Shadow Bloodlines (Shadow Bloodlines #1)

by A. R. Cooper

  “As a chameleon, I can avoid detection. It takes a lot of energy and focus to conceal my eyes from doing what yours did at the club.” She bit her lip and took another glance at me. “When I saw your eyes reflect like that, I couldn’t believe it and I thought it was a trick of some kind.”

  “You still could have told me.” I snapped the seatbelt and adjusted to move a bit away from her. We were best friends. How could she keep something like this from me? Wait, that time in middle school when she’d wanted to pretend-smoke with her mom’s cigarettes. Mr. Van had caught us, but after his lecture, when I’d glanced over at her, she was gone and the lighter and cigarette package were on the concrete next to me. I’d figured she’d seen him the same time I had and ran.

  “Remember when I moved here in fifth grade?” When I nodded, she sighed. “That was because of me. I bragged to my elementary friend that I was a shifter. She laughed and didn’t believe me. Then I did my chameleon vanish trick of blending into my surroundings and she freaked the fuck out. I don’t mean she screamed or even fainted; she took a picture of me vanishing and told everyone I was a freak. We had to steal her phone and leave everything behind. Even put a virus on her parents’ computers to wipe all the photos and even memory. Then we set off the gas in our house and made it look like we were inside. Me and my dad did that—together we created mannequins to resemble us so that a few of the neighbors outside—would think they saw us all inside when we ignited the gas. We ran for a year before creating new identities and settling here.”

  “So your name is not even Jacqueline?” I didn’t shy from the bite in my words. First, I’d found out I was a shifter, second that my best friend has been one and known about it for her whole life and never told me, and now third—I didn’t even know her real name!

  “Yes and no.” She lowered her arms, not meeting my eyes. “My dad named me Jackie. He wanted a boy, but he got me. I never really liked the name. I wanted a fancy name. My mom suggested something close to my own name since I was young enough not to remember to use the fake one. If I called or answered to Jackie by mistake, it was easy to mark off as a nickname for Jacqueline. And I prefer my new name anyway.” She slowed the car around a curve. “And when I was going to make copies for Mr. Powell, I overheard a guy on a cellphone say they’d found a shifter. I panicked, thinking he meant me. I dashed toward the exit, but men guarded the door. So I back peddled, debating what to do when I saw the fire alarm.”

  So she was the one who had triggered the alarm. I had thought it was just a coincidence. My head hurt. Did I even know anyone? Must be nice knowing you’re a shifter before people try to kill you. And having a dad to help as well. Jealousy oozed into me.

  “We need to keep moving.” Amar moved and I bit back a curse as the edge of his wing smacked me in the face.

  “Scoot back,” I muttered. After he was re-situated, I added, “So what I did back there at Jacqui’s with the shadow smoky things, are they dead? Do I just need to do that again and we’ll be safe?”

  “No. They are harder to kill than that. This is why they are winning this war against shifters… and have been for thousands of years. We have yet to determine how to kill them so they cannot resurrect.”

  “They have to have a weakness.” I tucked my legs underneath me to get more comfortable. With Amar in the backseat and his wings filling the space, I felt like I was in a Mini Cooper rather than a plush BMW. I checked my cell again; still not enough battery to call my mom.

  “Is your phone charged?” I asked her.

  She tossed it to me, but it was in lockdown for some type of update.

  “No weaknesses that I am aware of. We need to go to Egypt and search the records. Maybe something has been discovered since I left.”

  “Not with terrorists around,” I mumbled. Jacqui was quiet and I guessed she’d let me fume for a while about her news. It stung that she hadn’t trusted me. If I hadn’t found out I was a shifter, she probably never would have told me. I needed to see about my mom.

  “Terrorists?” Amar scanned the area around us as we drove. “What do you mean?”

  “Just the middle east is not the best spot for Americans.” I rolled my shoulders.

  Maybe the next town would have a payphone. We drove for ten minutes until we reached a mini-town crammed with buildings and lined with homeless. At a stoplight, an elderly homeless man held a sign begging for money.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Shopping,” She answered.

  “No! We can’t. There are smoky goons after me, maybe after both us if they find out you’re a shifter too.” I bit my lip. Leave it to my best friend to think of shopping as a cure for anything. But I’d seen those guys materialize into smoke, vanish, then reappear.

  “Look. We can get a change of clothes,” I said and when she frowned, I added, “or two, but we can’t waste time.”

  “Right.” She slumped back in her seat.

  I’d seen enough spy shows to know one thing. “We need cash, but can’t use credit cards or they might trace them. And I have to check on my mom!” I pointed to a gas station in the distance. “Cash and a bite. Then I’ll snag some clothes while we check on my mom.” But I didn’t see any payphones.

  “Would you come with me to my mom’s?”

  She pulled into the gas station and put the car into park. “Of course.” Her voice was slightly shaky like she was glad I wasn’t mad at her. “I think you should call her first. Maybe warn her and find out if they…”

  My face must have paled because she didn’t finish her sentence. Guess she knew what these crazy things could do to people. I swallowed against the pressure building in my throat. God, I hoped my mom was okay. She was the only family I had, besides my shifter-absentee father.

  I was still peeved that she’d never told me, but at least I understood.

  “Here.” She handed me her wallet. “Go grab some cash while I pump the gas.”

  After digging through her wallet, mine was who knew where, I asked her the pin number and how much money she had in her account, then went inside. Somehow, I would pay her back. The cash, the dress, and the nightmares that were sure to be with her forever.

  The man behind the counter glared at me, but I smiled and went to the ATM machine. I drew out three hundred in twenties. I hoped it was enough. Jacqueline had tons more, but I didn’t want to carry around that much cash. I knew Ms. Moor and whoever worked with her could trace the ATM usage, but maybe if we were smart about spending, they wouldn’t know where we were headed. Hell, I didn’t even know.

  In a handbasket, I gathered a couple of beers and cartoon t-shirts, two pairs of shorts, and the last pair of flip-flops they had.

  Then I grabbed sodas, chips, and candy before paying for it all and rushing to the car. Jacqui finished pumping the gas. She still looked pale.

  “Here.” I handed her a chocolate bar.

  She thanked me, tore open the package, and took a bite.

  “How about I drive for a while?” With her nod, I climbed into the driver’s seat. I tossed the bags of clothes toward Amar. “Help yourself, its XXL so I figured if you cut slits in the back for your wings, maybe it would fit.”

  Jacqueline slid in the passenger seat. Not wanting to waste any more time, I merged into traffic.

  On the freeway, I hit the gas and we accelerated past a slow pickup truck.

  Nerves danced along my skin. I’d forgotten about my cell, so I dug it out of my pocket and checked. Forty-three messages. What the hell?

  After Jacqueline hooked up my phone through the car’s built-in audio/phone call system, she punched in my mom’s number. I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear as the phone rang through the car’s speakers.

  “Hello?” My mom’s voice filled the car.

  “Hey, Mom, it’s me.” My shoulders relaxed.

  “Bethany Alexandra Bender! What are you involved in? There have been men in suits here for hours. You get yourself here right now!”

  “I-I’m j
ust with…” I glanced over at Jacqui and her eyes widened. My hand flew over my mouth. This couldn’t be my mom. She never used my full name, no matter how mad she got at me, and she knew I was spending the weekend with Jacqueline. But if men did show up…I hoped I was wrong. Please let me be wrong. “Sorry, it’s Dad’s weekend, remember? Should I tell him to drop…”

  “How about I meet you both? For dinner? Just tell me where and I’ll be there.”

  “Sure, Mom.” I swallowed. “We’ll head to Little Cucina. Love you.” I fingered the frayed black dress I wore with one hand as I drove with the other.

  “Love you too.” And she hung up.

  Tears streamed down my face and I scrubbed them away. I couldn’t see the road, so I pulled off into a bank parking lot.

  I switched off the car and turned sideways, lifting my knees and hugged them to my chest. Glittering through my tears, headlights zoomed past. Amar squeezed my shoulder from the backseat.

  “I’m sorry, Beth.” Jacqui hugged me. “Guess they got your mom? We need to go to the police.”

  “I-it’s her voice.” I sniffed. “But she knows my dad isn’t around. I guess they don’t. We can’t go home.” And I’d sent the bastards to the other side of town.

  “We can’t go to the police.” Amar ran a hand through his black hair. “They are the authorities, yes? The Blood Shadows would just infiltrate them until they captured us. We can’t just sit here. Maybe I can drive us…”

  “Not a good idea.” Jacqui disentangled herself from me.

  I rubbed my face and turned away from Amar. How uncool is it to be snotty face with a handsome guy in the car? Even if he does have wings.

  Rather than comment on my appearance, he rubbed my back and sent shivers down my body and into my fingers and toes. It was comforting, but I still thought about my mom. Did it hurt what they did? Or was it quick? Then my gut knotted and I waved off his hands.

  “D-do you know what happens when they take a human and do whatever it is that they do to them?” I knew I wasn’t making much sense, but I hoped he could understand my gibberish anyway. I hugged my knees to my chest as I stared at the traffic driving past.

  “I won’t lie… it’s painful. But a human wouldn’t last too long under the procedure. A shifter, well we’d be in agony for days before our spirit died.” His feathers ruffled. “I’m sorry.”

  I nodded and sniffed. I was alone now. My mom replaced by psycho shifter-killers and my dad… who knows where he was. God, my mom! I tucked my face into my knees and cried.

  Rather than offering condolences, Amar handed me a box of tissue he must have found in the back. Neither he nor Jacqueline said anything for a long time. I knew it was dangerous, just sitting here, so close to where we’d just used cards for gas and money. But I just needed to gather myself first. My mom was all the family I had. The buffer between me and the world, and she was gone.

  After my tears dried up, numbness crawled inside my chest. It still hurt like hell, but I felt as though I was moving in slow motion.

  “We need to get back on the road.” Amar’s leather seat squeaked from his movement.

  “I can drive if you want.” Jacqueline reached for the door.

  “No. I’ll drive for a bit longer.”

  Two hours later, I pulled into a burger joint and ordered food. I didn’t feel like eating. There was an empty gnawing pit inside my stomach. Instead, while the others ate, I went to the restroom, changed into the new clothes. When I saw my reflection in the mirror, I laughed until I cried reading the words, ‘Drink More Beer’ across my chest.

  After I splashed my face with water, I slumped back to the car. Again, none of us said a word as Jacqui drove, while I stared outside the passenger window, watching the world blur past.

  “Want a French fry?”

  I shook my head, but she shoved it into my hand.

  “Eat. If you don’t eat, you’ll be weak when they come back.”

  Amar said around a mouthful of food, “She’s right. Focus on one hour at a time. You need to remain strong to fight them.”

  “And make them pay?” I lifted my head and pushed my hair out of my face. “I want revenge for what they did.”

  “Revenge never…” Amar said.

  I glared at him and he stopped midsentence. The logical part of me knew he was right, but I didn’t care. I wanted them to hurt for killing my mom. I wasn’t afraid anymore. I dug through the burger bag and brought out mine. I ate the fries even though they tasted like paste. I would find a way to wipe out these things chasing us.

  Maybe if my dad had hung around, he could have warned us. Joined the shifter secret society or something, rather than sending an obscure text too late. I stared out the window as we headed into the next small town. My dad was just as guilty as the blood creatures. Maybe I could get him to teach me all he knew so I could battle these smoke beings—after I chewed him out.

  But how would I find him? I’d already sent a reply message to his text and received an undeliverable answer. And when I dialed the number, it was a voicemail message saying the number had been disconnected.

  The only clues we had of my dad’s whereabouts were a few snapshots of him over eighteen years ago, and an unlisted number. One photo was at a carnival, but that could be anywhere. He had blue eyes with a gold ring around his pupils, like mine, but his didn’t have three colors like mine did.

  Chapter Ten

  We finally stopped in Jennis, population six hundred and fifty-nine. This time, we just stretched our legs. I shook my head when Jacqueline asked if I needed a snack or something to drink. No use leaving a credit trail for Ms. Moor to follow, besides we could buy food later with the cash we still had.

  Dusk colored the sky in pinks and oranges, the latter being my mom’s favorite color, and my mouth dried as I got out of the car. Putting as much distance as possible between us and the Spirits of Blood was a good thing. Once I found my father, I’d learn how to fight these nasty beings. Then I’d pile on the guilt of mom’s death and leaving us. He was just as guilty as the Blood Spirits. If he had told us what was going on, we might be better equipped to protect ourselves.

  When Amar unlatched his door, I spun around blocking him from exiting the car, “Wait. You can’t come out like you are on the side of the road. People will freak out about your wings.”

  “I have been cramped back here for hours. I don’t think I could spread my wings and fly even if our lives depended on it. And they just might.”

  “Well, just stay put a few more minutes… until we find a deserted patch of woods or rest stop.” Which here, in hick town should be easy.

  “Next are clothes.” Jacqui thrust a box of chocolate raisins at me. “And I’m going to call my dad and see if he knows anything about these people after you or where we should go.”

  “Find a place that’s safe for Amar to unfold, then you can call your dad.”

  She looked at me with her eyebrow raised.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Nothing.” When I grabbed a hold of her arm as she turned to leave, she winked. “Just the way you say his name… Amar like it’s got several syllables in it.” With a flip of her hair, she opened the car and shut it with a loud thunk.

  Did she think I liked him? I didn’t… I mean he was handsome, but like thousands of years older than me even though he only looked about twenty-ish. If he was my boyfriend, I shook my head; no, he wouldn’t be for long. All the girls in my entire school would be after him.

  I was eighteen and never been kissed. Never even had a boyfriend. Once, when I was ten, a neighborhood boy tried to kiss me, but I didn’t know what he was doing. He had me pinned against the wall of my house, but I ducked under his arm and ran. Looking back, I assume he was going to kiss me. If I had known at the time, I would have stayed trapped.

  I climbed into the passenger’s seat and offered Amar my chocolate. He took a few, but I could tell his legs and wings were cramping from his curled shoulders, the wings folded again
st the ceiling of the car.

  Finally, Jacqui found a dirt road that led to a cabin, surrounded by woods. “This looks like some hillbilly place with serial killers inside.”

  “Perfect.” I was being sarcastic, but I guessed Amar would do fine against ordinary humans. Maybe I needed to tell him not to hurt them if any attacked us.

  “Hurry and do what you have to,” she said as she waved a red licorice stick around, “I don’t want to have to pay a fine for trespassing.”

  “That would be the least of our worries.” I got out of the car and paced around to make sure no one could see us.

  Amar rose out of the car and shook himself, his black wings quivering as they unfolded and stretched out to twice his height. They were amazing, shining a brilliant black onyx color with the edges as if dipped in dark purple, almost like a raven’s wing in sunlight.

  “Let’s go over to the trees.” More coverage in case anyone drove down this dirt road.

  “Here is fine.” He grimaced.

  “How’s the wing?” I shoved my hands in the pockets of my shorts.

  “Good. It’s nearly healed. I can fly fine; even carry you if you don’t believe me.” He took a step closer. “Shifters heal faster than humans.”

  “No, I’m good… but thanks.”

  I guess he thought of himself as my protector and didn’t want me out of his sight. Part of me wished it was because he liked me, not that I was some weird octopus shifter girl. Another part believed he’d bail as soon as Ms. Moor and her creatures weren’t after me anymore.

  “How about we walk through the woods for a while? And you can tell me all about how to find a shifter whose been hiding for over eighteen years.” Hopefully, he would know something about my dad. Or at least how to find him.

  We hiked through the woods in silence for a bit, then he unfurled his wings again and shook them. My stomach did a flip. I saw one of his wings was covered in blood along the edge, and where he had lost a few feathers during the fight; each wing was massive, and I felt the wind stir my hair from his flapping. Jacqueline was wrong to call him birdboy. He was much more and gorgeous. He had saved me and continued to put his life in danger to protect me… maybe even to be with me. What did he get out of it?