by C. E. Glines
“You’re recruiting me!” I yelled in disbelief. I found myself gripping the table hard in an effort to control my rising anger.
“You would be an invaluable asset,” Olivia said, affirming Michaels’ offer.
The audacity of these people was unbelievable!
“Aw, hell no.” The words were out of my mouth before I ever had a chance to consider what I was saying.
Michaels shoved himself back from the table, a deep growl rumbling in his chest. His march to the back door caused the whole house to shake with his fury. Punching the door open, he pounded down the stairs. Utter silence filled the house after his departure. The slamming of the door as it rebounded seemed like an exclamation point on the whole event.
“Macy!” yelled Miranda.
Everyone flinched at the unexpected interruption of the silence. I knew she was shocked by my use of profanity, but there was only so much crap a girl could take, and I was well over my limit.
“Miranda!” I yelled back mockingly. “Have you any idea what I have been through these last few days? It all started with them.” I pointed in Olivia’s direction. “And now they want me to be one of them? I have been kidnapped.” I glared at Olivia, daring her to correct me. “Hunted, and shoved into tunnels, where I have been forced to crawl over broken glass—”
“Macy.” Miranda was calm this time. It should have been a clue.
“I’ve survived stitches, explosions and concussions. Two knots. Look at’em!” I stood up and lifted the hair out of my face, displaying my knots.
“Macy.” It was Olivia trying to calm me this time.
“No!” I yelled at her. “I survived severe blood loss by transfusion from a hybrid. A hybrid, Miranda. I was close enough to death to choose that option.”
“Macy! Look at your hands!” Miranda shouted at me.
Perhaps it was her no nonsense tone that got through to me. I stopped my litany and looked down at my hands. They were splayed on the table. Each fingernail had been replaced by a claw, which due to the force of my grip, had embedded into the wood of the table. I pried them loose and stared at them in surprise.
“Your eyes, too,” she commanded.
I looked at her, and she pointed towards a mirror on the wall. I walked over and saw the same eyes that Michaels had, but mine were blue. I also noticed the tips of pointed ears sticking up from the mess that was my hair.
“MK’s in the house,” trilled Juarez in the background.
I found his reflection in the mirror quick enough to see Olivia punch him in the arm. “Really,” she hissed at him.
“What? It stands for Macy Kat, with a K,” he innocently protested. “Because she’s so Kooool. You know, with a K.”
His attempt at levity did not sway her mood. I thought it was kind of funny. If you ignored the trauma I was currently enduring because I’d turned into a she cat or she kat.
Miranda’s image joined mine in the mirror. “I got fangs, did you?” She smiled real big, revealing her very sharp incisors.
I ran my tongue across my teeth, then pulled my lips back, revealing my newly sharpened smile. I let the smile fade and met her eyes in the mirror.
“You lied to me,” I said softly.
“I didn’t lie,” she said, holding my eyes. “I just didn’t tell you right away. It’s like deferred truth.”
I narrowed my eyes, considering her argument. Okay, technically she hadn’t lied, but deferred truth was a stretch. Creative, though.
I sighed and leaned my head towards her shoulder. “You’ve already agreed to go, haven’t you?”
Her gaze searched out Cedars in the mirror’s reflection. She didn’t have to answer. I could tell by the look on her face she was in. Done in by a Goon. I huffed again and pulled myself upright.
“It’s hard to explain,” she began. “I just…it feels more right than anything I’ve ever done.”
“It’s only been three days, you know.” Bearing in mind that I was currently navigating day one with Michaels, I was highly interested in her outcome. But the look of adoration on Cedar’s face made my argument weak at best. And it wasn’t like I was an expert on love.
Maybe interested wasn’t the right word, I thought while regarding the two of them as they gazed at each other. If I was in for something as sappy as what I was witnessing between those two, words like uneasy, worried, and terrified came to mind as adequate replacements.
“I know,” she replied tenderly, still gazing longingly at Cedars.
Yep, definitely worrisome.
I flexed my hands in front of me, examining my new claws. I wasn’t going to ditch my best friend because she’d potentially found love. But if there had to be a Goon in the family, I wanted him to come with bonuses.
“Can he cook?” I asked hopefully.
“Like a five star chef,” she beamed.
“Well, that’s something at least.”
My shoulders slumped in defeat. I didn’t have many options. Not until I learned to control this shifting thing. Right now, I had no idea how to return to normal. And, I was super hungry again.
“Got any lasagna leftover?”
“I made enough to feed an army.” She left off staring at Cedars and returned her attention to me. “That’s one of the best things about being a hybrid shifter.”
I nodded. “It’s the reason I agreed.”
She laughed out loud in response to that bit of information.
“Come on,” she said, lacing her arm through mine. “Let’s find out how much lasagna you can eat.”
“And cheesecake,” I added.
“And cheesecake,” she agreed.
Holding a fork when your fingers were tipped with claws wasn’t as hard as you might think. Eating with the new teeth? That was tougher.
The food didn’t taste as good the second time around, either. It tasted like there were too many flavors competing with one another. Miranda assured me it was because I was still in hybrid form. I hoped so. What was the use of being able to eat as much as you wanted if you couldn’t enjoy it?
I wasn’t alone in my second dinner. Everyone else decided to join me. Everyone except Michaels, who was somewhere outside. A fact I was feeling guiltier about with every minute that passed.
It didn’t help when Olivia sent her special brand of disapproving looks my way. I figured she thought I’d already broken our contract. I couldn’t say she was wrong. Thoughts of working with Michaels never entered my mind during the previous after dinner conversation.
When Cedars got up to talk to Juarez, it left Miranda and me alone at the table.
“Are we okay?” she asked, playing with her fork.
I didn’t like what she’d done. Even though I knew she hadn’t set me up, it felt that way. As a general rule, I didn’t like surprises.
“I really wasn’t trying to lie to you or betray you,” she said.
Hadn’t I said something similar about not trying to hurt or betray Michaels earlier? And there were definitely things I had kept from her. I knew she had no intentions of betraying me. It was only hurt pride at having been the last to know standing in the way of reconciliation.
With concerted effort, I let the feeling of betrayal go.
“I know,” I said. Then I brightened at the memory of our tradition. Maybe something good could come out of this. “Where’s my I’m sorry gift?”
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a medallion. It was an old medal of honor that had somehow found its way into an antique shop in New Orleans. She’d scavenged it on one of the rare occasions we got to actually venture into the New Orleans antique shops. I’d loved it right away, but since she was the one who had found it, I’d kept that to myself.
She held the medal out to me. “These guys are only telling you what I found out over ten years ago. You’re one of a kind, Macy Greer.”
I took the medal from her, allowing my fingers to trace the word Valor inscribed across its face.
“You’re whole life is the
definition of valor,” she said, her voice betraying the emotion she felt.
She was one of the few people I’d trusted enough to let know about my childhood. How I’d struggled to overcome poverty, my perilous journey through college, and my rise in the world of science. She also knew about the thousand ugly details associated with each triumph and failure.
I blinked away the tears that had filled my eyes. She must have been planning this for a while.
“I’ll accept it for now,” I said. “But we both know you deserve it as much as me. When you need it, I’ll return it to you.”
She nodded with tears freely flowing down her cheeks. She hadn’t come from poverty, but she’d had to leave an abusive family and strike out on her own. From there, our stories were similar. Like me, she’d learned the value of crazy bread, a big gulp, and a mean right hook in the fight for survival.
We sat there, shoulder to shoulder, wiping away tears until we’d had enough. Almost simultaneously, we pulled apart.
“Still going to be here in the morning?” Miranda asked.
“Like I have somewhere else to go,” I muttered.
She sat there looking at me, waiting for a definite response.
“Yes, I will still be here in the morning,” I complied, rolling my eyes.
Satisfied, she hugged me and then sauntered off to bed, intentionally catching Cedars’ eye before she made it to the stairs. It took no time at all for Cedars to wrap up his conversation with Juarez and follow her up. During the course of our second dinner, I’d learned that my bedroom was next to theirs. That made my decision to hang out downstairs for a while easy.
As it got later, the others gradually turned in, and Michaels still hadn’t returned. I planted myself in front of the picture window next to the back door. These cat eyes were better at night than my normal ones, but my improved vision still couldn’t find him anywhere.
“He’ll be back.”
I turned and acknowledged Olivia’s sudden presence. It bothered me a little that I hadn’t heard her come down the stairs.
“You should cut him some slack,” she said to my back. “Right now, he’s a bit…”
When she struggled to find a word, I supplied, “Overbearing? Possessive? Rude?”
“I was going to say protective where you are concerned. The male hybrids, as a whole, are a lot trickier to handle.”
“Juarez doesn’t seem hard to handle.”
“Juarez was not created with alpha DNA, but even he has his moments.”
I was in no mood for riddles. “If you have something to say, just say it,” I told her.
“It’s his blood that flows through your veins now. Try to remember that, Einstein.” With that admonition and no explanation as to what she meant, she left me alone.
I was beginning to think her use of Einstein was not a compliment. I watched her climb the stairs to a waiting Juarez, who had come looking for her. There was no mistaking the love on his face as he waited. He claimed her outstretched hand, and they ascended the stairs together.
That was altogether not what I observed in Michaels.
No longer content to watch from the window, I opened the door and took up a post on the porch. Leaning against the column at the top of the stairs, I resigned myself to wait for his return. I didn’t think this knot in my stomach would resolve any other way.
Olivia’s words kept playing through my head. She had said his blood now flowed through my veins. Was she implying that he felt some sort of responsibility for me now? Or something more than responsibility, like what she and Juarez had? That a simple sharing of blood had irrevocably tied me to Michaels? That was way more than I had bargained for.
The moon rose higher, the wind picked up and the clock marched on without a sign of him. Abandoning my post, I sat on the top step of the stairs and wrapped my arms around my legs. What I was feeling was confusing to me. I couldn’t rectify it in any sort of logical way.
It made no sense to me that I should feel abandoned by a man that I had no relationship with. Yet, I couldn’t deny that was what I felt. I had a sinking feeling that this was just the beginning of emotions I didn’t want to experience. Clearly, they would not fit all neat and tidy into my scientifically geared mind, which meant, somewhere along the way, I was going to have to change. Grow emotionally and all that garbage. That was something else I had not bargained for.
Long before I saw him, his usual fragrance of fire and fruit filled the breeze. Standing in anticipation of his arrival, I watched him gracefully lope across the yard. He came to stand at the bottom of the stairs. His demeanor changed from anger to one of regret as he observed all of my new features that were smaller copies of his own. That stung a little, and I found myself unwilling to meet his eyes.
I didn’t understand why he was so against me becoming a hybrid. If he wanted me to join his team, didn’t I have to be a hybrid anyway?
The silence stretched between us, becoming more awkward and pain filled. Sorry kept playing through my head, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it out loud. I’m sorry I over reacted and for making you mad. Again. Though, I have to say, it’s not that hard to do. I’m sorry for not knowing how to handle you or be with you. Why couldn’t I just say it to him?
You just did.
My eyes snapped to his mouth, then back to his eyes. I can hear you now? I said hesitantly.
We’re on the same wavelength. He tapped his temple with his claw and growled a chuckle that was devoid of mirth.
“Can I always speak to you like this or only in this form?”
“It’s twenty four seven access now.”
A shot of fear raced through me at that revelation. In response to my fear, I felt him tighten his guard against me. It was like running into a wall that had suddenly materialized or a door slamming shut between us that I hadn’t realized was open.
“But, you heard me sometimes, before this.”
“I mostly got emotions when you were really agitated.”
“Wasn’t I always agitated when I was with you?” I teased.
“In the beginning,” he conceded.
The silence returned, and I wiggled my fingers in front of him. “So, I’m a hybrid now. Just like you.”
“I noticed,” he said flatly.
“Why are you so against me being a hybrid?” I said angrily.
“I’m not against you being a hybrid. That would be hypocritical, don’t you think?” he snapped back.
“Well, you certainly don’t like it,” I argued.
He looked down, kicking the step with his foot. “It’s not that I don’t like it…I wanted you to be able to choose, not to have it forced upon you. To choose…” He angrily kicked the step one last time and turned away from me.
To choose what? To be a hybrid? “I don’t consider saving my life as having forced me to become a hybrid,” I told him.
“You might change your opinion a month from now,” he said, turning to face me again.
His eyes were so hard. This was the side of him I didn’t understand. He looked like he was mad at me for having put him in the position of having to change me. Or, like he didn’t want to be the one who changed me, to have this link with me. It was a little late for that now.
I smiled a tight smile and was rewarded by cutting my own lips with my new shiny teeth. “I don’t know how to change back.”
“You’ll learn,” he said, watching me wipe away blood from my mouth.
“Not if you don’t teach me,” I snarled.
We stared at each other without blinking, my blue eyes to his green. He finally looked away and took a breath.
“For me, it’s like water flowing in reverse,” he said. “Like I’m pulling the change back inside.” His arms illustrated his words as he spoke, and I watched him shift back to human.
I closed my eyes and pictured my talons and ears receding. Then I visualized my eyes returning to normal. Opening my eyes and being greeted by a darker landscape confirmed success of that shi
ft. Looking at my hands, I verified that my talons were gone as well.
“I did it,” I said softly, a broad smile spreading across my face.
“You forgot something,” he said, stepping close enough to tap my teeth.
Oh. In my mind, I saw them retract. I didn’t have to touch them to verify they were gone. I could feel them recede. I smiled real big, showing my teeth for his approval.
“The first time,” he said flatly. That was all I got in response.
The smile slowly faded from my face, and I crossed my arms over my chest. “I’m not a superhero, you know. I’m not a super anything. I’m just a scientist.” Annoyingly, a single tear traced a path down my cheek.
Michaels’ eyes widened, and he climbed the remaining steps between us. With one hand cupping my face, he gently brushed it away with his thumb.
“You are so much more than a scientist,” he said.
“Okay, a hybrid scientist.” Another tear escaped to run down the opposite cheek.
“More than that,” he said, brushing away the new tear.
“A hybrid scientist who likes to eat?” I was running out of descriptives.
“More than that,” he said, pulling my face towards him. Gently, he pressed his lips against mine.
I was not prepared for the breathlessness that came with such a gentle gesture. Pulling away, I hid my face in his chest, and he rested his chin on the top of my head.
I could tell that he was smiling. I couldn’t see it. I could feel it inside me. Oh, he was pleased with himself.
He chuckled at my silent assessment. It was good to hear him laugh, and I laughed softly at his joy before unexpectedly yawning.
“Come on, let’s get you to bed,” he said provocatively.
“Alone,” I said a little too sharply, causing him to laugh harder.
“Absolutely,” he replied with false innocence. Releasing me and stepping away, he ordered, “Move it, Greer.”
“Absolutely, Mr. Michaels,” I mock saluted him.
He put a hand on my arm to stop me. “Call me Adam.”
Well, he’s had many names over these last three days. We’ll see if this one sticks.