Shifter's Price
Jamie K. Schmidt
Published by Jamie K. Schmidt, 2018.
This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.
SHIFTER'S PRICE
First edition. August 20, 2018.
Copyright © 2018 Jamie K. Schmidt.
Written by Jamie K. Schmidt.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Shifter's Price
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
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About the Author
After the meteor destroyed all the technology and most of the people, it took thirty years to scrabble together rudiments of civilization again. Sex is the main currency, for those without any other skills. When the Pacific Ocean is rumored to be spitting up parts of California, the looting is good – if you can stay alive long enough to get there. Lewis and Clark Expeditions will hire you on, but there are job expectations that some might find a perk, others a chore and still others a raging need.
As a Tech, Bethany doesn’t need to sell herself to get to California. In fact, she can make a nice living anywhere. She’s a conduit for pulling power and raw electricity out of the post-meteor air and using that energy to power lights, heaters, batteries, even DVD players. But her brother is out there somewhere, trying to escape his death sentence that his tribe has levied on him for ravaging a caravan and eating people while in his bear form. He’s innocent, but because he’s a Shifter no one except Bethany believes him. She thinks he’s heading for California.
When she rescues a female Shifter from degradation, Bethany doesn't expect anything in return, not even a thank you. But it turns out the Shifter had a brother and sexy Lucas Kincaide vows to repay his sister’s debt to Bethany, with the only thing he has to trade – his body. Bethany craves to belong to someone who cares for her and not for the technology she can provide. When she begins to believe Lucas is that one, he tells her he needs her help as a Tech on Lewis and Clark’s Expedition, leaving her to wonder if he was playing her all along.
The heat level is high with M/F, F/F, M/M and Ménage coupling as the Lewis and Clark Expeditions make their way across country.
Chapter One
Bethany
BETHANY MACGREGOR SEARCHED the airwaves until she found a funeral dirge that was used hundreds of years before the meteorite hit. She let the heavy organ music wash over her through her tiny headphones. Keith was getting married today. Leaning against the wooden post, she felt the crisp air like a sympathetic caress on her face and neck. She focused on the livestock being sold in the pen across from her and let the smell of nature take her mind off her loneliness.
“Shouldn’t you be over at the looters’ tents?” Maya, her tribe’s chief, walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder.
Bethany tried not to flinch, and Maya removed her hand. Bethany sighed, popped out an earbud for politeness’ sake. “I did a quick walk by. There’s nothing that can’t wait until the last day of conclave when the prices drop because the dealer doesn’t want to pack it up for the long schlep back home.” And because the silence was starting to get awkward, Bethany added, “Shouldn’t you be attending some back-slapping meeting in the main cabin?” Or having a “massage” in your cabin with someone who wanted a favor?
Maya snorted. “Backstabbing, you mean. No, we’re on our morning break. And I decided to breathe in the fresh smell of horse manure to clear my lungs.”
Bethany managed a wry smile. Maya was fifty years old and the oldest one in their tribe on the bluff. She had been twenty-one when the meteorite hit the world and knocked everyone back to the Jurassic period. Well, probably better than the Jurassic period. Then, all the dinosaurs had died whereas this time a few tough humans and animals survived. And of course the cockroaches, but Bethany hadn’t seen one of those since she left the part of Florida that was still above water to go up north where the Tech was strongest. Maya had gathered together the Bluff tribe with a shrewd sense of purpose and snapped Bethany up as soon as she entered the territory.
“Keith’s doing a good thing. We need another potter since we lost Angie to the Three Rivers tribe last year,” Maya said.
Bethany nodded. It was important to have the right mixture of artisans, farmers, and tradesmen to survive in today’s world.
“Lem has volunteered to share your bed, if you’re interested.”
Bethany’s stomach curled. Lem had already made that offer, and it was apparent he was only doing what Maya told him to do. Trying to keep the anger out of her voice, Bethany said, “I’m not going to switch tribes over Keith’s marriage. The Bluffs are my home. You can tell Lem he’s off the hook.”
“It’s not like that,” Maya said, but cut off when Bethany turned away and put the earbud back in.
The wind picked up a bit, and stray bits of energy lit up the portable media player in her hand. Pain jabbed into her temple, like a screwdriver had been jammed into it. Bethany exhaled through the agony that turned her vision red, and pressed the center button on the device. Maya watched fascinated, as always, when the menu came up, and Bethany scrolled down to Alanis Morrisette’s “You Oughta Know.”
“Just don’t go flaunting that Tech. You don’t have to be willing if another tribe gets it in their mind to snatch you from us.”
Bethany just turned the music up loud to match the pounding in her head that channeling the energy to run the device gave her. Maya went away after one last longing look at the portable media player. Letting the angry song fill her, Bethany rolled her neck to get the kinks out of it and sat down with her eyes closed, helping her body deal with the intensity of pulling in the energy. If she had done it gradually, the pain wouldn’t have been that wretched, but she didn’t want easy or slow. The pain was cleansing, wiping away a little of the self-pity she was feeling. When the song was over, Bethany let the energy go with a sigh and a silent thanks. Getting up, she felt eyes on her, and she looked around. The tribes were socializing, chattering happily about the things they were going to trade.
She lovingly put the portable media player back into her pocket. She had traded a looter her ham radio setup for it. Bethany didn’t like hearing all the voices crying out in the darkness. Although on cold, lonely nights it was a comfort to realize the world was still going on and her tribe wasn’t the last people on Earth. Most of California and Florida had sunk into the oceans. Mount St. Helens and all of the Alaskan volcanoes had erupted, adding to the chaos. In a second after the meteor hit in Russia, worldwide communications dropped. If Europe was even still there, no one on this side of the Atlantic knew. There hadn’t been any contact outside the United States for the past thirty years. There were rumors, but nothing verified. And in the interim, strange and different creatures evolved. Bethany was one of them.
“You look lovely.”
Bethany glanced up at Keith’s voice, but he wasn’t talking to her. She watched her ex-lover, tall and h
andsome in a rough-and-ready sort of way, lean down and kiss his almost-bride on the cheek. They were strolling around the market, hand in hand, not a care in the world.
Darting into a tent, Bethany clenched her teeth as sharp jealousy drilled into her. It didn’t have the purity of the energy pull. It was aching like a bad tooth. She willed herself not to cry. It should have just been a marriage of convenience. A way to bring the River tribe and the Bluff tribe together. Keith had told her so. In bed. Several times. It didn’t look like it was convenient. In fact, it looked a lot like love. Bethany listened to the vendor’s spiel since he was kind enough not to notice her bright eyes or quivering lips. She was so grateful for the time it gave her to pull it together that she wound up trading a set of charged batteries for one of his canteens filled with a sweet honey mead before leaving his tent.
Blinking the tears away, she pretended they were from looking up at the sun that was muted from the ash still in the atmosphere. A flutter of wings caught her eye. A brown eagle perched on the tree next to her. It looked at her like she was a mouse. Intelligent yellow eyes regarded her intently. It was a magnificent bird, beautiful feathers and a regal look. Big too, she saw as it spread its wings and folded them back to preen. Bethany bowed her head, feeling ridiculous at her awe of the noble bird who continued to survive in such a desolate world. It would have been born amid the chaos, like she had been.
Today wasn’t the first time she had seen it. Or at least one that looked just like it. Up on the bluffs, she’d sensed eyes on her and looked around only to see an eagle observing silently. She had gotten used to it, tried to tempt it closer with bits of meat, but it disdained her attempts at domestication. Still, when she walked in the woods, the bird wasn’t ever far. Not for the first time, Bethany wondered if it was a Shifter. She had given it plenty of time to shift in front of her, often dillydallying in the brush far from camp, hoping the bird would transform.
The truth was she had been lonely even when she and Keith were together. The tribe needed her, wanted the Tech she could provide. But they never fully accepted her because she wasn’t normal. Dinners were a stilted affair, and social events strained, so Bethany learned just to avoid them. Walking alone in the woods, she pretended the animals in the woods were companions, like she had done when she was a little girl. It was a game her brother, Daniel, had taught her, before he went feral and killed all those people.
“I’ve got to stop this, or I’ll be a sniveling wreck,” she told the bird, but the eagle wasn’t looking at her. She followed its inscrutable golden eyes to the next animal up for auction.
The farmer had horses, sheep, pigs, and chickens for sale in their usual pens. The prices weren’t great, but they weren’t overblown either. Her tribe’s gatherers would probably pick up a few to replace the ones they were slaughtering for Keith’s wedding feast. Bethany felt that pang again. She hoped his bride was an excellent potter.
The bird exploded into action, dive-bombing the farmer as he led an enormous white dog into the center pen. The farmer ducked, and pandemonium ensued when the dog made a break for it. The pen was closed, so all it could do was run around in circles until a few farmhands tackled it and pinned it to the ground. When they reattached the harness, the dog’s tail was hanging between its legs, and it was shaking. Its fluffy white fur was dirty and matted, but it didn’t look to be lame or hurt. The farmer dodged as the bird came screaming in again, and then went off-balance as the dog tried to make another run for it. It dragged the man on his fanny a good ten feet before the farmer got back in control. The dog rose up on two legs, pulling away, but the farmer threw a lasso of thick rope over the harness. Even after the dog shook its head violently, the rope stayed in place. The crowd laughed and applauded the dog’s efforts.
“What will you offer for this shepherd dog? Its breed is called a Great Pyrenees. She's a female and probably fertile.”
“Five pounds of coffee and three pounds of tea,” a young man said.
The crowd whooped, and a voice shouted out, “Dog that big will eat you for breakfast.”
“No, no,” the farmer said. “This is a very docile animal.” He had to yell over the jeers and catcalls. “She’s only a bit skittish because of all the people here.”
“Three woven wool blankets,” a woman said from the crowd.
Bethany looked over in interest. She would like to barter for those blankets. The Connecticut nights were much different from the Floridian mugginess, and she still felt the chill in her bones, even though it was nearing five years since she’d traveled away from the Orange Grove tribe and her brother.
“Five turkeys and seven rabbits,” Keith said.
Bethany felt that now familiar pain, and she looked over to see Keith looking proud and happy in his wedding regalia with his lovely bride hanging on his arm.
She has a big nose, Bethany thought. And a grating giggle.
“Buy her for me! We can breed her with one of our shepherds.”
The dog whimpered and sank down on its haunches. The eagle squawked. Bethany looked from the dog to the eagle and back to the happy couple.
“Two hours of watching a movie of your choice, six hours of music, and an hour of a video game.”
The crowd grew silent, and the farmer nearly tripped over himself and the dog to hand her the reins. “Sold, Lady Tech, sold.”
Keith shot her a narrowed glare. She nodded at him, turning away before hearing his answer to his bride’s shrill question “Who is she?”
Bethany was already cursing herself for ten kinds of a fool when the dog tried to make a break for it again. It weighed about as much as she did.
“Look,” Bethany gritted out. “If I let go, you may make it into the woods. But there are more hunters here than in a normal tribe, and not only will they find you, but they’ll drag you back and maybe even hurt you. Not to mention they’ll make me pay an even steeper price to get you back.”
The dog settled somewhat.
“I’m not a complete idiot. Or maybe I am. But I think you’re a Shifter and so is that big eagle. I don’t know your situation, but maybe I can help. I’ve got a room in the Tech cabins. I can make sure you have a hot bath and some clothes. Then you can go on your way. I won’t tell anyone. Hell, the look on that bimbo’s face was worth the energy I’m going to have to expend to pay for your freedom.”
The dog looked back at her with surprised eyes.
“My brother was a Shifter.” Bethany looked away. “He went feral. He liked to shift into a dog to spy on people. Then he started shifting to a wolf. Then a bear...” Bethany sighed. “Never mind.”
The dog whimpered.
“Yeah, it was a long time ago. But I still miss him enough to see Shifters in every animal that comes by. I’m usually wrong.”
They walked in relative peace toward the Tech cabins. She sensed the eagle was following them, catching a glimpse of his wing or profile as he skimmed the trees. The dog barked at something behind her, and Bethany turned. The cabins were in sight, and the only people crazy enough to bother Techs at work or at play were people who wanted to hire them. Or in this case, old boyfriends.
Keith looked annoyed at having his stealthy approach shattered and tried to cover it up by speaking harshly. “You did that just to be spiteful. What do you need with a dog? It doesn’t plug in.”
“Where’s the little woman?” she asked, trying not to search his craggy face for a sign of affection. He had the greenest eyes she’d ever seen, and Bethany had overlooked a lot of his faults just for a chance to look into them. She was such a fool. Maybe Maya had told him to sleep with her too. That thought made her dizzy and ill, like how she felt when she drew in too much energy and channeled it into a machine to make it run.
“She’s still at the auction. I told her I would see if I could convince you to sell the dog.”
“Nope.” Bethany turned around. The dog growled deep in her throat when Keith grabbed her arm.
“It’s not my fault she picked
me out of all the eligible men in the tribe,” he said.
“You could have said no,” Bethany said. “If you wanted to.”
Keith’s eyes slid away from her. “We weren’t exclusive.”
“You weren’t exclusive,” she reminded him. The Bluff tribe wasn’t so big she didn’t know where he spent some of his nights. Still, she hadn’t cared as long as he came back to her. Maybe that was pathetic, but it was nice to have someone hold you as you fell asleep—even if it was only three nights out of seven.
“You’re a little creepy,” he said. “I’m sorry. I said it. You blink and lights flash. You get excited and the radio turns on.”
Bethany felt her cheeks grow hot. Of all the things she was expecting, this attack wasn’t one of them. “So? You can sight down a deer at a hundred yards.”
“That’s a normal skill. Your skill didn’t exist B.M.”
“You didn’t exist before the meteor,” she said bitterly. She had been born the year of the meteor, which was now thought of as a bad omen to have hanging over one’s life. Her brother had only been ten when the meteor destroyed the world, but he’d made sure she knew how it used to be.
However when he hit puberty, Daniel turned into a dog. Apparently, that hadn’t happened B.M., but it happened plenty afterward. Something about the strike on the Earth had awakened something inside humans. It made some of them...different.
They hadn’t been separated once they were found by the other survivors. And she’d been lucky to have her brother while she was growing up. When her powers sprouted at puberty, Daniel told her that they would be superheroes. It didn’t turn out that way. Shifters were treated as enforcers, brutal beasts to protect and intimidate in some cases. And Techs, well depending on the chief, Techs could be a home entertainment system or a research assistant. It wasn’t as glamorous a life as she had been hoping for.
“Yeah, well, that’s another thing.”
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