“Both. It’s always both in the Shifter world.”
He didn’t say anything else, and she supposed that was because there wasn’t much to say. They remained quiet until they reached the mini-campsite they had set up, and just like she had seen minutes earlier, it was completely wrecked.
“Wow…” David breathed. “It’d almost be impressive if it wasn’t so goddamned infuriating.”
“Not really,” Jaelle murmured. “It’s so easy to destroy in this world. Breaking things down with claws, or teeth, or power. The hardest thing in life is to create.”
“You have a point.” He surveyed the area before nodding. “Well, let’s get things together and go on our way. We got a solid, what, five hours in?”
“Wait, what?”
“We need to put together what supplies we can rummage out of this mess. We should probably be fast if those Hunters you were talking about are on our tail.”
“Oh, right. Yes, I guess that’s the best plan. Except…”
“Except what?”
“We need to go in opposite directions.”
That made the man give her a double take and his eyes grew wide in disbelief. “I’m sorry, what?”
“If the Hunters find you with me, they’ll kill you. If they find you on your own, not only have they gone the wrong direction, but they’re sworn not to harm you unless you try to harm them first.”
“And what makes you think they’ll honor this promise?”
“They’re Hunters. They’re about as noble and honorable as they come. That’s one of the reasons I’ve been able to dodge them for so long. They’ve got some very strict protocol of what they can and cannot do.”
“So, what then? This is goodbye and we’ll never see each other again?”
“Hardly.” She crossed to him and pressed and earnest kiss to his cheek. “Keep going to Alaska. I’m going to give them the slip then circle round back to you. I’m not abandoning you, not like last time, but if you want both of us to survive, we need to split up now.”
He looked like he didn’t like what she was saying, but he sighed. “Fine. I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it.”
He caught her lips in his, all his passion and love coursing through where their skin touched. But then he was letting go and gently pushing her away.
“I love you,” he murmured, stroking her face.
“I love you, too,” she answered, tears threatening to spill over her lids again. She turned and ran, shifting into a fox as she did. Her bones creaked and her joints popped at the abrupt transition, but she didn’t let that hinder her.
As her senses expanded, she became aware of sounds at the very edge of her hearing range. Shuffling through the foliage that were only made by predators in the middle of the hunt. They were close, much closer than she had thought.
She ran as fast as she could, crossing as much ground as was physically possible with her fleet little legs. She wasn’t sure quite how long she was running, but the first rays of sunlight began to peek over the edge of the horizon before she collapsed in a heap.
Her form rapidly expanded outward again, human flesh replacing fox and paws turning hands and feet. She was covered in sweat from head to foot, her hair stuck flat to her head, and her breath was ragged.
But she couldn’t stop. She hadn’t put enough distance between herself and the Hunters and David.
She wiped her hands on her camisole before forcing her heart to slow down. Instead of focusing on her fear, she focused on the feeling of the fabric beneath her fingers. She had never quite understood why Shifters’ clothing made it through the transformation process. She had thought they would either be ripped away or left in a puddle, but somehow, they always made it through the other side. It’s what made her think Shifting abilities were more magic based than science, but maybe that’s because the science just wasn’t that developed yet.
There, that was good. She was calming down. She could do this. She had to do this. She could hear the Hunters growing ever closer.
So, she concentrated again. And again, her form rippled, changing and rearranging until she was a dog once more.
And then she kept running.
Time did that funny thing where it stretched out impossibly far until it had no meaning. What was a minute? What was an hour?
Who knew?
The only things that mattered was the ground below her feet and the sounds of the Hunters growing every closer. It was an endless melody, pushing her to keep running. An endless drumming rhythm insisting on one more step, one more step, one more step.
The next time she looked to the sky, she realized it was night again. When had that happened? She didn’t know. She didn’t know anything.
Just running.
There was only running.
But eventually, even the most determined of Shifters would give out. As much as she tried to keep her feet under her, her stomach began to growl insistently and her muscles cried out for rest. She tried to shut it out, but those cries – no, demands – became louder and louder until she could do nothing but collapse into a heap.
This time her return to human form was sluggish, almost like a puddle of flesh slowly melting into its original form. She could hardly breathe, the rise and fall of her chest being too much for her exhausted body to handle.
But she had to get up.
She had to buy David more time.
She struggled to her feet, calling up the form of a wolf. But no matter how much she concentrated, her limbs stayed decidedly human.
“Shit,” she swore to herself, panic rising through her exhausted body. “Come on, please.”
But nothing happened.
It looked like this was the end of the line.
Dammit.
This wasn’t how she wanted it to end, panting and alone in the Alaskan wilderness, David always wondering if she was dead or if she had abandoned him yet again.
How did she let it get like this? She shouldn’t have refused the Aberrant so flippantly. She should have at least asked his name.
But could she really side with a murderer? She didn’t think so.
He had several points though. How many times had she cowered in some rotting hole, sure that she was going to die violently. How many more kids or teens would have to go through the same thing? She had never really thought of it from that perspective. Those kids were innocent. Just as innocent as her. They didn’t deserve death, and did she, really? Sure, she’d been no angel in her frantic rush for survival, but she wasn’t a killer.
And what if…
What if she never went mad?
What if Aberrants weren’t necessarily ticking timebombs?
She didn’t know what to think of that, but it was the last coherent thing her mind was able to put together before she spun into darkness.
Chapter Twelve: A Doomed Showdown
Sleep, once again, was blissful. A small little slice of death, it fueled her more than it had any right to.
She laid there for hours, completely immobile, until the soft rays of dawn warmed her exhausted body. She wanted nothing more than to lay there forever, but if she wanted to have a last stand, she couldn’t do it here. She wouldn’t stand a chance.
Slowly, she sat up, opening her eyes with considerable effort. Groaning, she looked around, taking inventory of her surroundings. She was in a thick group of bushes and gnarled trees, barely any sunlight filtering through the canopy. And yet it had been enough to wake her up, so she supposed she should be grateful.
She struggled to her feet, every muscle in her body screaming in protest. But she shoved all of that down and forced herself to shift once more.
This time, however, she changed directions. Instead of blindly running as far or as fast as she could, I started scenting the area. She was inundated with information, but she let it all flow over her in a rush until she found what she was looking for.
The dark, damp smell of several different cave and burrows drifted to her, coming ever c
loser as she changed her direction and dashed toward them. Not too much later, she came face to face with a large, rocky mound that looked like it might be the very humble start of a mountain chain. It was perfect. The last thing she wanted was for the Hunters to be able to encircle her and having a stalwart cliff-face at her back would do that.
It was only while staring up at the looming natural architecture that she realized how full circle her story had come in such a short time.
Two weeks ago, she had run from the comfort of Braywire and David’s arms, Hunters hot on her tail until she confronted them at a cliff. She had never been much of one for de ja vu, but she had a feeling that she hadn’t learned from her history, because she was definitely already repeating it.
But last time she managed to get away and find David again. Maybe she would be lucky and lightning would strike twice. Unfortunately, there was no well-placed river to dive into and be swept away in. That would have been just too convenient, she supposed.
She needed to work, and quickly. She had maybe minutes before they converged on her. How they hadn’t found her while she was passed out for hours on the forest floor, she didn’t know. But she wasn’t about to question her luck. She didn’t have the time for it.
Running to the nearest tree, she ripped off one of the biggest branches within reach and threw it toward the cliff. Sprinting to the next one, she did much of the same until she had a sizable pile of branches. Then, with shaking hands, she arranged the elaborate boughs around her in an arch, leaving the center of it funnel opponents in.
The funny thing about her little, improvised offense is that it would in no way stop the Hunters, it just made their movements much more predictable. There were really only three options if they wanted to face her. They would either jump over the branches, which would give time for Jaelle to react and counterattack while they were in the air and relatively immobile, or they would step through the branches, which was noisy and mildly cumbersome. At best, they would trip. At worst, they just made a lot of extra noise which would tip Jaelle off if any of them had somehow circled around out of her vision. Or, the third option, they would choose the impeded path through the front, which would leave a good chunk of them in a single clump that made crowd control that much easier.
There was a rustle toward the edge of the forest and she turned to face the Hunters as they emerged from the forest. Like her life on repeat, they shifted from their animal forms into their human ones.
“You again,” their leader, Bradley said with a disappointed shake of his head. “How do you keep popping up exactly where you’re not needed?”
“I could ask the same of you.”
He laughed lightly, but it was a dry, bitter sound. “The same offer as before. You can come with us peacefully and you’ll have a merciful end with dignity and honor at the Clan of your choosing. Or we can fight this out and you’ll bleed out in the middle of this cold, far land.”
“I’ll take my chances with the fighting. After all, you’ve been chasing that Aberrant for about half a year and have only managed to lose a quarter of your men.”
He grimaced at that. “So, he’s been through here then?”
“Of course. Even trashed my escape vehicle. He’s obviously using me as a delay tactic – again.”
“Makes sense. It worked for him last time. We had to spend a full day searching for your body before a different Hunter group was able to take over. Bought him enough time to wipe out another outpost and set a trap that took out two of our cars.”
“I would feel sorry for you, but considering those other Hunters almost killed me, I’m not exactly full of empathy right now.”
“How did you get out of that, by the way? From what I heard, you murdered two good men and sent three into intensive care.”
“Good is a subjective adjective, and, as I’m sure you understand, it was life and death.” She squared her shoulders and tightened her jaw. “So, are we going to do this, or what?”
“I would rather not. You’ve earned to die peacefully. Why make this so hard on yourself?”
“Because, Bradley, I don’t deserve to die. Contrary to what you believe, I haven’t earned my own execution just for being born.”
That seemed to take him and all of the Hunters aback. Like they were so used to the death of all Aberrants no matter what, that it was a completely foreign idea to hear that someone who disagreed.
“No, you don’t,” he admitted, which in turn surprised her. “It’s amazing that you’re still here and obviously unafflicted by the madness. But you can’t risk the absolute danger and havoc you’ll cause when you do turn. You see how much bloodshed this Aberrant has caused in just a couple of weeks.”
“But what if I don’t go mad?” And yet again, they looked completely astounded by her argument. “What if most of us don’t go mad? And even more, what if you could help us with the madness? Humans have an entire line of medicinal study to help people with everything from schizophrenia, to bi-polar disorder, to whatever might be plaguing someone’s mental health.
“That’s a nice thought, but history says—”
“Before you finish that, remember that fifty years ago it was a ‘known, historical fact’ that only inferior Shifters could become wendigos. And we both know that was just code for any Shifter who was a shade other than alabaster.
“A hundred years ago it was a ‘know, historical fact’ that avian Shifters were a perversion of the shapeShifter blessing.
“So, you can shove it up your ass with the rest of the prejudices that had led to the murder of hundreds of thousands of children and teens.”
She didn’t know where she found the chutzpah to stand up to them so, or when she grew brave enough to vocalize the theories that she had just begin to think about the night previously, but it felt like a good way to go out.
Who knew, maybe her words would plant the tiniest little seeds of doubt in their minds and save the next Aberrant.
“I don’t know what kind of ideology the Aberrant implanted in that brain of yours—”
“You can’t use the Aberrant as a descriptor for him when you’re standing in front of another Aberrant. Unless you’re saying we’re all the same, in which case you’re just proving my point.”
Bradley looked as if he wanted to object, but wasn’t prepared for the type of debate he had suddenly been launched into. She couldn’t entirely blame him. He had been prepared for a final showdown and instead was suddenly discussing the gray area of morals and civil rights of a criminal class of existence.
A roar sounded from beside her and it seemed the debating had gotten to be too much for one of the Hunters. She whirled to face the on-comer, and just like she had predicted, they chose to leap over the makeshift barrier she had created. Their snout was elongated and crooked fangs glistened in the morning light while their eyes blazed yellow with slit pupils. Ah, so the tiger one then.
He hurtled toward her, snarling wildly, and Jaelle jumped into the air, shifting as she went. With a pop and a crack, she took the form of a kangaroo and slammed both of her feet right into their middle.
The tiger Shifter went flying back, and by the time she landed back on the ground, she was human again.
The rest of the Hunters were gazing at her warily, obviously surprised by the speed of which she had gone from animal to human, and of the form she had chosen. But that was the one good thing about being an Aberrant, her bag of tricks was as varied and dangerous as her knowledge of the entire animal kingdom. And even as a kid in hiding, she had always had access to the Discovery Channel.
Bradley nodded and that’s when the rest of them surged in. Out of the six remaining, three went through the center while the rest bolted over the sides. Taking a page out of her ‘friend’s’ book, she shifted into an elephant and charged the largest cluster. They scuttled out of the way while a couple of the side ones hopped on her back.
Their claws dug into her gray hide, and she responded by rapidly returning to her human f
orm and somersaulting forward. The attacking Hunters tumbled as well, unable to hold onto anything when her flesh was rapidly disappearing.
It seemed like it was time to make her grand escape. She righted onto her feet then leapt into the air, not missing a beat as feathers began to erupt from her body as it shrank.
She gained for and more air, leaving the toiling Hunters far below. Hope flooded her again at another escape.
But then a strange noise sounded behind her. Before she could pinwheel in the sky, a sharp blast of pain burst through her body. She cawed, her mind going blank, and then she was plummeting down to the earth.
She lost her form as she descended, and she realized there was an arrow sticking out of her middle.
Ow.
After everything she had been through, she certainly hadn’t seen this coming. It seemed that the Hunters had upped their preparations since the last time she had seen them. How unfortunate for her.
She braced herself for impact, but there wasn’t much one could do to ready themselves for a fall from such a height. Cupping her hands behind her head, she let out all of the air in her body.
And then, she hit, and darkness swallowed her.
Chapter Thirteen: The Worst is Yet to Come
“How are you feeling, my little pui?”
Jaelle looked up at her mother’s face as the woman sat beside her on the tiny, worn cot that she called her bed.
“Better, maman.” the young Jaelle answered, trying her best to smile at her mother.
The fox Shifter grinned in return, then spooned soup into Jaelle’s mouth.
She looked tired.
Granted, she always looked tired.
Although Jaelle was young, she knew enough to recognize the signs of stress that her mother tried so hard to hide. The deep, dark circles below her eyes, the wrinkles deepening in her visage, the dullness to her hair that was held back by a worn bandana. The way her hands shook as she dutifully fed Jaelle, always caring. Always nurturing.
“There you are,” her mother said once the soup was gone. “And now that it’s been a week, what have we learned?”
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