As they drove into the city limits and Jax saw the size of the crowds of Humans gathering, his confidence started to waver. Penny sensed his mood shifting and guessed what the issue was. She said, “I’ve changed my mind. Let’s skip going out and go to bed early. I’m a bit tired.”
Penny’s sudden shift in mood informed Jax that she could sense his uneasiness. He was surprised that she had learned to read him so well and so quickly. He shook his head and said, “No, I want to take you out. I managed to do alright on our last date and I can handle this too.”
“You were amazing on our last date, but I ask too much of you. The crowds here are many times larger than at that little bar. Besides, you’re stuck with a Human at your side twenty-four hours a day. Maybe you need a break.”
He took her hand and squeezed it, saying “I’ll be fine.” He added teasingly, “And, as always, you’ll be there to protect me.”
Penny puffed out her chest and said, “Okay, but if they mess with you, I’ll make them regret it.”
Jax laughed at her mock, tough expression.
She then added more seriously, “If it gets to be too much, please promise me that you’ll tell me.”
Shortly after Jax nodded, they passed by a bar and Penny said while pointing, “That’s Rippy’s. It’s the place that the twins had told me many stories about. Do you mind if we stop here for a few minutes before trying to find a hotel? The crowds aren’t overly large right now and I know that they’ll only get larger as the night goes on.”
Jax circled the block in an attempt to find a place to park. After pulling into a spot up the road, he escorted Penny toward their destination. He had been in this town many times and, when he hunted through the shadows of these streets, he felt in complete control. Now that he was walking down the street in the open and trying to blend in, it felt awkward and unsettling. Although Jax was feeling uncomfortable with the rapidly growing numbers of Humans around him, no one seemed to be paying any attention to him so he continued on in silence.
After they arrived at Rippy’s, they found a seat in a back corner. They ordered food and then quickly settled in with a couple of drinks. After listening to the band for a few minutes, Jax looked out at the crowd and his body became stiff.
Penny noticed the change and asked with concern, “Are you alright? Do we need to leave?”
He whispered, “There’s another Changeling, maybe two, in this room. I can sense it, but I haven’t spotted them yet.” The sensation put his hidden nature on alert and waiting just below the surface. Jax knew he should probably leave, but his protective instincts forced him to stay to watch over those of his kind.
While Jax continued to quietly, but urgently, scan the room, Penny downed her second drink. When she saw other women nearby dancing in the aisles, her mind pictured her brothers at their side, laughing and having a great time. The lack of food caused her to react to the alcohol fairly quickly so, without thinking, she stood and started to join in the dance.
Penny’s eyes were locked on Jax and, while she tried to coerce him to join her, she didn’t see the men standing along the wall watching. When she lost her balance and stumbled against one of her admirers, the man wrapped his arms around her playfully. He asked while slurring his words, “Why don’t you lose the stiff and join me, Sweet Stuff?”
Given his glassy, unfocused eyes, Penny knew that the man was very drunk. She said, “No, thank you.” While trying to pry his arms off of her she looked at Jax. Seeing his fists clenched, she called, “It’s okay. He’s just drunk. I can handle it.”
Instead of letting go, the man’s grip tightened.
Jax stood in a flash. While trying to contain his anger, he stared at the man and said in a low threatening voice, “Let. Her. Go.”
The man didn’t sense the quickly growing danger and replied, “You had your chance and weren’t even paying attention to her. She’s now mine.”
When Penny saw Jax become instantly calm and he stretched his shoulders and neck, making them crack, she knew they were in big trouble.
The man continued to ignore the danger signs and whispered in Penny’s ear what he wanted to do with her body. When the man’s hand dropped to Penny’s backside, Jax roared and, in a blur of speed, his shifted form appeared. He grabbed the man’s hand and squeezed, making bones crack loud enough for people sitting at several nearby tables to turn to find the source of the sound. They heard the man scream seconds before they watched helplessly as he was tossed across the room. The man crashed into a table and, given his twisted and bloody body, Penny assumed that he was dead.
Several of his companions sprang to their feet, grabbed their chairs, and attacked. With a few easy swipes of his hands, Ice left the chairs in splinters and the men on the floor cut and bleeding badly.
Someone yelled, “Everyone run! It’s a killer Changeling.”
While a stampede of people screamed and ran for the exits, Penny saw several customers jump up and pull out guns. She yelled, “Casper, run!”
Ice heard her words and instantly disappeared as several shots rang out. When a couple of chairs went crashing into the large stage lights, the room went dark. Suddenly the room erupted into a panic of screams. Taking advantage of the distraction, Ice picked up Penny and tucked her into his invisible arms protectively. He tore through the crowd like a battering ram, leaving many injured bodies littering the ground in his wake.
Penny held on tightly and, once outside, in speed she didn’t know was possible, Casper carried her into the dark of an ally several blocks away from the bar.
They hid in the shadows and Ice released Penny. While his body became visible again and he started to shift back to his fully Human form, Penny was momentarily focused on the screams and sirens on the street. She turned to Jax and said, “The police have arrived. We need to get out of here, now.”
Jax looked at Penny and, seeing her ripped clothes and scrapes, he asked urgently, “Are you hurt?”
After doing a physical check, she announced, “I’m okay.” When she glanced over at Jax, she gasped when she saw his hands covered in blood. She raced over to his side and, after examining him, she announced in a panic, “You’ve been shot.” Using the shreds of his shirt that somehow stayed on him, she began to wrap up the wound.
He grabbed her hands to stop her and said, “My shifted form’s natural body armor protected me, so it’s just a surface wound. It’ll heal on its own. The blood you see isn’t mine.”
Realizing what he was saying, Penny knew that many Humans must have been hurt during their escape. She said, “This was all my fault. I made you go into that bar.”
Jax cursed, disappointed in himself for losing control and said, “No, this is all my doing.” He tossed her the keys to the Rover and said, “Odds are I killed several Humans back there. You need to go and leave me here. I know these streets and can get myself to a safe house.”
In a panic she exclaimed, “No! I’m not leaving you! If they find you, they’ll kill you. I’ve lost everything and I can’t lose you too.” She looked at Jax and seeing his anguish, she knew that she needed to step up and take care of the situation. She instructed with calm determination, “We aren’t far from the Rover. Turn into Casper and meet me there. You’ll hide while I drive us out of town.”
“It’s too dangerous for you.”
She wasn’t in the mood to argue with him so she said, “I’m going and I expect you to be at the Rover when I get there.” Before he could say another word, she ran back out into the street, quickly blending into the crowd. As she ran, she pointed the remote at the Rover to unlock the doors.
Jax was rooted to the spot, unsure what to do. He knew that the smart thing would be to run in the opposite direction. But seeing Penny so exposed and alone, he couldn’t watch her leave without him to protect her.
Once Penny reached the vehicle, she slid to the driver’s side, yanked open the door, and jumped in. She clung onto the steering wheel, trying to slow her rapid heartbeat. She
looked into the empty backseat and whispered, “Jax?” With her mind unable to focus clearly, she couldn’t sense Casper’s presence, but she prayed that he was there.
When she heard an invisible voice say, “Drive,” she exhaled in relief. She fumbled with the keys and, after she got the vehicle started, she put it into gear. She then forced her way onto the crowded street and drove out of town.
Once Nashville was only a glow in the rear view mirror and Jax saw Penny’s hands still shaking, he became visible again and said, “Penny, pull over. I can drive now.”
She did as asked and slid into the passenger side, while Jax got out of the vehicle and into the driver’s seat. While he drove down the highway, they didn’t speak and Penny let silent tears flow down her cheeks.
When they reached a small motel located on the edge of a thick woods, Jax pulled into the parking lot and parked in the back. He turned to Penny and said, “I need to hunt. I want you to get a room and get some sleep.”
Seeing and hearing that the old unemotional Jax was back, she whispered, “Will you come back?” Her voice broke as she spoke.
He replied without changing his expression, “I’ll be back before the sun’s up.” He opened the door and, seconds later, disappeared into the shadows of the woods.
After sitting in the Rover for over an hour, Penny decided to do what Jax asked and get a room. Looking down at her clothes and seeing cuts and blood splatters, she changed and cleaned up as best she could. When she finally walked toward the front desk, she found the desk clerk watching a news bulletin on the television. Penny listened as a reporter talked about an attack at Rippy’s bar. Her heart lifted slightly when she heard that no one had died. Three men were in serious condition and several dozen were injured.
When the clerk finally noticed Penny, he said while continuing to glance back at the screen, “It’s horrible. I hope they find the Changeling that did this. I’m sorry for what their life must be like since they’re no longer Human, and they didn’t ask for what nature did to them, but what the hell was he doing in a crowed Human bar? He couldn’t have been there just to listen to music and grab a burger. What did he expect would happen? Unless he went there on purpose as some kind of revenge thing. If that’s the case, they had better catch him quick. Having a killer Changeling lose isn’t helping their cause any. We all need to accept that our two worlds aren’t meant to mix.”
The man continued to talk, but Penny didn’t hear a word he said. Her mind was still focused on the television screen. Although she had been right in the middle of the incident and the whole scene lasted only a few minutes, the damage left behind was staggering.
Penny went silently through the motions of getting a room and, after the man handed her a key, he said, “They haven’t caught the Changeling yet so be sure to lock and bolt your door.”
Penny nodded and faked a smile before heading back outside. Once in her room, she closed the door, but left it unlocked. She then sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the unyielding wood, willing Jax to return. She knew that he wasn’t Human and yet she did exactly what the desk clerk had said—she took him to the bar to listen to music and eat a burger. Although at the time it seemed a natural thing to do, looking back now, it sounded ridiculous. She wouldn’t blame Jax if he didn’t return but, if he did, she needed to find a way to make this right. Unsure what to do, she picked up her phone and called the only person that she knew could offer her advice on what to do. When the person on the other end answered, she said with her voice quavering, “Sam, I need your help.”
*~*~*~*
Just as the glow from the rising sun crested on the horizon, Penny felt something cold brush her cheek. When her mind registered the possible meaning, she woke with a start and sprang into a sitting position. When her tired eyes focused, she found Jax kneeling in front her.
Seeing that she was alright he said, “It wasn’t wise to leave the door unlocked. You never know what could find its way in here.”
She rubbed her bloodshot eyes and said, “I honestly wasn’t sure if you would come back, and I wanted you to know that you were still welcome in here.”
“If I wanted in here a locked door wouldn’t even slow me down.” Sensing her weariness, he asked, “Are you really okay?”
She shook her head and said, “No, I’m not alright. My selfishness almost got you killed last night.”
“What are you talking about? You’re the most selfless person I know. Everything that happened was my doing, not yours.”
“If that was true, I wouldn’t have ignored the signs that you were having trouble. I made you bury who you are so that I could force-fit you into my world. That’s what caused your outburst, wasn’t it?”
“It was part of it, but this wasn’t all your fault. I felt the danger signs and didn’t do anything about it.”
“Suppressing your nature for so long was causing you pain.” She said it as a fact, not a question.
He nodded and asked, “How do you know that?”
“I talked to Sam last night and he helped me understand what I already knew. Since arriving in Richmond, I felt the tension in your body grow stronger, especially each time we were around a crowd of Humans. I knew something more was going on, but I was having such a good time with you, I ignored it. You’re an invincible knight in my eyes and so strong that I thought you could handle it.” After letting out a deep breath she said, “When we first started our trip, you used to leave me each night for hours at a time. At the time, I assumed that it was because it was too difficult for you to be trapped so closely to me. There was more to you stepping out than just getting away from me, wasn’t there?”
“I left partially because I was fighting the feelings I had for you, but also because I needed to shift and I didn’t want you to see me that way.”
“What way?”
“As inhuman. You stare at me in ways that no one has ever looked at me and I didn’t want you to stop.”
“For over a year, I’ve been confiding in Casper my every thought and desire. In that time, did I ever say anything that led you to believe that I didn’t know what or who you were?” Before he could answer her, she continued. “If I recall correctly, I repeatedly mentioned how much I wanted to get to know all of you, especially the part of you that’s Ice. And when you finally exposed that side of yourself to me in order to chase away that stupid chicken—”
“It was a wild turkey,” Jax corrected her.
She chuckled and replied, “It looked like a big chicken to me, but okay. When you let Ice come forward to chase away that wild turkey, how did I react when I saw your shifted side?” This time she was going to wait for his response.
When she paused long enough that he knew he was expected to respond, he said, “You looked at me like a kid stares at a big wrapped present. I had to walk away for fear you were about to pounce on me to rip off the wrapping paper so that you could examine what was underneath.”
Recalling that one of her first thoughts was that she wanted his pants off so that she could see if his entire body was covered in his wonderful camouflage spots, she snickered and said, “I’ll admit that I was curious about the hidden parts, but that isn’t the point. I wasn’t afraid or disgusted. Ice is a part of you just like being an artist is a part of me.”
“But when your nature gets upset, you eat chocolate and spend hours vacuuming. Mine rips apart a bar and sends dozens of people to the hospital.”
“I should never have taken you to that bar. It was stupid and thoughtless. It won’t happen again. I also know that you care about me enough that you won’t let me to travel on alone, so I’ve come up with a better plan.”
“What’s that?”
“We get in the Rover and just keep driving until we get back to Oregon.”
“What about sprinkling your family’s ashes?”
“That’s no longer important. I can take care of the remaining ashes at home.”
“No, what’s important is finishing what we’v
e started. I’m much better today.”
After examining his dirt, blood, and scratch covered body, she asked, “Are you?”
“Actually yes. I fully released my shifted form and spent the night hunting. At one point I did consider running away, but you’re right. I couldn’t leave you waiting here alone, and I knew that you would have sat here and waited for days—maybe weeks—before accepting that I wasn’t coming back. That would have caused you pain and that was the last thing I wanted to do. Instead I argued with myself for hours while I hunted. And, before I knew it, I was back here staring at your motel room door.”
“How did you know what room I was in? The car is parked on the other side of the building.”
He gave her a look that said he couldn’t believe she was that clueless and asked, “Really? Weren’t you the one that I played hide and seek with yesterday? Didn’t you learn that there’s no place you can hide that I can’t find you?”
She asked, “Well, what are we going to do?”
“We’re going to continue as we planned, but we’ll need to change a few things.”
She replied, “Staying away from Human crowds is a given. We can even camp out at night so that you can take time each day to fully shift and hunt.” When he nodded, she reluctantly added, “And maybe you should feed while you’re out.”
He knew she wasn’t referring to burgers and fries. He shook his head and said, “I don’t want to feed on anyone else. I get what Human blood I need from you.”
“Now who’s being stupid? I know that you take very little from me, barely a drop or two, and Sam said that you might need to feed more often. If you won’t feed on others, you need to take more from me to help you maintain control.”
“But I was afraid that it would make you weak.”
“For this trip to work and to prevent any repeat incidents, we have to be totally honest with each other. If you take what you actually need from me, I’ll promise to tell you how I’m feeling and I won’t sugar coat it. But if you need more than what I can offer, you have to tell me so that you can find another source.”
Knight Shift Page 33
