Better safe than sorry.
I knocked on her closed door and heard a muffled sound inside.
“Mattie? You in there?”
“Go away.” It was a male that answered.
A guy? There was no chance Mattie had invited a guy into her room that fast.
I tried to turn the knob, but it was locked. Without taking a moment to consider the possible explanations I kicked open the door. There was a couple on the bed. I didn’t know the girl’s name, but I recognized Greg’s older brother. Everyone was connected in this town.
“What the hell, Pierce?” he screamed.
“What the hell? This is Mattie’s room. Get out!”
“You destroyed her door. You think she’s going to like that?” He sat up in bed.
“Have you seen her?” By their state of undress I knew the answer was likely no. Unless Greg moved really fast.
“We’re talking about the new girl, right?”
“Yes. Mattie. The new librarian. Have you seen her?” I was impatient. Wasting time wasn’t an option.
“No. Well, I don’t know if I’ve seen her. I don’t know what she looks like.”
I groaned. “You are no help.”
“Would you lean the door up please? A little privacy.” The girl had the blanket up to just under her chin.
“Privacy?” I wanted to rail on about how disrespectful they were being, but finding Mattie was way more important.
I searched around for Delpha. She was hosting this party, the least she could do was know where Mattie was.
Were we even gone long enough to have filled up the entire apartment in that space of time? I would say it was unbelievable, but this was Willow Harbor. Nothing was unbelievable here.
Finally I saw a flash of pink hair. “Delpha!” I yelled her name over the loud music.
“Oh, hey. Pierce.” She kissed me on the cheek. “Where’s Mattie?”
“I was about to ask you the same question.”
“Wait. You lost her?” Her smiled faded.
“I lost her?” She had to be kidding me. “I wasn’t aware she was my responsibility.”
“But you went after her.”
“Because you told me to.” Besides, she easily could have come with me instead of hosting the stupid party.
“No. Don’t put this on me.” She puffed out her chest. “You wanted to go after her.”
“So what?” I was too worried to care about arguing. I liked Mattie. Delpha already knew it. “We are wasting time. You are positive she hasn’t come in here?”
“Yes. I’ve been waiting.”
“Where else could she have gone?”
“Didn’t you find her? How hard could it have been?”
“I had a run in with Ty.” I went with the simple explanation.
“Go find her.” She pointed to the door.
“What about you?”
“Am I supposed to leave all these people in our apartment?”
“You could make them leave.”
“And send them out there?” She didn’t need to say more. I knew exactly what she was saying. Many of them were dangerous when not in a public setting.
“Ok. Call me if she shows up.” I ran back down the stairs and into the lobby. I noticed something I hadn’t when I first walked in, mostly because I had been so focused on running upstairs. The door to the lower level was open. Why would anyone go down there at night? Unless they were doing what Greg and his girl were doing. I doubted Mattie would have gone down there either, but it was worth a shot.
I undressed and left my clothes behind a bookcase before shifting. I chose a cat. It wasn’t my favorite form to shift into, but it worked well for situations like this where I needed to be stealthy, quiet, and blend in. Plus, theoretically a cat could be in the library. A panther not so much.
I slipped into the stairwell. If all went well, I’d be back for for my clothes in minutes. Likely there was no one down there at all.
Halfway down the stairs I was proven wrong. There was someone down there. That was for sure. I could hear him or her breathing. Quickly I realized it was a her and a human. That narrowed things down quite a bit.
Mattie sat on the floor reading a book. I stayed back for a moment, watching her through my cat eyes. At least I could watch without getting caught, but there was no real reason to stay long. She was safe. I could wait upstairs. There was no other exit from the basement. Unless someone else was down there already. That was a good enough reason to stick around. I couldn’t see what she was reading, so I moved closed.
Achoo. She sneezed. Achoo. She sneezed again. “What?” She moved to her feet, still holding the book.
I slipped behind a book case.
“Is there a cat down here?” She sneezed again. “Great. And I thought I could spend the evening down here.” Achoo. “I guess I can’t catch any kind of break tonight.”
She was allergic to cats? Seriously? I should have picked another animal. I slipped back toward the stairs.
“Ah ha!” She sneezed again. “I see you, cat.”
I ran up the stairs and though the doorway. She ran after me, but by the time she reached the main lobby I had transformed and was quickly getting dressed.
“Where are you cat?” She yelled.
I stepped out of the shadows.
She screamed and nearly fell down the stairs.
I grabbed her just before she tumbled down. “Hey, it’s just me. What cat are you looking for?”
“The one that was in the basement. Is there a library cat here? I wish someone told me so I could have taken my allergy—”
“There’s no library cat. If you saw one, it was a stray.” I smiled to myself. A stray was a pretty good word to use to describe myself. As the last of the true shapeshifters in town, I didn’t quite fit in anywhere.
“Ok, good.” She stepped away from me.
“But why were you downstairs?” I closed the door behind her. We didn’t need anyone falling down there.
“Huh? How did you know?”
“The door.” I gestured to the now closed door.
“Oh. I was looking for a place to wait the party out.”
“The party isn’t ending anytime soon.” Parties rarely did around here.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t say that.”
“I would suggest you lay low at my place, but—” I didn’t even finish my sentence. Her expression said it all.
“Yeah, no.” She gave me a stern look.
I shrugged. “As I was trying to say, I figured that wouldn’t sound right.”
“I guess I should go up there.”
“I’m sorry about your door,” I blurted out.
“My door?” She narrowed her eyes.
“I was worried about you. I kicked it down. I’ll replace it tomorrow.”
“Why in the world would you have kicked down my door?”
“Because I was worried,” I admitted.
“Worried about what exactly?” She stepped around me, away from the doorway.
“About you. Like I said.” I followed, not looking to broadcast my feelings any louder than they had to be.
“That doesn’t tell me anything. I’m asking why you were worried about me.”
What could I tell her? The truth would be the hardest, but I wasn’t interested in lying. I wanted to explain it all to her even if when she left town she’d never remember. That was the weird part of Willow Harbor—the supernatural rules that controlled everything. Unless a human was meant to stay, they forgot everything important the second they stepped out through the gate. That reality scared me more with Mattie. Would it mean she’d also forget me?
“Are you going to answer?” She pulled me from my thoughts. “Stare much?”
“I’m sorry. This town isn’t a safe place for someone like you. That’s all.”
“Someone like me?” She put a hand to her chest. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“If I could explain, I would.”
/>
“But you can’t? Is this kind of like the card catalog I can’t have access to? The books that are off limits? Oh, and I bet that’s what you are going to tell me about all those locked rooms downstairs? They aren’t for someone like me? I assume you don’t mean a girl, because Delpha seems to know everything. Is this a New Yorker thing?” She leaned against a book case knocking off a plastic display rack. “Darn it.” She started to pick up the broken pieces.
I picked up the pieces and books. “No. It has nothing to do with where you are from. It’s what you are.”
“Excuse me?” She pulled the books from me.
“How did you hear about this job? What made you apply?” I set the broken pieces of plastic on top of the bookcase.
“I didn’t apply.” She set down the books. “The career director at my school got a call and said I fit what they, your mom I guess, were looking for. So I took a call with your mom a few days ago and went for it.”
She really must have been desperate. A few days was a really quick turn around. “Do you normally take jobs without visiting the place?”
“No, but I am not normally this desperate.”
“Because your boss screwed you over.” Without thinking I brushed a few pieces of hair away from her face.
“Good choice of words.” She didn’t seem to mind my fixing her hair. I wasn’t sure what to make of that.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m going out for some fresh air.”
“No!” I shouted louder than I meant.
“You can’t stop me.”
“I already told you it’s dangerous.” I looked out at the dark night. I could see well enough thanks to my night vision, but that didn’t mean there weren’t things lurking out there that even I couldn’t see.
“But not why. I’m not going to just take your word for it and huddle in my room. That’s right, I can’t even huddle in my room. The door is gone, or so you say.”
“If I prove to you this town is dangerous, will you be careful?” My question might lead to some serious complications, but if it kept her safe, it would be worth it.
“Or maybe I’ll leave.”
“Don’t do that.” That would defeat the whole purpose.
“Why not?”
“Because I kind of want you to stay.” I really wanted her to stay, but I wasn’t ready to tell her the truth about my feelings—the truth might scare her worse than anything else I had to say.
“Kind of want me to?” She narrowed her eyes.
“I want you to. Okay?”
“It’s not like I have anywhere else to go. Other than back to my parents’ house, and that can’t happen.” Her face fell.
“No, it can’t.”
“Says the guy who works for his mom.” Her lips twisted into a smile.
“I don’t just work for her. I do the IT for everyone around here.”
“You technically work for her even if she’s not your only boss.” Her lips twisted into a smile.
“Fine, point made.” I liked the smile. She needed to do it more.
“Ok, where to? I’m ready for you to show me the danger.”
“Ok, let’s go back downstairs.”
“Wait.” She eyed the door warily. “Were you downstairs before?”
“I was.”
“I didn’t see you.”
“You did.” I started down the stairs, glad when I heard her following.
“I only saw a cat.”
“Exactly.”
“Exactly what?” She glanced over her shoulder.
I stopped when I reached the mostly dark room. She’d left the dim overhead light on when she’d followed me up.
“Listen, I won’t do the cat again because you are allergic, and I want to show you the dangers. Plus a cat isn’t scary.”
“What are you talking about?” She wrapped her arms around herself.
“Just remember I won’t hurt you in any form, but there are others who would.”
“You’ve lost me.” Her brow furrowed.
“I am going to look dangerous because I want you to listen to me, but I am not actually dangerous. Everyone else is though.”
“Yeah, that didn’t help.”
“Ok. Promise you won’t run off until I shift back?” I pulled off my t-shirt.
“Shift back?” Her eyes widened. “And why are you taking off your shirt?”
“If my taking my shirt off bothers you, you might want to avert your eyes for the rest of this.” I didn’t waste anymore time as I took off my pants and reached for the best animal I could think of—a grizzly bear.
Her eyes widened, she paled, and she fell backwards onto the floor.
Nine
Mattie
My head hurt. It throbbed, and I decided to keep my eyes closed for a few minutes for good measure. I squeezed them shut as tight as I could, hoping the crazy thoughts I was having would disappear.
A bear. Where Pierce had been standing a bear appeared. That was impossible. It had been a crazy few days, and I was paying for it now.
“Mattie? You all right?” Pierce’s voice came from right next to me, and that made me even more hesitant to open my eyes. I didn’t. I focused on the darkness. Maybe this was all a bad dream and the hard floor beneath me was part of it too. Or maybe I rolled out of bed. That was it. I wasn’t used to the bed, and I rolled off. Maybe I hit my head. There were so many possibilities that didn’t involve the guy I was attracted to being able to turn into an animal.
“Mattie. Please. I’m sorry. I need to know you don’t need medical attention.” He put his hand on my forehead. His touch was warm and kind of comforting. But it shouldn’t have been comforting. I reached up and pushed his hand off. Dream or not, it was time to stop fantasizing over a guy who wasn’t into me.
“Oh, I need medical attention.” That didn’t mean I was going to open my eyes.
“Ok. I’ll carry you to the clinic.” His hands moved to my side.
“No. I don’t mean that kind of medical attention.” I opened my eyes. Pierce was shirtless. Pierce looked really good shirtless. I closed my eyes again.
“What kind of medical care do you mean?” His hands still rested against my sides. The warmth felt good. Too good.
“I mean I’ve lost my mind.” I needed to push him away. That was what any sane person would do. “And I am not trying to disrespect mental health. I am actually worried.”
“You saw me turn into a bear.”
My eyes flew open. “You can’t turn into a bear.” I needed him to agree with me, to put the crazy thought to rest.
“I can. I also turned into the cat you saw earlier.” He moved his hands to his knees, and I missed his touch as much as I didn’t want to.
“Nope. Impossible. That would be impossible.” He was crazy. Maybe he wasn’t a jerk, but he was crazy.
“I can turn into any animal as long as I’ve seen it once.”
“Oh yeah? Funny.” Did he really have to make this worse?
“It’s true. Not very funny, but if you think so, more power to you.”
“Was there a bear here?” I still hadn’t ruled out a dream, but this one was very vivid if It was one. Imagining the bear was the more obvious possibility.
“There was me as a bear. Not a wild bear, but a bear. I was the bear, as I already explained.”
“Oh, you’re not wild?” The words came out without me thinking about how they would be interpreted.
He grinned. “Well, I suppose that would depend on who you asked.”
“I didn’t mean that in any sort of sexual way.”
“I’m sure you didn’t.” He smiled in a wry way that made the whole situation that much worse.
“I didn’t.” I sat up, ready to defend myself.
“Then why do you keep saying it?”
“Because I don’t want you to think for a second—” I stopped myself before I could say anything worse.
“Think what exactly?” His grin got bigger.<
br />
“Why are you smiling?” I snapped.
“Why does it matter if I’m smiling?” He held out a hand as if to help me up.
“It matters.” I shrugged off his offer of help and started to stand.
He grabbed my elbow before I was all the way up. “You don’t like when people smile?”
“Arrg.” I was annoyed with him about so many things.
“Sorry, I can’t help it. You bring out this argumentative side of me.”
“It’s only a side?” If it was, it was a very big side.
“Do you believe me?” He stood stock still beside me.
“About what exactly?” I rubbed the back of my head again. I was probably going to end up with a knot.
He sighed. “About the dangers in this town.”
“I want to know what you slipped me.”
“Excuse me?” His expression darkened.
“I don’t remember ingesting anything, so was it something you rub on the skin?”
“Are you accusing me of drugging you?” His voice rose.
“Maybe.” I was probably entering dangerous territory, but I wanted to know the truth.
“I would never do that to anyone, let alone you.”
“Let alone me? Are you once again pulling me out of inclusion with the rest of the world?”
“Not the rest of this world…”
“Then the rest of what?” I was exasperated, and I wasn’t about to hide it.
“This town.” He picked up his shirt off the floor.
“Because everyone here thinks they can shift into animals. Right.”
“Actually I am the only one here who can shift into any animal. There are some wolf shifters and bear shifters, but that’s different.” He pulled his shirt on over his head.
I started to laugh, and once I started I couldn’t stop. It was like a tap opened and wouldn’t stop running.
“You okay?”
“You’ve asked me that already.”
“Because you keep doing things to make me doubt your state of mind.”
“I already told you I’ve lost my mind.”
“You haven’t. You’re just going to have to get used to things here.” He took a seat on the floor.
I stayed standing. I felt better being the one higher up. “So really, what’s going on?”
Shifter’s Fate: Willow Harbor - Book One Page 7