True Nature

by Jae

  Her fingers trembled so much that she could barely end the call. She wasn’t sure she’d even said good-bye to Griffin. For a few moments, she sat staring at the cell phone’s dark display.

  Am I going crazy, or is Danny really my nephew?

  * * *

  “Hey?” A cool hand touched Kelsey’s own. “You okay?”

  Kelsey looked up and into Rue’s blue eyes. She nodded, not sure she could speak.

  Rue’s hand retreated, and Kelsey missed the soothing contact. “That your boyfriend?” Rue nodded down at Kelsey’s cell phone.

  What? Kelsey needed a few seconds to pull herself out of the maelstrom of thoughts and feelings. “No. No boyfriend.”

  A grin lifted one corner of Rue’s mouth, but the shadows in her eyes remained. “Girlfriend, then?”

  “No, just a friend.”

  The grin disappeared from Rue’s face. She regarded Kelsey with a serious expression. “I probably should have said it before, but…thank you. I know you put your private life on hold to help me search for Danny.”

  Private life? Kelsey shook her head. I don’t have one.

  “I understand if you have to get back—”

  “No,” Kelsey said. “Right now, nothing is more important than finding Danny.”

  Rue’s cell phone rang. She scrambled to pick it up.

  “Ms. Harding?” a female voice said. “This is Detective Vargas. Don’t get too excited, but there’s a chance that one of our officers saw your son...or at least a boy that fits Daniel’s description.”

  Before the detective had even finished her sentence, Rue was on her feet. She threw a twenty-dollar bill onto the table and waved at Kelsey to follow her. “You’ve got him?”

  “No. He ran when the officer tried to talk to him.”

  “Where was that?” Rue asked, on her way out the door.

  “In midtown, in front of an Italian restaurant in the vicinity of Bryant Park,” Vargas said. “He was running south.”

  Rue covered the phone with one hand. “Danny was seen near Bryant Park,” she said to Kelsey. “That’s just a few blocks away!”

  Adrenaline pumped through Kelsey as she ran down the street, shoulder to shoulder with Rue. The itching along her forearms started before she’d gone even three yards. Calm down. We don’t even know if it’s really him.

  “Does he have any friends in New York?” Vargas asked.

  “Friends?” Rue repeated breathlessly. “No, I don’t think so. Except for Paula and Brooke, he doesn’t know anyone in New York. Why?”

  “The officer said there was another boy with him.”

  Rue slowed her mad dash to a brisk walk. “Another boy? That makes no sense.” She rubbed her knuckles across her eyes. “Maybe...are you sure one of the boys was Danny?” Hope and doubt warred in Rue’s voice.

  Yes, it was! Kelsey wanted to shout. For her, it made perfect sense. Danny was a Syak, a wolf-shifter. It was in his blood to seek company. Kelsey was glad that he wasn’t alone in the big city, but at the same time, it complicated things. She needed to get Danny alone.

  Worry about that later. Find him first.

  Rue ended the call.

  Kelsey followed her across the street, letting her gaze dart over people like a stone skipping over water—old and young people, men and women, humans and a few Wrasa... The faces began to blur together as Kelsey rushed past them.

  The sweet-and-salty aroma of peanuts wrapped around Kelsey’s senses. The hairs on the back of her neck tingled. Was Danny here? She stretched her neck, trying to see over the masses of people, and sucked in air through her nose.

  When she followed Rue farther down the street, the smell of peanuts got stronger. This time, there was no Chinese restaurant in sight.

  Kelsey whirled around, trying to make out where the aroma was coming from.

  There!

  A bunch of people crowded around a newsstand.

  Kelsey’s nostrils flared as she took in their scents.

  The odors of garlic, beer, apple pie, sex, and too much perfume slammed into her. Dizzy, she stumbled and reached for Rue’s shoulder to keep her balance and stay on her feet.

  Rue wrapped a tense arm around her and tried to drag her forward, past the newsstand. “Come on, Kelsey! We’ve gotta find Danny!”

  A hint of peanuts brushed Kelsey’s nose. “Wait!”

  “What?” Rue dropped her arm from around Kelsey’s shoulder. She turned to face Kelsey but still took two more steps backward, in the direction in which the police officer had seen Danny.

  As the distance between them grew, Kelsey hesitated. Her gaze flew back and forth between Rue and the newsstand. “I...I...” She trailed off and clamped her teeth around her bottom lip. How could she tell Rue that she had caught Danny’s scent?

  A large man turned away from the newsstand and almost ran into Kelsey. Other people had to veer around them, but Kelsey didn’t pay them any attention. Her gaze zeroed in on the large man. Danny’s peanut scent clung to his coat.

  “Kelsey!” Rue called again. “What is it?”

  But Kelsey continued to stare at the man who smelled like Danny.

  “Get out of my way!” The man brushed past Kelsey and pushed her back with one raised arm, nearly hitting her in the face.

  “Hey!” Rue strode toward him, hands curled to fists. “Don’t touch her, bastard!”

  His meaty fist stopped Rue’s fast approach.

  The punch threw Rue back, nearly knocking her to the ground.

  Kelsey caught her and snarled at the attacker.

  Rue shook off her helping hands. She clutched her jaw and stared at the man. Then her eyes widened even more. “Where did you get that watch?”

  Kelsey’s gaze flew to the man’s wrist. The punch had pushed back the sleeve of his jacket. A silver wristwatch gleamed on his arm.

  Is that Danny’s?

  “Shit!” The man ran.

  With a shout, Rue sprinted after him.

  Heat pulsed through Kelsey as hunting fever sparked alive. She chased after the man, barely looking at where she was going, aware of only her prey and Rue next to her.

  Car horns blared. Someone shouted at them.

  A briefcase slammed against Kelsey’s hip. She stumbled but managed to stay on her feet. She pushed past the oncoming crowd of people.

  Now one step ahead of her, Rue elbowed her way through a set of heavy glass doors.

  The noise of hundreds of people, sounding like a swarm of angry hornets, engulfed Kelsey as she found herself in Grand Central Station during rush hour.

  She blinked against the light streaming through arched windows and glinting down from golden chandeliers. Her shoes squeaked across the marble floor as she let Rue lead her through this unfamiliar territory.

  She leaped over someone’s suitcase, almost collided with a woman who bent over to pick up a newspaper, and struggled through a group of school kids. The many smells made her dizzy, but at least the ceiling with the starry sky painted on it was high enough to keep her claustrophobia at bay.

  Rue dashed after the man, her arms and legs pumping.

  For a moment, Kelsey marveled at the beauty and power of Rue in motion, then the man pushed a tourist out of the way and raced down a flight of stairs.

  Rue and Kelsey followed.

  After a few steps, the walls seemed to close in on Kelsey. She had left the main concourse’s airy grandiosity and was now descending into an ugly underground world, trapped many feet beneath the ground. Harsh fluorescent light flickered over white-tiled walls. The stink of garbage and sweat made bile rise in her throat.

  She struggled to suck enough of the stuffy air into her aching lungs, but no matter how fast she breathed, she couldn’t keep up.

  Her blood roared through her ears, and for a moment, she was back in the car, the water raging around them.

  No, no, not now!

  She tried to fight down her rising panic, but the tingling in her arms shot through her whole body.

>   The man jumped down the last step and leaped across the turnstile, almost falling in the process.

  A new wave of hunting fever rushed through Kelsey’s blood. Her joints ached with the need to shift and hunt down her stumbling prey.

  Yelling, Rue jumped the turnstile too.

  The man fled down another flight of stairs.

  A crush of people shoved against Kelsey from all sides, pulling on her like a river’s torrent. Below them, the brakes of a train screeched over metal.

  The sound vibrated through Kelsey, mentally catapulting her back into her brother’s car as it crashed through the bridge’s railing, brakes squealing.

  Fire burned through her fingertips as her nails lengthened. Her muscles convulsed, and instead of jumping the turnstile, she slammed against the metal bar.

  Howling in pain, she bent over. Another wave of mutaline washed over her. She couldn’t stop the transformation.

  Chapter 30

  The floor vibrated beneath Rue’s feet as the train screeched to a stop on the platform below her.

  The man with Danny’s watch leaped down the stairs, taking two or three steps at a time.

  Dammit! He’s fast.

  A pained howl echoed through the subway station.

  Halfway down the stairs, Rue gripped the metal handrail and threw a glance over her shoulder.

  The mass of travelers parted for a moment, giving her a glance of Kelsey.

  Kelsey! Shit!

  Instead of following her over the turnstile, Kelsey had stayed behind. She stood bent over as if in pain, her face hidden behind a veil of tan-and-chocolate hair. Sounds of agony floated down the stairs, but the people around Kelsey rushed past without checking on her.

  Had the man hurt Kelsey when he had shoved past her?

  “Kelsey!” she shouted over the bustling crowd.

  Kelsey didn’t answer or look up. A pained cry wrenched from her throat.

  Rue’s gaze darted from Kelsey to the fleeing man and then reluctantly returned to the bent-over woman. She pounded her fist against the wall. Damn. She couldn’t leave Kelsey behind.

  The man jumped onto the platform.

  After one last glance toward him, Rue raced back up the stairs. She hurled herself through the turnstile and slid to a stop next to Kelsey.

  “Kelsey! What happened? Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

  Instead of answering, Kelsey moaned.

  Rue laid one hand on Kelsey’s bare neck and rubbed soothing circles.

  After a few seconds, the tense muscles beneath her hands relaxed, but Kelsey’s skin was still damp and overly warm. Damn. Is she running a fever? Pain shot through Rue’s bruised jaw as she clenched her teeth. She begged you to take a break, but you barely let her rest.

  She gripped Kelsey’s hands to get her to straighten.

  But instead of the clammy skin she expected, her fingers encountered soft hair.

  She wasn’t wearing gloves. Her gaze darted to Kelsey’s hands. What the fuck?

  The tiny hairs on the back of Kelsey’s hands had lengthened into... Rue stared. Fur?

  She dropped Kelsey’s hands and took a step back. “Kelsey? What...?”

  Gasping, Kelsey looked up. Her features were contorted with pain. Or was it something else? The skin around her mouth stretched as if it was too tight. The orange-brown of her eyes extended until just a hint of white remained. Something wild, like a barely caged animal, glinted in those eyes.

  A shiver raced down Rue’s spine. Her instincts screamed at her to get away from Kelsey.

  “I’m...I’m fine.” Kelsey’s voice sounded like a whimper. “Just need...a minute.”

  Rue backed away and stared at the retreating hair on Kelsey’s hands. Moments later, only bare skin remained. Rue squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them again, she looked into Kelsey’s eyes.

  The white of her eyes was once again visible. A vein pounded in Kelsey’s neck, and her face was flushed, but otherwise, she looked entirely normal.

  Jesus! Rue rubbed her eyes. She looked around, but the people hurrying down the stairs didn’t pay them any attention. No one else seemed to have seen anything. Am I going crazy? “What the heck is going on?”

  “Slammed into the turnstile,” Kelsey said, clearly struggling to speak without gasping for breath. “Got the wind knocked out of me.”

  Rue had been in enough boardrooms and meetings with contractors to spot an obvious lie when she heard one. Kelsey’s nervous scratching of her forearms spoke volumes. Slamming into a turnstile didn’t cause sudden hair growth. Rue reached for her cell phone.

  “Stop!” Kelsey’s hand clamped around hers with more strength than expected. “Please, don’t call the police. You’re not in any danger. At least not from me.”

  Rue squinted at her. What’s that supposed to mean? “Police? I’m calling an ambulance.”

  “An ambulance? I told you I’m fine.”

  Rue pulled her hand away. “Fine? That’s not what I saw. Something weird is going on with you. If your condition is contagious...”

  “No. It’s not. I...” Kelsey rubbed her face with both hands.

  For a second, Rue feared the strange fur thing would happen again. But when Kelsey finally straightened, her eyes shone with despair, not with the wildness Rue had seen before.

  “Oh, Great Hunter, I messed this up so bad.” She furiously scratched her forearms. “I need to get out of here.”

  “Oh, no.” Rue grabbed her arm. “Not before you tell me what the hell is going on!”

  Kelsey struggled for a moment and then went still in Rue’s grasp. “Rue, please.”

  The whispered plea made Rue soften her grip. “Come with me.” Still holding on to Kelsey’s arm, she steered them toward a restroom, shoved Kelsey inside, and turned the lock behind them. Then she whirled around and folded her arms over her chest.

  Kelsey fled to the other end of the room. She turned on the faucet and splashed water onto her face. When she pressed a wet paper towel against her neck, her eyes fluttered shut. In the bathroom’s fluorescent lights, her skin glowed a pasty white; just her cheekbones were splashed with a feverish red color. A shaky breath escaped her, and she leaned against the sink as if her legs wouldn’t hold her up otherwise.

  Despite the impulse to rush over and make sure Kelsey was all right, Rue stayed where she was. “Tell me what’s going on.”

  Kelsey threw the paper towel in the direction of the trash can, but with her trembling hands, she missed by more than a foot.

  When Kelsey bent to pick up the soggy paper towel, Rue had enough of the procrastination. “Kelsey...” She took a step toward her. “Tell me!”

  Still not looking at Rue, Kelsey fumbled around with the paper towel. “It’s nothing.”

  “Nothing?” Rue shouted. “I just let our only lead to Danny get away because you were doubled over in pain. There was fur on your hands, and something weird was going on with your face and your eyes. I want an explanation, and I want it right now!”

  The paper towel bounced off the trash can’s rim. Kelsey clutched the edge of the sink. “Even if I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.”

  “Try me. We’re not leaving here before I get an explanation.”

  Kelsey’s gaze darted around like that of a trapped animal, but Rue was still blocking the only escape route. “I can’t tell you.”

  “Oh, yes, you can!”

  “No, Rue, you don’t understand.” Sweat poured down Kelsey’s face, and she wiped at it with trembling hands. “It’s not a decision I can make. Telling you is against the law.”

  Against the law? Now she’s gone completely crazy. “Didn’t you tell me that sometimes, following the rules can do more harm than good?” Rue said.

  Kelsey’s knuckles blanched around the sink. She stared at Rue.

  Were those tears glinting in her eyes?

  I hit a nerve. Rue took two steps toward Kelsey. She stopped when she saw Kelsey stiffen. “After everything we’ve been through t
ogether...after letting the only lead to Danny’s whereabouts get away...don’t I deserve some answers?”

  Kelsey rubbed her eyes. “You do, but—”

  “Then tell me,” Rue said.

  A shuddering breath escaped Kelsey. Her hands flexed around the sink. “I want to trust you, Rue, really, but it’s too big a risk.”

  “What risk? You can’t seriously think I’d hurt you for anything you could tell me.”

  Damp brown eyes looked at her. “I don’t want to believe that, but...”

  Rue took a step back, amazed at how much Kelsey’s words hurt. She realized she wanted Kelsey to trust her. “I trusted you enough to tell you about my fears of motherhood. Now it’s your turn to trust me.”

  Kelsey let go of the sink, pressed her hands to her temples, and rocked back and forth like a scared child trying to soothe herself. Finally, head still ducked, she peeked up at Rue. “I’m...” She hesitated and then mumbled something, but the shuffling of her feet over the tiles drowned out the last word.

  “What? Speak up.”

  “I’m...” Kelsey’s chest heaved as she sucked in a breath. “I’m a shape-shifter.”

  A snort escaped Rue. Arms still folded, she shook her head at Kelsey. She had expected a tearful confession about a rare disease or an addiction to some exotic drug with weird side effects, not this nonsense. “Shape-shifter?” The word felt strange on her tongue. She snorted. “That’s the best you can do? I don’t believe that for a second.”

  Kelsey stared back at her with a helpless expression. “It’s the truth.”

  “Come on! You really expect me to believe that you are a gelatinous mass that can turn into a table, an animal, or...” At a loss for words, she paused and gestured at Kelsey’s body.

  A hint of a smile ghosted across Kelsey’s face. “No. It only works like that for shape-shifters on TV. In real life, we can take just two forms—a humanoid one,” Kelsey thumped her chest, “or an animal form. I was about to turn into a wolf.”

  Rue wanted to laugh, but she was afraid she’d sound like a hysterical lunatic. “This is crazy.” Her voice shook. Shape-shifters. Wolves. Ridiculous. Right? But she could still feel the soft fur beneath her fingertips. She swallowed heavily. “You’re not joking, are you?”