by Cheree Alsop
“Who would have thought we’d be playing hockey with Tarnick’s gang?” Kip said excitedly, trying hard to keep his voice low.
“Yeah, it’s strange world,” I replied, setting my old hockey stick in the closet.
Kip threw himself onto my bed. It wasn’t often that we spent so much time together. I felt relieved at Kip’s presence; after the crazy week, the last thing I wanted was to be alone with my thoughts.
“Why haven’t I ever seen Marek in school?” my brother wondered aloud. “You’d think someone like him would stand out.”
Yeah, really stand out, I thought. I sighed and settled back on the bed by Kip. I could still hear the gunshots from the other night. The memory of the Falconan landing on the truck flashed through my mind. I shivered. “Kip, there’s something I have to tell you about Marek and the others.”
“Yeah?” my brother said, turning his head toward me.
I had to tell someone. I couldn’t keep it all bottled up inside. It was too much. I had seen Marek’s pack kill Falconans to rescue kidnapped children. He had protected them all and saved my life. I knew the government would do anything it could to kill him. He was so busy taking care of everybody else, and no one was watching over him.
I told Kip everything. He listened silently, more quiet than I had every known him to be.
“And I assume Tarnick was one of the Shifters he saved and returned home; that’s how they know each other so well,” I concluded. It felt like a weight had been taken off my shoulders by being able tell someone else what I knew.
“So, what are you going to do?” Kip asked, his green eyes serious.
“I’m going back to the Den tomorrow to help them return the Lost to their homes,” I replied, making my plan as I said it.
“What if Mom and Dad find out you’re not at school?” my brother asked worriedly, sitting up.
“I’ll think of something,” I replied, but the same thought had occurred to me. Mom and Dad couldn’t find out about any of this. Anyone with knowledge of a Shifter’s whereabouts was legally required to report it to the proper authorities. Keeping Marek’s secret was my only way to protect his pack and my family. “You’ll help me cover, won’t you?” I asked. I needed all the help I could get.
Kip nodded. “Just be careful.”
“I will,” I replied with a grateful smile. “You’re the best.”
“I know,” Kip agreed. He rose, stretched, then walked to the door. Pausing with his hand on the door knob, he turned back. “Hey, Kyla?”
I was in the middle of turning down my blankets so I could try to catch some sleep before tomorrow “What?” I asked.
“Thanks for telling me,” Kip replied quietly. “It means a lot.”
I nodded. “Thanks for being a good bro. I need someone I can trust.”
Kip’s ears turned red at the compliment and he disappeared from the room.
Chapter 22- Marek
I sat on the edge of my bed and listened to the noise beyond the curtain that separated my room from the rest of the Den. Children laughed and ran around while Phoenix tried to keep them from knocking over computers or destroying the place completely. Everyone was definitely getting a little stir-crazy being cooped up in the Den all day.
Making up my mind, I rose and stepped out into the hallway. “We’re going to a park,” I announced.
“Do you think that’s wise?” Phoenix asked, concern in his eyes.
I tipped my head toward the chaos. “Better than letting them destroy the Den.” One of Flint’s laptops fell to the ground and he gave me a look of despair. “We need our equipment in one piece. It won’t hurt to let them run around a bit and I think everyone will sleep better.”
“Sounds like a great idea,” Shadow agreed, appearing at my elbow. He turned and shouted, “Attention!”
The Lost children paused whatever they were doing and stared at him in surprise.
“Everyone who wants to go to the park line up in the kitchen. Anyone not there in two seconds will be left here,” he said with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. All fifteen children dropped what they were doing and scrambled to the kitchen. I fought back a laugh at Shadow’s triumphant grin. “You just have to know how to talk to them,” the young wolf Shifter said.
I nodded. “Right. We’ll take them to Hyde’s Park. It’ll be empty this time of night and the Falconans seldom patrol there.” Raven flew down from the roof and circled overhead once before landing on my shoulder. “Scout the area. We’ll meet you at the grate across from the old Swiss office buildings.” He clicked his beak twice and flew back up the roof pipe.
I glanced around the room. “Phoenix?”
He gave a grim smile. “I’ll stay and clean up.”
“You sure you don’t want to stretch your legs?” I asked, but Phoenix preferred not to see us shift. I didn’t know if it weakened his own resolve to stay human, or reminded him what the government had turned him into, but either way he avoided our outings as much as possible.
“I’ll be fine here,” he said with a touch of steel.
I gave him an understanding smile. “I appreciate the help. We’ll relax better knowing the Den’s under guard.”
He gave a relieved nod and began to straighten the crooked televisions and pick up the papers and blueprints that littered the floor.
I paused by Whisper’s room on my way to the kitchen. “Want to go stretch your wings?” I asked gently. Her eyes widened and she shook her head quickly. I knelt and she buried her head against my chest. I expected as much. She seldom shifted, and only when she and I were alone or with Raven.
I smoothed her soft, light hair. “It might be nice to get out,” I urged in a whisper. She shook her head again and I kissed the top of her head. “That’s alright. Maybe we’ll go out tomorrow and visit Kyla. Would you like that?” The thought made my heart skip a beat and when Whisper nodded, a smile touched my lips. “We’ll be back soon. Phoenix is staying and he’ll watch over you, okay?”
She nodded again and scurried back to her bed to play with the Barbies Kyla had let her take home. I rose and watched her from the doorway. She definitely got less attention than she needed when the Den was full of Lost. My chest tightened with worry, but I didn’t know what to do to help her. I pushed the concern down and walked to the kitchen where Shadow already had the trapdoor open.
“Single file,” the gray-haired young Shifter instructed. Flint went down first and the children followed him quietly, their enthusiasm for going to the park tempered by the dark tunnel below. I handed out several flashlights and closed the trapdoor behind me, then passed the group to take up the lead. Flint grinned and the expectation in his eyes made me smile.
I led them through the tunnels that wound underneath the streets of the city. The rumble of cars and trucks lessened as evening darkened into night. We paused at the ladder to the grate and I opened it slowly. Raven’s reassuring cry came from above. I slid the grate aside and climbed out, then helped the children. Exclamations and excitement bubbled from them when they saw the park. “Just don’t get too loud. We’re going to shift and join you guys.”
They ran to the playground and climbed up the slides and on the swings before I finished speaking. Shadow laughed and Flint just sighed and shook his head. I stepped behind a tree and shifted, leaving my clothes in a tidy pile. I padded back out to find Shadow and Flint in their wolf forms. Shadow’s coat matched his dark gray hair while Flint’s fur was dark brown with lighter markings. Both wolves had the long, gangly legs of cubs growing into adulthood, and their coats were still soft and fuzzy. They would eventually have the coarse outer coat and thick under fur of adult wolves, but for now they looked like the gawky young teenagers they were.
Shadow nipped at Flint and the usually reserved Shifter snapped back, then chased Shadow across the playground. I trotted after them, enjoying the way the night breeze swept through my fur and brought with it the scent of a night free of Falconans. The children didn’t seem at all both
ered by Flint and Shadow’s change of form. They fell into the chase and soon a game of tag developed. Raven circled overhead on watch, but he made the occasional dart and spin in the air, obviously enjoying his time above.
Chapter 23- Kyla
When I arrived at the Den early the next morning, Marek was the one to meet me at the parking garage. “You’re just in time. We’ve located the twins’ parents. They’re in Dalton. Would you like to help us return them home?”
“Definitely,” I replied, excited.
Marek nodded. “Good. You’ll get to see why the shooting and life-risking is worth it.”
I rode in the front seat as Marek drove the black Land Rover south from Charlton. I glanced at Phoenix who rode in the middle seat between Alex and Abigail, twelve-year-old blond twins. I had to fight back a laugh.
Phoenix towered above them and would have looked menacing if he wasn’t playing a penny game with the kids. The twins giggled as they tried to grab the pennies from the cougar Shifter’s hands before he could close them. Abby tried to distract him by pointing at a V-line of birds out the window so her brother could grab the coins, but Phoenix didn’t fall for it. He closed his hands, then opened them and the pennies were gone. The twins looked at him in amazement, their eyes wide. Phoenix laughed and pulled the coins from behind their ears, then gave one to each of them.
“To remember us by,” he said with a wink.
Marek nodded and looked back at them in the rearview mirror. “You leave us with only a penny to your name. Be grateful for the life you have. You get to choose who you become and what you do with your life. Don’t let anyone tell you how to live, and don’t be afraid to believe in yourselves.”
The twins both nodded with wide eyes. Marek met my gaze and smiled. “It’s a tradition of sorts, giving the kids a penny. I hope some of them remember.”
I thought about Tarnick. The penny he tossed to Marek had a much more significant meaning now. “I’m sure some of them do,” I replied.
He nodded. “The twins have been away from their home for just over three weeks. The Falconans have taken to trying to intercept us before the Lost can reach their families; that way, they can return them to the labs as if nothing happened.”
I thought of how hard the Falconans fought to keep us from taking the kids. I wasn’t sure if I was ready for another gunfight. “So how do we avoid them?”
Marek glanced at me as if guessing my thoughts. “No matter what happens, you’ll be out of harm’s way; I’ll make sure of it.” He looked in the rearview mirror. Alex and Abby had fallen asleep on Phoenix’s broad shoulders. He gave Marek a thumbs-up, perfectly content to be a pillow. “Their father works at a small business office by the bank. I doubt the Falconans did their homework; they’re sort of a shoot first and ask questions later group. We’ll taken them there and hope for a happy reunion.”
It was with tears in my eyes that I watched the twins push their dad’s intercom pager at the front door. From our position across the intersection in the SUV, I couldn’t hear his voice when he realized who was at the door, but the kids’ glowing expressions told us all we needed to know. They were finally home. They clutched their teddy bears in excitement and waved at Phoenix, Marek, and I.
Donald Samson practically ran through the door in his haste to gather his children in his arms. Tears streamed down his face. Co-workers who had evidently seen his flight downstairs cheered and patted his back. He held his children as though he would never let them go. Someone gave him a phone and the kids shouted into it. More tears. Mother knew her babies were safe.
“And that’s why we do what we do,” Phoenix said from the back seat in a satisfied tone.
Marek drove us down a side-street, then turned back the way we had come. When the children’s reunion was out of sight, I sat back in my seat and dried my tears with my sleeve. There weren’t any words for how I felt. I stared out the window at the buildings as they faded away, content in the warm silence until a loud thud sounded from the top of the vehicle.
Marek glanced at Phoenix in the mirror. “They’re a little late. See how many there are.”
“Right-o, Cap’n,” Phoenix replied enthusiastically. My heart pounded as I watched him roll down a side window. He stuck his head and one arm out, his gun aimed at the roof.
“Duck!” Marek shouted.
I glanced ahead and saw two Falconans gliding toward us, guns raised. I realized the Falconans had just leapt from the back of the gray van ahead of us. I ducked and Marek leaned over me as far as he could while still driving to protect me from the glass and bullets that whizzed past and sunk into the seats behind us.
“Phoenix, hold on!” Marek slammed his foot on the brake and jerked the wheel to the right; he then gunned the gas, sending us speeding back the way we had come.
Phoenix leaned up between Marek and I. “Your fancy driving took the one off the roof, but the van picked them all up.” He paused and shook his head. “Marek, Ras is the one driving the van.”
Marek’s eyes took on a hard glint. “No wonder they caught up so quickly.” He pushed the gas pedal to the floor, watching the van in his rear view mirror as it dodged traffic to keep pace with us.
Marek swore and slammed a fist on the steering wheel in frustration. I looked ahead, fearful of another attack, but Marek was still watching the van through his mirror. “He always knows what we’ll do next.” The wolf Shifter shook his head. “He’s the one Falconan I can’t stop.”
No one spoke. The roar of the over-taxed engine filled the air. I glanced behind us and saw that the van was gaining.
“What kind of engine do they have in that thing?” Phoenix growled quietly.
“Hold on,” Marek said in an eerily calm voice.
I grabbed the handle by my head just before Marek stomped on the brakes again. The van shot past. Marek gunned the gas to catch up. “Take out the tires,” he commanded Phoenix.
Without a word, Phoenix leaned out the side window and shot his .45 with a precision that told of years of training. The left back tire blew, followed by the right. The van careened wildly, narrowly missing a yellow Mustang. The driver of the Mustang braked, shaking his fist angrily; but when he saw who was driving the van, he gunned the gas and sped away with a glance over his shoulder.
“He’ll put that fist away if he knows what’s good for him,” Phoenix muttered. “He’ll get arrested for ruffling feathers.”
The back door of the van flew open. The same two Falconans leapt out, their wings catching the wind as they raised their guns. “Now it’s our turn to ruffle feathers,” Marek said back to Phoenix.
“Right!” Phoenix agreed eagerly.
I watched them take aim. The Falconans and Shifters shot at the same time. Bullets cut through the shattered window. Phoenix yelled. The Falconan on the right jerked back, then fell to the asphalt. A semi that had caught up to us on our right was unable to swerve. That was one Falconan I wouldn’t have to worry about ever again. I tried to keep the thought from my mind that he or she had once been someone’s child.
The remaining Falconan shot at the tires of our SUV as the wind in his wings carried him higher into the sky. He flapped them backwards, landing on the van’s roof. He yelled something down to the driver. I imagined that he was telling Ras they had lost a Falconan. The van swerved into our lane; the brake lights on the van glowed red, then the Land Rover crashed into its rear with a sickening crunch. I lurched forward, feeling as though my neck would break. The air bags didn’t deploy; I wondered in a strangely detached way how they had been disarmed.
The Falconan on the roof was thrown off at the impact. He was nowhere to be seen. The vehicles were stuck together and continued their wild rush down the road. I peered through the open back door of the van and saw the driver glare back at us. The Falconan had spiked, red-tipped blond hair. His eyes were a startling color of yellow which darkened when he met Marek’s eyes.
“Your men are gone, Ras; give up!” Marek yelled into the back o
f the van.
“Not until I hand Galbran your severed head!” the Falconan yelled back.
Marek braked and jerked the steering wheel to the left. The Land Rover dislodged from the rear of the van and fishtailed, but Marek held it under control. The van slid around to the right until it was facing us. Phoenix leaned forward and shot through our broken front window. The bullets sliced into the engine.
Ras’ eyes widened when the engine caught fire. He leapt from the driver-side door just before the van exploded. His wings, the same blond and red color as his hair, were singed as he disappeared into the smoke.
Marek stepped on the gas, swerved around the burning van, and headed back the way we had come. “Nice shooting,” he said after a few minutes.
“Thanks,” Phoenix replied. He was already reloading his guns. “I just hope we don’t see that bird again for a very, very long time.”
“I second that,” Marek said under his breath.
***
“How was school?” Dad asked from his perusal of the newspaper.
I glanced at Kip. His eyes were wide as he stared back at me. I had picked him up on his way home and told him everything that had happened. My hands still shook, but I managed to keep them still through concentration, forcing each bite of unwanted salad to my mouth. “Good,” I managed to say.
“I got a C on my science test,” Kip put in. I gave him a grateful smile for the distraction.
“Good job,” Dad answered. He maneuvered a slice of tomato around the paper. “You’re improving!”
“Very good, dear,” Mom agreed, but her tone sounded odd. I dared to peek at her. Mom was looking from Kip to me with concern on her face. Why is it that moms always know when something is going on?
Mom opened her mouth to ask me a question when the doorbell rang. I jumped up. “I’ll get it!”
My heart gave a little leap when I found Marek at the door and Whisper holding his hand. The little bird Shifter gave me a shy smile. I dropped to one knee and she surprised me by giving me a tight hug. “Well, what a pleasant surprise!” I marveled again at how frail the little girl felt.