by Romi Hart
“I happen to know that it didn’t. Things like that don’t have a large range. They stay within a mile or so of their home. And his home is nearby, or he wouldn’t have been stalking you, girls, at your campsite.”
Val beamed at me. “Let me interview you. Please, Twi. You’re a wealth of knowledge about this case. Please.”
Trying to ignore Mist’s pissed off stare, I shrugged. “I’ll think about it.”
“Okay, Zoe. So, let’s head back to the campsite and I’ll unload the van and put up the tent all by myself. You can’t be mad if I do all the work.” Val looked at me with a smile. “And since you will be joining us, you can grab your things and come over to set up.”
Mist shook his head. “No can do, missy. Twi, you and I need to talk.”
With a sigh, I knew I had to go over things with my cousin. So, I kissed Val on the cheek. “We’ve been roughing it. No tent or anything like that. I tell you what though. You go see to your things and Mist and I will start tracking the beast. We’ll meet you at your campsite not long after nightfall.”
“Okay. I’ll make us all something to eat before we head out to see what we can find after dark.” Val smiled, and her chest heaved as she sighed. “See you soon, Twi.”
I wanted to grab her and kiss her but knew she’d get angry if I did that in front of Zoe. “See you soon, my dear.”
Zoe walked back up the trail, muttering about things being so out of whack and how she was going to sit on her ass and watch Val put the camp back together.
Mist came up to my side as I stood there, watching Val walk away. “You smell like sex, Twi. So did Val.”
I started walking in the opposite direction of the girls. “You don’t smell a thing, Mist.”
He stepped in beside me, matching my long strides. “Why are you acting like that? You don’t keep secrets from me. You’re lying, Twi. I can smell it.”
“I’m not going to talk about this with you, Mist. So, let it go.” We had other things that were much more important than what had happened between me and Val. “We’ve got to see what we can find out about where the Wendigo is and lead the girls away from that area. So, that means we have to make some phony tracks and signs of him for them to follow.”
“Why are we going to do all that? We want them to leave the forest.” Mist threw his hands up in the air. “You’ve had sex with her and now you never want her to leave.”
“I did not have sex with her.” I worried that his loud voice would echo all the way over to Zoe. Val would be furious with me if that happened.
“And that’s a lie. You are lying right to my face.” Shaking his head, he mumbled, “Bros before hoes, Twilight Foxworthy. You’re picking the ho before your bro. Or cousin. Whichever - you’re picking her over me.”
“First of all, let me address the ho-thing. Val isn’t a ho, so I won’t have you referring to her as one. Second of all, my sex-life isn’t your business nor your concern.” I knew he was just pissed that he hadn’t gotten anywhere with Zoe. “I’m sorry that you weren’t able to get Zoe to see how much you like her. But don’t take your frustrations out on me.”
“I just don’t understand why you think you need to keep this a secret.” He jogged ahead of me. “I don’t like being lied to is all.”
“I made promises, Mist. I intend to keep them. It’s nothing against you. So, don’t ask me any questions about Val and I will tell you no lies.”
With a nod, he seemed to understand me and the pissed off look faded away completely. “So, should we change into our foxes to find what we’re looking for?”
“I think we should.”
Running through the forest in our fox-forms, we covered more ground faster. Our noses caught the haughty stench of the Wendigo before our eyes did.
Halting immediately, we looked at each other, then at everything around us. The sun had begun to drop into the evening sky. We had only an hour or so of light left.
Just as we were about to move forward, slowly, a loud booming sound came from overhead. Along with the sound came the smell of fire and ash. I sent a telepathic message to Mist, “A dragon is here.”
He nodded then we both changed back into our human forms. As we looked around, Mist whispered, “What business would a dragon have in this forest?”
“Good evening,” came a deep voice from everywhere around us. And then a tall man with jet black hair, wearing a silver suit of tailored to fit armor, came out of the shadows and into the main beam of light that shone through the trees overhead. “I am Codut.”
“I am Twilight, and this is my cousin, Mist.” I smelled evil on the shifter. “What has you here, sir?”
“I’ve gotten wind of a Wendigo who’s in danger. I’m here to open a portal so he can escape this place for a while. We can’t have other fairytale creatures getting discovered on Earth, now can we?” He stepped closer to Mist as his eyes ran over my cousin. “Mist, is it?”
“It is,” my cousin answered.
“You’re quite the little rebel, aren’t you?” Codut grinned, showing off sharp canine teeth. “Fox-shifters are one of my favorite types of shifter. Their smaller stature comes in handy at times.”
“We’ve found that to be true,” Mist said. “So, where have you come from, Codut?”
I didn’t feel much like talking to the shifter. His entire demeanor put me off. But Mist seemed interested in him for some reason.
“I’ve got my own realm. The portal I’ll open will lead to it. The Wendigo will be safe there until the hunters leave this place. Then he’ll come back here – to his home.” Stroking his chin with long, shiny black nails that ended in sharp points, he asked, “Would you care to come for a visit? I’m in the developmental phase of building a better empire for shifters. The old rules get in our way at times.”
“They’ve never gotten in my way. Not even once,” I had to say. He made no sense at all. “An empire? For shifters? I think we’re all happy being free of something like that.”
Codut barely glanced my way as he said, “There is a need. I understand that fox-shifters don’t usually have to deal with things pertaining to rules – the country bumpkins that most of you are. But we need a supreme ruler to make things easier in the shifter world.”
“A supreme ruler?” I’d heard enough. “Well, have fun with your Wendigo. We’ve gotta go.” With Codut taking away the thing that Val was looking for, things had gotten easier for me.
“Mist?” Codut asked before we were able to walk away. “Would you be willing to check out our soldier program? Stealthy foxes are a thing we desperately need.”
“I – don’t – know,” Mist hem-hawed.
I knew. “He’s not interested. Come on, Mist. Let’s get back to what we were doing.”
Codut took a long sniff of the air. “Ah, I see what has you so quick to be leaving my company. A female has entangled you in her web, Twilight. I wouldn’t dare ask a male in the midst of lust to aid our mission. But Mist isn’t hung up on anyone. Why should he sit here and endure watching you fall into love when he cannot?”
“As if I’m going to make him watch. He’s a free spirit. He can do as he pleases. But why would he want to become a soldier for you and your empire?” I felt a strong urge to snarl at the shifter who’d swooped into our forest.
“Empire is a strong word. It’s more of an alliance. And we’re all on the same page. Making things fair for shifters of all kinds is what I’m talking about.” Codut ran his hand in a circle and a green glow began to form. “For instance, not all shifters have the power to open portals.”
Mist’s eyes grew big. “We don’t have that power. Can these portals take you anywhere? Another time perhaps?”
“Anywhere you want to go in the present is where portals can take you. The stories about time travel are just that – stories. If even one person, time-traveled into the past, things would change in such a way as to cause mass chaos. If the future was a place we could travel to, no one would be left in the present.” C
odut closed the portal by rotating his hand in the opposite direction. “There are places to see through portals that you can’t see any other way.”
Mist looked at me with longing in his eyes. “Twi, let’s go. At least to find out if we can be of help. I bet there are loads of things other shifters do that we can’t. We’ve talked about this many times. We have no supernatural powers. We know other shifters do. So why do some get things that others don’t? Codut’s right. It’s not fair. What if we could have a part in making things fair in the shifter world?”
“I don’t feel as if things are unfair now.” I didn’t trust the tall creature who stood before us. “We’ve been fine without any powers and we’ll continue to be fine.”
“But what if we could open portals to travel?” Mist wasn’t giving up. “That would be something. You could take your lady to another universe. How impressed would she be by that?”
Val would most definitely be impressed if I could take her through green circles to other places. She was the fiercest female I’d ever met. But I wasn’t about to try to gain that power by helping out Codut. Not when he gave off the most untrustworthy vibe I’d ever felt.
“You know, Mist,” Codut said. “You can come all on your own.”
“My cousin and I don’t leave each other behind. If he won’t go, then I won’t be going either.” Mist looked at me with a frown pulling his lips into a horseshoe. “Are you sure that you won’t go, Twi?”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I was happy that Mist wouldn’t go without me. If he did go, I knew I’d end up trying to get to him to make sure he was okay. “I won’t go. We have lived hundreds of years without any powers. I think we’ll be fine.” Looking at Codut, I went on, “And we might end up getting powers anyway if Codut and his alliances gain the power to give us all powers. And how will that work, exactly?”
“It’s a complicated process.” He looked at Mist again. “You know, your cousin isn’t going to have time for you anyway, Mist. I happened to have been flying over this forest all day and saw him with his female – mating. He’ll be busy with that. I overheard him saying something about spending eternity with her. That will leave you out, Mist. I don’t mean to bring you down, but you will be left out in the cold. I also saw you dealing with a female who spurned you.”
“Zoe isn’t the only fish in the sea,” I said as I tried to get Mist to look at me to take his eyes off of Codut.
“You’re right.” Mist narrowed his eyes at me. “So, I was right about what you and Val were doing then.”
“I assumed you knew that you were right when I told you that I’d made promises I intended to keep. And I’m still keeping that promise I made to Valentine. I won’t be discussing what we did at any time. I will not confirm or deny anything.” Finding out that Codut liked to spy only served to fuel the concern I had about him. “We need to get going, Mist. We do have a timeframe to adhere to.”
“I’ll leave the portal open for a while just in case you change your mind, Mist.” He turned and walked up the hill, then ran his hand in a circle, opening another portal. “It won’t be open forever though.” His dark eyes came to mine. “You are not invited, Twilight.” And then he disappeared over the hill.
Taking Mist by the shoulder, I turned him around. “Come, we’ve got nothing to worry about now. He’s made our job of keeping the girls safe from the Wendigo easy.”
“And why should I care about them anymore? Zoe doesn’t like me even a little.” We walked away, but Mist looked over his shoulder three times before we were far enough away from the portal to see it any longer.
Good riddance to you and your damn portal, Codut!
“Well, maybe you shouldn’t care about Zoe. She is a hunter who relishes taking the skins off defenseless animals, after all. But you should care about Valentine. I plan on keeping her around.”
“Yeah, for eternity,” he said with a smirk. “I didn’t bring anything up when the dragon said something about that, but now I will. What the actual hell, Twilight Foxworthy? You’ve never said anything to the effect of wanting to be with one female for the eternity. You have said just the opposite though. How you’re your little song go? Marriage. Eight letters – one more horrifying than the next. M is for murder – as in please murder me if you ever find that I’ve been trapped into marriage. A is for asinine – as in the asinine conversations a man must have with his wife. R is for rifle – as in fetch me a rifle so I can blow my immortal head off.”
“Okay, okay,” I said to subdue him.
“So, shall I fetch you a rifle now, my dear cousin?” He laughed and the sound echoed through the trees.
“You have no idea what happened to us.” I shut my mouth tightly as I realized I’d almost told him about the love we’d made. “And later I’ll explain more. But right now we’ve got things to tend to.”
“I’m not about to help you out with that.” He began jogging away from me. “You are on your own with that.
12
Valentine
The sounds of men talking had Zoe and I deviating from the path back to the main road. “It sounds like our guys,” I said. “And some other man too.”
“I don’t know why you insisted we get off the trail to go eavesdrop on them.” Zoe rolled her eyes as she stepped around to get in front of me. “I don’t want to be stuck back here, looking at the back of your head, Val. Let me lead the way.”
“Fine.” Her sour attitude was starting to really get to me. “And try to find something nice to think about that might help you get over yourself, Zoe.”
“I don’t know how you expect me to not to have a reaction to you dumping me for hours just so you could go screw a stranger.”
I knew she was going to act like this.
“I didn’t screw a stranger, Zoe.” It was making love and it was amazing! “Twi told you what we did. We went off-roading – as he called it. Just walking in the woods. Nothing wrong with that.” I’d never lied much – never had to. But Zoe knew how to make me feel such shame that I couldn’t stand the idea of telling her the truth.
“Sure you that’s all you did. So, why did you invite them to come stay at our camp?” Her dark eyes narrowed as she looked at me over her shoulder. “And where did you tell lover-boy he could sleep? With you, no doubt.”
“I didn’t tell him a thing about that. We didn’t discuss the sleeping arrangements. He and Mist have been roughing it, is what he told me. I assume that means they’ve been sleeping in sleeping bags, or something like that, out in the open. He said they don’t have tents or anything.”
“I’m not about to have some foursome in our one tent, Val. Just so you know.”
“Just so you know, I’m not about to do that either. God! You think I’m such a slut and I’ve never given you any reason to think that way about me.” I hated how judgmental she could be.
“You use your good looks all the time, Val. You flirt and don’t even know you’re doing it.” She stepped over a rock that jutted out of the forest floor. “Watch your step here.”
“I’m on the camera, Zoe. I need to look decent. And I don’t flirt often at all.”
“I’m just saying that we’re trying to come off as scientists here and you’re not helping us look that way.” She glanced back at me. “Maybe you should start learning how to use the camera so I can have some screen time. It might make us seem more legit.”
“Okay, Zoe, I know you don’t want to hear this. But we will never come off as legit. We’re chasing mythical monsters. Real scientists don’t do this.” At least I was being real with what we were doing. Zoe was in such deep denial that it was about to drown her. “Our subscribers aren’t the cream of the crop either. Have you ever even looked at some of the comments we get?”
“No, I don’t read that stuff.” She was all about the video and nothing else. “That’s your job, Val. I get the video and you get to be the star of the show. Which means all those comments are for you – not me.”
“I’m just
saying that most of the people who follow us are not that educated. Believing in monsters isn’t want smart people do. So, I cater to people with lower IQs and that means using my looks to gain their interest in the first place. And talking in ways that hook them. I can’t hook them with smart, analytical jargon, Zoe. You would know that if you’d taken even one marketing class like I asked you to. Marketing is hard work.”
“You’re doing a good job at it. Why should I get in your way?” She pushed a tree branch to one side, then let it go and it snapped back, almost hitting me in the face. “Watch out.”
“Shit! You almost smacked me in the face with that.” I moved it out of my way and heard her snickering. “It wouldn’t be funny if I had a red whelp across my face, Zoe.” I was beginning to think she had a mean streak in her that I hadn’t been paying attention to.
“I trust in your fast reflexes.” She shot another branch at me in the same fashion.
“Wow, Zoe.” Shaking my head, I knew I had to resolve myself to the fact that she was going to be pissy and that was that.
“Shh.” She stopped in front of me. “Listen.”
I couldn’t hear anything. “What is it?”
“Hush,” she hissed at me. “Listen.”
“You know, Mist. You can come all on your own,” came the deep voice of a man I didn’t know.
“My cousin and I don’t leave each other behind. If he won’t go, then I won’t be going either,” Mist said then paused before going on, “Are you sure that you won’t go, Twi?”
“Where does this guy want Mist to go?” I whispered. “And why doesn’t Twi want to go too?” I was glad Twi didn’t want to go. But was he staying because of me or some other reason?
Zoe looked at me with wide eyes and put her finger to her lips. “Quiet. If you listen, you might find these things out for yourself. Why you’re asking me is the real question here.”
“For someone who says to be quiet, you sure got a lot to say.” I smirked at her.