by Jae
Kelsey turned. Above the words “breaking news” flashing across the bottom of the TV screen, she saw herself standing naked in the upstairs bedroom. Then a ripple ran through her. Fur sprouted along her shortening limbs.
“Great Hunter,” Tala whispered. “What have you done?”
Cursing, Rafael switched to another channel. The “breaking news” banner was flashing here too. The camera showed people on Times Square, standing still, staring up at the giant screen that showed Kelsey’s video. Paula’s voice in the background wove a story about a shape-shifter who was using her skills to sniff out a deaf boy who had gotten lost in the jungle of the city.
“Are you crazy? You revealed our existence to the world?” Glenn growled so loudly that he even drowned out the TV. “I don’t care what the council says. A bullet is too merciful. You’ll die by my own paws!” His eyes wild, he rushed toward Kelsey.
Rue grabbed the edge of the coffee table and smashed it against Glenn’s shins.
He howled and leaped across the table, about to rip into Rue.
No! Kelsey jumped too.
They collided in midair. Kelsey’s head crashed against the coffee table, then her back hit the floor. She yelled as pain exploded through her. Glenn landed on top of her, pressing the air from her lungs.
He wrapped his hands around her neck and pressed down.
Flashes of red danced in front of Kelsey’s eyes. Air! She tried to arch her body and throw Glenn off, but he was too heavy. A ringing started in her ears.
Or was it someone’s phone? Her oxygen-starved brain couldn’t tell.
Desperate, she scratched Glenn’s hands with her lengthening nails, trying to get him to let go.
Glenn shook with the effort not to shift and lose his hold on her, but he held on.
Darkness threatened at the edge of Kelsey’s vision. Her gaze darted around for some help or a weapon.
Rue was struggling with Rafael, who had her in a wrestling hold and was roaring with anger as Rue’s fist bloodied his nose. The young Saru looked as if he was about to lose control and shift.
Rue! Kelsey wanted to shout a warning, but all she managed was a strangled sound. The pressure in her head skyrocketed. She kicked and flailed her arms in one last attempt to break free.
The back of her hand hit Glenn in the face, but he hardly seemed to notice. He pressed down even harder.
“Stop!” Tala’s booming voice sounded like that of a much larger person.
Then the pressure on Kelsey’s neck was gone.
She lay there, wheezing and clutching her throat, until her brain and her body started working again. Her gaze searched for Rue and found her trying to pull away from Rafael.
Their gazes met, each making sure that the other one was still in one piece.
“Let go of her, Rafael,” Tala said. She was holding on to Glenn’s shirt collar, ignoring his growling and snarling. “And you stop it!”
“They violated the First Law!” Glenn spat in Kelsey’s direction. “They need to die!”
“No,” Tala said. “You can’t hurt them.”
“Oh, I can! One slash of my canines and—”
“The council just called. They withdrew the kill order.”
Glenn managed to free himself of Tala’s grip and stood staring down at her. “They did what? That’s wrong. We need to call them back and tell them to watch the news.”
“They saw the news, Glenn. That’s why they withdrew the kill order. Don’t you get it? Kelsey is the face of the Wrasa for the human public now. Before the evening is over, millions will have heard the story about the harmless-looking shape-shifter risking everything to heroically save a handicapped boy. If we want to keep looking like Lassie the loyal dog to the humans, we can’t kill her.” Tala grimaced, her face pale and tense. “They got exactly what they wanted.”
Kelsey stumbled across the room and sank on the floor next to Rue. She stared at the TV, where her video was showing in a repeat loop. If that’s true, then why do I feel as if I’ve lost everything?
Chapter 68
The ringing of the phone made Kelsey flinch. Since the video had aired half an hour ago, the safe house’s phone hadn’t stopped ringing. Every call made Kelsey’s heart beat faster as she wondered whether it was the council, telling Tala they had changed their minds and wanted her and Rue dead. Her pulse pounded in her ears, drowning out the voice of whoever was on the phone.
“Yes, sir, she’s here,” Tala said into the phone. She ducked her head respectfully and then crossed the room and handed Kelsey the phone.
Kelsey clutched Rue’s hand.
Rue sat up straighter on the couch and wrapped one arm around Kelsey. “Want me to…?” she whispered and pointed at the phone.
Kelsey shook her head. It was probably Jeff Madsen, and if she tried to avoid him, she would make him only angrier. One deep breath and she lifted the phone to her ear. “This is Kelsey.”
“What in the Great Hunter’s name are you doing, girl?”
Kelsey squeezed her eyes shut. It wasn’t Jeff Madsen. It was the only person whose call she had feared more—her father.
He didn’t wait for her reply but continued to shout, “Do you have any idea what—?”
“Dad,” Kelsey said very quietly.
“Shifting on national TV! The whole world is going crazy, and I could barely keep—”
“Dad!” Kelsey raised her voice. She clung to Rue’s hand. “I know what I did was crazy and dangerous, but it was the only way to save my life and Rue’s and maybe even Danny’s.”
“You got into this mess to save complete strangers? Humans?”
Kelsey turned her head to look at Rue. “They’re not strangers. And Danny isn’t human.” She inhaled and then slowly let the air escape through her mouth. “Dad, I have something to tell you. It’s about Little Franklin…”
* * *
For once, looking unremarkable came in handy. Still, Kelsey caught a few curious glances for wearing sunglasses and a hat inside of the police station. Since the video of her shifting had aired last week, she hadn’t dared leave the house. Not that the Saru would have let her. Even now, Tala and her assistant sat to her left and right on the uncomfortable gray plastic chairs.
All around them, the police station buzzed with activity. Uniformed men and women scurried back and forth, voices shouted orders, and phones rang off the hook. A TV in the corner showed a replay of Jeff Madsen and the other council members meeting with the president of the United States, the British prime minister, the German chancellor, and several other heads of state. A dozen people were crowding around the front desk, trying to make themselves be heard by shouting at the sergeant behind the desk.
“Mittens has been gone all week,” an elderly lady clutching a giant purse said. “She never stays away for so long. I’m telling you it was them.”
“Them?” the weary sergeant asked.
“The shape-shifters, of course!”
Kelsey wrapped her arms around herself more tightly as she imagined scenes like this playing out in police stations around the world. Everything had changed. People on the street looked at each other warily, as if afraid that their neighbors, colleagues, and acquaintances would turn into monsters.
And it’s all because of me. Kelsey hung her head.
A door swung open, and the scents of pine trees and peanuts drifted over.
Kelsey lifted her head and jumped to her feet. To save Rue and Danny, she would do it all over again.
Rue, Paula, and Danny walked toward her, still talking to Detective Vargas.
When the detective saw Kelsey, she stopped, gave her a grim nod, and walked away.
Danny bounded up to Kelsey like an excited puppy, eyes alight with adventure. “I did it!” He pumped his fist. “I ID’d Raider, and they found Skinny’s blood on him. He’s gonna rot in jail for killing Skinny.”
“Good job!” She squeezed Danny’s arm. She craned her neck and met Rue’s gaze.
Rue gave her a tense smile.
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Paula wrapped one arm around Danny’s shoulders.
An unfamiliar feeling shot through Kelsey. Was that jealousy? She didn’t like it one bit. But she liked Paula being close to Danny and Rue even less.
Paula looked back at her with an expression that revealed that she wasn’t exactly overjoyed to have Kelsey in Danny’s and Rue’s lives either.
They left the police station, Tala leading the way while the other Saru trailed behind.
Once they reached Paula’s car, Paula turned and looked at Danny. “I’ve been thinking,” she said and signed at the same time. “How about you come live with me for a while?”
Next to Kelsey, Rue stiffened.
No! Kelsey gnashed her teeth. Rue, do something!
But someone else was faster than Rue. “Forget it,” Tala said. “The boy will stay with us.”
“Unless the constitution was changed overnight and made you shape-shifters the rulers of the world, this is none of your business.” Paula’s fiery gaze singed the Saru.
Tala’s golden eyes narrowed. “This is our business, ma’am. Danny is one of us, and as much as you’d like to ignore it, he needs to learn to control his shifting and—”
“Don’t waste your breath,” Rue said. “Danny stays with me, and that’s that!”
“Why don’t you let me decide for myself for a change?” Danny signed. “I’m not a kid, you know?”
A half-hidden smile curled Paula’s lipstick-red lips. “I know. So how about it? Last time you visited, you talked about wanting to live in New York instead of boring North Carolina.”
Rue’s eyes narrowed to slits that looked like slivers of ice, but she bit her lip and said nothing.
“You’d still want me to come live with you even after…” He looked from Paula to Rue, hope and fear mingling in his scent. “After finding out what I am?”
“Oh, Danny. Of course I do.” Paula pulled him closer. “When Rue and I adopted you, we made a choice to be your mothers, no matter what. Granted, I never thought that would include having a son who can transform into a wolf, but I’ll adapt.”
Danny chewed on his lip. His scent gave away his relief, but it was a very faint aroma.
He’s waiting for people to reject him once they find out he’s a Wrasa. Knowing humans, that would happen sooner or later. Kelsey just hoped that the people who counted in his life would be there for him when that happened.
“What about Brooke? Will she adapt to wolf hair on her designer couch too?” Danny asked.
Paula shrugged. “Well, she’ll have to.”
Finally, Danny smiled.
“All right.” Paula slung one arm across Danny’s shoulders, making Kelsey want to snarl and bite off that arm. “Then it’s settled.”
“Nothing is settled,” Rue signed. “Danny can’t just go live with you. You don’t even have custody.”
Paula wrapped her arm more tightly around Danny and glared at Rue. “We promised each other we wouldn’t let our family be defined by the law. But you were never big on keeping promises.”
Protective instincts made Kelsey want to step in, but she knew this wasn’t her battle, so she forced herself to stay silent.
“Me?” Rue thumped her chest. “You’re accusing me when you were the one who...” She stopped, breathed in sharply through her nose, and puffed out a breath through her mouth. “Let’s not do this to each other, Paula. We’ve been through enough in the last few weeks.”
Kelsey wanted to reach out and take Rue’s hand, but she settled for a quick nod when their gazes met.
“Don’t you think I’m sick of arguing all the time too? But if you try to shut me out of Danny’s life, I’ll fight you for custody.” Paula glared at Rue with a don’t-fuck-with-me expression. “God knows I have enough reason. Danny had to live on the streets, sick and alone, for four days. That would have never happened if he lived with me.”
Rue rubbed her forehead and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, shadows darkened her blue eyes. Her scent vacillated between guilt, anger, and pain. “I made a lot of mistakes with Danny.” She hesitated. “With you too. I guess I wasn’t always the best partner you could have wished for. But I promised Danny that I’ll try harder to be there for him from now on.” She spoke to Paula, but her gaze was focused on Danny. After another deep breath, she touched Danny’s arm to get his attention and looked him in the eye. “Do you really want to go with Paula? Live with her?”
A silent conversation seemed to pass between them. Finally, Danny turned toward Paula and signed, “I’ll visit you as soon as these Saru people let me out of their clutches, but for now, I want to go home.”
A wide grin wiped away the traces of exhaustion on Rue’s face. She looked as if she wanted to hug the daylights out of him.
Paula studied him. “Is this really what you want? Staying with Rue, after everything that happened?”
Danny shrugged. His gaze veered to Rue, then away. “I wasn’t exactly blameless in this whole mess.”
“We’ll work things out,” Rue signed. “And you can come visit Danny in North Carolina too, you know? You can even bring Brooke if she promises not to use anything she sees or hears in my house in a news story.”
“You and Brooke under one roof?” Paula shook her head. “No, thanks.” Her gaze softened when she looked from Rue to Danny and back. “Please take good care of him.”
Rue pressed one hand to her heart as if taking a solemn oath. “I will.”
Paula wrapped her arms around Danny.
For once, Danny didn’t fight the public display of affection but held on to her.
Finally, Paula stepped back so he could see her sign. “If you change your mind…”
“I know.” After a quick glance back at Paula, Danny followed Rue and Kelsey to the Mercedes, flanked by the two Saru.
A man leaned against the car in a confident pose, as if claiming the Mercedes for himself. When they approached, he turned. He was wearing a wide-brimmed hat pulled down over his face and had turned up the collar of his coat, but his scent was unmistakable.
Kelsey stumbled to a stop. “Sir, what…?”
Jeff Madsen pushed up the brim of his hat. If a single gaze could kill, the only thing left of Kelsey would have been a handful of smoldering fur. The lines on Madsen’s face seemed to have deepened overnight and looked as if they were carved in stone. The odor of stress, airplane food, and too many nights spent in the same clothes clung to him.
Even Tala stood ramrod straight and averted her gaze.
“There you are—Kelsey Yates.” He said her name in the same tone that Native Americans might have used when they spoke of Christopher Columbus.
Kelsey swallowed.
“Yates?” Rue repeated.
Kelsey winced as she realized that she had never told Rue her real last name.
“Oh, did she fail to mention that she snuck into your house—and judging from her smell, into your bed too—under a false name?” Madsen kept his gaze fixed on Kelsey, not even sparing Rue a fleeting glance.
Rue frowned. “Who’s he?”
Tala and Zoe looked at her as if she had asked a blasphemous question. “Didn’t you watch the news?” Tala asked.
“This is Jeffrey Madsen, the head of our government,” Kelsey whispered.
“I’ve come to bring you the good news personally,” Madsen said. The rumble of his voice made Kelsey shake. “Your actions earned you a promotion. You’re no longer part of Ms. Price’s unit. Starting today, you’re transferred to our newly founded public-relations unit, serving directly under me. Congratulations.”
Translation: I want you where I can see you and keep you from doing any more damage. Life-long habit made Kelsey start to duck her head and accept the order. But following Madsen to Boise meant leaving Rue and Danny. With a big lump in her throat, she looked up and into Madsen’s eyes. “I’m afraid I can’t accept the promotion, sir.”
“Good. I’ll—What?” Madsen’s eyes widened, then
narrowed as he glowered at Kelsey. “What did you just say?”
“With all due respect, sir, but I think I could serve you better if I stayed in North Carolina and helped with Danny’s training. Rue has done a good job as his natak, but she’s not Wrasa and can’t do it alone.”
“Then we’ll get her someone else.”
“I don’t want someone else,” Rue said. “I want Kelsey.”
The possessiveness in her tone made tingles run up and down Kelsey’s spine.
Rue paused as if only now realizing what she’d said. “I mean…Kelsey fits right in with Danny and me. She’s Danny’s aunt—part of his pack. Anyone else would just disturb his training.” She stood eye to eye with Madsen, not even flinching as he growled. “And if she’s staying with me, at least Kelsey will be out of the public eye.”
Madsen pinched his eyebrows together. “Six weeks. Then I want you in Boise.”
Kelsey almost pitched against the car in relief. “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”
“And you take those two with you.” He pointed at Tala and Zoe.
“Um, sir…” Tala took a step forward. “I—”
Madsen’s steely gaze silenced her. “I don’t want to hear another word. You’re going to North Carolina. Consider it a promotion for succeeding so spectacularly in your last mission.”
Tala swallowed and averted her gaze.
“Six weeks.” Madsen pressed his index finger to Kelsey’s upper chest as if it were a dagger. “And if I see your muzzle in the news again, I’ll personally hunt you down, skin you alive, and send your bloody pelt home to your family.” He whirled around and got into a black limousine with tinted windows.
Kelsey’s tortured lungs sucked in mouthfuls of air.
Rue pulled her against her side and directed her toward the car. “Come on. Let’s get out of here before he changes his mind.”
“Can we make one more stop?” Danny asked. “There’s something I have to do.”
* * *
Danny’s gaze darted across the park and followed the arc of the balls the jugglers threw in the air. His muscles quivered as if he wanted to chase after the balls.
Kelsey watched him, prepared to step in should his hunting instincts take over. We need to teach him to control his wolf—soon.