a moment as Kyna considered this.

  “What would it take to convince you?” she asked. “I’m kind of lost out here.”

  “You’re pretty far from home,” Cain agreed.

  “You have no idea,” Kyna sighed.

  Cain pursed his lips as he merged into the highway leading into the city. Traffic was bad even this late at night, and they got stuck behind a bus, giving them ample time together in his truck.

  “Can you answer something for me?” Cain asked.

  “That depends,” she answered.

  “What were those lights in the sky? I can’t stop thinking about them.”

  “The lights of Kaldernon,” Kyna said softly. “They are what led me to you.”

  “Ladernon?” he asked, turning down the radio. The mournful country song disappeared and they were left together in silence.

  “Kaldernon,” she said, laying her head back heavily in the seat. “I don’t think you’d believe me, so don’t bother asking about that.”

  “All right,” Cain shrugged. “No skin off my back.”

  He could feel her glaring at him and had to force himself not to meet her eyes. They drove quietly until they finally reached the road his condo was on.

  “I’ve seen that!” Kyna suddenly exclaimed, sitting straight up. The effort was taking a lot out of her, but she kept her eyes fixed on the building, rapt. “It was in my dream.”

  “What, are you some kind of psychic or something?”

  Kyna turned to him then, giving him a deadpan look. She didn’t answer yes or no, just stared at him as if he were stupid. It gave him the creeps a little bit, but at the same time he felt intrigued. If he would believe anybody in the world was a psychic, Kyna would be the top of the list.

  “That’s my apartment building. Maybe you saw it when you were stalking me to get my phone number at work.”

  “I didn’t stalk – “

  Kyna fell back against the seat, overcome by another wave of sudden pain. “you…”

  “Shhh, don’t worry about it right now. We’re gonna get you taken care of.”

  And with that, he parked his truck and helped her to the elevator of the condo. What in the world had he had gotten himself into?

  Chapter Eight

  Kyna sat nervously on the couch as Cain rummaged through his bathroom for medical supplies. When she had fallen she had cut her arm pretty deeply on the jagged rocks along the edges of the stream.

  “Don’t want it to get infected,” Cain had said, disappearing behind the door.

  When he returned, he was surprised to find Kyna digging through the magazines he had beside the end table. She devoured them quietly, her amber-colored eyes wide.

  “See anything you like?” he asked, his lips twitching in a bemused smile.

  “Oh! I’m sorry,” Kyna exclaimed. He laughed at the horrified expression on her face as she slapped the magazine she was looking at closed. It was a travel issue, and she shoved it under the table.

  “It’s all right, that’s why they’re there,” he said, smiling gently at her.

  Kyna stared at him in a daze. Why did she always lose track of her thoughts when he looked at her?

  “What’s wrong?” Cain asked.

  “I…nothing,” she said, sitting up rigidly and trying to smile at him as if they were sharing the most typical experience in the world.

  “Well, that’s a relief,” Cain said with a chuckle, kneeling in front of her. Kyna noticed that he had changed his shirt, stripping off the outer layer and replacing it with a tight tank top that revealed his impressively muscular arms.

  “You’re going to feel this for a second,” he said apologetically, unscre
wing the cap off a large clear bottle of rubbing alcohol.

  “Okay,” she said, not fully understanding what he meant.

  He sat the bottle down on the coffee table and held her arm gingerly in his hand, carefully lifting the sleeve of her otherworldly dress to reveal the area where it was bleeding.

  “It’s pretty heavy bleeding,” he said, more to himself than to her. “Does it hurt?”

  She gazed into his soulful, sea-colored eyes. He seemed sad, probably about several things, judging by the depth in them. She sighed. Did he feel guilty for not believing her?

  “It’s not that bad,” she said, mustering all of her strength to help reassure him.

  “Oh, that’s good. What about your head?”

  She couldn’t lie about her head. She had probably gotten a concussion from falling so hard onto the ground, and she had to battle a strong surge of nausea every time she moved too quickly.

  “I don’t know. I feel sick whenever I stand up too fast or move. Sometimes just sitting here.”

  “So it’s kind of like being drunk?” he asked with a laugh.

  “I guess so,” she said, smiling with him. She had only been tipsy once on ceremonial wine, but she knew several of the men enjoyed their ale and suffered from hangovers that made the strong, capable shifters act like surly children.

  “All right, that’s not too good,” he said. “I’ll take care of you.”

  Kyna’s heart thudded when she heard the words, and she watched his lithe, handsome body cross the room. “I’ve got something you should take for the swelling, all right?”

  When Cain was out of the room, she felt a confusing loneliness. Kyna had spent most of her life in isolation because that was the way she was best able to keep in touch with her powers as an oracle. But she had never truly felt the absence of somebody else before. What was going on?