by Rachel Jonas
A melody could exist all on its own. No one would refute that, but… when you add lyrics, there’s new meaning.
That was us; two beings capable of existing entirely on their own, somehow becoming more when they’re together.
That hint of a smile was set on his mouth when I crossed the tree line and stepped onto his property. He tossed aside a large stick—the one I assumed he tapped against the porch to lead me here. I was so fixated on it I barely noticed he was shirtless, but… then I did. I noticed and stared, tracing the defined lines of steel sheathed beneath tight skin. The last place my eyes landed was at his waist where a pair of dingy, faded jeans hung low on his hips. Part of me believed he only just threw them on because he knew I was in route.
That was a thought I didn’t need in my head, though, so I dismissed it.
“Cute outfit,” he teased, grinning bigger now as I came close. “I’m guessing this means you ditched?”
I swear, when he jumped down off his porch, the earth beneath me moved.
I was out of breath from running, so I didn’t answer right away, taking a rest on the third step. All I could do was nod.
He came closer and my eyes were fixed on his large feet pressing down into the grass, leaving deep imprints behind. His arm came to rest on the railing to my right and I noted how he was never mindful of keeping distance between us. I guessed that had something to do with this, the closeness, feeling more natural to him.
As my breathing normalized, I kept my eyes straight ahead, on the tree stump in the middle of the yard with an axe wedged into it instead. It kept me from glancing over at the ridged abs and swollen arms next to me. I’m sure that, to him, I was behaving strangely, considering the effort I just made to be here.
“So… I see you’re figuring things out,” he said, clarifying right after. “You know, our little non-telephone… telephone.”
I smiled at his wording. “You’d be surprised what a girl can figure out when she’s alone and desperate in the woods.”
He waved off my statement nonchalantly. “Nah, if you were in trouble, and if you were close enough, I’d know.”
I forgot I was supposed to be looking elsewhere and peeked over for a second before resuming my original position. “Is that true? You can sense that?”
He nodded in my peripheral. “I can. That’s how I found you the other night.”
“Hmm…” There was so much I still didn’t know.
Silence crept in and he let me have it for a moment, but then there were questions. I expected them because he seemed to always be concerned about me.
“Did you skip out on school for a reason? Or… to what do I owe the pleasure?”
My cheeks tightened with a smile and I straightened the expression right after, clearing my throat casually.
“I, uh… I just needed to get out of there for a while. Sometimes it feels like the walls are closing in on me.”
And it did, but not just at school. Seemed that way everywhere now. Except here.
Liam nodded again. “So, I guess a week off wasn’t enough then.”
It felt like he saw through me, like he knew I wasn’t just here because I had no place else to be. Something told me he knew I was also here because… I wanted to be.
A fact that became clearer to me as I trudged through the woods in my uniform; as I braved the uncertainty of accessing that part of my mind where he always dwelled; as I sat beside him now.
However, instead of admitting all that, I kept my thoughts bottled up, breathing a vague, “Yeah… guess not.”
He didn’t press, didn’t attempt to get me to admit anything further. Instead, he moved on to something else, a topic I was going to bring up myself anyway. “How’s life been as a shifter so far?”
I took a breath. “Yeah, about that. Any idea when I’ll be able to control it? I woke up on fire this morning and, by some small miracle, I didn’t catch my bed on fire.”
He smiled, but I didn’t find anything funny. “Good! You’re already making progress.”
“Progress?”
He nodded and I found myself focused on the knot of hair at the back of his head, remembering how, in my vision a moment ago, it was loose and free. Naturally, I wanted to see it that way now.
“Did you… hear me?”
The question made me blink several times. I had clearly, at some point, zoned out and forgot to listen. “I did, but… um… could you repeat it?”
When one corner of his mouth tugged up into a smile, I was pretty sure he didn’t believe me. And yet, again, he didn’t call me out on it.
“I said that, if your sheets didn’t catch, that means you weren’t burning as hot. Even though you were asleep when you ignited, the shifter within you is always awake and in control.”
I nodded, letting his explanation sink in. “Is that why I dream the way I do?”
I didn’t have to spell out the fact that I was asking if that’s why I dream of him, but he understood, nodding.
“It is.”
A thought rolled around inside my head. She, my shifted form, preferred to be with Liam as opposed to being without him. What other reason would she have for going to him through my dreams at night?
I dipped my chin again, understanding. “Does she, my shifter, have any other… I don’t know what to call them. Powers, I guess?”
Liam chuffed a short breath and I held mine as he rounded the railing. My eyes locked on the trail of ink down his back. A tattoo I hadn’t seen yet—moon phases transitioning from the waxing crescent at the nape of his neck beneath Arabic symbols. At the center of his spine where it dipped inward—a full moon. Then, waning crescent just above the waistband of his jeans. I blinked hard, pretending not to be affected when he sat, joining me on the steps, piercing that fine line where my personal boundaries ended and his began. I nearly scooted over an inch or two to give myself space, but didn’t.
“Two things. First off, you’re referring to your shifter like you’re not one and the same.”
I glanced over and his eyes caught mine. “Is that wrong?”
He nodded and I listened harder. “Yeah. The two are one, just like you’re one with your soul. Your shifter is simply another aspect of you. Actually, if we’re being technical, it’s the biggest part of you.”
His massive hand lifted into the air and he planted it on one side of his chest, touching his own skin.
“This, our flesh, it’s mostly just a… a container,” was the word he chose. “It holds in all that we are, our essence, and, in our case, helps us keep a low profile,” he smiled. “It’d be kind of hard to blend in without it.”
Something he said, that the shifter within me was the biggest part of who I am… it stood out. For one, it completely annihilated a theory I had—that the aspect of my being that’s attached to him no longer existed, that it was some ancient thing he only held on to in memory. But, apparently, it existed and was more powerful than the flesh and blood that, like he said, was merely a container.
An illusion.
I said nothing, just picked a thread at the hem of my skirt as I focused on that stump again.
My expression, or lack thereof, must have triggered him. I felt him watching me, studying me long before asking, “…Am I saying too much?”
Drawing in a swell of air, I let it out slowly. “No. You’re not saying too much.”
His eyes finally left me and he stared off into the distance, too. The quiet unnerved me, so I had to speak. Otherwise, he might read too much into it.
“What about the smoke?” I blurted, drawing his attention again. “Well, the smell of it? I’ve heard one or two classmates mention it before, but today was the first time I thought they might be talking about me. While I don’t think they knew where it was coming from… I had a pretty good idea. I mean, I caught the whiff of a few strange odors today, too, but apparently, all they seemed to notice was mine.”
Liam’s expression softened with a faint smile. “Unfortunately, there�
��s nothing you can do about it.” He turned away again, thinking to himself. “I’ve noticed there seems to be a higher than normal concentration of shifters in the area. So, I’m guessing we’ve landed ourselves in the middle of a clan.”
My brow tensed. “A clan? What’s that?”
“A large cluster of shifters. And, my guess is, the younger ones must’ve all shifted early, just like you.”
Modus Salvos. I remembered the colorful phrase from our last talk. It meant the other kids were in survival mode, too.
I expected more of a response than that, but one never came.
“What is it?”
There was suddenly awareness in his eyes again. “Nothing, I just… a single quake doesn’t usually have this kind of effect. If it did, kids would shift early all the time.”
“And I’m guessing that’s not the case?”
Off in his own thoughts again, Liam shook his head. “No… it isn’t.”
Something about his cryptic responses, the look of grave concern on his face… my stomach was suddenly in knots.
“What does it all mean?”
He hesitated again and I knew the answer before it left his mouth. “Not sure. But I intend to find out.”
At the risk of sounding like a needy child, I asked another question. “How? Where would you find information like that?”
He leaned back, resting his elbows on the step behind us. “There’s a meeting tonight and I’m crashing it, see what they’re talking about.”
I was so confused, but, thankfully, Liam explained this time without me having to beg for more info.
“Wherever there’s a clan, you can bet there’s also a sect of the Council close by. And, nine times out of ten, they’re in Red Status because all the kids shifted early, which means weekly meetings have commenced. And Council meetings, traditionally, are always on Mondays.”
He spoke of all this like an old pro. It was then that I remembered, despite his outer appearance, he wasn’t actually the twenty-year-old guy he appeared to be. Within him was a lifetime of knowledge and I had yet to scratch the surface of it all.
“Where do they meet? Can I come with you?”
I didn’t mean to ask that. I… what was I thinking?
His gaze shifted toward me, sympathetic when he replied. “I know you want to understand everything, but, even though you might not have any reason to… I need you to trust me,” was his gentle plea. “Anything I find out, anything you need to know… I’ll tell you. You have my word.”
He was right; I didn’t have any reason to trust him. However, I did anyway. Blindly. Irrationally.
“And to answer your other question, regarding location, the Council rarely breaks tradition. That means they’re stationed in the subbasement of either an old church, library, or pub. They tend to keep the habit so, in the event new shifters are in town, they know where to find their allies.”
Allies… you only needed allies when you had enemies.
I didn’t say anything else, but I was sure Liam still knew I was unsettled. Perhaps the tether between his soul and mine was the reason he was always so in tune. So, I was only surprised by the physical contact of his hand settling on mine… not the emotion and concern behind the gesture.
“I’ll get answers,” he promised. Somehow, his word was enough.
And I suspected it always had been.
—
Chapter Twenty-Six —
Nick
It was dark.
A winding staircase of stone hidden behind a secret door. Sconces with flames flickering inside led the way, but, in between each beacon of light, total darkness—a setting from a nightmare.
My parents, my brothers, said nothing as we descended. I think we were all somewhat anxious about the outcome of tonight’s Council meeting, but the goal was to present as a united front. Ours wouldn’t be the only family here in full force.
Footsteps echoed behind us as several others followed. We finally reached the bottom and it was hard to tell how many levels we traveled down beneath the library’s basement. It was cold, it was damp, and it was massive—several hundred square feet. Big enough that the outer edges were hidden in shadows, giving the illusion of the room being endless. Thick pillars of stone were all that broke up the otherwise empty space. And, toward the front, an elongated, antique table. From where I stood, I made out carvings in its edges, but had no idea what any of the symbols meant.
Others arrived, bringing the total in the room to a few hundred within a matter of minutes. Still, no one spoke. Aside from the shuffling of feet as we gathered together, it was eerily quiet and a heaviness hung in the room.
I studied my family, took note of how Richie stood front and center. Ben and Kyle flanked him at each side, then my parents and I formed a line behind them—a perfect triangle. Looking around, I saw several other families standing in similar formation and realized it was just standard procedure. With Richie as our alpha, it must have been his responsibility to hold this protective stance if the need should arise to defend our pack.
A light buzz in my pocket had me checking my phone when Roz’s text came through.
‘Look up.’
I did, glancing from left to right until I spotted her. She waved, clinging close to her father near the front. I waved back and my mother didn’t miss a thing. A faint smile was set on her face and I was sure she’d gotten the wrong idea about Roz, not realizing there was nothing between us but friendship. And, sometimes, when she was being particularly irritating… barely that.
The squeak of what sounded like a heavy, metal door echoed through the room. And the already quiet crowd went completely silent. Unnaturally so. The sound of slow-moving footsteps averted my eyes front and center as five, tall, dark figures approached the table. Cloaked in black, hooded robes, their faces were hidden in the shadows. Torches mounted on every other pillar offered little light, casting this creepy subbasement in the perfect ambiance to imagine we were in a horror film. Perhaps, based on the appearance of these representatives of the Council, we were even in the presence of monsters.
‘Are these guys serious? What’s with the monk getup?’
I smiled, texting Roz back as the daunting figures took their seats. ‘I guess it just got real.’
‘LOL’
“Put that away,” Mom whispered, pointing at my phone.
I shot Roz a, ‘We’ll talk after,’ message and shoved it back in my pocket.
A voice, deep and trembling with bass, reverberated off the stone pillars. It was like nothing I’d ever heard before, ringing in my ears like cymbals. “Good evening, all.”
The room mumbled a collectively solemn, “Good evening,” in response.
The cloaked being seated in the middle, shifted his gaze toward Officer Chadwick and, standing slightly hidden behind him, Roz was stiff as a statue.
“It’s been brought to our attention that a motion to speak has been requested,” the Elder stated.
Officer Chadwick nodded, but said nothing.
“Proceed.”
That single word prompted Officer Chadwick to take a step forward as he glanced around at all those who showed up to make a show of solidarity. For the fraction of a second, there was pride in his expression, but it faded when he turned back toward the Council.
I couldn’t imagine this was an easy thing to do.
The nervous energy in the room was stifling. I think everyone here was holding their breath while we waited, unsure of what The Council’s response would be to the clan’s demand for answers, consideration in the decision making.
Roz’s fingers were pressed to her mouth and I wished she’d had someone else standing with her, but there was no one. She watched with rigid shoulders as her father went out on a limb for the greater good of the whole.
“Thank you, all of you, for giving me this opportunity to speak,” he began, clearing his throat when the pressure began to get to him. “I also appreciate you, Elders, for your willingness to listen
as I speak for our people.”
The one in the middle, whom I now believed to be in charge, nodded once before his body went still again.
Officer Chadwick sighed. “Well, to start, we need to know why our children are shifting by the droves. Many of us were unprepared. And while there were no casualties, there very well could have been. Luckily, the parents in our community were able to handle the crisis and most have already begun to adjust.”
“Your point, Mr. Chadwick,” The Elder droned, his deep voice drawing out with boredom.
“Right… my point. Let’s see, uh… I guess we’re wondering what you’re not telling us. This doesn’t just happen. Are we in some sort of danger? Is this the result of the stand you’ve taken against the tariff?” he asked, sounding defeated when he sighed again. “We just think we’re owed some answers.”
I leaned toward my mother to whisper. “What tariff?”
It was clear she wanted to shush me, but she gave a short answer to appease me instead. “It’s the tax we pay.”
Unfortunately, her answer only confused me more. “To who?”
This time, she mouthed for me to quiet down, so that’s what I did.
There was a long bout of silence that made my stomach turn. The Council whispered among themselves before the only Elder who’d spoken aloud replied to Officer Chadwick’s plea.
“Let me remind you, all of you, there is an order to things. There is a such thing as rank within our clan and each of you would be wise to heed it.” The response was cold and dismissive, delivered in the same unhurried manner as anything else he said here tonight. “However,” he continued, “we’re not completely insensitive to your concerns.”
Officer Chadwick’s shoulders relaxed a bit.
“Because this matter concerns your children, we will share that what we’ve been experiencing here in Seaton Falls is not an isolated event.”