by Grace, A. E.
“I don’t care,” Liam said. “He doesn’t have a passport or anything. He’ll be detained.”
“In prison?”
“Probably. He’s in the country illegally.”
“That won’t stop him.”
“No,” Liam agreed. His tone was somber, and Terry knew the source of it.
“He’ll hurt people to get out, won’t he?”
Liam sighed. “Yes.” His eyes were hard and fixed on the television, and she could see that he was holding emotion back, though exactly what that emotion was, she wasn’t sure. Some anger had to be there. Regret at not having killed him, on a base level? That might be it. But speculating was pointless, and she knew that even if she asked, he would not reply.
“What do you think he’ll do?”
“I don’t know,” Liam said. He shrugged.
“Do you believe him?”
“Believe what?”
“That the Leon guy is his father?”
Liam looked at her then. His eyes were narrow, but his head was nodding slowly up and down. “I don’t know why he would lie about that.”
“Do you believe that Leon turned him into, you know?”
“A shapeshifter?”
“Yeah.”
Liam shook his head. “I don’t know.” He looked up at Terry, and she saw cloudy confusion in his eyes. “I just don’t see how it is possible, to do what Marcus described. Maybe he got it wrong. Maybe Leon just figured out how to force the first change. Because it happens at different ages for shapeshifters. But every shifter I ever met, once they figured out the shift, they knew they were born with it. They knew that others were different, or that they were different from others. I never once thought, even vaguely, that anybody could do it, and it was just a process of unlocking the capacity.”
“But how do you know that not all humans can do it?” Terry asked. She didn’t expect to hear a reason informed by science and genetics, but she also would be disappointed if Liam was merely satisfied with groupthink superstition.
“I guess I don’t,” he admitted. “If Leon can do what Marcus said he could, then that would change… everything. But why hasn’t anyone else figured it out before?”
“Has anyone bothered?”
“I don’t know,” Liam said. “Already by the time I was born, our kind was nearly extinct. In my town, I was the only one.”
“Not your parents?”
“Nope.”
“Then how did you-”
“Don’t know.”
“Is it hereditary?”
“I don’t know, Terry.” Liam turned his gaze on her again, and she could see in his eyes that she sought the answers to these questions far more than her idle curiosity did.
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine.”
“If Leon’s found out how to force it, you know, or unlock it, then everything would change, wouldn’t it?”
“It would. But why would he be stuck in mid-shift as a result?”
“He could have given Marcus something, and lost something himself,” Terry murmured after a pause. She knew it was a meaningless utterance, but it was the best she could do armed with so little knowledge. It seemed absurd to her that what she would call today, though technically it was tomorrow, was when she found out that shapeshifters existed, that there were people on this planet who lived for centuries, and who could turn into animals at will.
She had been forcing herself not to satisfy her curiosity by asking Liam what it had been like in 1800s, or the 1700s. She wanted to ask what it was like that he’d seen the world change, so very much, before his very eyes. He’d watched the industrial revolution globalize the world, had seen countless wars erupt, some spluttering out, others nearly ending the world. He’d seen the terrors and atrocities committed by humans endlessly over and over again.
It was another of those waves of understanding that came crashing over her. His whole character was more relatable now, less strange. He wasn’t some socially misadjusted man, awkward and sometimes cold and cruel. He was a man jaded, one who had closed himself off to save himself, because she could not think of anything else she might do to immunize herself from insanity. The only way would be to ignore the world, to escape into the wild, or at least escape from humans.
And she realized then that it was what Leon had done. Liam had told her that the beast had returned to the womb, or at least so he thought. That could be the only way. Liam had done something similar, hiding amongst simple people in the middle of a jungle. Perhaps he and Leon were more similar than he seemed prepared to admit.
And she understood Marcus a little better, too. Bitterness, anger, and hatred had pumped through his veins. He’d even said so himself. He didn’t want to be a shapeshifter. She saw how one could look at it as a curse, doomed to outlive your loved ones, different, and never feeling free in any human society. How could anybody feel at ease if they were in danger every time they flexed a certain muscle? How could they be denied the shift, like a person being denied their religion?
“Are you angry?” Terry asked. Her voice was soft. She intentionally soothed it. She didn’t want to come off that she was prying into his emotions. Terry knew that, if she was in his position, she would be angry. She would be furious. To be reminded so forcefully of what it meant to be the way you were, the implications that stretched forward through time, and the memories, both haunting and joyous, stretching backward through time like roots and tendrils – the human mind had never had to reconcile that before in all its history. She couldn’t help but wonder if all shapeshifters were ill-equipped to deal with the psychology of that, and as a result, were damaged goods. Traumatized, even if they didn’t know it.
Either way, she knew that she was going to stick by Liam’s side if she could. “It’s fine to be angry, Liam.”
“I am. A little.”
“Are you sad?”
“A little.”
Terry clasped his hand tightly. “You can be sad.”
He squeezed it back, running his thumb along her knuckles. “Thanks,” he said, smiling as he looked at her. “But I don’t need to be. At least, not for long. I’m fine.”
Like so many times in the few days they had known each other, a silence fell in between them. Not so much a wedge anymore, it was comfortable now, something normal. She knew that in time he would talk more, but he still had to get used to it. She leaned on his shoulder, sitting at the foot of the bed in her guest room, and together they watched the news on the television repeat itself over and over.
The same footage of Marcus being put into an ambulance, the four paramedics clearly straining with the weight of the great oaken trunk of a man, might have been amusing if they hadn’t known him, hadn’t met him. In the growing daylight, she hadn’t realized how meaty and muscular Marcus had been, and she became more impressed with Liam, having fought off something so large and so ferocious. Even in his bear form, Liam had only been a touch larger than the lithe wolf.
“So, what do we do now?” Terry looked toward the balcony, saw that the sun was beginning to rev into gear as it popped up over the horizon. She wanted to leave Hanoi. It just felt right to. And she didn’t doubt that the same thoughts were going through Liam’s head.
“Travel with me.” Liam looked at her, and she looked at him, and it was entirely new. His eyes were no longer doors rusted shut, only displaying the surface of his emotions. It was like those doors had been opened wide, and she was looking into him. It was a request, yes, but it was also a plea. Double-edged, like Liam’s entire character, she was coming to realize that everything he said, everything he did, would always have more than a single meaning, and would always link back to who he was, what he was.
This was not just a man chasing after what he wanted. This was a man who was letting her know that she was what he needed.
“Okay.” She said it without hesitation. She laughed after, a burst of relief, and also joy. Her eyes grew wet for a second, and she wiped them quickly. But
she couldn’t keep the stickiness out of her voice. “Where to?”
“Let’s go south. We’ll stop where we want to until we hit Saigon. From there? Who knows?”
“It’s called Ho Chi Minh now, you know.”
“When I was last there, it was called Saigon.”
“That was-”
“During the war.”
“How did you get past military checkpoints and things like that?”
“Same way I got across the Pingxiang border crossing.” Liam looked at her, amusement in his eyes. “It was you!” she cried, pointing at him. “Oh my God, I didn’t realize that until now.”
“I don’t have a passport,” he said, shrugging. “I mean, how could I get one? I have no proof of birth or any form of identity.”
“I never thought about that.”
“Lots of little inconveniences come with being born over two hundred years ago.”
“I bet. I guess I’m glad to be my normal, mortal self.”
“Yeah,” Liam said, his voice fading.
“So, next stop?” Terry said quickly.
“There’s a city called Hue.”
“I’ve read about it.”
“I think that would be a nice place to stop. They have lots of great tailors there. You could get a dress made. I could get a new suit made.”
“Hue sounds good, and you look good in a suit.”
“You look good in a dress.”
“Thanks.” She felt a bit of warmth color her cheeks. “After that?”
“We’ll decide later.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “We’ll leave this afternoon.”
“Yeah,” Terry said. She was beaming at him. “Later.” Right now, time was something they both had. “Hey,” she said, remembering something that had bugged her earlier.
“What?”
“What’s your last name? You never told me.” Terry put a hand on her hip.
“To tell you the truth,” Liam said. “I’ve forgotten.”
Afterword
To this reader,
First, thank you for reading this short novel. It marks my first attempt at writing a ‘longer’ story, and is a departure from what I’m typically accustomed to writing. Second, thank you for supporting an indie author. In particular, this indie author!
I’ve been traveling and writing since I was a schoolgirl. The traveling was out of necessity, but the writing was, of course, by choice.
Since then, both have become consistent facets of my life. I’m rarely in one place for more than a year, and it’s been like that for a very long time. The descriptions in this book of Vietnam, the border crossing, even the rickety train carriage, are all true to my own experiences. And yes, in the interim, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Guangzhou have changed immeasurably, and I’m glad that I’ve been able to witness such transformation in my lifetime.
While I visited the beautiful country of Vietnam a long time ago, when I could still reasonably believe that I was young enough to ignore any and all responsibility, I suspect that the character and culture has not changed much, if at all. The Vietnamese people are warm and loving, and are fantastic examples of human and societal resilience. And though tourism may be doing its best to erode the culture, and chip away at the authenticity of such a remarkable country, the Vietnamese are proud, and hold a special place in my heart.
Though I was never so lucky as to run into a gorgeous young man on my journey, I was lucky enough to visit every major city and town, making my way from Hanoi down to what was newly and officially Ho Chi Minh City, but still called Saigon by most. I saw many different sights, from spectacular scenery, to human suffering, to the ever kind and brave human heart exemplified as best as it possibly could be. These travels left a mark on me, a stain on my soul, and one that I cherish. It taught me a lot about myself, and back then in those days, I was as vain and self-centered as they came. I was taught a lesson.
Terry and Liam are both derived from me, and of course the people that I’ve known, loved, and lost. Terry is a strong woman, in my mind over-compensating, and with a knack for speaking too much too quickly. She takes after me in that regard, I’m rather embarrassed to say. Liam is a broody and angry man, jaded perhaps, and definitely tragic. This, too, comes from me, and represents a part of who I am, I am sad to say. The two (in my mind, I keep wanting to write, wishing I didn’t need this mitigating qualification), are made for each other. They are fated mates, to borrow a turn of phrase from a certain bundle of books I’m sure you’re all aware of.
During my time spent in Vietnam, Tam Coq, in particular, was a highlight for me. Though it is no doubt an overcrowded tourist attraction these days, when I saw it, the scenic majesty of the river, vegetation on its surface, and cliffs on either side flanking and looming, took my breath away. I’m a visual person by nature, and the combination of colors, from poison-green to scrape-off-your-sole-brown were so striking, so complementary yet contradicting, that the image has forever been etched into my memory. I wouldn’t forget it, even if I lived for three hundred years. I suspect Terry won’t forget it, either. And Liam certainly didn’t.
Hanoi is a lovely city, too, with Vietnam’s history exemplified in its architecture and cuisine. The city is much larger than it appears in this book, though. I took some creative license when it came to distances, shortening them. And on the topic of Hanoi, I can still remember the first time I crossed a large road on my own…
It dawns on me now that I’m rambling, and so I shall put this brief bit to rest. Please contact me if you have any questions. Please write to me if you have any criticisms. Please ask me if there is anything you want that you think I can give. I know that there won’t be much, but an advanced copy of my next book (also in the Last of the Shapeshifters universe), is certainly easy for me to do. Keep reading, and most of all, keep loving.
My best to you,
A. E. Grace
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About Me
I've been traveling and writing since I was a schoolgirl, the former out of necessity, and the latter by choice. But now both have become staples in my life. I have a particular fondness for paranormal romance, and you'll find that my stories are rooted in realism, focus on the characters before the plot, and always have a happy ending. I hope you enjoy reading them at least as much as I enjoy writing them.
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A Change To Bear
Last of the Shapeshifters
By
A.E. Grace
Copyright 2014 by A.E. Grace, Grace Kincade Publishing
Kindle Edition
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All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author or publisher except for the use of brief quotations in critical articles or reviews.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, places, businesses, characters and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, actual events or locales is purely coincidental. All characters depicted in this work are adults.
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Kindle Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
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