Callan: Outback Shifters #2

by Chant, Zoe

  Ella – protect Ella –

  Callan gasped as he felt his body begin to change, the diprotodon finally relinquishing control. His body shrunk, and he fell back on his arse as four legs became two.

  He heaved in a breath, leaning back against the gantry railing. He was human again.

  I’m sorry, he told the diprotodon, as he got shakily to his feet. I know you were only trying to help.

  The diprotodon was silent for a moment, as if angry or betrayed. But then it spoke.

  No. It’s me who should be sorry. You were right. I apologize.

  Callan managed a grin as he finally got himself fully upright.

  Friends? he asked it.

  Friends, the diprotodon affirmed.

  Good. Now let’s go find Ella.

  Chapter 18

  “It doesn’t need to be like this, you know.”

  Ella instinctively ducked her head as the sound of Jason’s voice rang out. She and her father were crouched behind a stack of empty barrels that ran along the full length of one wall. For the moment, at least, it seemed they’d managed to evade Jason, even with all the powers of his saber-toothed tiger form.

  Perhaps the gas was affecting him a little after all, she thought, as she bit her lip, wondering where to go next.

  I need to find Callan.

  The thought sent anxiety fluttering through her heart.

  What if he’s – he can’t be –

  Her father had said the gas wouldn’t kill Callan or anyone else, but right now, she wasn’t sure the idea of him lying unconscious in the middle of the floor filled her with confidence either.

  He might need me. I have to find him.

  “You’re not going to win, you know. You may as well just give up, save us all a bit of time and effort.”

  Jason’s voice rang out again, loud and clear. Obviously, at some point he’d shifted back into his human form. As terrifying as the saber-toothed tiger had been, Ella didn’t think this was an improvement.

  At least as a tiger he might shut the fuck up!

  The green haze of the gas was finally starting to lift, at least, and Ella was beginning to be able to make out a few things further than a foot or so ahead of her.

  She turned to her father, examining his face.

  He hadn’t said a word, but she could see he was in a bad way. Sweat ran down his clammy cheeks, and his breath was labored. Though his eyes were bright and alert, Ella could see he was tiring.

  It still seemed surreal to her – that her father was here by her side, after so many years. But she simply didn’t have time to process that fact right now.

  “I need to find – to find the people I came here with,” she said, shying away from saying Callan’s name at the last moment. “I don’t want to leave you alone, but –”

  Her father shook his head. “No, I understand. I’m slowing you down. You need to find your friends.”

  Ella swallowed. She felt more torn than she wanted to admit. How was it that after so many years, and knowing what her father had done, she still found it so difficult to turn away from him?

  But their hiding place seemed secure – for now. If anything, she was the one who was more likely to attract attention by moving around. She’d just have to chance it.

  For Callan.

  The thought of Callan sent a pulse of new strength and determination through her.

  I will find him. And then, together, we’re all getting out of here.

  “All right. Stay here. I’ll be back for you. I promise.”

  Ella didn’t wait to see the look on her father’s face. Instead, she peeped out from behind the stack of barrels, trying to survey as much of the warehouse as she could.

  Ahead of her was a set of metal steps leading up to a small ledge. Up there, she’d be able to see over almost the entire warehouse floor… but she’d also be completely exposed and visible to anyone who happened to look up.

  She rejected the idea.

  Glancing around, she quickly spotted an alternative – a large pallet rack ran along the side wall, stacked with crates and even more old barrels. Ella was fairly certain she could climb that, and hide in the empty spaces between the crates and barrels, while still getting a pretty good look at the warehouse floor.

  Not stopping to second-guess herself, Ella darted out from her hiding place, keeping low to the ground. Her heart pounded. She felt like a hunted animal, scurrying from bolt-hole to bolt-hole, never knowing when the predator stalking her might catch up.

  “Oh – there you are.”

  Jason’s voice was clearly audible, somewhere to her right – and a lot closer to her than she was to the pallet rack.

  Change of plan! Change of plan!

  Skidding to a halt, Ella turned, heading for the metal steps after all. She could see now that they led up to a gantry rather than a ledge, which would give her somewhere to keep running to. For the moment, at least.

  Fear gave her wings as she sped over the concrete floor. She bounded up the steps, taking them three at a time, all the while imagining Jason – or his saber-toothed tiger – at her heels.

  Darting along the gantry, Ella threw herself behind a stack of metal packing crates, breath heaving, legs shaking. It took her a long moment to realize that Jason wasn’t just a step or two behind her. In fact, she couldn’t see him at all.

  Trembling, she peered up over the crates.

  Oh God. Has he found my father? Is that why he’s not chasing me?

  A moment later, though, she heard the clanking sound of feet on metal steps. Swallowing, Ella watched as Jason made his way slowly up onto the gantry.

  He’s not chasing me because he thinks he doesn’t need to, she realized, feeling coldness spreading from the pit of her stomach. He thinks he’s got all the time in the world.

  Still standing on the steps, Jason turned his head first one way and then the other.

  “Why are you hiding? Let’s talk. Just because your father has behaved stupidly doesn’t mean you need to as well.”

  What does he mean by that?

  “I’ve had a look at your research,” Jason continued after a moment. “Very impressive. You’re quite brilliant, I can see that. We’d have a lot of uses for someone with your talents in Hargreaves.” He paused, taking another step. “And believe me, we pay well. That’s what I don’t understand about your father. He had everything anyone could ever want – more, maybe. But then he had to go and be a silly bastard, and betray everything and everyone he’s ever worked for.”

  Ella’s breath caught in her throat.

  So he did betray them, in the end.

  She’d figured out already that her father had hidden his research to stop Hargreaves from getting hold of it. But hearing it from Hargreaves’s own mouth was something else again.

  I can’t think about it right now. I have to stay focused.

  “The problem we have is that now we have to replace him – and believe me, we’ve tried. I suppose the problem with true genius is that it’s pretty rare. A once-in-a-generation thing. But I reckon you could come up to his standards, given time. What do you say, Ella? You’ll get your own lab, as many assistants as you want. The freedom to pursue research without ever having to worry about funding. And money, of course. I’m sure we could pay whatever you asked.”

  Ella’s heart pounded.

  What the fuck kind of person does he think I am?! That I’d throw every principle I have out the window for what – money?!

  It hit her then, like a sad, slow smack in the chest, that actually, sales pitches like Jason’s probably had a pretty high success rate.

  Hargreaves was obviously a large organization. People had to work for them.

  My father worked for them.

  But she was different to her father. Even if he’d eventually come to regret his choice, he’d clearly had his head turned by Hargreaves’s offer of unlimited money and lab assistants.

  But Ella wasn’t like that. She never had been.

&nbs
p; And nothing he can offer will tempt me.

  Clearly, her silence was frustrating Jason.

  “All right, fine. You won’t play nice? Then don’t. It doesn’t matter either way. We’ve already got what we came here for – your co-operation would just be a nice extra bonus. We’ve got the research you tried to hide. We’ve got your father. We’ve got you. I’m sure your dad would be able to start up his research again if his daughter’s life was in the balance.” He laughed, low and harsh. “And now, we have three shiny new test subjects. Everything’s good to go. So you can either make this work for you, or you can continue to be difficult. I know which one I’d choose, if I were you.”

  Test subjects…? What’s he talking about?

  A chill ran up Ella’s spine.

  Three shiny new test subjects. Brooke, Trent and – and Callan…

  She suddenly understood what Jason meant. Whatever sick projects Hargreaves had planned, they needed shifters to test them on. How else could they have developed a gas that affected only shifters, or given Jason the ability to shift into two separate animals? Callan had said he’d never seen that before.

  Horror filled her.

  No. No, I won’t let this happen. It can’t. I have to get us all out of here.

  “Now. Come out from behind that crate.” Jason’s voice held a low note of menace, and Ella knew she wouldn’t be getting any further chances. “Come out, before I drag you out myself.”

  Desperate, Ella glanced around. She was crouched behind a crate, but there were also several large barrels up here on the gantry. Jason was still standing on the steps in front of her, blocking her way.

  Before she could give herself time to think, Ella heaved a barrel over onto its side, then shoved it with all her might, sending it crashing and rolling toward the steps. She heard Jason’s furious shout as it crashed down them. With barely a pause, Ella grabbed another barrel, sending it the same way as the first one.

  This time, however, she didn’t hear the shout of an angry man – she heard the growl of a furious animal.

  Still. She’d bought herself all the time she was going to get. Jason had obviously shifted and leapt out of the way. He was no longer on the stairs, in any case.

  I won’t get any other chance but this one.

  Ella scrambled forward, single-mindedly focused on the steps. She heard a terrifying roar somewhere to her right, but she ignored it. If she let herself think of the tiger’s long, curving teeth, she knew she’d freeze up in terror.

  She made it to the stairs, barely managing to breathe. She expected at any moment to feel Jason’s paws smacking into her back and pushing her to the ground, teeth sinking into her neck.

  From behind her, she heard the sound of a feral growl, and knew that Jason was standing at the top of the stairs, ready to leap down upon her.

  Ella closed her eyes –

  – And felt a hand on her arm, pulling her forward. She stumbled down the steps, grabbing onto the railing to steady herself, feeling something large push its way past her to stand in front of her, shielding her.

  Gasping, Ella looked up – only to see her father standing between her and the saber-toothed tiger, just as the giant creature made its leap.

  “Wait –!” Ella cried out, trying to dash back up the stairs, but it was too late. Her father caught the full force of the tiger’s paws on his chest, staggering and falling. Ella watched, horrified, as they spun around, her father seeming to grip tightly to the animal’s sides. They almost looked as if they were wrestling – until she saw her father lean over the stairway railing, using the tiger’s own momentum against it, slowly tipping them both over the side.

  “No!!” Ella screamed, leaping forward, but her fingertips barely brushed against the edge of her father’s shirt as together, he and the tiger’s furious, struggling form went over the side of the railing, plunging to the floor below.

  Ella followed their fall with her eyes, horror filling her heart – only to see the tiger writhing in her father’s grip, becoming the bubbling mass she’d seen before.

  It’s shifting into its bird form.

  With a flap or two of its wings, it would escape, and her father’s act of bravery would be for nothing…

  Or at least, that’s what Ella’s terrified mind thought would happen. Instead, the bird seemed to be struggling, unable to spread its wings –

  They were still both rushing downward. Ella wanted to raise her hands to cover her eyes so she wouldn’t see the horrible, sickening crunch as they smashed into the concrete floor, but she felt utterly paralyzed.

  No – no, please –

  A large shape suddenly appeared in the corner of her vision. Ella gasped, turning her head as it sprang forward, emerging from the green smoke that still swirled through the warehouse.

  Ella’s heart leapt into her throat as she recognized it.

  “Callan!”

  She couldn’t hold back her cry. The diprotodon dashed forward, positioning itself beneath the two falling bodies – or, Ella, thought, the one falling body, and the one strange misshapen mass still struggling to escape her father’s grip.

  A moment later, and Callan would have been too late. As it was, the impact was still stomach-turning, the smack of bodies hitting each other. But falling onto the solid, muscular form of the diprotodon was better than falling twenty feet down onto solid concrete.

  But they could still – oh, God, their injuries could still be –

  She didn’t let herself even think the word.

  Finally willing herself to move, Ella raced down the steps, dashing across the floor to where the tangle of bodies lay. Callan was still in his diprotodon form, lying on his side – her father had toppled to the concrete next to him. Panic filled Ella as she stared at his limp form, but she could see he was still breathing.

  And then her eyes fell on Jason.

  Or, she thought, sucking in a horrified breath, what had been Jason.

  He was a writhing mass of wings and legs and appallingly human-looking hands, struggling on the floor next to her father.

  Ella stared at him, brain numb with shock.

  What on earth is that?!

  But she didn’t have time to think about it right now. Right now, Callan and her father needed her. Dropping to her knees, she first quickly pressed her fingers to her father’s neck. His pulse was thready and weak, but it was there. She didn’t know if he’d injured his back or ribs, so she left him where he was, and turned to Callan.

  He was in the process of shifting back into his human form – slower than the fluid, shimmering movement she remembered from earlier – and Ella had to stop herself from throwing herself forward against him, remembering that he could be hurt.

  “Callan – oh my God, are you – you’re not –”

  “Ow, ow, ow,” Callan said, grimacing, his hand going to his shoulder. “Oh God. Now I know why they say not to shift while you’re injured.”

  Ella bit her lip. “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah.” Callan winced, rolling his shoulder. “Just a dislocation. Shifting popped it back in. Not sure I can think of a doctor who could get enough leverage to get a diprotodon shoulder back into place. She’ll be right in an hour or so.”

  Ella’s heart hammered in her chest. She scarcely dared to reach forward, touching him with the tips of her fingers. His skin was warm. Solid. Real. His eyes were warm as they locked onto hers, his hands coming up to cover her own.

  “I’m okay, Ella. I promise.”

  “Are you sure?” Ella blurted, before she could stop herself. “Sometimes injuries – you don’t realize how bad they are until later –”

  “I have a few bumps and bruises, but I’ll get checked over as soon as I can,” Callan said, voice soothing. He nodded to where the eldritch horror that had once been Jason was still writhing on the floor. “In any case, I’m better off than that guy.”

  Ella stared. “What happened?”

  “I’m not completely sure,” Callan sai
d. “It happened with the other one as well. One minute he was going on at me about how superior his new shifter form was to mine, and the next… splat, he’s basically a big lump of whatever. Can’t do a thing.”

  Ella licked her lips, her mind already racing to the possibilities. “You think… whatever was done to them made their shifter ability unstable? Like they only had a certain number of shifts in them, until the whole thing backfired and they couldn’t move between forms anymore?”

  Callan nodded, looking thoughtful. “That’s what I’d assumed. The way they shifted – all that bubbling and writhing – it always gave me the creeps.”

  Shuddering, Ella turned away. She couldn’t look anymore. It was too horrifying to think about.

  But then, what Jason had said about test subjects came back to her.

  “They were always intending to capture you,” she said suddenly, rage filling her. “He said he wanted to use you as a test subject for one of Hargreaves’s sick experiments.”

  “I guess they must be short of volunteers,” Callan said. “And I guess this proves that creating a so-called superior shifter is still a work in progress.” He shook his head. “But come on – right now, we need to make sure your father gets some first aid. And make sure we get your necklace back.”

  In amongst all the madness, Ella had almost forgotten about the necklace. Not once during all of this had she raised her hand to clasp it, to try to soothe her anxiety.

  Maybe not wearing it for a couple of days has been good for me. Maybe I’ve finally outgrown it.

  But still, Callan was right – it needed to be found. Steeling herself, Ella knelt down on the ground next to Jason’s broken form, swallowing hard as she looked him over. Given how valuable the necklace was to Hargreaves, she couldn’t imagine he’d just leave it lying around. He’d probably kept it with him the whole time.

  I hope it’s not in a pocket or something, Ella thought, shuddering. She didn’t want to touch any more of him than absolutely necessary.

  But after a moment, she saw it – something silver glinting on his wrist. Reaching down carefully, Ella turned his hand over. It was her necklace all right: Jason had wrapped the chain around his wrist.