by Olivia Gayle
“A few townspeople wanted to leave. I convinced them to stay.”
Abby’s eyebrows rose, as if daring him to say more, but she just shook her head and laughed. “I’d like to say it’s been boring here but, well, it’s kinda creepy actually. I know your town is small, but every street has at least one camera, usually more.” Some of her levity faded. “Is everyone here really okay with that level of intrusion?”
“Everyone who ever settled in Arcadia knew about the cameras, and accepted it as a fact of life.” Logan pulled on a lock of her hair, enjoying the softness. The need to touch her - all of her - was intense, but he kept himself still. “Many here had…troubled pasts in the human world, and welcomed that level of security if it meant they’d be kept apart from whatever they’d left behind.”
“Plus, most people never even saw Marshall since he was such a shut-in, and out of sight, out of mind, right?”
The smell of pepperoni and cheese wafted through the air as Davis came back in, carrying three pizza pockets in one hand. He glanced up at Logan, then smiled at Abby before taking his seat again.
Davis was Logan’s half-brother through their mother and, at only twenty-five years old, had been born while he was away in Alaska. He knew little about the younger man except what he’d been told by his mother: he was a werecougar, the town’s resident technician of all things, well, technical, and singlehandedly kept Arcadia off most human radars.
He seemed very chummy with Abby, though, which didn’t endear the boy very much to his half-brother.
“Creep factor aside, it’s been pretty boring so far.” Meredith wheeled away from the monitors she’d been watching and stretched back in her chair. “Tell you the truth, I’m getting cross-eyed watching these little monitors for so long.”
“I can take over for you, maybe give your old human eyes a rest.”
Abby coughed in his arms, covering her mouth to smother a smile, as Meredith whirled on the boy, Damon. He stared at her with wide innocent eyes, and even Logan wasn’t sure if the wolf boy was intentionally baiting the human woman or just that clueless on social etiquette.
“My old human eyes are just fine,” she snapped, huffing and rolling her eyes. “Anyway, I’m not sure you’d be able to discern what’s normal human tech and stuff coming to get us.”
“I know cars are okay,” Damon answered reasonably, not backing down when Meredith gave him a narrow look. “Trucks too. Most other stuff than that would be - ugh, what’s the word? Oh yeah! - suspicious, right?”
“He does have a point.” Ever crossed her arms, grinning at the younger shifter. “Can’t hurt to let him take a look.”
“Thank you!” Between one breath and the next, Damon Shifted into his wolf form and sidled up to Ever, laying his head on her leg for pets. She just laughed and accommodated him, but when he put his paws on her thighs and rose to lick her face, Aidan’s growl of disapproval filled the room.
Immediately Damon’s ears flicked back and he backed away, changing quickly again into human form. “Sorry, sorry,” he said, throwing his hands up in surrender and looking at the floor in obvious submission.
Logan rolled his eyes. “Have you seen anything so far?” he asked Meredith as Ever reluctantly left his arms to take her seat again.
“Not a thing. Most people are staying inside their homes except for the patrols, and Aidan’s identified everyone else we’ve seen on here so far.” She shook her head, then frowned up at him. “You sure something’s coming?”
“No, but something’s happening.” Logan look at the screens, worry a hard knot in his chest. “I can almost feel it.
“Hey, uh, guys, what’s that?”
Damon’s timid question had everyone looking at the monitor he was pointing at. “I don’t see anything,” Meredith said, frowning.
“It’s already moved. Wait a minute.” Leaning over the console, his head flicked from one monitor to another, then like a flash he pointed his finger. “There!”
The image flashed across the screen again, but this time more people saw it. “See?” Damon said, looking up into the worried faces. “Cars flying with those big whirly things aren’t normal, right?”
“That’s a helicopter.” Logan looked at Aidan. “Where’s this camera pointed?”
“East end of town, out by the Landry farm. Roy and Samantha’s place.”
“Do we have eyes on the farm itself?”
Aidan shook his head. “Roy took to destroying anything Marshall put out that way, said he wanted his privacy.”
As his brother got on the radio to mobilize people, Logan turned to Abby. “I need you to stay here.”
From her mutinous expression, he could see she wanted to argue. “Please,” he said, grabbing her shoulders and making sure she was looking at him. “I need to know that you’re safe.”
She frowned, glancing at the monitors, then sighed. “I’d be useless right now in this fight. Can’t even change yet.”
Relief washed through Logan’s body, and he bent down to kiss her forehead. “Maybe next time,” he murmured, intent that his mate would never be put in any danger like that.
“What about me,” Ever asked, standing up and looking at her mate.
Aidan pressed the radio into her hand. “I need you to tell me everything you see on those screens.”
Ever snorted. “You’re just trying to keep me out of the fighting.”
He gave the top of her head a quick kiss. “You’re going to be my eyes and ears, babe. Believe me, you’re right in the middle of this thing.”
That seemed to mollify her a bit. Aidan turned to Logan. “We can take my car, it’ll be faster.”
But Logan shook his head. “Tell my mom and Derek where we’re heading,” he said, heading for the front door. “I’m taking the direct route.”
The only reason he waited until he was outside to Shift was because he didn’t think he’d make it through the frame. He didn’t even wait for the Change to finish before he was running due east, following the faint scent of smoke already coming from that area.
Chapter 18
Logan smelled the blood and heard the gunshots long before he got to the farm.
All of the livestock had already been killed, likely shot from the air by whoever was in the helicopter. All that was left was an old bull facing off against men in tactical gear that had surrounded it on the ground. Even from the distance though, Logan could smell the old Shifter’s blood and see dark red rivulets streaming down the bull’s sides.
“We can get easier targets than this,” one of the men said, his voice riding the wind. “Finish him off so we can keep moving.”
Logan kept himself cloaked as he charged forward, even as the old bull bellowed his rage and did likewise. Unlike his nephew Derek, Roy Landry had never been one to keep ahold of his anger. His speed clearly took them by surprise as he bowled over three of the men surrounding him, but the others just raised their guns and took aim.
Ditching his glamour, Logan’s bear roared loudly to get their attention, barreling toward the group. Weapons all pointed his direction and the scent of fear rode the air, then the crack of gunshots filled the air. Logan felt the tiny bullets pierce his hide, hitting vital areas inside him but not enough to slow him down.
He took out the other three gunmen all at once, knocking them all to the ground at once. The man who’d spoken cursed and ran toward the helicopter, leaping on and grabbing the skid with both arms as it rose. Logan whirled around and went after them as he heard the man holler, “Get out of here!”, but they were already rising quickly out of reach for the bear.
Then a black panther came racing from the tree line, running full speed toward the rising vehicle. Logan stopped beneath the chopper, bracing himself as the panther sprang onto Logan’s back, using him as a springboard, then jumped up as high as it could go.
Julian’s leap cleared the open helicopter doors and he might have made it inside, but his prey was still standing on the skid. Wrapping his dark
arms around the human, the panther pushed off the helicopter and back down to the ground as Logan made short work of the other humans. The human trapped beneath Julian struggled, pulling something from his belt and stabbing the dark cat. The panther hissed, smacking the human upside the head, and Logan heard a soft snap of bone breaking.
The noise startled the panther, who leaped back away from the human. He stared at the unmoving man on the ground, then poked it with its paw. Then fur began to recede, and a dumbfounded Julian stared down at ground.
Logan shifted too, unable to communicate well in bear form. “Have you seen my brother?”
“I never killed anyone before. It just happened so quick.”
The words were spoken softly, the man’s voice full of fascinated horror, but Logan had no time for breakdowns. “Where is Aidan?”
That seemed to stir the other man. “We ran into trouble on the way here,” he said, not taking his eyes off the dead human. “He made me get out of the car and come help you while he dealt with the other wave.” Julian wavered in place, blinking slowly. “I don’t feel so good.”
Logan cursed as the werepanther pulled a syringe out of his side, staring at it blankly. “Oh, that can’t be good,” he murmured, falling to his knees.
Behind them, someone groaned. Logan whirled around, ready to fight, only to see Roy Landry trying to get to his feet. The old farmer was covered in blood, not all of it his own, but enough that even the Shifter healing factor was taking a while to kick in. Torn between the two downed men, Logan chose to check on the older injured man first.
Roy grabbed his arm first though, dragging Logan down so they were face to face. “They took Samantha,” he wheezed, blood foam covering his lips at the words. “My baby, I told her to leave and get to safety but she insisted on helping me. They knocked her out, put her on the helicopter…” He coughed, blood flying through the air.
“We’re going to get her, I promise.” The old man was in bad shape, and Logan looked back at Julian. “You okay?”
“Yeah. No.” He shook his head and got to his feet, looking around in confusion. “I can’t smell or hear anything. Fuck, what’d they do to me?”
“It’s that serum they have, it’ll wear off.” Logan looked around for the farmer’s shredded garments and, finding a piece of jean, dug into the pockets for keys. “I need you to drive him into town while I go after that helicopter.”
“I can still help.”
“You can help by saving him.” Logan gathered the old man up into his arms as carefully as he could then hurried past the dazed werepanther and put a groaning Roy into the back seat of a nearby truck. “Make sure he stays safe, I’m going after his daughter.”
He didn’t wait around to see if Julian did what he was told, but changed back into bear form and took off back into the woods he’d just left. Already he could hear the fast staccato of an automatic weapon, and quickened his pace.
Logan saw the low-flying chopper, different make than the one he was tracking, long before it saw him. Its large turret was unleashing its force against the fleeing populace of the town, mowing them down left and right with large caliber bullets, and Logan saw red. Putting everything into his hind legs, he leaped as high as he could into the air, catching the skid with one enormous paw.
His added bulk threw the chopper sideways, and humans bailed out of it as Logan climbed inside. He didn’t get a chance to do any damage because the pilot lost control, the vehicle lurching sideways beneath Logan into a nearby house. Composite roof tiles and wood chips flew as the propeller hit first, then Logan was slammed first against the cockpit, then ejected altogether as the cab somersaulted head over heels.
It took him a second to orientate himself once the world stopped spinning. He was inside a living room, sheetrock dust and smoke filling the air. Ahead of him, undamaged by the crash, was the front door. Logan pulled himself free of the wreckage and charged through the door, not bothering with the human-shaped handle.
The fight outside was intense. The humans outnumbered their Shifter counterparts by at least two to one, and had hefty automatic weapons. It was a slaughter, pure and simple.
Arcadia had never been home to many predator Shifters, only the ones born here or who were mated to residents. Most of the populace here were smaller creatures, ones that had appreciated his father’s authority and his protection over them. Samantha, Roy’s daughter, had been a wererabbit, and most of the people huddling inside any shelter they could find were of a similar persuasion.
With the Brahm gone, their defenses had a huge hole, but there was still more than enough muscle to deal a heavy blow.
Another bear was in the middle of the human throng, making short work of any and everyone that got close to it. Bullets tore at his hide but, like Roy earlier, it didn’t slow the shifter down. Logan immediately recognized it was Aidan, and figured this was the fight that had kept him from showing up at the Landry farm. Beside him was a cougar, smaller but every bit as deadly. The much larger bear took most of the hits, shielding the younger one as best it could.
A giant Siberian tiger was taking on another group of humans, making short work of them now that their gunship was gone. Like almost every other animal on the field, he was bleeding from dozens of small wounds but still strong enough to continue fighting. Logan changed back into human form, looking around for any more threats. The cougar also Shifted, and Logan recognized his youngest half-brother, Davis. The boy’s eyes were bright, alive with the heat of battle, and he looked nothing like a person who sat behind a desk every day.
Logan approved.
Aidan was breathing hard as Logan drew up to him and stayed in bear form, but the tiger beside them Shifted. Logan immediately recognized Benedict Murphy, Julian’s father and one of the Brahm’s closest friends. The old shifter was probably one of the best lines of defense they had in town with the Brahm missing. Unlike the rest, he wasn’t even bleeding despite the bullets that had been flying around. “What’s the situation,” Logan demanded.
“They’re coming at us from all sides. I’ve got patrols going toe to toe with aerial assault vehicles, most of which are out of range for our Shifters. I’ve lost contact with the patrols to the west of us, but last I heard they were getting hit pretty hard.”
Brakes squealed nearby, and Logan whirled to see Roy’s truck skid to a stop nearby. Julian jumped out of the cab, clearly relieved to see his father, but the older weretiger’s brows knit down. “Why the hell are you driving around and not fighting?”
“He was with me at the Landry farm,” Logan said quickly as Julian’s expression fell into a curious mixture of betrayal and rebellion. “Took out most of the humans there but got bit by some of their drugs. I told him to get Roy here to safety, but seems that’s in short supply around here.”
“Oh. Well, then.” Not bothering to apologize for his anger, Benedict looked back at Logan. “I’m heading west to see what’s happening. If you can get these people to safety, I’ve been sending them to the hospital. They have a bunker in the basement and it should be a good place to keep guarded.”
Logan shook his head. “I’m coming with you.”
Benedict gave him a tight stare, then reluctantly turned to his son. “Then you need to do it. Put as many as you can in the truck and relay them there.”
Julian looked as if he’d bitten into a lemon. Betrayal shown out his eyes as he snapped, “Oh, you don’t think I’ll fail this like I’ve done everything else in life, dad?”
“Now’s not the time.” Benedict pointed to the people still huddled behind a nearby house. “Get them to safety while we take care of this!”
Obviously bitter at being given orders after being insulted, Julian nevertheless started calling people over as Benedict turned back to Logan. “What we need is to find…”
A whistling sound filled the air, and Logan turned to see something streaking towards them from above. He barely had time to recognize what it was when a huge shadow blocked out the sun f
or a brief second, then something monstrous snagged the missile out of the air. Logan’s jaw dropped as he recognized the person, if not the form, and cheers came from all sides as it took off again, heading into town.
Go, mom!
Chapter 19
“Am I really seeing…?”
“I think so, yup.”
“Is that…”
“Oh yeah, definitely.”
Abby leaned back in her chair, watching the monitors wide-eyed. “Somebody in this town can change into a freaking dragon?”
“That would appear to be the case.”
Ever’s glib words belied the horrified fascination with which she too was watching the screen. Abby still had trouble believing her eyes. The green dragon had plucked the missile out of the air, then turned and went after the helicopter that had shot it. Even through the monitors, the beast was breathtaking, easily double the size of a large pickup truck with wings that spanned twice its length.
“Aidan would have told me if they had someone like this though,” Ever said, sounding confused even as she watched, fascinated, as events unfolded. “I asked him once if Shifters ever turned into dinosaurs or something else mythical, and he told me that Arcadia didn’t have anyone like that except…” Her eyes widened. “Oh my God, that’s Eleanor!”
“Wait, as in Logan’s mom Eleanor?” Abby stared at the other girl in shock. “Seriously?!”
Through the monitors, they watched from several angles as, without touching down, the dragon reared back its arm and hurled the missile at the helicopter. Three of the small monitors went white with the explosion, then slowly came back to show the chopper burning on the ground.
Both Ever and Abby’s arms went aloft in victory, and the latter let out a big whoop of joy. Ever pointed to the screens and said proudly, “That’s my freaking mother-in-law!”