The leopard gave a couple of low chuffs. It moved in a streamline, agile, sleek way toward the man, who was now surrounded by big cats and wolves. The two bird shifters had also alighted, and sat in the branches of the tree overhead. The men had nowhere they could go. Chogan reached down and picked up the discarded shotguns.
Ollie stopped at the man’s legs. With a snarl, he lunged for the man’s calf and sank his teeth in and tore. Blood spurted, and the man screamed, clutching at the wound.
“That’s a warning,” said Autumn, her face stony. The sight of the blood turned Mia’s stomach, but Autumn didn’t seem fazed. “Go after shifters again, and it won’t just be your leg that’s injured. We’ll rip out your fucking throats.”
With that she turned away from them and started to walk away. Then she turned back to look over her shoulder. “Let them go. See if he can get his friend some help before he bleeds out.”
“Autumn!” Mia said, unsure how she intended on finishing. This cold-hearted woman was nothing like her friend at all.
“You should come with me now, Mia,” Autumn said, from over her shoulder. “We still have things we need to do.”
Peter approached and nudged her with his head, telling her to go to the vehicles with Autumn. Though she didn’t want to leave Peter, the idea of shifting again so soon in order to keep up with the others was even less appealing. She needed some rest, and though she didn’t think she would get much with Autumn acting how she was, at least traveling by car would mean she’d get to spend some time with her twin brother.
She crouched a little to bring herself eye level with Peter’s coal ringed, amber eyes. “I’ll see you soon,” she said, placing a kiss on his soft, furry forehead. He gave a couple of loud purrs.
Mia smiled. “I love you, too.”
Chapter Fifteen
AUTUMN TIGHTENED HER fingers around the steering wheel as she drove, not wanting anyone to notice how her hands shook.
Chogan had chosen to ride in the other truck with the two paranormal women. Daisy still had her hold over Rhys’ emotions, but Chogan had wanted to be in the vehicle with her and Angie, just in case something went wrong and they needed a bit of muscle power.
Marcus and Mia both sat in the back seat behind her, talking about the lost years since they’d been separated. They’d not had much time to catch up—everything had been a whirlwind since the paranormals had been freed—and Mia’s relationship with Peter had also eaten into any time Marcus and Mia might have gotten to spend together.
Now they headed back to Wenona’s house. All Rhys had been able to tell them was that Vivian had gone back the way Autumn had come, and as Wenona’s house was on the way to Chicago—if that’s where Vivian had headed—Autumn at least wanted to make sure Blake and the others were safe. She hated to think of them at the house, unprotected. She should have left someone with them, but had been so focused on killing Vivian, it hadn’t even crossed her mind. Perhaps Mia was right. She was neglecting everyone else in her pursuit for revenge.
She wished Wenona had a landline, or at least that she knew someone’s cell number back at the house. She wanted to let Blake know she was on her way back. She’d overlooked so many things—little things that could make all the difference.
In the distance, a plume of smoke rose in the skyline. Autumn frowned and leaned forward. “What’s going on over there?”
“I don’t know,” said Mia. “But could you pull over?”
Autumn glanced back to find Mia pale-faced, her hand clutched to her mouth. “Oh, shit.”
She swung the truck onto the verge, the vehicle behind blaring its horn as she did so. She’d caught them by surprise, and they’d almost gone into the back of them. The other truck pulled over as well, not too far ahead.
Mia shoved open the door and fell from the vehicle. She landed on her knees, and then placed her hands on the ground, so she was on all fours, and then heaved like a sick dog.
Autumn quickly opened her own door and ran around. “Oh, my God, Mia. Are you okay?” She dropped down to rub her friend’s back, and hold her hair out of her face.
Mia retched a couple more times, tears streaming down her face. Trembling, she sat up to look at Autumn. She was shaking, her skin white. “Sorry. I don’t know what’s come over me. It must be that the shift has thrown my body off course. I’m not well at all.”
“Maybe you’ve picked up a bug,” Autumn suggested, but then she remembered how shifters weren’t supposed to get sick. Their ability to heal almost always expelled any viruses from the system. But then she thought about Blake, and how being a shifter didn’t always mean they would heal. “You should have said something sooner if you weren’t feeling well.”
“I didn’t want to make a fuss. There are far more important things going on than me suffering with an upset stomach.”
“Don’t be silly. You need to rest.”
Autumn looked between the other cars, trying to figure out the best way to do this. Mia needed to go back to Wenona’s, and she couldn’t drive herself. It would mean losing someone, and she couldn’t afford to lose another of her shifters. That only left the paranormals. Marcus was the most powerful, and most useful of the group, and Daisy still held Rhys under her power, so that only left Angie. It would be a bit of a squash with all of them in the one remaining vehicle, but they could live with that.
The people travelling in the other truck had already emerged, and were heading toward them, trying to find out what was going on.
“Angie?” said Autumn. “Can you drive Mia back to Wenona’s? She’s not well, and she needs to rest.”
Angie frowned, but nodded. “Of course.”
“You don’t need to do that,” protested Mia. “I’ll be fine.”
“No, you won’t. I’m not putting it up for discussion either. I can’t be worrying about you. You need to go home and rest.”
She could see Mia torn between wanting to put up and fight, and knowing her body needed to rest. In the end her friend sighed. “Okay. Sorry.”
Autumn put her arm around her and gave her a hug. “Nothing to be sorry for. You can’t help it if you’re sick.”
Marcus approached and gave his sister a hug. “Take care of yourself. We’ll see you soon.”
“You’d better,” she replied. “Be careful, okay?”
“Always.”
Mia lifted her eyebrows as if to say, ‘yeah, right.’ Considering Marcus had spent the last ten years locked up in an experimental facility, Autumn didn’t think Mia’s skepticism was wrong.
“Do you want me to shift again?” asked Chogan, who’d been hanging back. Sick women obviously weren’t his thing. “You’re down another shifter now, and besides, if we only have one vehicle, it’s gonna be kind of cramped.” His gaze shifted over to Daisy and the big man standing like a docile pet beside her. “Some of us guys aren’t exactly on the small side.”
Autumn nodded. “Okay, thanks.” She looked toward the plume of smoke still rising into the sky. “Do you think we should go and check that out?”
“The fire?”
She nodded. “Yeah. I can’t help but feel like Vivian is going to give us some kind of clue as to her location, and even though it might be another trap, I wonder if that might be it.”
“You think she’s set fire to something?”
Autumn sighed and pushed her hair from her face. Though she wore it tied back, fine strands of curls had escaped and tickled her skin. “Honestly, I’m not sure what to think right now. Vivian is probably luring us right into whatever trap she’s got lined up for us, but I just know I don’t want to lose her. We can handle whatever shit she’s going to pull. We’re stronger than she is, especially now she doesn’t have the government’s backing.”
“Yeah, but she still has some of these private military companies on her payroll. She’ll still have men fighting for her.”
“Men who fight for money are never as strong or dangerous as those who fight for their beliefs.”
> They allowed that to sink in.
“You should go now,” she said to Mia. “Go and let yourself recuperate.”
Mia bit her lower lip. “I thought I might wait for Peter, so I can tell him what’s happening.”
“The shifters are probably way ahead of us by now. I haven’t caught sight of Tala and Nadie for a while now. We can’t afford to wait around here until they notice we’re not following and double back.”
“I could just wait,” she said, her voice sounding small.
“That’s not safe. You need to get back to the house. I mean it, Mia.”
Her friend nodded, but looked forlorn, and she felt bad for making Mia feel worse. She hugged her again, and kept hold of her as she spoke against her hair. “We’ll find Vivian soon, and then we’ll all be left to get on with our lives. You and Peter, too.”
Mia nodded and gave a smile, but it looked forced. “I know.”
“Go on, get out of here. We’ll see you soon.”
Mia turned and walked to the vehicle in front, where Angie was waiting. Autumn watched her go, trying to ignore the twisting in her stomach. She didn’t like how they were all splitting up. No Blake by her side, now no Mia. Chogan was shifting, so she only had the paranormals and Rhys to ride with. Gradually, she was feeling more and more alone.
Chogan touched her arm, making her jump. “You okay?”
She nodded. “Yeah, sure. Can you catch up with the other shifters and let them know that we’re going to check out what the cause of that fire is?”
“Of course. I’ll lead them there.”
“And be careful,” she said. “You’re the only original I have left.”
He gave a sad smile, and leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. “Only death will make me ever leave you, Autumn.”
Tears swelled in her eyes, making his handsome face swim before her. “Don’t even joke.”
His expression remained serious. “I’m not.”
She shook her head, but took his hand, tightening her grip. “You know you and I are never going to happen, don’t you? There’s a lovely woman waiting for you back at Wenona’s. I’ve seen that you two have a connection. Don’t go putting your life on hold for me.”
“She’ll never be you,” he said, his lips pursing.
Autumn opened her mouth, and then bit her tongue.
He released her hand. “It’s okay. You don’t have to say it. I know you were thinking, ‘and you’ll never be Blake.’”
He was right, that was exactly what she’d been thinking.
“Come on. Let’s get moving.”
He kissed her on the cheek again, and then took off, running away from the road and into the surrounding forest. He pulled off his shirt as he ran, his long hair streaming behind him, his back strong and flexing with his movement. His hands went to his pants, and she glanced away as he paused briefly to let them drop from his legs, and then he kept going. The man disappeared between the tree trunks, and the next flash she got of him was of his brown skin gone and now covered in a thick pelt of russet fur.
Then he was gone.
Autumn turned back to Marcus. “Guess I’d better go pick up his clothes.” She strained a smile. “Typical guy, leaving them where ever they fall.”
“I’ll get them,” he said. His eyes focused on the couple of items, and within seconds the shirt and pants dragged and bounced back across the ground, as if an invisible puppy had them in its teeth and was pulling them toward them. The two items dropped at their feet, and Autumn couldn’t help but smile as she bent to pick them up.
“Chores must be a breeze for you,” she said.
Marcus shrugged. “Wouldn’t know. Haven’t had to do any for the last ten years.”
Daisy had already taken a placid Rhys to sit in the back seat. Autumn didn’t know how long she could continue to have this hold over him. At some point it would break, and then they’d have trouble.
Autumn got back behind the wheel, and Marcus rode shotgun. Before she started the truck back up, she twisted in the seat to look at Rhys. The big man gave her a dreamy smile.
“Do you know anything about Vivian starting a fire to get our attention?” she said. “Maybe she blew something up?”
“I don’t know what she’s done. She paid me my money, and told me she was going back to where you came from. That’s all, I promise.”
Autumn’s eyes narrowed, her fingers growing itchy with her desire to pull the weapon from the back of her jeans and press the muzzle to the guy’s head. She didn’t care if this guy was under some kind of spell by Daisy. He was responsible for Blake’s paralysis. If Rhys hadn’t dumped Tala like he did, Blake would never have been forced to protect her. Those bullets that paralyzed Blake should have been meant for Rhys. She wouldn’t believe his promises if they crawled out of his mouth to land in her lap.
But pulling a weapon now wouldn’t help anyone.
“Fine. Let’s get going and check it out.”
The vehicle Mia and Angie were in had already vanished from view. Wenona’s house was in a different direction. Autumn would need to pull off the highway if they were going to find out what was causing the fire. The smoke rose like thick grey bubbles that weren’t quite allowed to release from the main flow. A little farther on, she took the exit and pulled onto another, smaller road. She hoped Chogan had caught up with Peter and the other shifters and directed them the right way.
“Don’t worry,” said Marcus, as though he’d read her thoughts. “I bet we’ll spot the shifters any minute now.”
He was right. In the distance, the swoop of a large crow came into view, and right after the brown and cream speckled wings of the hawk followed. They flew on eddies of the wind, skimming the tree tops and then rising again. The birds would struggle the closer they got to the smoke, though. Smoke rose, and the birds wouldn’t be able to fly through it.
“The wolves and other shifters can’t be far,” she said.
The movement of the wheels took them closer to the smoke, but still they couldn’t see the cause of the fire. Finally, Autumn spotted Chogan. He darted out of the trees and ran alongside the road, his long legs in a loping gallop. She had to admit, she was pleased to see him.
They approached an intersection.
In the distance, came the high pitched wail of police sirens. Autumn frowned, and stopped the car at the stop sign. They didn’t want to get too close to the fire if the authorities were already on the case. Perhaps she’d been mistaken and the fire was a pure coincidence, and nothing to do with Vivian. After all, fires happened all the time. Only her paranoid mind connected everything bad that happened to Vivian Winters.
“Do you hear that?” Marcus asked.
“Hear wha...” she started, but didn’t finish. She realized what he was talking about. The sirens didn’t appear to be growing more distant, and therefore heading toward the fire. Instead, they seemed to be getting louder by the second.
Tension clenched the muscles in her neck and shoulders, her stomach contracting in a clamp. Automatically, she reached behind her, to the weapon wedged in the back of her jeans, the cold metal digging painfully into her back. It hadn’t been the most comfortable position to drive in, but she cared more about easy access to the weapon than she did her own comfort.
“Marcus,” she said. “I think we need to get ready.”
“For what?” he managed, before cars came flying into view from every direction. The vehicles skidded to a halt at an angle in front of them, and behind, blocking their escape. A screech of tires on asphalt, the hot smell of burning rubber and dust assaulting her nostrils. The sound of the sirens was deafening.
The two police cars’ doors opened and two people—an older man and a younger woman climbed out. Both held guns, the black muzzles pointed in Autumn’s direction. She glanced in the rear view mirror, to see the officers in the vehicles behind them had also climbed out and drawn on them.
“Shit, shit, shit.”
The male cop in front of her
approached their truck. “Autumn Anderson?”
Her stomach sank.
“Place both hands on the steering wheel where I can see them,” the cop demanded.
Her palms itched again, wanting to pull her own weapon, but she couldn’t risk it. She had Daisy in the car, and Marcus, too. They were innocents, and didn’t deserve to get caught up in whatever shit was about to land on her doorstep. If she pulled her weapon, a shootout would ensue, and at the moment her solitary gun was outnumbered about eight to one. She didn’t want anyone else’s blood on her hands, unless it was Vivian’s.
With a sigh, Autumn cooperated, and placed both palms on the wheel. She stared at the backs of her hands, noting how her skin suddenly seemed older, with fine lines and thinning. All this stress wasn’t good for her.
Marcus glanced at her. “What’s going on?”
“No idea. But they obviously want me for something.”
The male cop approached, and she lifted her head. As he got closer, she noticed the sheriff’s badge on his chest, and matched it with the badge on the vehicle doors. This was a local sheriff’s department, not some big government led attack. The woman scooted closer, too, each of them keeping the truck covered. He darted forward and yanked open her door.
“Keeping your hands where I can see them, slowly get out of the car.”
Autumn did as she was instructed and got out of the car. She kept her hands held in the air, while the two officers rushed toward her. They grabbed her by the arms and spun her around, slamming her against the hood of the truck. Her body smacked against the hot metal, her breath expelled in a whoosh, and pain spearing up through her ribs. She wanted to say something about police brutality, but figured it wouldn’t do her any favors.
Quickly, he frisked her, and pulled the weapon from the back of her jeans. “Do you have a license to carry? I’m going to assume not. And if not, this weapon won’t be registered to you either?”
Autumn pressed her lips together, not replying.
Avenging Autumn Page 12
