by Zoe Arden
"She still doesn't get it, does she?" Gordie asked, looking at Burch and Jaggers, who were also laughing.
"Wh-What do you mean?" I asked.
Gordie wiped the tears out of his eyes and inhaled a deep breath. "I'm not just a part of this. I'm the founding member."
I scrunched my brow tightly together and looked at Colt, who looked just as confused as I felt.
Colt cocked his head to the side. "What are you saying? That you're not just working for Jaggers and Burch, you're working with them? But... you're human." He looked at Jaggers and Burch. "Why would either of you even want to work with a human on something like this?"
Burch and Jasper looked at each other and burst out laughing even louder than they had been. "Human?" Burch said. "Gordie's not any more human than me or Jaggers."
"You're not human?" I asked. I'd been so certain that Gordie was human. I pulled away from him. He let me. I searched his eyes, which showed no sign of gold flecks or anything else that would indicate he wasn't human.
Slowly, Gordie's body began to morph. It was like watching wax melt. He turned first into a giant frog, then a merman, then a wolf. My jaw dropped open.
"You're a shapeshifter?" I said. True shapeshifters were rare, and little was known about them.
He melted again and reformed back into the appearance I'd come to recognize as Gordie. He was grinning at us.
"You don't just work for them, do you?" I said. "They work for you."
He nodded.
Colt said, "Why go through all this? Why lure me and Ava down here instead of just going after us?"
"This was so much easier," Gordie said, "and so much more fun." He turned and looked at me. "I was watching you the whole time. I knew the moment you arrived this evening and made sure you'd have a way in."
"That's why the doors were all unlocked. And I thought I was just lucky." I shook my head, feeling stupid. "I should have known better. No one's that lucky."
"I knew what Damon had told you about us here, and I knew I needed to get rid of you. Same for your boyfriend here."
"He's my fiancé," I said automatically.
Gordie laughed. "Whatever. I knew that if I took Damon, you'd come after him, and Colt would never let you do something like that on your own." He paused. "I have to admit, I was hoping that your family and that friend of yours, Lucy, would be with you so that I could wrap up all my loose ends tonight, but I guess I can't get everything. Once we've got you safely tucked away at our new warehouse location, I'll go and pay a visit to the rest of your little gang."
"If you hurt my aunts or my father..." I said, anger flooding over me.
"You'll what? You'll kill me?" he laughed.
"No, I'll turn you into a fly and stick you in a mason jar."
He shook his head. I looked at Colt; he was reaching for his wand. His hand gripped the edge of it, but before he could use it, Burch shot a spell at him, catching him off guard. He didn't even have a chance to deflect it. His wand went flying, and Gordie picked it up.
"No!" I screamed as Gordie raised Colt's own wand against him.
"I'm starting to think you're more trouble than you're worth," Gordie said. "It might be better to simply dispose of you now before you cause any more mischief, like we did with that Beyers woman. She just wouldn't stop snooping around. I daresay that framing Damon Tellinger for her murder was one of my best ideas; it killed two birds with one stone. If only he hadn't gotten away from me that night, I'd have finished him off as well."
"You mean, it was you who was there in Bridal Barista that night?" I asked.
"Of course. I was the only choice for the job, considering my abilities. I was able to slip in and out of the shop without anyone ever noticing me. I just blended in with the dresses."
I remembered thinking that one of the dresses looked oddly alive as it hung in my dressing room and kicked myself. I should have seen it sooner.
Colt was still on the ground. I ran forward and threw my body over him as Gordie got ready to fire. "Ava, no! Get off! They'll kill you!" Colt yelled. I heard the fear in his voice and only clung to him tighter.
Gordie laughed. "On second thought, it will be interesting to see what happens to these two when we inject them with opposite serums. We'll make him a mer-wolf and her... what do werewolves like to eat? Ah, yes. Cows. We'll turn her into one of those, just for fun. We can always change her again later if we want."
Gordie looked at Burch and Jaggers.
"Get her into one of the trucks."
The two men strode toward me, and I let out a scream.
Something zipped by Burch's head, and he turned to look behind him. "What was that?" he asked. Then whatever it was hit him square in the face, and he fell to the ground.
"It's Dean Lampton!" Jaggers yelled. "Run!"
* * *
CHAPTER
THIRTY-NINE
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Colt sat sharply up, almost knocking me off him.
"Ava, get down!" he yelled as a streak of bright white light whizzed over my head. Dean wasn't alone. He had a full team of COMHA agents with him.
Jaggers and Burch bolted. Colt jumped up and ran after Burch. I went after Jaggers. I figured that Dean and his men could deal with Gordie on their own, though I knew they had their hands full with him. He may have only been one man, but he was slick. Every time an agent dove for him, he changed his shape, turning into a puddle of water, a ladybug, a stick. Finally, he turned into a vampire bat and attempted to fly away.
"Stop him!" Dean shouted. "Don't let him go."
One of the agents jumped high into the air and managed to grab hold of a wing. He pulled the bat down and grabbed it with his other hand. It flapped wildly in his hands and bared its tiny little fangs.
Dean ran over to it, threw a bag around it, and cinched it up. "There. That ought to do it."
But Dean was kidding himself. Inside the bag, Gordie changed shape again. He transformed into a giant porcupine and ripped his way right out of the bag. When Dean went to grab him, the sharp spines stabbed his hand and Dean let out a yowl.
"Ava!" Colt called and pointed to my left. Jaggers had just rounded the corner ahead of me. I hurried after him, forgetting Dean and Gordie for the moment. Jaggers was climbing into a car when I caught up to him.
I shouted out the first spell that popped into my head and instead of turning over, his engine began to steam. I wasn't really sure what I'd said. I thought I'd uttered a spell that would turn his exhaust pipe into a celery stick, but I saw no celery anywhere.
Jaggers jumped out of his car and glared at me.
"You foolish girl," he said. "Don't you know that mutants are the future? One day, we'll all be mutants. It's your choice whether you want to be a mermaid-witch or a slug-slimeball."
"And it's your choice whether you want to go peacefully or painfully."
He laughed derisively. "I doubt that you can hurt me. You're just a baker, and you're a terrible secretary."
I was panicking but trying not to show it. I had no good defense that I could think of, nothing that would stop him and get me out of this alive. I was fidgeting with my hands, spinning Colt's ring around on my finger.
I paused, thinking, and slowly slid the ring off my finger. It had been a long time since I'd thrown a baseball, but I was pretty sure I still had it in me. I closed one eye and drew my hand back. He laughed, not even a little frightened, and I let the ring go.
It landed just where I wanted it to, hitting his right eye with a soft thump. Jaggers jumped and let out a cry that was half-animal half-infant. He hopped around on one foot until he tripped over a crack in the street and fell over, still clutching at his eye.
Several of Dean's men ran past me and scooped him up, handcuffing him before he could get away again. I turned around, satisfied, and saw that Colt had taken Burch into custody. He had Burch's hands behind his back and was pushi
ng him along. Burch was sporting two black eyes, and his nose looked swollen.
Dean was holding another bag that he'd cinched with a tie, only this time he threw the bag into an empty cage one of his men had found. Dean cast some sort of spell around the cage and when Gordie turned himself into a lizard and tried to squeeze between the bars, he bounced back as if he'd hit a rubber forcefield. He stood dazed, then turned back into himself—or at least, what I thought of as himself—and demanded to be let loose.
"Don't worry, we'll let you out," Dean said smugly, "once we're back at COMHA's headquarters." Dean's men took the cage away and suddenly, everything seemed quiet. Colt handed Burch off to another agent and came to stand beside me.
"You okay?" he asked, giving me a kiss.
"Yeah. You?"
He nodded.
Dean scratched his head and walked over to us. "What a mess." He looked at me. "How long has this mutant business been going on?"
I shrugged. "I have no idea."
"I thought you had all the answers to this."
"Hardly. I'm surprised to see you here. I didn't think you took anything I said at your office seriously."
Dean hesitated. "Well, I didn't want to say anything at the time, but I already had my suspicions that there was some funny business going on out here. I've been looking into it ever since Grace Kendall came to see me."
"Well, I'm glad you showed up when you did."
"You can thank Colt for that. He called me."
"You did?" I asked, squeezing his hand.
"Of course. I called Dean right after I agreed to help you with your little scheme. When our plans got changed and bumped to tonight, I called him and let him know. I had to. How else was I supposed to get those ferry boats out at this hour?"
"You mean, the boats are at the docks now?" I asked.
"That's right," Dean said. "They're just waiting for the trucks. Once we get everyone back to headquarters, we'll see what's what. I'll leave some of my men here to go through the warehouse and make sure we haven't missed anything... or anyone."
"What about Gordie and Burch and Jaggers?"
"All three of them are going to jail for a long time. We'll have to look into the rest of the management team and see how much the others knew. By the way, good job tonight, Miss Fortune." He clapped me on the back. "My offer still stands any time you want to reconsider."
Colt looked at us with curiosity, "What offer?"
"Oh, nothing," I said coyly. "Dean offered to make me an agent is all."
Dean's face reddened. "Well, now, I didn't exactly say that."
"It's okay," I told him. "I think I'll stick with baking. I'm better at it."
There was a shout from one of the agents who had gone onto the truck. They were taking inventory of all the cages.
"This one's awake," the agent called. "And I don't think he's a mutant."
I looked over and saw Damon slowly, carefully stepping out the truck. He was flanked on either side by an agent.
"Damon," I said, letting go of Colt and running to him. I put my arms around him and gave him a hug. "Are you okay? How do you feel?"
"A little woozy," he said, wobbling on his feet.
He hugged me back, keeping one arm around my shoulders as I finished helping him off the truck. I looked at Colt. His face was tight, but if he was angry about anything, he was keeping it to himself, at least for now.
"I can't believe you found me," Damon said, hugging me again. "You saved my life."
"No, I didn't," I told him. "Colt did."
Damon looked at Colt, whose face was serious.
"If Colt hadn't agreed to help me and shown up when he did, then I would've gotten locked in one of those cages right alongside you."
Damon stepped forward and held out his hand. "Thank you."
Colt hesitated then stepped forward and took it. "It's my job." It wasn't exactly warm and fuzzy between them, but I decided it was as close as it was ever going to get.
Dean said, "We need to get him down to headquarters and have him looked over. Dr. Dunne is meeting us there."
Damon looked at me. "Will you come with me?"
My heart beat hard in my chest. "Damon, I... I'm glad you're all right, and I want you to know that I'll always care about you as a friend, but I don't think I can see you anymore."
Damon's eyes saddened. "I understand. I just wish you the best." He looked at Colt. "I wish you both the best."
One of the agents came over and held his hand out to me. "I think this belongs to you."
"My ring!" I shouted, delighted that he'd found it. I wasn't sure where it had gone off to after hitting Jaggers in the eye with it. I'd been slightly worried that it had embedded itself in his eyeball, and I might never see it again. I slipped the ring back onto my finger and thanked the agent who'd handed it to me.
Dean started away with Damon.
Colt cleared his throat. "Hang on," he said, and Dean stopped. "Ava..." He drew in a deep breath. "Go with him."
I looked at Colt, confused. "What?"
"Go with Damon. He could probably use a friend right now."
I looked at Damon, whose face had lightened considerably at Colt's words.
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"I'm sure," he said. "I love you, and I trust you, and I won't be one of those men who try to tell you who you can and can't be friends with. So, go on. I'll be right behind you and meet you there."
I kissed him as hard as I could, never wanting to let him go. "Thanks," I whispered and hurried off to make sure that Damon wasn't about to turn into a mer-wolf, or anything else.
* * *
CHAPTER
FORTY
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The bell chimed, and I looked up from the book of wedding cakes I'd been pouring over all morning. Colt came strolling in, wearing a smile.
"Still at it, huh?" he asked. "Trixie and Eleanor are relentless." He shot Trixie a look. "The least you could do is let her have a lunch break. I bet she'll pick a cake better on a full stomach."
"For your information," Eleanor said, "she's already picked one."
Colt stopped smirking and stared at me with his eyes wide and his jaw hanging open. "You're kidding."
I shook my head and flipped the book open to a page near the back, pointing to a three-tiered cake of white and silver. Simple, but pretty.
"It looks like a disco ball," he joked, and I pinched him. "What?" he asked. "I like disco balls."
"Not only that," said Trixie, "but we have an appointment later to try on dresses."
Now Colt looked concerned. "Not at the Bridal Barista?"
Trixie said, "They have the best dresses in town."
Colt sighed. "Are you sure that's a good idea? What about that bill for the last wedding dress?"
"Sheriff Knoxx took care of it," I told him.
He looked dubiously at me. "How'd he do that?"
"He told them that since the dress had blood on it, that made it part of the crime scene, and it was illegal to charge people for parts of crime scenes."
Colt scratched his head. "I'm not sure how accurate that statement is."
"Accurate enough," said Eleanor.
"Besides, Rachel Underwright thinks I'm a hero now," I told him.
"Because you helped solve Grace's murder?" Colt asked.
"And freed her brother." I paused and looked at him. "How is he, by the way?"
"Owen's good. He's taking longer than the others to change back, but then it seems he had the most stuff done to him. Dr. Dunne says it's going to take a bit longer, but he's still confident that the process can be reversed."
It turned out that there were just under sixty creatures in total. The numbers I'd seen on their tanks—A1, B12, etc.—had turned out to indicate the type of mutation they'd been given, and their number in the rotation. A15, for example, was the fifteenth person to receive the "A" injection
. All the people who'd been taken had been human.
There was a squirrel sitting on my dad's shoulder silently watching us. He made soft chirping noises from time to time and looked at my father.
"So, the others are already back to normal?" my dad asked.
"For the most part," Colt said. "A few of them are going home tomorrow, though they'll be monitored for the next few months just to make sure there are no adverse reactions."
"Do they remember anything?" I asked.
"Thankfully, no. With the exception of Owen Kendall, they think they're in a regular human hospital right now being treated for an outbreak of squirrel fever."
"Squirrel fever?" I asked. "Is that a thing?"
"It is now."
My dad's squirrel squeaked angrily and leaned close to my father's ear. My dad blushed and cleared his throat. "Snake wants you to know that he doesn't appreciate you blaming his relatives for making people sick."
"Snake?" Colt asked, looking around at us.
My dad ran a hand through his hair. "That's what he likes to be called. Funny, I've gone my entire life without a familiar and now that I've found one, it's not exactly what I thought it would be like."
Snake wagged his fluffy red-brown tail in my dad's face, and my dad sighed. "I didn't mean to insult you," he said. "I only meant that it's a little odd having a squirrel on my shoulder. I'd always thought that if I found a familiar, it would be a cat like Snowball or maybe a dog like Rocky. It never occurred to me that it would be a squirrel named Snake."
Snake folded his arms across his chest and nodded his head.
"Does he talk?" Colt asked.
"So far, only to me," my dad said. "I guess he's shy."
"You should have Snowball take him out and show him around town," I said. "I don't know how squirrels feel about tuna, but there's a fishmonger down at the boardwalk that has a steady supply of it to give if Snake's interested." I'd seen Max just the other day and learned he had a daughter as well as two sons. It turned out the daughter was just about Damon's age, too.
