by Kyrii Rayne
Jake looked at the couple regretfully as they walked out toward the observation deck. I would hate to be in his shoes. Not that Esme didn't know how to take care of herself— but it didn't really matter. In the end, if you loved someone and they put themselves at risk, you worried. You did your best to manage that worry, but it was always there. The fear of losing them.
Jake watched the screen, glimpsing a shot of Mark's chest as he hugged her goodbye. Then flickers of darkness as she changed— and then her viewpoint lifting off, over the snow-crusted railing of the observation deck and out over the trees.
“...Wow,” Anna murmured beside him. Just a touch of jealousy in her tone. “I wonder if she ever actually gets bored with flying.”
“Nah, no way.” Jake petted her shoulder. “I'm a Bear and I never get tired of eating, do I?”
The crow circled back once, and they caught an image of Mark staring up at her, his face resolute and his mouth a line. He shaded his eyes from the thin winter sunlight as he watched her go. It almost looked like a salute. They watched her flight for a while, even the normally chattery Carly quietly dividing her time between watching the long, sweeping flow of snowy trees and her own computer screen.
It was Gray who got up from his crouch by the desk first and lumbered for the door.
“I'll bring food,” he rumbled vaguely.
Julia blinked after him, then heard his stomach snarl like an angry puma and just smiled, realizing what was up. She turned to go after him.
“I'll bring coffee,” she told everyone cheerily as she hurried out.
Darrin went over to Carly's spot at the sprawling desk and spoke with her quietly, something about a keyword search that Jake didn't follow. Anna took a seat on one of the padded benches Darrin had had brought into the office, and Jake settled in next to her, keeping an arm slipped around her.
“Think you can eat something this morning?” he asked her gently under his breath.
“I think so. I'm a little better than yesterday.”
She did have a little more color in her face, and her eyes were brighter.
“Good.”
Her morning sickness had troubled her for months, and she had lost at least ten pounds as a result of it mixing with stress from all the craziness they had faced. It left him genuinely worried about her, and she knew it, and was forcing herself to eat little bits, at least, every time she had an opportunity. At least she wasn't a waif to begin with; the loss of ten pounds didn't put her in any danger. But it still wasn't a good sign. He hoped fervently that soon enough her stomach would at least stop going sour on her for most of the day.
But for that, he suspected, she would need a much more peaceful environment than the Lodge had been the last few months.
His brother and Julia returned with a pot of coffee and provisions, and they all sat around a while, quietly munching pastries, cheese and fruit. Jake even grabbed a piece of the cold fried chicken Gray had brought up, and was now plowing through like he was an entire Little League team.
Anna ate slowly and mechanically under Jake's watchful eye. He hated pushing her like this, but she seemed to need to be prompted all the time. It left him riding the edge between being attentive and more dominant than she probably liked. But her stomach was rebelling against anything even resembling common sense, at exactly the time she should be eating for two. He just hoped that his poking at her for her own good wouldn't lead to strain between them.
Yet another thing to damn the Hunters for. They didn't just kill shifters; they terrorized shifters, their families and their friends and loved ones. He hated the whole lot of those miserable fanatics. He understood now, thanks to Mark's experience, how some of them could be drawn in to that life. But just like terrorists, once people were pulled in, any personal reasons were replaced with the group's reasons. Jake didn't know how many shifters these fanatics killed in a given year. But he knew that what they cost innocent people— including the humans they claimed to protect— went far beyond their body counts. When Anna choked on a bite of croissant and had to sip ginger tea until she stopped gagging, it was the Hunters that Jake blamed. They were forcing all of his loved ones to live in fear.
I'm going to stop them. I'm going to destroy them, and anyone else who comes and tries to harm my people. His fists clenched at his sides. Anna shot him a curious and slightly worried look, and he relaxed his hands forcibly. I'm going to make them pay for even looking in our direction.
Maybe half an hour later, a crow's caw drew their attentions back to the screen, as the trees flashing past beneath Esme's wings became buildings looming in the distance. Jake recognized Jackson from above from his helicopter rides, and tensed slightly. But no one would suspect a single crow flapping overhead in early spring. Or one hanging around human habitations, for that matter. Crows were opportunists, and so many lived in certain cities that they were considered pests. Jake breathed deeply and schooled himself to be calm— and looked over, seeing Mark doing the same in his own seat as he watched. There's no need for this, he told himself silently, wishing he could reassure Mark the same way without embarrassing him. She's smart, she's skilled, she knows what she's doing.
He realized fully now why it was that Anna always insisted on coming along with him when he went and did something dangerous. It wasn't just because of the terrible luck they’d had when they had allowed themselves to be separated for very long. It was because this watching and waiting was painful enough just as a friend of Esme's. And if I'm trying not to freak out, what does Mark have to be feeling right now? They just got together a few months ago. This really can't be easy for him.
He had a mixed relationship with Mark. At first they had been semi-rivals for Anna's attention. Then allies, then enemies, then slowly, gradually, and with a lot of work, more or less friends.
They couldn't always agree on things, and sometimes they got into serious, shouty arguments. But they had beers and steak together, and Jake knew Mark had his back if trouble started. And sometimes, like right now, Jake could really relate to the guy.
Esme circled the town from above. The streets were edged in slush and mud, sunlight glinting off the wet pavement as the remnants of a days-ago storm melted slowly now that it was above freezing. Melt water dripped slowly; branches shed their snow loads and bounded skyward, scattering clots of white on the ground below them.
From a crow's view, it looked almost picturesque. But Jake knew that it was probably a miserable day over there. Two SUVs skidded out while they watched the camera feed, one out of nowhere and one avoiding a drunk driver. The first ended up in a snowbank; the second ran into a telephone pole, hemorrhaging cubes of safety glass everywhere.
“Oof! Poor bastards,” Darrin commented before he could stop himself. The crow cackled in response.
The camera feed was actually quite a show. Enough of one that he could almost forget that it was a prelude to one of the most risky spy jobs Jake had known Esme to pull off. They watched as she swept back up into the sky, winging away from town along the highway, following it to the trailer park she had mentioned.
In the distance, and from above, it looked like a scattering of building blocks more than a place where people lived. But then she started circling downward, and they all watched nervously as she started inspecting the property.
One end of the trailer park was well established, little gardens currently snowed over and bare branched, snowmen melting down to nubs here and there. The edges of the property also looked like that, long term tenants spacing themselves out as much as possible, and with as few next-door neighbors. But the southern end of the trailer park had the new tenants— and even though Mark and Esme had already warned them, Jake gasped a little.
“Holy crap.”
Six big trailers squatted in a rough circle across the remaining empty spaces, attended by two Jeeps, a large truck and a long passenger van. From the footprints gouging up the snow and mud between the buildings, there were dozens of Hunters in the group.
Anna sat stiffly beside Jake, her hands knotted together in her lap in a way he knew she did when nervous. He reached over and covered her linked hands with his own, feeling how cold they were. He could tell how frightened she was. The reality of this huge group of Hunters preparing to descend on them had finally hit home for them all.
“Yeah,” she said finally. “That looks twice the size of the group we fought at midwinter. I'm not sure we could handle them all in a straight fight.”
Gray growled softly. “I could take many.”
“They have big guns, Gray, I'm sure of it,” Julia warned. “These guys always come loaded.”
“That's all right,” Darrin's voice held a cold matter-of-factness that had everyone else looking at him in mild shock. “So do I.”
Mark turned to him, eyebrow lifting.
“You add to your collection again?”
Darrin nodded, his expression cold but a faint smirk touching his lips.
“After last time, hell yeah. Honestly I never thought I would be in any kind of situation where I would find a shotgun to actually be inadequate. So... I made a few more purchases.” He sighed. “I could take out the whole camp from that hillside above it. But thanks to how they have planted themselves, I'd end up killing a bunch of people who have nothing to do with our fight.”
Mark stared at him, eyebrows up.
“What the hell are you packing now, a grenade launcher?”
Darrin looked back at him mildly.
“Maybe.”
“How the Hell— who did you have to bribe--”
Carly chuckled and sat back, hands behind her head in a smug gesture.
“Dark Web arms dealers, ridiculous amounts of surplus Russian weapons out there, and a girlfriend who knows the territory and how to buy whatever we need.”
Mark blinked slowly. “Esme has obviously been holding out on me.”
The crow cackled slightly, and Carly just shook her head.
“Most local weapons brokers pull the same trick, and hide their real sources from their clients. I'm just cutting out the middle man.”
“You and I are going to need to do some business,” he said pointedly, and she just smiled and shrugged.
“There's reasons Darrin keeps me around.”
That made the ice slip off of Darrin's expression; he smiled at her and leaned over to kiss her temple.
“Not the only reason.”
“Good to know.”
She turned and stole a proper kiss before going back to work.
Anna watched the screen as Esme spiraled down to land between two of the parked vehicles. Another flash of darkness as she shifted back to human form, and then a view of her hands fishing one of the GPS trackers out of the bag. She activated it and reached to stick it inside the bumper of the van. “Okay, guys, that's one. Three more, and then I'll put the Stingray on top of one of the buildings. It should have enough range to cover all of them as long as our guys are actually at home.”
“Got it. Go on— just try and get it done and out of there as quickly as you can, okay?”
Jake couldn't keep the tension out of his voice. Beside him, Mark was nodding.
“No worries there, this place shows every sign of being an armed camp.”
She stiffened suddenly and ducked down. They heard a door open, and voices in the distance. Boots shuffling through the slush, maybe three pairs. Jake held his breath. But nobody shouted an alarm, and finally Esme sighed and placed the second tracker inside the bumper of the Jeep on her other side.
She turned back into a crow and hopped over to the other two vehicles, avoiding leaving human footprints. Brief spy-hop onto the roof of the truck so she could look around; they saw a trio of burly men in down jackets and jeans disappear into one of the trailers and close the door behind them. Then Esme hopped back down to get to work.
She was placing the last tracker when a door banged open nearby. They heard loud arguing as she ducked down again— and suddenly a small group of men was walking straight toward her, their legs visible between the wheels of the high-riding Jeep.
“I don't care about Brother Andrews and his preaching against alcohol. If I don't get some goddamn whiskey in me--”
“But brother James, you're supposed to be on watch soon!”
“I don't give a damn. What is there to watch? Those goddamn animals have no way of knowing that we're here!”
Esme hastily ducked under the Jeep, things going dim. But then the Jeep shook above and around her as the men piled into it. Jake stiffened, watching. Oh crap-- Another flash of black. The Jeep engine rumbled to life deafeningly. Everyone sitting in the office held their breath— and then the Jeep pulled away, leaving them looking at the uncovered ground and sky again, and the corner of one of the buildings.
“Esme?” Mark called out worriedly.
Several raspy, low caws and chortles came from the speakers. It almost sounded like a crow's version of grumbling. Then the viewpoint took off to the sound of wings flapping, headed for the rooftops.
She landed a few moments later on top of one of the trailers; darkness flickered, and the viewpoint rose to just under five feet off the trailer top. Esme sighed.
“Yeah, I'm fine,” she muttered. “Almost got my ass run over, but it's better than being caught.”
Mark let out all his air in a whoosh, and Jake relaxed slightly and rubbed Anna's shoulder. She went a little less stiff as well.
“Okay guys,” Esme whispered. “Last thing. I'm gonna place this weatherproof box with the Stingray and signal booster. Darrin, Carly, after that I need you guys to check my signals and make sure we're receiving properly.”
“Got it,” said Carly.
Darrin nodded.
“Standing by.”
The box was white plastic and about the size of a large smoke detector. She stuck it in place on the fiberglass roof with a heavy duty waterproof adhesive, flipped the box open, and poked a few buttons, then adjusted the short antenna so it poked out of the box in the right spot. She sealed the hole with more of the adhesive, and snapped the case closed.
“Okay, there we go. Let me know if you--”
Another door opened, so close it had to be in the building directly beneath her. Esme froze again. Another male voice spoke.
“Swore I heard someone talking out here.”
“Who? Brother Jake, Brother Caleb and Brother Adam just went on a supply run--”
“No, it was a woman.”
“Now that's just wishful thinking, Brother Joshua.”
“Heh. Yeah, I know, right?”
Jake and the others started to relax as they listened. Esme held still and kept quiet.
“I guess it was nothing,” said the first man. “Let's go back inside--”
It was right then that an icicle fell off an overhanging tree and landed on the roof near Esme with a hard thump.
“That was up on the roof!” one of them yelled, and someone cocked a pistol. Esme's screen went dark again as she became a crow, and flew up off the roof into a nearby tree. From between the pine branches, they could see two men peering up at her, one with a pistol in his hand.
“Oh for God's sake, Brother Joshua--”
“Don't blaspheme.”
“Fuck you. You had me freaking out over a goddamn crow.”
“No, seriously, if one of the Elders hears you you'll have your food ration taken.”
“Oh. Yeah. Right.” A heavy sigh. The first man tucked his pistol away while Esme ruffled her feathers and preened herself for composure. “Let's go back inside, it's freezing out here.”
“Sounds good to me.”
They turned around and walked under her as she looked down at them. They opened the door and went inside; she held still for several seconds before finally gliding over and landing back on the roof.
Flicker.
“Okay guys,”
Esme hissed urgently. “Let's get this dealt with so I can get the Hell out of here!”
Carly typed rapidly. Her computer beeped and popped up a couple of windows.
“Okay, signal scanners are up. Give me the device names and I'll scan for them.”
Esme murmured them one at a time, her voice all but choked with strain. Jake glanced at Mark and saw him standing tensely by, hands shoved in pockets and his jaw working. Too many close calls. Way too many close calls. Carly typed them in, and hit return. One at a time the monitor windows connected: one with an audio feed and four with satellite maps.
“I've got hits on... two... three... okay, all the GPS signals are strong. I have three at home base and one heading into town.”
“That's confirmed. What about the Stingray?”
“Checking now.” She fiddled with that screen— and suddenly they heard an older man shouting at someone in a quavering voice.
“I can't believe that you would take a Brotherhood vehicle without permission so you could go into town and buy liquor! You are stealing from the Brotherhood to pursue your sinful vices!”
“Yyyyeah, that sounds like a pretty clear signal to me.” Carly hit another key and the voice dropped volume until it was a low murmur. “Okay, that's it, we have all five signals! You're clear to haul ass out of there!”
“Thank God,” Mark muttered as Esme flickered back to crow form and winged away over the treetops, heading out into the mountains on her way back home. “That was too close. How much chance is there that they'll find our spy devices?”
Carly looked up at him, rubbing the bridge of her nose briefly. “Some chance. Not much of one. If the guy from before gets really paranoid and checks the roof he might find the Stingray box, but even then he'd have to know what it was. It looks pretty unobtrusive, and once it snows again he won't even be able to find it.”
Jake listened with half an ear as he watched the monitor show Esme's flight back up into the mountains. “We'll have to set up shifts monitoring their phone conversations. Carly, can you turn that thing back up? I'll take the first one, since it was my idea.”
“Sounds good to me. I was worried I'd end up having to just switch off with Darrin.”