“No.” Autumn was quiet for so long I wondered if she was going to say anything else. She leaned over the bed and rested her cheek against my mom’s. “Thank you so much for taking me in, making me part of your family. Thank you for being the kindest, most amazing woman I’ve ever known. And for giving me Zack. I...” Autumn choked on a sob before resuming. “I wish you well on your new adventure, wherever you go.” There was a long pause before Autumn straightened, then added, “I love you.”
I waited a beat to see if Autumn would continue, but she didn’t say anything else. I planted a kiss on her cheek just as Uncle Mac, Aunt Cara, and my cousin Trevor tiptoed inside. I pulled her close, steered her back toward the wall to make room for the others, and then wrapped my arms all the way around her.
“I’m so sorry, Zack,” Autumn said.
My eyes stung. I’d already said good-bye to my mother. Did I want to stay and witness as her heart pumped the last drop of blood? As much as I wanted every second with her, I didn’t think I could handle a first-row seat to her life slipping away. “Me too. Let’s give them some time alone with her. I need some air anyway.”
Relieved to leave the suffocating room, I closed the door and led Autumn down the corridor. But as we rounded the corner, I caught a glimpse of someone in my peripheral vision. Could that have been Renzo?
Zack, Autumn directed her silent words to me, I’m pretty sure that was Renzo. What do you think he’s doing here?
Probably keeping tabs on me. But I couldn’t think about Renzo right now. I knew he probably worked for the werewolf king and he’d never allow me to go rogue, no matter how many times he’d insisted he was “on vacation.” No sane werewolf would let a perfectly good recruit loose and miss out on the werewolf king’s reward. I’d have to deal with Renzo at some point, but I’d work that out later.
The sun had just risen, peeking above the foothills. I drew fresh air into my lungs then turned to Autumn, the ache in my chest so unbearable I was sure I’d break. “It’s like a part of me is dying.”
“I know.” Autumn snaked her arms around my neck and pressed her breasts against me. I took her in, the smell of her hair and the silky softness of her skin. God, what would I do without her? I maneuvered us backward until her shoulders bumped the stucco wall. I brushed my lips against hers briefly, then held her close and rested my cheek against hers.
Frustration rose up and fear, hard and ugly, devoured me. How would I go on without my mother? She’d always been there and now she was leaving me. I was a werewolf with all the superpowers that went with it. I could leap over fences, pick up scents from across a field, and keep up with a speeding car. Yet I couldn’t save my mom. I was helpless, forced to stand by and watch her fade away.
My heart missed a beat and a sudden intense sadness ravaged me. How I could feel my mom’s absence from the other end of the building I had no idea, but her departure was like a car slamming into me, winding me. Moisture flowed past my lids and my limbs trembled. “She’s gone. I can sense it.”
Autumn released a tiny whimper as her hand stroked my back. “Me too.”
“She’s free now.” And I was alone. I didn’t want to be stoic. Just this once, I didn’t want to hold back. My body vibrated and a long, agonized moan, a sound I barely recognized as mine, came from deep within me. I let go and bawled, not caring who heard me.
Although I hadn’t been there when the last bit of life left her, she’d had family at her bedside. I’d already said good-bye and now, the only thing left to do was comfort my aunt, uncle, and cousins. How could I do that, though, when I was the one who needed it most?
Minutes later, Autumn was still stroking my hair, my back, my arms. “Let’s go for a drive,” she said. “Maybe stop and morph. You’ll feel better.”
I didn’t answer, didn’t react. Leaving my family without telling them would be horribly rude. But I’d had enough of the stench of chemicals and death, and couldn’t bear to stay in the hospital another second.
“Be on alert for Renzo.” Autumn took hold of my hand and guided me to her Mustang. After climbing behind the wheel, she scanned the parking lot, then retrieved her phone and powered it off. “Can I see your cell?”
I handed it to her and she shut it off. I was too numb and frozen to ask why.
“I don’t know how Renzo was able to track us to Yosemite, and I don’t want to take any chances.” She grabbed a disposable phone, scribbled off a quick text, then tore out of the hospital parking lot and merged with traffic. A dull ache took root in my gut as I stared out the window.
Minutes later, we were on a freeway driving past buildings I didn’t recognize. Before I could orient myself, she was making the circle off the 210 to get onto the 118. “I thought we were going to morph, like in the woods around our neighborhood.”
“Renzo was at the hospital, remember? He’ll be looking for you. I’m sorry, but we can’t go back there and we can’t go home.”
Yeah, I’d forgotten all about that. Not only had I not been there the last moments of my mom’s life, but now I was disappearing on Aunt Cara so soon after she’d lost her sister. Not to mention my uncle and cousins. Apparently there were no depths to the degree I could suck.
“I’m leaving them, just like that?” I touched my chin to my chest and rubbed my thudding temples. “I’m not even going to my own mom’s funeral?”
“We can’t stay there, Zack. Your mom would want me to keep you alive and that’s exactly what I intend to do.” Her hands gripped the steering wheel, turning her knuckles white. “We’ll call them in a few minutes. Right now we need to get some food in you and then make it to the safe house.”
Safe house? “When did we plan this?”
“My mom called and I ended up telling her I knew I was a shape-shifter and that they were too. Then she insisted I get the hell out of town. I said I fully intended to, but I wasn’t leaving without you. So she gave me an address of an old friend who owes her a favor.” Autumn checked her review mirror before glancing over her shoulder and switching lanes.
I nodded woodenly, vaguely wondering if the friend’s favor included providing refuge for a werewolf. If so, Autumn had to have told her mother about me. But I had no desire to push for details. I’d lost my parents, my extended family, and soon I’d lose Autumn. That was inevitable. What was the point in fighting for a few more days with her when I was going to end up alone anyway?
We’d already learned the hard way what she risked by associating with me. If she’d never met me, she wouldn’t have been taken hostage by her werewolf ex-boyfriend, and she wouldn’t have been nearly killed by the werewolf assigned to monitor me. And Renzo wouldn’t be one more werewolf whose motives were a mystery and who could turn on us at any moment.
If I’d left her alone from the beginning and ignored her, she would’ve never fallen for me and her risk of being discovered would be dramatically decreased. I didn’t care how tolerant Renzo seemed to be of our relationship. I suspected it was an act. At the very least, he was hiding something, I was sure of it. And that secret could get both Autumn and me killed. All because I was a werewolf.
If Autumn and I separated, she wouldn’t be by herself; she’d meet up with her shape-shifter parents. Which was where she belonged. I needed to think of her needs now, not my own. But with the loss of my mom so raw and fierce, the thought of being without Autumn was more than I could bear. I hoped this weak moment on my part wouldn’t be the biggest mistake of my life.
Chapter SIX
Autumn
We were ten minutes into our drive and it was well past breakfast time. Zack and I hadn’t eaten since dinner the night before and hunger clawed its way out of my belly and into my veins. Zack hadn’t mentioned wanting food, but he had to be starving. I didn’t need him getting low blood sugar and then his mind veering off into even darker and scarier places.
A sign ahead off the 405 freeway read Harold’s Diner. That was good enough for me. I took the next exit and turned into the res
taurant parking lot. After one last scan to make sure I didn’t see any midnight blue Jaguars—or any other signs of Renzo—I scrambled out of the car and went around to Zack’s side. When I opened the passenger door, he stared blankly up at me. I tipped my head toward the restaurant entrance. “We should refuel since we may not have another chance for a while.”
As he clambered out of the passenger side, the empty look in his eyes seemed to have taken up permanent residence. My heart ached for him, but I couldn’t let his pain distract me. I had to get us to safety. Looping my arm through his, I directed him toward our next meal.
Inside the restaurant, he sat silently in the booth by the window and gazed out, his arms dangling at his sides. When the server came to take our order, he didn’t glance her way at all, just continued his staring contest with the glass that separated us from outside. When it became clear he wasn’t going to answer the server, I ordered him a burger.
Our food arrived and his burger still sat uneaten minutes later. I wolfed down a good portion of my pasta, enough to keep me from fainting of hunger, then switched to Zack’s side of the booth and scooted close to him. I grabbed the burger with both hands and lifted it to his mouth. “Take a bite, Zack. You need to eat while you can.”
With wooden movements, he relieved me of the burger. He ate painfully slow, but he kept going and that was all I cared about. When he finished the last bite, I relaxed against the seat. Through the restaurant window, I examined the parking lot again for Renzo’s midnight blue Jaguar, but I didn’t see anything remotely similar. I fished in my purse for the disposable cell and dialed Maya’s number.
She answered on the first ring. “Hello?”
“It’s me,” I said, remembering that she wouldn’t recognize the number of the new phone.
“Where are you? You two disappeared and... she’s gone, Autumn.” Maya squeaked out a sob.
“I know.” I hiccupped, wiping away a tear. “How’s Trevor and everyone else?”
“Not great, but they’re dealing.” She sniffed. “What about Zack?”
“Not so good.” I cast him a glance, suspecting he’d forgotten I existed. He was staring at the napkin he’d left crumpled beside his plate. “His family needs him right now, but... he’s pretty torn up. I’m getting him out of town.”
Maya asked where we were going and when we’d be back, but I kept my answers vague and promised to call her in a few days.
Zack and I piled back into my Mustang. I resumed GPS, which directed me back onto the 405. A few minutes later, before I steered the Mustang onto the 101 north, traffic slowed and I snuck a peek at Zack. His hands covered his face and his shoulders quaked. I wanted to comfort him, but I forced my focus back to the road.
Obeying my GPS, I got off the freeway in Calabasas. Zack looked a little better by then, slightly less like a zombie. Maybe the recent sob-fest had done him some good.
We’d entered a neighborhood with beautifully trimmed mature trees lining the street. The huge houses were spread out, each with long, winding driveways and surrounded by lushly green, perfectly manicured grounds.
“Your destination is on your right,” my phone informed me after another mile and several more gorgeous mansions.
I pulled up to the intricate wrought iron gates, my eyes glued to the chateau-style structure with its spires and steeply pitched roof. It was massive, big enough to be a hotel and by far, the biggest house we’d passed. I rolled down the window to depress the button at the intercom.
“May I help you?” a female voice with a British accent asked from the small square box.
“I’m here to see, uh...” I glanced down at my phone to double-check my mom’s text, hoping I was at the correct place. “Cedric Gallagher. He should be expecting me.”
Any idea who this Cedric guy is? Zack asked. It was the first time he’d uttered a word, aloud or otherwise, since I’d told him we weren’t going back to the hospital. Or home.
“You may enter. Please bring your car all the way to the end of the driveway and someone will meet you,” the female voice said.
I rolled up the window and accelerated when the gate began to slide over. Which end of the driveway? It was almost as wide as it was long. Like a freakin’ mall parking lot. “No, I don’t know anything about Cedric, but my mom wouldn’t send me anywhere unless she was one hundred percent sure we’d be safe.”
The Mustang glided along the smooth stone driveway and an enormous structure to the left of the mansion came into view. The garage maybe? Zack had worked at an auto shop for a while and had fixed my car on occasion. The way Zack ogled it now, he was probably betting it housed some pretty cool cars.
As we drew nearer to the mansion, not a soul was in sight. If anyone was around, they certainly kept well hidden.
“There’s something... something different about this place.” Zack studied the row of hedges that merged with a clump of trees, then stared at the building a long moment. “Just don’t know what.”
Well good. I preferred Zack on alert. Maybe this meant he was back, some part of him at least. I had Cedric Gallagher and his “different” environment to thank for it.
As soon as I opened the driver’s side door, I felt it. A strange energy not unlike my own, but definitely not shape-shifter or werewolf. What the hell were these people?
Zack arrived at my side and laced his fingers through mine as someone dropped from the roof—which was four stories up—and landed in front of us with a thud. My ribs tensed and we took an instinctive step back.
The man’s lip curled up, exposing long white fangs. “Werewolves.”
I didn’t correct him on the plural part. Better if he had no clue I was a shape-shifter who was consorting with a werewolf. My mother may have had faith in Cedric, but that didn’t mean we were safe from everyone else he associated with. Any one of them could turn us in for a reward. “We’re here to see Cedric Gallagher,” I said.
His dark blond hair skittered over his forehead when he folded his arms over his muscular chest. “For what purpose?”
I inhaled again, caught the sweet metallic scent, and it hit me. What other life form could smell so strongly of blood? Vampires, I told Zack silently. From what little I’d read in the books Zack’s father had left for him, vampires hated werewolves.
In daylight? This is not good, he said.
Yeah, like I didn’t already realize that.
Chapter SEVEN
Autumn
Zack gripped my hand as we stood in front of the mansion—more like palace—and watched the vampire. Not liking this, Autumn. We shouldn’t be here.
Would you rather Renzo or some other werewolf finds us?
I don’t know. My gut wants to trust your mom’s friend, but I don’t think I should rely on my instinct today.
My instinct’s not much more dependable than yours. I’d had a hellish day too, and I’d been totally wrong about my ex-boyfriend Daniel and my ex-best friend Gina. But this is our only option and my mom promised we’d be safe.
Zack shrugged. Okay.
“For what purpose?” the vampire repeated, a low hiss emanating from him.
I raised my chin. “Cedric is expecting me.”
The vampire scowled. “He invited werewolves into his home? Unlikely.”
“Ask him yourself,” I replied, sounding much tougher than I felt. “I’m Autumn and this is Zack.”
He deliberated for several seconds, regarding each of us doubtfully. “Tony,” he said, his eyes flaring.
Zack and Tony exchanged man nods and the scent of testosterone thickened.
“So is he here?” I asked in an effort to slice through the tension.
A thick heavy door under a stone archway swung open and a beautiful black girl with long curly hair came into view. “C’mon then. He’s consented to meet with the wolves,” she said in that same British accent.
Tony’s brows flew up. “He has?”
“Apparently our sovereign’s secrets never end,” the girl said
dryly.
Sovereign? Did that mean Cedric was their leader? King? I offered a friendly smile. “I’m Autumn and this is Zack.” I hitched a thumb at him.
She shot us a scalding look. “And I don’t care.” She whirled around and disappeared through the arched doorway.
Zack and I glanced at each other before following her into an enclosed courtyard. Light streamed in from zillions of glass squares arching toward the middle of the ceiling to form a dome, showering sunshine onto a heavenly scented green garden bursting with colorful blooms.
But I didn’t get a chance to truly enjoy the visual feast because she made a hard right, leading us through a door that took us inside. As soon as Zack shut the door after us, the vampire circled around. “I’m told that not only will I welcome you into our home, but I must be your tour guide as well. Your host feels that if you are left to your own devices, you should be able to find your way about.” Her mouth twisted in disgust before she turned her back on us and resumed walking.
“This is the waiting room.” She waved a hand to encompass the area as she continued her brisk pace. Through another doorway the lighting dimmed, but I could still see a couple of pool tables, several booths lining the wall, a dartboard and a stage in the corner with a standing microphone tucked to the side. “Which opens into the game room, which leads to the club and, finally,” she walked quickly past a sprinkling of tables, “the café.”
And beyond that, I spied the kitchen. “Do vampires eat actual food or is this just for show?”
As if I hadn’t uttered a word, she pivoted to the left and led the way into another room. “This is the theater and through that door, the chapel.” She made another sharp left. “This way to the gym.”
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