by Liza Street
“Mmm, yeah,” Eleanor had said. He always seemed to know when she wasn’t being completely honest, and not answering would’ve been the same as lying.
He’d climbed into bed beside her, his skin warm—not like he’d been outside in his birthday suit. Had she imagined everything?
But then he’d pulled her toward him and kissed away her doubts until they were both in their birthday suits, dancing between the sheets.
All day, Eleanor had puzzled over it as they’d added new decorations to the house and they’d set up the Christmas tree to decorate later during the weekend. Did he have some kind of sleep disorder? Maybe he’d been sleepwalking. Was naked wandering in the middle of winter, so close to Christmas, something she wanted to worry about?
Yes, yes it was.
“Will,” she said, turning to face him so she was no longer using the mirror.
“Yeah, Ellie?”
“You’re sure you’re going to be okay if I go to the concert tonight?”
“Of course.” He smiled, but it looked forced to her. “I’ll be following right after you, anyway, with Marius and Jackson.”
She sighed and stepped forward until they wrapped their arms around each other. She leaned her cheek against his chest and listened to his heart thumping beneath his black, long-sleeved thermal. “Are you really sure?”
He leaned back slightly and held her so he could look into her eyes. “What do you mean?”
“I saw something weird last night.”
“Okay.”
Was it just her, or had his expression shuttered? Those expressive, broody blue eyes of his suddenly looked guarded.
“I saw you…naked.”
“I saw you naked, too.” He waggled his eyebrows. Then he sobered and took a deep breath. “I don’t want to lie to you.”
She couldn’t believe they were having this conversation in her bathroom doorway of all places. But the thought of stopping the discussion to move elsewhere seemed too risky. What if Will stopped being open about whatever was bothering him—she couldn’t chance it. Letting out a silent exhale, she said, “Why would you need to lie to me?”
“To keep us safe.”
“Are you lying about the important stuff?” She tried to sound strong, but she knew her voice wobbled.
He grinned down at her. “That I love you and I’m never going to leave again?”
“Right.”
“No, not lying about those. Those are true. Forever.”
“Okay, then.” She took another deep breath and let it out. “I think I’m going to need the truth, too. Especially if I’m going off tonight with the girls. It’s going to bother me.”
He closed his eyes and nodded once, before opening them again. “Okay. You saw me naked…outside, I take it?”
“Yes.”
“And you would like an explanation, because it sounds pretty crazy for a person to go wandering around naked in the snow.”
“Right. Stop stalling, Will, and just tell me already.”
He winced. “Sorry. It’s just…I’ve told you in my head a thousand times, but it never went quite like this. Ellie, I’m a shapeshifter.”
She froze in place. “A…a what?”
“A shapeshifter. I can change my form at will, into a mountain lion. It’s genetic.”
She scrambled for an idea to latch onto, because this wasn’t making any sense. Tears pricked at her eyes. This was not what she’d signed up for. Was he mentally ill?
“Genetic?” she asked. “So, Hayley? Jackson?”
“Yes, them too.”
Just past Will’s shoulder, she could see her collection of Intergalactic Love Connection books on her dresser. She’d moved them from the coffee table in the living room so Will could work on his laptop there some nights. But now, more than anything, she needed their comforting pages. Joona could show, by example, how Eleanor might react to this. Sassy, strong Joona would tell Dirk to prove himself.
But Eleanor didn’t want proof. She just wanted the insanity to stop.
“Okay,” she said, feeling meek. “Great.”
It was almost time to leave—Summer and Hayley would be picking her up in a few minutes. The plan was for the guys to follow a little later and everyone would meet at the Tacoma hotel after the show.
Will came forward and reached for Eleanor. His warm hands seemed to anchor her in place. When she didn’t pull away from him, he bent his forehead to touch hers. “I can tell you don’t believe me,” he said, “and I wouldn’t either, if the situation were reversed. I know how strange it sounds. You can ask any of them tonight. Hayley, Summer, Marius, or Jackson.”
“Do Summer and Marius—do they, um, shapeshift, too?”
“Marius does. Summer’s human, not a shifter. But she knows about Jackson.”
“Okay,” she said. “Okay.” She needed to stop saying okay, because obviously, things were not okay.
Her doorbell rang, and she deftly stepped around Will to hurry to the front room. He followed her out onto the porch where Hayley was waiting.
“Hi!” Hayley exclaimed. “You ready to go, hot stuff?”
Eleanor nodded. A light snow had fallen earlier in the day, and the fresh white powder glowed ethereally in the moonlight. Just the night before, Will had been walking through snow like this, behind her house. Naked…or in fur?
“Is something wrong?” Hayley asked.
“Yep,” Eleanor said.
Hayley gave her a side-eye, then flicked her gaze back to Will. Will must have made some kind of signal or gesture, because Hayley merely nodded once before taking Eleanor’s arm in her own.
“So we’ll see you later tonight,” Hayley called over her shoulder at Will.
Eleanor had forgotten something. She had her purse, and Will would be coming later with her overnight bag. But there was still something she needed to do. Squirming out of Hayley’s grasp, she turned and walked carefully back up to her porch where Will was still waiting.
“Everything’s going to be fine,” she said, looking into those gorgeous blue eyes of his. They reflected the light in a funny way, but that was just Will’s eyes, not a sign of anything different about him.
She pressed her lips to his, and he kissed her back. She’d come up here to reassure him, but now it felt like he was feeding that reassurance back into her.
“I love you, Ellie,” he said.
“Love you too,” she whispered.
Hayley stomped her feet on the path leading to Summer’s waiting car. “All right, love birds, let’s move!”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Will watched Summer’s taillights disappear down the street. Ellie had looked so worried as she left, like she was afraid of what crazy thing Will was going to do next. What would she look up, next time she had her Ask Dr. Bridges app open on her phone?
He turned around and went back into her house, and immediately grabbed their overnight bags. The plan was that he would chill out here for a bit before following after, but he didn’t really see the point. If he were worried about his territory, maybe the urge would be to stay here and defend it. But what was territory, without the people he loved? And the people he loved were on their way to Tacoma.
He tossed their bags into the cab of his truck before climbing in after them, then texted Marius and Jackson that he’d be driving separately.
He felt guilty for sneaking after them like this. Maybe he should have told the women what he was doing, but he wanted them to have fun. Ellie deserved to not be worried about him and his increasing paranoia. And if nothing happened tonight, all the better—nobody would have to know he’d been watching.
The drive took almost two hours, with how careful Summer drove. He was careful to stay far behind them, and was glad it was dark because they wouldn’t be able to spot his truck; they’d only see the headlights, which didn’t stick out as conspicuous on the highway.
When they reached the venue, Maddie’s, Summer found parking on the street and Will took a turn into a
parking garage so he wouldn’t have to drive past the women. He could just imagine Hayley’s ire if she were to spot him.
Maddie’s was on the corner next to a wide alley, and they were taking tickets at the door. Will hung back in the shadows of the alley, half-hidden behind a dumpster with a mattress leaned up against the side. It smelled like piss and garbage back here, and he winced at the sharp scent. He’d always hated cities.
What he hated especially was this pervasive sense that something horrible was about to happen.
And then it did. He felt a blunt force against the back of his skull, and he started to fall forward. Before he landed, everything went dark.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Eleanor looked around Maddie’s, feeling completely out of her element. It was a large bar, at least three times the size of The A-Hole, and the crowd here felt a lot more “city” than the folks back in Huntwood. She used to be a part of this scene—college kids going out to hear live music on the weekends, but since her college days, she’d become a lot more introverted. Her comfort had come from books and graphic novels and doing everything she could to not think about Will.
Who she was very determinedly not thinking about right now.
The Licorice Fiddles hadn’t taken the stage yet, and there would be no opening act, so the music coming in through the speakers was quiet and unobtrusive.
“Let’s grab some drinks and a table,” Summer said, leading the way to the bar. She flagged down a bartender. “I’d like a margarita, please. Rocks, salt.”
Eleanor said, “White wine for me.”
“A bottled water, please,” Hayley said.
Both Eleanor and Summer turned to Hayley at the same time. Summer’s eyebrows were raised so high, Eleanor had to laugh.
Hayley gave them a sheepish grin. “I guess now’s the time to tell you two…I’m gonna have a baby!”
“What? Ohmygosh,” Summer shouted.
“That’s wonderful!” Eleanor said, feeling honored at being included in the announcement. Just then, a sharp pain flared at the back of her head. She rubbed the spot, which felt tender.
“You okay?” Hayley asked.
“Yeah,” Eleanor said, blinking through tears at the pain. “Just a little headache.”
Hayley gave her a strange look, but Summer said, “A little mini-Hayley or Marius running around, huh? You’re going to have to stop swearing.”
Hayley laughed. “Maybe I’ll just get all those fucking swears out now, right?”
The bartender returned with their drinks, so Eleanor paid. “I’m getting this round,” she said, as they made their way to the table.
Once they sat down, Eleanor looked around the bar. “I thought your friend Becca was meeting us here?”
Summer shook her head. “She canceled on us. I think she’s been feeling left out, and…this was my clumsy attempt at bringing all of my friends together. But I don’t think she’s interested yet.”
Eleanor reached around and pulled Summer into a hug. “Maybe she just needs a little more time. You two were best friends at one point, right?”
“I’d like to think we still are,” Summer said. “We were the closest. But then I met Jackson, and this life is…different.”
Something about Summer’s tone made Eleanor suck in her breath. She leaned forward in her chair. A different life. Not just that Summer was busy doing couple stuff. It reminded Eleanor of what Will had told her, earlier.
Her head was still pounding, and the lights in the bar seemed to dim. This was a rather strange reaction to be having to this conversation. What would the Dr. Bridges app tell her? Would it say that Will’s earlier revelation, about being a shapeshifter, was throwing Eleanor’s equilibrium off?
Hayley peered at Eleanor over the top of her water bottle, her gaze sharp. “Something’s bugging you,” Hayley said.
Eleanor hesitated, then took a gulp of her wine. “It’s…Will.”
“Yeah?” Hayley said.
“He—he told me I could ask you two about this, but it’s crazy. I know it’s crazy. And I’m worried about him, because this kind of thing is…”
“Crazy?” Summer supplied with a laugh.
“If this is what I think it’s about,” Hayley said, “it’s not quite as crazy as you think it is.”
The bar was filling up, and too many people were close by, crowding into nearby tables. Soon, Eleanor expected there would be standing room only. She scooted closer to Hayley to talk about Will’s bizarre confession, but then two men and two women walked out onto the stage. Everyone in the bar whooped and applauded. Eleanor watched, rapt, as one of the women stepped forward, a fiddle in her hand, and said, “Hey, Tacoma! We’re the Licorice Fiddles and we have a great show for you tonight!”
The band started playing, and Eleanor looked over at Hayley. She wanted to ask—she needed to know—but it was impossible to have that conversation now. Her headache was growing worse and worse. The pain at the back of her skull was making everything look darker, and what lights she could see, hurt her eyes.
She sat through a few songs—she couldn’t keep count of how many. The music was really good, but she couldn’t appreciate it. When the band left the stage to take a break, Eleanor leaned toward Hayley and Summer. “I’m gonna take a cab back to the hotel. My head is killing me.”
Summer took one look at Eleanor and stood up. “I’m not sending you back alone—you look like death, girl.”
Eleanor’s voice came out weaker than she wanted it to, but she managed to say, “But your Christmas present—this concert—I don’t want to ruin it for you.”
Summer was already coming around the table, and she and Hayley both helped Eleanor out of her chair. “Honey, my husband is their social media manager. I can get tickets to anything, any time that I want. Okay? Let’s go.”
Eleanor didn’t have much choice. She was feeling far too woozy to fight Hayley and Summer.
As soon as they got outside, Eleanor felt much better. The street was deserted, probably because it was much too cold to be gallivanting around at eleven p.m. Something about the lack of crowds and the cool night air helped Eleanor’s head, although it still ached.
“We could go back in, I think,” Eleanor said. “Maybe all I needed was some fresh air.”
“Ugh, I left my coat inside Maddie’s,” Summer said. “I’ll be right back. Here, take my keys and get the car warmed up.”
She tossed the keys to Hayley, who caught them, and Hayley and Eleanor continued down the block to the car.
“I’m starting to feel like something’s not quite right,” Eleanor said. “Do you get that feeling?”
Hayley’s eyes seemed to flash in the darkness, and she gave off a low growl.
“What was that?” Eleanor asked.
She shoved the keys into Eleanor’s hand. “Get in the car, lock the doors. I have to go back for Summer.”
“What’s going on?” Eleanor said.
But they’d reached the car and Hayley said, “Hurry,” so Eleanor did as she was told. She climbed into the passenger’s seat and locked the doors after her. She watched in the side mirror as Hayley made her way back toward the bar.
It was freezing inside Summer’s car, so Eleanor climbed over the center console and sat in the driver’s seat. She turned on the ignition and the engine rumbled to life. Heaters full blast. Summer and Hayley hadn’t returned yet. Shouldn’t they have come out by now?
A second later, they appeared on the sidewalk outside the bar. The street was still empty of anyone else. Eleanor turned and watched them make their way along the sidewalk. Just as they crossed an opening to an alleyway, two large men came out.
“What the hell?” Eleanor scrambled with the door handles until she remembered that she’d locked herself in. She couldn’t watch what was happening and find her way out of the car. Frantically, she looked into the rearview mirror and saw Hayley take a swing at one of the men. He dodged, swung back. Hayley ducked, but the man’s fist connected with
Summer. Summer fell to the sidewalk.
“No!” Eleanor shrieked.
Hayley continued to fight.
The car was already on. Eleanor put it in drive and pulled away from the curb, then flipped a U-turn. Hayley and the guys saw her coming and they all dodged out of the way, but Hayley threw one of them against the hood of the car. Eleanor screamed and slammed on the brakes. She was now blocking the alley, with the driver’s door against the alley entrance, and Hayley and the attackers on the street side, and Summer still lying on the sidewalk.
Something smashed in her window. Eleanor screamed again, ducking as pebbles of safety glass showered over her.
A hulking shape reached in through the broken window, and she heard the sound of the door lock being released. She looked up just in time to see a man yank open the door. She kicked and struggled to the other side of the car, toward Hayley, but hands closed around her ankles and the man dragged her from the car.
Hayley darted forward and kicked at the passenger window. Summer still hadn’t gotten up, though—she was nowhere in sight.
“Save Summer,” Eleanor cried. She didn’t know why any of this was happening, but she would not allow Summer to be left behind on the snowy sidewalk.
Another man came up behind Hayley. Eleanor screamed even as a hand came over her mouth to silence her. Hayley whirled around and smashed her fist into the guy’s chin. He flew back, falling against a tree lit with twinkle lights.
Eleanor could barely breathe with her mouth covered up. She kicked back with her feet, but the man holding her seemed to have superhuman strength.
“Tie her up, and let’s go,” he said.
Another man came forward, his eyes an eerie pale gray and reflecting the street lamp’s light. Eleanor shook her head and fought to pull her arms free, but it was no use. He held a couple of zip ties and wrapped one around her hands and one around her feet.
Tears leaked from her eyes. Will, she thought. Where are you?
And that was when she saw a third man in the alley—slumped against the dumpster, his dark golden hair falling forward to cover his eyes. Will. He was hurt. She had to get to him. Blinded with rage and the need to go to Will, she shouted through the hand covering her mouth as she was lifted up and carried away. She twisted to watch Will. Was he even alive? She thought she saw his chest rise and fall, but was that just wishful thinking?