by Smith, S. E.
Turning, she whistled for Cinnamon. The tigress bounded back to her. She unlocked the SUV and opened the back door. Cinnamon jumped in the back seat. Closing the door, Trescina hurried around to the driver’s side. She pulled the door open and slipped inside. Minutes later, she pulled onto the highway and pressed down on the accelerator. All she could do was hope that Walkyr and Spice would be safe.
* * *
Walkyr advanced through the darkening forest. His gaze moved from the footprints to the surrounding area. He searched for any hint of movement. Spice had moved several yards to his left. The tiger’s coat helped him blend in with the snow-covered terrain.
His pace slowed as he neared the area where he knew the ship had been. Spice crouched down and stared intently at the open area when he stopped. Walkyr surveyed the area with growing unease.
It was obvious that at least one of the men had survived. He turned and sent an image to Spice. The tiger looked at him before silently rising to his feet and disappearing.
So far, he’d only seen the one set of tracks leading away from the ship and none leading toward it. He wanted to make sure that Airabus and the High Lord hadn’t circled around. Dealing with two men was dangerous enough. Confronting four could be suicide if he wasn’t prepared. Spice would patrol the perimeter and alert him to any footprints—cat or two-legged.
He glanced up at the sky. The sun had set but there was still a slight glow silhouetting the mountains. Stars were beginning to appear between the thick, dark clouds. The temperature was rapidly dropping. Trescina had been right—there would be more snow tonight.
His head turned when he saw Spice emerge out of the darkness. The tiger came up to him and rested his cold nose against his arm. Images flashed through the tiger’s mind. Small prints along with the image of a long-eared furry creature and the fresh tracks of a large brown beast flashed through his mind.
He lifted a hand and scratched the tiger to show his appreciation for his help. Standing, he slowly emerged from the trees. The area was silent except for the sound of the wind and the creaking of the trees as they swayed. The snow around the ship was littered with footprints. It looked like they were all the same size. A large area surrounding the ship had been cleared of snow creating a large depression. The patterns on the snow indicated a laser rifle had been used.
He advanced forward and peered down into the cleared area. At the bottom, he could see the dark gray hull of the spaceship he had been tracking. The back of the ship was closed.
He scanned the area before motioning for Spice to keep watch. The tiger backed up, turned and moved to settle down next to a large mound of snow. Once he lay down and was motionless, he blended in with his surroundings.
Walkyr refocused on the ship. He carefully descended the cleared section. On each side of him, walls of ice rose. He soothed his restless cat.
I don’t like this either, he admitted.
If any of the men suddenly appeared, especially from the ship and the top of the icy walls at the same time, he would be defenseless. He paused halfway down when he saw dark ash mixed in with the snow. It was the size and shape that made him curious.
He walked over to examine it. Glancing around to make sure everything was still quiet, he pulled the medical device Pallu had given him from his utility belt. He lifted the scanner and ran it over a section of the ash before looking at the readings.
It looks like I can cross off one traitorous bastard, he silently thought with a small measure of satisfaction.
He replaced the medical device and studied the closed rear platform. It had been open when he had tossed the explosive. He continued toward the ship, carefully scanning the area to make sure there had been no explosives set. He was almost to the bottom when his cat hissed out a warning.
Crouching, he saw the thin wire that was almost invisible in the darkness. His cat had sensed the electrical charge. He looked to the right and saw a small probe sticking out of the ice. The snow had melted, refrozen, and turned to ice. A quick look to the left revealed the other end.
He studied the area, paying close attention to the wall of ice on each side of the cleared entrance for additional wires and the center leading up to the ship. He could not see or sense any other traps. Rising to his feet, he felt certain that there was no one else here. The footprints had led away from the area and he’d found no evidence that anyone else had returned. The ash proved that one of the men had died and one survived. Now the question was where did the other traitor go?
Walkyr’s expression tightened when he thought of the footprints on the side of the hill. He’d left Trescina. What if the traitor had been hiding and he hadn’t sensed him?
A rush of adrenaline hit Walkyr. He holstered his pistol and shape-shifted even before he had completely turned. With long strides, he dug his claws into the snow and raced out of the depression leading down to the ship. With a swift thought, he called to Spice to follow him. The large tiger was already in motion, understanding his fear for the safety of his mistress.
Walkyr caught up with Spice just as the tiger was entering the woods. They sped through the darkness like two ghostly creatures from a horror story, dodging trees and fallen debris that created obstacles as they flew across the snow laden landscape.
He pulled ahead as they emerged from the woods. Turning to the right, he followed the trail the snowmobile had made. This time when he reached the top, he paused in the gap of the railing and made sure the path was clear before darting across the road.
His heart hammered in his chest when he reached the other side. He looked back and forth in silent desperation for Trescina’s transport. Nothing but empty road greeted him.
He turned his attention to Spice when the tiger moved past him and down along the side of the road where Zeke had continued into the woods. Walkyr followed the tiger. The keen eye of his cat had already made out the footprints of the traitor he had been tracking on the other side, but there was also the smaller imprint of a woman’s boot and the paw prints of a tiger. He followed the tracks a short distance into the woods. The tracks of the traitor continued, but Trescina and Cinnamon’s had stopped and turned back toward the road. The only thing Walkyr could conclude was that Trescina might have guessed where the man was going and returned to her transport.
A flash of the rescue center floated through his mind. Walkyr turned and looked at Spice. The tiger was staring into the woods. The traitor was following the tracks that Zeke had left behind.
Walkyr released a savage snarl. Heather and her boy were in danger. Trescina would have pieced the clues together. She had gone to warn them. The problem was neither one of them knew how much of a head start the traitor had had before they arrived. It wouldn’t matter. His mate—and he accepted that Trescina was his mate—was in danger and so were the woman and her young boy.
He took off running. He would follow the trail Zeke had left. Spice ran beside him. He matched his pace with the young tiger, knowing that he could have easily left Spice behind but also knowing deep down that he’d already endangered enough lives without abandoning the tiger as well.
Soft, fat flakes of snow began to fall around them. With the Goddess’ luck, perhaps the traitor wasn’t too far ahead of them and the snow would slow the man down. He refused to think of what the alternative might be.
14
Ranker circled the perimeter of the buildings. The outside of both buildings were lit by a soft red light. The light was easy on his eyes and helped him see the surrounding area without blinding him.
There was a glow of white lights inside both buildings as well. His gaze moved to the building that looked more like a living space. There were curtains over the windows so he could not tell if there was any movement inside. The hour was still early. He suspected that whoever inhabited the dwelling would still be awake.
There was an older model human transport out front. Even from this distance he could see there was damage to the front glass and left front side. He silently padded a
cross the open area to the transport. His cat sniffed the front corner. The faint smell of blood clung to the vehicle. His sharp eyes narrowed on a few strands of blue-black hair. He sneered when he realized that Walkyr d’Rojah must have impacted with the transport in his hasty escape from the avalanche he had caused.
He decided to go into the large boxy building first, then the smaller dwelling. After all, Walkyr might be in this one. He circled around the building again until he reached a side entrance. He shape-shifted and scanned the area using his more effective feline senses. Pulling his laser pistol from the holster at his waist, he fired it at the light before aiming it at the door’s locking mechanism. In seconds, he slipped through the door and into the building.
* * *
Trescina rounded the last curve in the road leading to rescue center. She slowed when she saw another car approaching. Turning on her signal, she was surprised when the other car did the same.
She pulled into the driveway and braked harder then she should have. The Suburban slid several feet before stopping. She looked in the mirror and recognized Heather’s SUV pulling in behind her.
“Wait here,” she said, running her hand over Cinnamon’s head when the tigress stuck it between the seats.
She undid her seatbelt and opened the door. Heather pulled up behind her and powered down the window. Trescina breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Zeke was sitting in the passenger seat.
“Hi, Trescina, is everything okay? Did the cat take a turn for the worse?” Heather anxiously asked.
Trescina shook her head. “No, he is alright. Listen, I know this is going to sound strange, but I… don’t think it is safe for you to go home at the moment,” she said.
Heather looked at her with a startled expression. “Why not?” she replied.
Zeke lowered the cell phone in his hand and leaned forward to look at her. “Is it because of the aliens that were shooting at each other?” Zeke asked.
Heather turned her head to glare at her son. “Zeke,” Heather started to reprimand.
“Yes,” Trescina replied.
“Told you I was telling the truth,” Zeke muttered, returning to the game he was playing.
Trescina almost winced when Heather turned her head to look at her with a disbelieving expression. She looked at the woman with an apologetic smile. The cat was out of the bag now.
“I’m having enough trouble with Zeke without you helping him make up stuff, Trescina,” Heather retorted, rather exasperated.
Trescina touched Heather’s arm. “He’s not making it up, Heather. The leopard this morning is not what you think. He’s… he’s an alien shape-shifter from another planet,” she quietly explained.
Heather shook her head and shot her a wounded expression. “I can’t believe that you would lie to me. How am I supposed to teach him right from wrong if he thinks he can say things like this?” she said.
“I’m not lying,” Zeke muttered under his breath, not looking up from his game.
“He’s not lying, Heather,” Trescina confirmed.
Heather turned her head and stared out of the windshield. Trescina felt a sense of desperation when the other woman’s hand dropped to the gear shift. She knew that Heather was going to ignore her.
“I can prove it,” she suddenly blurted out.
Heather’s hand froze on the gear shift and she shot Trescina a heated glare. Trescina could feel her cat’s protest, but she didn’t know what else to do. She could only hope that Heather would accept what she was about to see and realize that no one would believe her if she said anything.
“How? Are you going to ask the alien cat that Terry hit to suddenly turn into a little green man?” Heather sarcastically demanded.
Zeke snorted. “He’s not little and he definitely wasn’t green,” he snickered, turning his cell phone off so he could look curiously at Trescina. “Is one of your tigers a shape-shifting alien?” he asked.
Trescina shook her head. “No…. I am,” she replied.
She gave Zeke a wry smile when she saw his eyes widen before turning her own eyes back to Heather’s face. Reaching in, she touched Heather’s arm and waited for the other woman to look at her. She was surprised by the shimmer of tears and the deep hurt she saw reflected back at her.
“Please… I need you to understand and… well, not tell anyone about what you see,” she pleaded.
“What is there to tell?” Heather asked in a bitter tone.
“This,” she replied before she stepped back from the SUV.
Trescina could feel her cat’s resignation. A second later, she was peering in the window of Heather’s SUV with a feline’s worried expression. Heather’s mouth hung open and her face turned extremely pale. She looked over from Heather to Zeke when the boy sprawled over his mom to look out the window at her.
“That is totally awesome!” he breathed.
His voice appeared to trigger a reaction in Heather. She was frantically trying to push her son back into his seat. It wasn’t difficult to sense that the other woman was about to bolt. She shape-shifted back into her two-legged form and reached out to grab the window before Heather could roll her window up again.
“Heather, please listen to me. One minute, just give me one minute. Please,” she pleaded.
“I…,” Heather choked out, leaning away from her.
Trescina saw Heather look at Zeke when he touched his mom’s arm. “Please, Mom. The other guy—he saved my life. Listen to what Ms. Trescina has to say,” he encouraged.
Heather drew in a shaky breath and looked at Zeke with a suddenly fierce expression. “You are going to be grounded for life,” she declared in her fiercest angry mom voice.
Zeke chuckled and sat back in his seat. “That’s like my millionth life. You’ll never get grandkids if you don’t let me out of the house,” he teased.
Heather groaned and slumped in her seat. Trescina gave Zeke a wink when the boy grinned at her and gave her the thumbs up. She could also see the excitement in his eyes and thankfully his cell phone was on the floor board. She hoped he didn’t realize he’d just missed the chance to go viral. Her lips twitched when he suddenly bent and picked up the cell phone with a groan and shot her a hopeful look.
“This is top secret,” she sternly ordered.
Heather reached out and plucked Zeke’s phone out of his hand. “Payback, Zeke, remember that. Mothers never forget,” she muttered before turning her attention to Trescina. “You have one minute.”
Trescina nodded and drew in a deep breath. “I never knew I was an alien until I met Walkyr this morning and he told me that he was an alien from a planet called Sarafin. There are some bad guys that came here looking for something, but I’m not sure what it is. I think my mom and I came from this Sarafin planet, too, but I don’t want anyone to know because I’m still trying to figure out everything.
“My mom was murdered by poachers when I was a child and she never told my dad—only he really wasn’t my dad; he was my stepdad. My sister and I are pretty sure he was murdered by the man who killed our mom. My sister isn’t an alien—well, she is but only by half and she can’t do the things I can. You are the first person I’ve ever told this to and I think one of the bad guys followed the trail Zeke left yesterday and he may be at your house. I need you to keep all of this a secret,” Trescina finished breathlessly.
She looked at Heather and waited—and waited—and waited. The woman was staring at her as if she had two heads instead of simply having the ability to shape-shift into a cat. Trescina bit her lip when the silence stretched out longer than she had been given to explain.
“Both of your parents were murdered?” Heather whispered, her eyes filling with tears.
“Yes,” Trescina replied with a slight nod.
“Oh my God. I couldn’t even imagine… and then not knowing where you came from,” Heather murmured.
“Mom, she’s an alien! How cool is that?” Zeke said.
Heather turned and glared at her son again.
“And you almost got yourself killed by one, young man. Now will you listen when I tell you that taking off without telling anyone can be dangerous?” she scolded.
Zeke grinned. “Yeah, you were right,” he replied.
Heather released another groan and leaned her head back against the headrest. Trescina felt a shaft of sympathy for Heather. If Zeke was this bad now, she couldn’t imagine what he was going to be like in another year or two.
“I’ll deal with you later, smart butt.” Heather looked at her. “What do you want me to do?”
Trescina squeezed Heather’s arm in support. “Until I can scout out whether it is safe or not, you might want to stay somewhere else. You could go to my house. It should be safe, but… well, with Walkyr there, it might not be if the men come looking for him,” she murmured.
Heather shook her head. “We can go to the ranch. I stay in the apartment above the barn at least once a week to check the animals there. Oh, God, I forgot that I’m supposed to have the high school kids come out here tomorrow,” she suddenly groaned.
“Why don’t you have them go to the ranch instead,” Zeke suggested.
Heather nodded. “That’s a good idea,” she said.
Zeke shrugged. “I have them on occasion. Can I have my phone back?” he asked, already bored with the conversation.
Trescina chuckled when Heather rolled her eyes. Her expression sobered when Heather looked at her again. She could see the uneasiness in the woman’s eyes though Heather was trying to hide it.
“I need to think about what I’ve learned. I… can’t promise I won’t report this. I won’t say anything until I can wrap my own head around everything,” Heather quietly said.