by Elsa, Sandra
One of the vehicles parked by the curb in front of my house started to follow me and I promptly cut across a lawn, racing for the park on the southern side of the dome. After a mile I slowed to a jog. The Hummer appeared on occasion as I crossed roads. I was tempted to shoot out a tire, just to make sure they knew I was aware of them. Left it alone. Once in the park they couldn’t follow me unless they wanted to get their expensive suits dirty and ruin their five hundred dollar shoes.
I picked up speed again as I entered the park and blasted past the parking lot, angling back and forth between the three paths. My theory being that by the time I disappeared in the woods it would be nearly impossible to tell which one I ended up following. I slowed my pace to a jog again and continued on. By the time I started feeling the burn I had gone close to five miles.
I slowed to a walk and looked around. Nothing familiar greeted me. The wall surrounding the park stood in front of me with a path running beside it. To the right, a campground with about five tents looked like home away from home. A small pond lay off the western end of the campground. It looked cool and refreshing, so I slowed to examine it. After sticking a finger in it, I decided the saline content was high enough I wouldn’t be drinking that water.
As I stood back up, a man came out of one of the tents with a good old-fashioned shotgun leveled at me. “Who are you and what are you doing here?”
Chapter 23
I held my hands out away from my body. This was what I got for treating other people like this. “Name’s Frankie. I was jogging and thirsty. Your pond looked inviting.”
“It’s saline.”
“I noticed. Was just leaving.”
“Fountain about a half mile north of here. Hooked up to the desalination lines.”
“Thanks.”
He didn’t lower the shotgun and I stood where I was as he stared at me. A woman came out of the next tent over and said, “We don’t own the damn pond, Will. You can’t keep pointing that thing at everyone who happens by.”
Reluctantly he lowered the barrel and I breathed a bit deeper. The woman looked me over then asked, “Did you say your name was Frankie?”
“That’d be me.”
“I’m Jesse.” She had long blonde tresses falling in waves to her waist. A slight, curvaceous, build, covered only by a skimpy violet bikini. “Paul and Poppy told me all about you.” With my eyes not fastened on the barrel of the shotgun the scales were obvious. “This is William, Paul’s great-grandfather. He gets a bit touchy about the pond. It’s one of the ways we get here without being seen. Tunnels run to the ocean. Will’s lab is a half mile southwest from here. He’s supposed to meet your father this afternoon.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. Sorry I haven’t had the chance before now. With my father-in-law and his men around, I haven’t wanted to appear too interested in the ocean.”
“We appreciate that.”
“I’d best be going. I’m sure Drover’s security teams are hunting me down as we speak. I ditched them and they seem to think I need protecting. Or at least following.”
“When will we be going outside?” She asked.
I froze for a fraction of a second before recalling Paul had asked if he could bring somebody else along. “You’re the one Paul wanted to bring?”
“He said we might be able to occupy the ocean. If it’s habitable, Paul and I will be getting married.”
I gave a sudden bark of laughter. “He didn’t tell me all that.”
“He didn’t lead you on did he?”
“Oh…no. I’m quite happily married and fairly oblivious to other men, so even if he tried, I wouldn’t likely have noticed. I just didn’t know how much he decided to gamble on our little expedition. I hope he doesn’t end up disappointed. Although to tell the truth, I think the oceans are more ready to contain life than the earth. We’ll probably take a quick trip out there in the next couple days just to water our plants. We need to stock up on supplies before we go out to stay for a long time again. Don’t want to do that while Jordan Drover and his circus are in town.”
“Can we ride out when you go to water? We should be able to tell if the water is habitable in a matter of minutes. We could even take a couple of plants from the ocean gardens and start them growing. Kelp grows like crazy and it’s very nutritious.”
“That sounds like a plan. Will you be here in two days or back by the pier?”
“Just come to the ocean. Poppy will let us know you’re looking for us, I swear she’s dropped weight since you showed up. Spends her days waiting for a glimpse of you.”
“She’s pretty remarkable. But I best get my rear in gear, or you’ll have more unwanted company.”
She waved. “Have a good run.”
My muscles had cooled down and started to tighten up with my over-long unplanned stop. I walked a little ways to stretch them out and no sooner did I get back on the path I’d been following than the sound of hard soled shoes slapping the earth became noticeable behind me. These guys were dedicated. I hoped the shoes were standard issue and not something they had to replace themselves. I took off at a jog again, wondering if they were that good at tracking, or if they had somehow managed to tag me. There were several trails through the park; I couldn’t believe they were still this close. I dodged off the trail a ways and stood behind a tree long enough to watch them pass the place I’d side-stepped. Sorenson; and the slighter built man from the car on the north side of the house.
Sorenson slowed as he passed my turn off. It chilled me when he stopped and back-tracked. He didn’t look at the ground. Head up, nose working, his eyes searched the woods as he whistled to get his partner’s attention, about the same time I put a twenty-two slug in the tree next to his head. He stood stock still, “Calm down, Frankie,” unlike his partner who dove into the dirt.
“I told you not to follow me.”
“Damn it, Frankie. It’s my job. I don’t get to choose which orders I obey.”
“Well your job sucks. How are you tracking me?”
“We all have our secrets.”
I checked for magic. Nothing, unless you counted the shield his partner threw together. “You couldn’t possibly have picked out my prints and come after me and still be that close.”
“Couldn’t I?”
My mind clicked on the, head-in-the-air, animal way of scenting prey. Pieces fell together. “Ahhh… Damn it…Fucking mages. Do me one favor?”
“Anything but leave you unprotected.”
“Bleed.” I tossed my knife at him and skimmed his shoulder. Shame about the suit, but a crazy thought had filled my mind and my crazy thoughts usually panned out. I wasn’t wrong this time either. Not altogether.
His hand flew to the tiny slice, A growl filled the air and the hand changed to a paw as two-hundred twenty pounds of spotted cat landed in front of me.
OK…so not quite what I expected. I’d never even heard tell of a Were in any form but wolf. But very few wolves could conceal what they were. There were slight, telling differences. Not hideous…I’d always thought Rollick a fine specimen of the male species. Probably got more enjoyment from watching him shift back to human form than I should have, but still, I could pick them out of a crowd.
Sorenson rolled on the ground, thrashing for a moment, then he lay still, limbs trembling. I approached him cautiously. He watched me warily. I picked up his clothing from under his legs, shook it out, then folded it. His partner huddled behind his shield so I pointed a finger at it and turned it off. “Do you have any water?”
“N-no.”
“Man up. I’m not going to hurt you. Just needed to answer a few questions in my head. He wasn’t going to give them to me. I tossed him Sorenson’s shirt. There’s a pond back by the last corner. Go soak that. If we can clean the slice we’ll have him back to normal in no time, but be quick before his blood absorbs too much silver. The man tore off at a dead run. I scratched Sorenson behind the ear. “Sorry, but I don’t handle secrets well. Especially no
t when all of mine are in the wind. I’ve seen you use magic, so I reckon there are some differences, besides form, between you and wolves. I gotta tell you, you’re actually, pretty freakin’ awesome.”
He still trembled, but he nudged his head more firmly under my hand. His partner returned and I took the shirt and scrubbed the wound in his shoulder. It had already stopped bleeding, but I squeezed it, making it bleed again and scrubbed the raw flesh. The saline content of the water might even help cleanse the wound. If it burned, I couldn’t tell. Sorenson bore my ministrations stoically.
By the time I finished, his legs stopped trembling. I tugged him upwards by the loose skin on his neck. “Can you move?”
He rolled to his belly and pushed himself upright until he achieved a sitting position. He settled there and breathed heavily several moments before struggling the rest of the way up. I collected my knife from the trail and wiped it on my sweats before sheathing it. With all four feet underneath himself, he started trembling again.
“You need a few more minutes?”
He shook his head and took a wobbling step back toward the trail. “Grab his clothes,” I ordered his partner and the man obeyed me with no hesitation at all.
We continued in the direction we’d been going and gradually Sorenson’s stride steadied, then lengthened. Before long I was jogging again, he remained by my legs like a pet. After another two miles he stopped in the trail and shifted. Damn, he was every bit as fine on two legs as four. He watched me watch him, and grinned knowingly.
“Don’t misunderstand,” I told him. “Just because I appreciate a good physique doesn’t mean I’m interested. Used to love watching Rollick shift and I was friends with his wife. We’re nearly back to the park entrance though, so you might want to put something on.”
His partner looked relieved to hand over the clothing and the shoes. He was having a time trying to catch his breath. The shirt had nearly dried and the blood was nowhere that would show once he buttoned up the coat.
Sorenson stayed beside me as I cut through lawns to get back to the house. His partner gratefully got back in the car and drove. When the other man left, Sorenson said, “You’re pretty freakin’ awesome yourself, Francesca. I cannot believe you did that to me. Nobody’s ever picked me out as a Were before.”
“I’ll probably tell Harrison, but it won’t go any farther. I assume Jordan Drover and the security team already know?” I slowed to a walk for the last half mile.
He matched my stride as he responded. “Of course. It’s why I got hired. We’re more alike than not. Magic can’t hurt me and yet I can use it.”
“Do you also get the, impervious-to-normal-weapons, bit? If you do, that makes you a step above me.”
“Normal weapons won’t kill me, but you can collect other peoples’ spells and turn them back, on their creators. I’d say that levels us back up.”
“Here’s a clue, the next time somebody fires a weapon at you, you should at least flinch.”
“You weren’t going to kill me.”
“You had that Were confidence that I couldn’t. Not with that little bitty pistol. They don’t make twenty-two rounds out of silver.” Something I griped about every time I had to buy new bullets. Which fortunately wasn’t often. My criminology course had informed me the reasoning behind that was to deter every prejudiced, Joe Citizen from killing off our wolfie population. If you had to pay six-hundred dollars for a bullet you thought long and hard about using them.
“It had nothing to do with the caliber of your weapon. Even if you’d been pointing a forty-five loaded with silver at me, I wouldn’t have flinched. You might not want me with you, but I’m pretty sure you know I only have your best interest at heart.”
“Bet you didn’t think I’d knife you either.”
“Well…no. But then, like I said, nobody’s ever made me as a Were before.”
“Small wonder. So are there more like you hiding in District Seven?”
“Just my Mom. She moved here from the northwest part of America. She said there was a pride out there. But there aren’t many of us.”
“Ever tempted to go looking for others.”
“Nope, Mom always made it sound like they weren’t that pleasant to be around.”
“Do all cats have talent?”
He shook his head with a grin. “You have to know everything about everything don’t you?”
“That would seem to be a failing we share.”
“If you must know, my talent comes from my father and from what I gather it’s rare for it to carry into Mom’s bloodlines.
“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“One sister, Isabel.”
The house came in sight. Harrison stood on the lawn looking toward the park. Sorenson’s partner was already parked back in front of the house. I wondered if Greg and Tony had left. Harrison spied us walking toward him and tension eased out of him. He strode in our direction.
When he came near he wrapped his arms around me. “Where have you been? Damn. Did that sound needy? We haven’t been apart that long since…since we got married, except the night Dad tried his hedge-witchery. And just like now, I found you walking beside another man.” He grinned to turn it into a joke. “To tell the truth I was afraid you might have killed him when he took off after you.”
Sorenson reached up to the wound in his shoulder. “She did knife me.”
Harrison stared at the gap in the sleeve of the coat. “Please tell me you weren’t trying to kill him.”
“Satisfying my curiosity. If I wanted to kill him I would have. Even the impure silver in my blades will kill if delivered to the heart.”
Harrison pushed me back to arm’s length, staring, then returned his gaze to Sorenson’s face. “You can’t be saying what it sounds like you’re saying. I’ve seen him use magic. More than just yesterday with the spear.”
“Are Tony and Greg still here?”
“They went to the beach with Jerry. Told them we’d meet them there after you got back.”
“But for now the house is empty?”
“Yeah.”
“Cool. Will you show him Sorenson, or do I have to knife you again? He’s awesome, Harrison. It’s a new one on me.”
“Please don’t cut me again. Don’t know if my heart could take being hit by silver twice in one day. I’ll show him.”
We headed for the house. Inside, I pulled Harrison down on the couch beside me and Sorenson removed his coat. Harrison whistled as the bloody patches from where I cleaned his shoulder came into view. “I’ve probably got a shirt you can borrow. Haven’t bought many white shirts since I started rebuilding my wardrobe but there should be at least one in there.”
Sorenson folded the shirt and placed it beside the neatly laid out jacket. “Thank you. That would be appreciated.”
Just as I wondered if he’d take his pants off, he shimmered and dropped to all fours. Harrison’s eyes shone as he leaned forward to examine the spotted cat. “So is he a leopard, cheetah or jaguar? Pretty sure there are others with spots.”
“Big cats weren’t part of my history studies,” I said.
Sorenson shimmered and stood before us in all his glorious nakedness. “Leopard,” he said.
For Harrison’s peace of mind I tried not to look as admiring as I felt.
Sorenson pulled on his briefs and pants then stopped, “May I use your shower? Your wife had me thrashing in the dirt after making me run five miles in a suit.”
“Use the one in Jerry’s room,” I told him. “We ran over seven miles. You’re not the only one hot and sweaty. Your partner out there gonna need to get cleaned up?”
“He’ll go off duty in another hour. Take a shower back at the hotel. I’m with you until President Drover decides to go home. Unless he decides to leave me here.”
“Surely he doesn’t think I’d trust you with being part of our plans? I’d hate for you to be overly persistent while I’m doing something I don’t want him knowing about.”
>
“If he leaves me here, it will be because I’ve failed twice in as many days.” He hung his head in abject depression. “Even if I was still in his employ, you could trust me Frankie. Give me little tidbits I can pass him and I’d keep any secrets you want kept.”
“And why would you do that? You’re very good at your job. I see you working, but that’s only because I’m paranoid.”
“I’ve seen the darker side of Jordan Drover. As your husband said earlier, he’s prejudiced against Weres. I didn’t have it as bad as Salas because I can use magic. But he still doesn’t like that his magic doesn’t affect me. Until yesterday in the car when you mentioned he was waiting on grandchildren, I did wonder why he tolerated you so well. Once that piece of the puzzle fell into place, I decided to see if I could convince you to trust me. I knew it was you when you left yesterday. Illusion doesn’t cover scent. I know Jeffrey Drover is in your suite at the hotel, and I smelled some ailment about him. I haven’t told anybody he’s there. Even glossed over your Aunts’ presence. I figured letting you walk would get me let go. I’m not sure if being assigned to protect you was his method of punishing my lapse or if there’s some other reasoning behind it, but it isn’t because of my undying loyalty.”
“We’ll see. You could always quit.”
“Would you believe that?”
I laughed. “You already know me too well. No, I probably wouldn’t believe you actually quit. Especially not if it was some publicly staged scene so I’d be sure to know it happened.” To tell the truth, I wouldn’t mind having him around. I liked looking at interesting scenery. I clamped down on that thought and said, “I stink, I’m going to get a shower.”
Harrison leaned over and kissed me. “Let me get Sorenson set up in Jerry’s room. I’ll join you “