by Selina Woods
Jae lifted her head to look. “Metamorphosis.”
“What’s it mean?”
“To change from one thing into another. Like a caterpillar into a butterfly.” Jae eyed me with speculation. “You can’t read?”
Squirming a little, embarrassed, I said, “A little. I learned some in the orphanage before I ran away. A kid on the brink of starvation has no time for books.”
“Want me to teach you?”
I half expected her voice to be a little condescending, but her expression was open, curious, her smile anticipating, not amused. “If you want to.”
Jae scooted closer to me and placed the book between us. “We’ll talk about it as we go along,” she said, opening the book to the first page. “Start reading, and I’ll help.”
The storm blew out later that afternoon. The sun didn’t emerge until the following morning, but Jae and I hardly noticed. We spent three days in her apartment, making love, eating, talking, laughing, and me devouring her books as the love of the written word returned to me.
“I had forgotten how much I enjoyed reading in the orphanage,” I told her as we sat together, sharing a book.
“I don’t have many,” she confessed. “But I’d have thousands if I could. And the time to read them all.”
“I know, right?”
By the morning of the fourth day, the snow had melted enough to permit folks to go about their business again, the enforcers to continue their shakedowns, and Jae was running low of food. “There’s a small grocer down the street,” she said, donning her jacket. “Get your coat; we need to get food. Tonight, I have to go back to work at the bar.”
The atmosphere outside wasn’t nearly as cold as I expected it to be, and people walked or drove as much as they had before the blizzard. Of course, the chief topic of any conversation we heard was about the storm, and some shopkeepers still shoveled some of the stuff away from their storefronts. I saw a few enforcers, and they seemed occupied with searching for someone.
“I think they’re looking for Barry,” I muttered from the side of my mouth, my head down, my collar pulled up to my cheeks.
“Why do you think that?”
“My gut says so. My gut isn’t often wrong.”
She eyed me and spoke under her breath. “He can’t be that important to Raphael,” she murmured. “He’s just an enforcer.”
“Are we sure about that?”
“You’re saying he was more than that?” Her eyes showed skepticism.
“I’m not. They are.”
A few customers shopped at the market when we entered, giving us a once over and deciding we were harmless. Though I often bought food whenever possible, this open shopping with cash in my pocket to pay for it was almost a novel experience. We bought bread, meat, cheese, noodles, sauces, and a rare treat of chips. Taking our haul to the register, we paid the clerk, who then bagged our supplies, and out the door we went.
“It’s kinda cool to not have to steal everything,” I said with a grin, carrying our bags.
Jae smiled. “And here I was taught stealing is wrong.”
“It is wrong,” I reminded her. “But when that’s the only way I had to survive, I did it. I didn’t like it, though.”
“That makes you a good person, Declan.”
I eyed her. “How do you figure?”
Before she could answer, a commotion on the street ahead of us caught our attention. Three goons surrounded a timid deer shifter, who covered his head with his hands, clearly terrified. He wore only his indoor clothes and an apron, no outer coat or boots, and shivered from more than the cold.
“You were the last one to see Barry,” snarled the big tiger shifter. “Where’d he go?”
“I don’t know, sir,” the shop owner cried. “I paid him my dues, and he left. That’s all I know.”
The enforcers looked ready to eat him alive when a long black sedan pulled up to the curb. Its chrome wheels glittered in the sunlight, the paint as shiny as the day it rolled off the assembly line. I knew that car as well as I knew the occupant. I half turned, hunching my shoulders, wondering if he’d recognize me.
“Oh, shit,” I muttered to Jae. “That’s Raphael.”
A crowd had gathered around the drama, so we weren’t the only ones standing in a loose circle around the area, watching with avid eyes. The rear door opened, and a sleek black boot emerged from the car. A leg also clad in black followed, and then Raphael himself stood up from the car.
Like the archangel he named himself after, Raphael was as handsome as the angel himself with godlike good looks, his dark hair slicked back from his face. Dark glasses shaded his eyes from the sun; his high cheekbones held a tint of red from the cold. Thinned lips turned down in a light scowl. Clad in a fur coat, he buttoned it against the chilly air and surveyed the crowd with a majestic disdain.
Jae leaned into me. “He’s a fox.”
“Shh.”
Raphael turned from his admirers and entered the small circle of his goons. I swear they almost bowed as he walked through them, their chins dipping in respect as he faced the smaller shifter. Raphael was a wolf and commanded the loyalty of not just wolves, but lions and a few tigers as well. He was a ruthless killer, and I knew that bald-headed deer in front of him had just become his next prey.
“I’m told Barry the Blade came to see you, Melvin,” he said, his voice deceptively friendly.
“He did, Raphael,” the deer replied, bowing his head. “But I paid my taxes, and he left.”
“How much did you pay?’
Melvin told him, and Raphael nodded. “Did Barry say where he was planning to go next?”
“No, sir. He did not. He took my money and went out of my shop. I continued with business as usual.”
Raphael’s eyes behind the glasses gazed around the watchers again. “Business as usual,” he mused.
I kept my head low, and the dark glasses passed over me. “I am looking for Barry the Blade,” Raphael said, his voice rising so that all could hear him easily. “I am posting a reward for anyone who can tell me where he is. You will not be harmed for coming forward, and your reward will be handsome. Have no fear of telling the truth.”
To his enforcers, he ordered, “Let Melvin go. He knows nothing.”
One of them shoved the smaller shifter. “Get out of here.”
Melvin escaped into his shop while the rest of us still stood frozen to the sidewalk. I wanted to creep out of there, but as Jae and I were right at the forefront, our departure would be noticed immediately. Raphael continued to gaze around, then said to the nearest goon, “Keep looking for Barry. He was going to The Tiger’s Paw but never got to it. He may have visited other businesses between here and there. Find them.”
“Yes, sir.”
Spinning on his heel, Raphael returned to his sleek car, got in the back, and was driven away by his chauffer. His enforcers waved their arms at the throng watching in fascination and yelled, “Get out of here. Get back to work.”
Keeping our heads low, Jae and I scurried down the street toward her apartment, not daring to look back. “You’re right,” Jae muttered as we hustled. “Barry isn’t just an enforcer. What was he?”
“I don’t know. But I believe we need to find out.”
Chad scowled upon hearing our report of Raphael turning the city upside down to find Barry, even believed he was still alive. “Enforcers have vanished before,” he growled, pacing in front of the bar. “Took their take and ran. Raphael knows this. So why is Barry so important?”
“Related by blood?” I offered, only half-serious.
Chad shook his head. “There are no rumors of him having family. It has to be something else, something more important than blood.”
Spinning to face me, Chad snapped his fingers, his eyes on me. “Show me the jewelry you took from him.”
Pulling the mixture of rings and pendants on chains from my pocket, I showed him. Chad took them from me and laid them all out on the bar, scowling down at th
em. “It can’t be,” he muttered, poking them with his finger one by one.
“Can’t be what?” Jae asked.
“The source of magic in the world.”
Chapter Six
I met Jae’s astonished eyes as a shiver ran down my back. “That’s impossible,” I snapped, scared. “That’s a legend.”
“Is it?” Chad demanded, his icy eye on mine. “It exists, and Raphael must think Barry found it somehow.”
“Chad,” Jae said, her voice trembling. “That’s a stretch, isn’t it? An enforcer in Cheyenne finding the one source of magic?”
“Yes,” he admitted on a sigh, gathering the jewels into his hand, “it is a stretch. While I don’t think any of these are it, Raphael may think they are.”
“But,” Jae protested, “does anyone even know what it looks like?”
“I know I don’t,” Chad admitted, staring at the jewels. “Some say it’s a diamond; others say a red box.”
“That might explain why Barry is so important,” I said, putting the jewels back in my pocket. “Can we dump these where he can find them? Once he realizes they aren’t what he’s looking for, he’ll give up. Right?”
“Wrong. I’d heard of him obsessing over the power of magic,” Chad replied, leaning against the bar, his arms folded. “He thinks that if he can find it, he can set himself up to rule the world.”
“Yuck,” Jae commented sourly. “He’s a fox, but his brutality is the pits.”
“And now he thinks Barry found it,” I said. “What gave him that idea?”
Chad shrugged. “Some fool whispered in his ear as a way of getting Barry killed, maybe. Or maybe Barry thinks he did and promised to bring it to Raphael. No matter how he knows, Raphael will not stop searching for him.”
I gazed at Jae. “We have to get out of here,” I said. “If the snow in the creek melts enough to uncover Barry, Raphael will start killing.”
Chad nodded. “You’re right, Declan. If word reaches his ears that he was seen coming in here, but didn’t leave, we’re all facing a very long and painful death.”
“Why don’t we just kill him?” Jae suggested. “With Raphael dead, someone else will set up as the big guy, and life will return to normal.”
“You want to pull the trigger?” I asked. “Kill him in cold blood?”
Jae grimaced, wincing. “Er, I’d rather not. You do it.”
“Darling, I’ll kill anyone who threatens you,” I responded cheerfully, “but I haven’t the balls to murder without dire need.”
“Well, this is dire need.”
“Can it, Jae,” Chad ordered, his hand out, palm down. “If anyone kills Raphael, it’ll be chaos in the streets. Blood will run red, folks will die hard, and we do not want to be part of that. Start thinking escape plans, kids. Time to go to work.”
The bar opened, customers came in, and Jae served beer, whiskey, and drinks. I hid in the back room and occupied myself with restocking shelves from the truck that pulled up to the back entrance. Carrying heavy crates from the truck into the storeroom, I pondered any means of escaping this city. Distract the guards at the roadblock. Send them haring off after an antelope while we drive south.
When I thought of south, I felt that familiar pulling sensation as though someone or something called to me. Ignoring it, I lugged boxes in, closed the back door when the truck pulled away, and started unpacking the crates.
“I can’t pay you,” Chad said from the doorway.
I shrugged with a grin. “I’m warm and out of the weather, aren’t I?”
“Jae is like my daughter.”
Pausing, I gazed at him. “And she said you approved of me.”
Chad laughed. “Now more than ever. You’re a good man, Declan.”
He left to help Jae attend to the customers while I unpacked the bottles and kegs, still wondering how we might distract the goons that sat on the highway south. Get them chasing something, but what? An explosion, maybe? Where can we get our hands on explosives? I knew they existed from the old wars that tore the world apart and left the survivors in dire straits.
Working through the evening, I hardly paid attention to my growling stomach until Jae showed up with bags of food. “I know you’re hungry,” she said with a grin.
“You’re a mind reader.”
Sitting side by side on the crates, we munched the tasty burgers and greasy fries, talking and laughing with our mouths full. It had been barely a week since I’d run from Jonesy into her apartment, and I already knew I wanted her in my life forever. Neither of us had a future in this town, not with me at the top of Raphael’s most-wanted list.
We had to get out of this town and head south. To Denver.
Jae took a paper napkin and wiped mustard from the corner of my mouth. “You’re a mess.”
My mouth clean, I leaned over and kissed her. “You’re a doll.”
Her smile fading, Jae gazed at me, worry now clear in her eyes. “Could you have missed something when you searched Barry? Maybe the source of magic is still on him.”
“Nope. I’m very good at picking pockets.”
“We may not even recognize it if we did have it,” she went on glumly. “How would we know?”
“From what I’ve heard,” I replied slowly, trying to remember, “when someone touches it, they can immediately feel the power.”
“And you’ve been carrying those jewels all this time and never felt a thing.”
“Obviously Barry didn’t either.”
“So, Raphael is on a quest to find what isn’t there to find, and our lives are at stake for it.” Jae stood up to pace, crunching the bag our dinner came in. “Where would we go if we managed to get out of here? Any ideas?”
“Denver.”
The name slipped out of my mouth before I could at least pretend to think about it. Jae eyed me curiously. “Why there?”
How to explain that weird pulling I felt coming from the south. “Well, it’s a safe city,” I replied slowly, avoiding her eyes.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
I raised a small grin. “Am I that transparent?”
“Yep. Spill it.”
“That dream of my mom, if that is her,” I continued, knowing Jae would think I was psychotic, “isn’t the only thing going on with me.”
I shot a quick glance at her, seeing her watching me with expectation, not judgment. “Well, ever since I was little, really little, I’ve felt something calling to me. Pulling me, in a way. And always the name Denver creeps in.”
Silent, Jae watched me for a few minutes, making me want to squirm, embarrassed. “You think I’m a psycho now.”
“Don’t be stupid, Declan. I’m just thinking about what it could mean.”
“It probably means shit.”
Sitting beside me again, Jae took my hand. “There are things in this world we’ll never understand. But if your gut, or this calling whatever it is, says Denver, then that’s where we go.”
“And what if it turns out to be shit after all?” I asked, smiling.
“Then, we’ll figure it out then.”
Chad stuck his head. “Break’s over, Jae. I got my hands full.”
“Coming.”
Hoping Chad might repay my services with a soda, I followed her out into the bar. Sure enough, the place was nearly packed with customers, the bar stools all filled. I almost retreated back to the storeroom, but then saw my usual spot was still open. Wending my way among the crowd of drinkers, all talking, laughing, cigarette smoke making my eyes water, I kept my head down as always.
Sitting at the end of the bar, I waited, patient, until Jae brought me a drink. To keep things appearing normal, as though I were just another customer, I paid her. She smiled as she took the bill, then refilled a beer for a large dude seated at the bar not far from me. Unwittingly, I met his cold stare; his dark eyes narrowed on mine. I looked hastily away, but not before observing the odd lightning tattoo on his left cheekbone.
This is why I don’t
stay indoors. In this crowd, I have nowhere to run. He didn’t appear to be one of Raphael’s enforcers, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t dangerous to either me or Jae. I sipped my soda, using my peripheral vision to watch him. He studied me for a while, then seemed to ignore my presence. A lion shifter, I suspected, maybe a tiger. He had the aura of a large predator, anyway.
“Can I refresh that for you?”
I glanced up to find Jae pointing at my glass. “Sure.”
The guy seemed uninterested in either of us as I paid her for a fresh drink, but my gut told me he very much was. My survival instincts always informed me when someone paid unwanted attention to me. My first reaction would be to leave, then run as fast as I could. If I did that, it meant leaving Jae behind. I had no idea if the guy was interested in just me, or both of us, or none of the above.
Deciding to stick it out, I drank the soda and eyed the guy sidelong whenever he turned his head enough that he couldn’t see. He had shed his heavy coat and hung it on the back of the stool, and wore a simple plaid wool shirt, jeans, boots. Thick black hair hung to his shoulders; his long nose had been broken a time or two. Ordinary. If he hadn’t been so interested in me with those dangerously cold eyes, I’d have placed him as just an average shifter having a drink after the day ending.
Jae wandered over to refresh my glass. “Is Chad taking you home after work?” I asked her, my head averted.
“Yeah,” she answered from the side of her mouth.
Past her, I observed the big guy watching us, and I knew I couldn’t let him follow Jae home if that was his intention. Jae walked away to fill Chad’s order from a table, and I decided it was time to go. Leaving my drink on the bar, I pulled the collar of my coat up and made my way through the bar and out the door. The icy night wind took my breath away for a moment, and I ignored it as I listened for evidence I was being followed.
Strolling casually down the sidewalk, my head down, I heard the bar’s door open and close. Footsteps paced behind me, and I knew it was the big shifter with the tattoo. Fighting him was out, as he’d outmatch me in seconds. I’d outrun and outsmarted dudes like him before, so this was now the time to do it again. I quickened my pace, hearing him walk faster too.