Shifter's Price

by Jamie K. Schmidt

  Lucas nodded. “You guess correctly. I have a feeling they will overbook the assignment, knowing they will lose some people along the way.”

  “We’ll be taking those back roads and shortcuts you mentioned.” Bethany caught her breath when his eyes locked on to hers. They were a soft amber now, and she was mesmerized.

  “Go on,” he said.

  Bethany tried to remember her train of thought. “I’m going to need a bodyguard.”

  He looked at her skeptically.

  “Look, you protect me there and back. If you still don’t think your debt is paid for your sister, then you can keep doing it until we find my brother. You keep me alive. I’ll do the Tech to break into the lab. We come back rich, and you can help me find my brother if he’s not at the lab, and then we’re even. You don’t have to sleep with me again.”

  “What if I want to?”

  “That would be different,” Bethany said. “It would make all the difference in the world. I don’t want this”—she motioned to the messed-up sheets—“to be about paying a debt.”

  “So let me get this straight. In order to balance my debt for Lisa, you’re going to provide Tech when we investigate those labs. On the way to California, I’m to act as your bodyguard and then help you find your brother. Hmmm, I think you now owe me. Maybe, you should offer me your body?” He waggled his eyebrows.

  She didn’t rise to the bait. “If you want my help in the labs, it’s in your best interest to keep me alive. For my silence for not telling anyone about the labs, you’re helping me find my brother.”

  “For your silence about the labs, I don’t kill you,” he pointed out.

  “Not a good way to handle negotiations. Besides, if we’re going to be mates, we’ll have to sleep with each other. Keep me alive and find Daniel and Lisa’s debt is paid and I’ll help you break into the lab. Do we have a deal?”

  “And sex?” he said. “You’ll be my mate to get your chief to agree?”

  It was crazy. She barely knew him. But she was trusting him to get her to California and find Daniel. She’d be his mate just to get fucked like this every night. Bethany nodded. “You’ll have to explain to me more about the mate stuff.”

  “Later,” he said. “Buy me a set of clothes and some breakfast, and we have a deal.”

  “Deal.” Bethany got up. “Pleasure doing business with you.”

  “Pleasure was all mine.”

  “No, it wasn’t,” she said, blowing him a kiss as she headed for the showers.

  She wasn’t surprised when he joined her a few moments later.

  “The hot water is decadent,” he said.

  “Sybarite,” Bethany teased.

  He murmured in agreement, turning her around so he could massage shampoo into her hair without getting it into her eyes. His fingers were strong but gentle. Bethany just wanted to float away in bliss, but they were running out of their allotted shower time. After rinsing off her hair, she stepped out of the shower and toweled off. He did the same and followed her back to her room. A few people were waiting for the showers and traded knowing looks as Bethany blushed and gripped the towel tighter around her body. Lucas hung up his towel and walked without a hint of embarrassment.

  Bethany tested the dryness of the clothes she’d hung out the night before. They were a little chilly but dry enough to wear. She pulled them on while Lucas got back into bed.

  “I’ll run out and get you some clothes.”

  “No hurry.” He smiled at her lazily.

  “Anything else you need me to do?”

  Lucas ran a hand through his hair, and Bethany tracked the play of muscles on his arms. “I need you to find and approach the financiers with us as part of your team. Lisa and I will keep our animal forms. Lewis and Clark won’t care who you bring with you, as long as you go. They need Techs. They don’t think enough of Shifters to want to see us in person.”

  “Lewis and Clark?” Bethany asked. “I don’t think that’s their real names.”

  “They can call themselves Adam and Eve, for all I care. I just need to hitch a ride with them to California and find my pack.”

  “Good morning, Lisa,” Bethany said as Lisa trotted back into the room. “I don’t know, Lucas. Two dogs and a Tech? Sounds like a bad radio play.”

  There was a shimmer in the air, and where a dog was a moment ago, a tiger now stood. While it was small as tigers went, the teeth and claws looked pretty impressive.

  “The lady and the tiger,” Lucas said, laughing at his sister.

  Lisa’s ears flattened.

  Lucas smiled, and Bethany was momentarily distracted by him. “So, uh, can you change into a tiger too?”

  “A much bigger one,” he said.

  “I bet. So twin tigers and a Tech? That’s not a bad team. Who else do we need? Hell, what don’t we need? I don’t know or trust a lot of people. And the ones I do won’t leave their tribes. Especially for a long, long trip to California. Even on horseback, we’ll be lucky if we get there before the end of the year. Maybe by the time we get there everything will be gone. Maybe by the time we get back everything here will be all gone.”

  “Do you care?”

  “No,” Bethany said and realized that she meant it. “But the people I would ask would care.”

  “We’re at the mercy of who they send with us, if we can’t find allies.”

  This was all a little much. But she felt a fire in her that hadn’t been in there in a long time. A new adventure and a chance to find her brother. That was certainly better than being a battery for a tribe.

  “I’ll get you some clothes, and maybe we can do some searching around camp and see who else we can bring aboard.”

  Lisa roared.

  Chapter Five

  Bethany

  BETHANY HAD TO POWER up a bunch of batteries in trade for some knitted sweaters and heavy jeans, but it only took about three hours before she got Lucas his clothes. They ate breakfast together with Lisa and her friend Karen, who was going to join them. Then they all split up. Her head was aching, but she wasn’t done with the Tech for the day.

  It was her turn to help run the hot water and electricity for the camp. She had six other Techs helping her, but the camp pulled a lot of energy. Then again, all the tribes in the Northeast were here by now. And all of them were lining up to experience some free Tech. She heard shaving razors and the whine of a hair dryer. Clacking keys and the grinding of an ancient printer entered into the cacophony as information was printed out and distributed via a photocopier that had seen better days—even before the meteor hit.

  Her fingers started going numb, so she eased off pulling energy. Let them have a tepid shower for a few minutes. She flexed her fingers, and while feeling started to come back, her headache was a constant drone. It made her irritable and bone-weary tired. It was hard not to feel like another beast of burden, especially since the horses got fed and watered and allowed a brief rest after exertion. She’d found out last night that the farmer who had sold her Lisa had outsourced her to a few other people. That was the way it went. But it meant that by the time dinner was served at the great banquet, she’d be toast and would probably fall asleep during the opening speech.

  She heard the hum of the solar and wind generators, and she felt an ease in her efforts. They were trying to mass-produce them, but without the energy to make the factory work, it was a handcrafted effort, and not many were willing to invest in the Tech. Still, the few machines they had were making their creators very, very wealthy. There was definitely progress being made. Perhaps in another twenty years, she wouldn’t be a freak of nature anymore. She’d settle for being an amusing oddity.

  After a long morning, Bethany looked around for Lucas at lunch, but she was too wiped to make much of an effort. After eating a quick lunch, she sank into bed and pulled the covers over her head. She was thinking about finding Daniel and trying to will away the fatigue when the attack came.

  The explosion rocked the cabin. Large nails shre
dded the walls, and a thick bleach smell crept in. She was spared the worst of it by the heavy cot she had been lying on. It flipped over on top of her after the blast. Bethany lay there stunned until the acrid smell started to make her choke. What happened? Why would anyone bomb the Tech cabin?

  Holding her breath as the fumes started to burn her eyes and throat, Bethany eased herself out from under the bed, trying not to get cut on the glass or sharp wood. She crawled on the floor. All Tech ground to a halt, and she could hear shouts and running feet heading toward them.

  That was when the rapid gunfire started up. Someone was spending a lot of money out there. With her eyes crimped shut against the burn, Bethany groped around for her backpack, cutting her palms on debris. She had to get out of here before she passed out or before whoever had the guns decided to come in. Moving the large dresser to get to the window Lucas had tapped on last night, Bethany worked blindly but quickly. Her lungs started to ache, but she knew from experience that if she took a breath, it would be worse. She had to hurry.

  The fumes were getting thick, but Bethany slit her eyes open enough to get her bearings. Using the dresser as a stepping stool, she levered herself up and threw her backpack out of the window. She scurried through jagged glass, shredding her jeans and giving herself a nice long cut on her leg.

  From the outside, it looked as if the cabin was barely standing. The front and all the computers had taken the brunt of the blast. Bethany buried her face in the ground and took a cautionary breath and held it as she tasted the ammonia and bleach still. Keeping low, like she had been taught, she scurried on her elbows until she saw a picnic table. Tipping it over, Bethany got behind it and then let herself breathe again. Spots came in front of her eyes as she gulped down air with greedy gasps. Dizziness caused by the exertion, the fumes, and disengaging from the electronics made her vision dim. She fought against passing out and curled into a ball using the table to hide.

  The gunfire had stopped, and there were people shouting and gathering around. No one wanted to go near the cabin until the vapors dissipated, but she could hear a few brave souls trying to get through the debris.

  “Are you all right?” a woman with soft green eyes asked her. She was dressed in a leather jacket and pants. Her long blonde hair fell into messy waves down her shoulder, and she smelled like a wet dog.

  “Lisa?” Recognition came slowly. Bethany must have inhaled some of the poison. She tried to focus her eyes.

  “Yeah, come with me. Lucas is tracking the saboteurs.”

  “How bad is it?”

  “It’s bad. I think they were trying to take out all the Techs.”

  “Why would anyone do that?” Bethany said, letting Lisa help her to her feet. She coughed out some of the poison that still lingered in her chest, and they staggered into the forest.

  “Lucas thinks it’s the Purebloods.”

  “Are they some kind of ultrareligious group?”

  “No, I think it’s just some people who like the way the world is, and they’re afraid of going back to the way things were.”

  “We’re a long way off from that,” Bethany said.

  “Not if we get the computer technology that we lost back. And it’s rumored that the Cal Poly University is nearly intact.”

  “After being under water?” Bethany snorted.

  “That’s the thing, it never was under water. A chunk of San Luis Obispo and the surrounding area had just broken off and floated away into the Pacific.”

  “And now it’s back?”

  “Now boats have seen it as an island in the distance. Alacatraz still stands—why not one of the colleges?” Lisa said, pulling her along the edge of the conclave, keeping low to the ground so they wouldn’t be singled out.

  “I’m sure there are looters there even as we speak.” Bethany’s throat was raw and she swallowed hard to soothe the burn.

  “There is plenty for everyone.” Lisa held up her hand, and they rested against a large boulder.

  Three long blasts of an air horn was the conclave’s summoning signal. It appeared that the big event was going to take place after all. Lisa started to get undressed.

  “What are you doing?” Bethany asked.

  “These are the only clothes I have with me. You can stop giving me that prissy look. I enjoyed the hell out of earning them.”

  Bethany flinched back at her tone. “I’m not judging you or your brother.”

  Lisa sighed. “I know. I hate being poor. Can you put them in your pack for me?”

  At her nod, Lisa’s form shifted, and the white Great Pyrenees dog was back beside her, wagging her tail happily. As they walked to the conclave’s gathering place, Bethany’s neck tingled as if there was someone sighting down a gun barrel at her.

  “Bethany!” Maya said and rushed from where the other elders were huddled together on a raised dais.

  Bethany cringed as over two hundred people turned to look at her. Maya caught her in a fierce hug. “We thought the worst.”

  “How are the other Techs?”

  “Two injured, two who weren’t in the cabin are fine. But the rest...Bethany, the rest are all dead.” Maya gripped her tighter. “How did you escape?”

  “The bed landed on top of me, and I crawled out the windows before the gas took me.” Bethany hugged back. Twenty people dead. “Why? Why did this happen?”

  “We don’t know. But for now you need to stick close. I don’t want you to go anywhere alone.”

  “I’ll be fine,” Bethany said. Then shivered. Five Techs remained in the entire Northeast.

  “I don’t care,” Maya said. “I’m putting our Shifters on guard duty.” She waved her hand, and two big men came over.

  Bethany recognized them as George and Steven. They were lovers and they did anything Maya asked. She suspected that they would even kill for her. She grew a bit uneasy.

  Maya snapped her fingers at them. “You shift right now and protect Bethany. You are not to leave her alone, and you have my authorization to kill anyone who tries to take her from our tribe.”

  “Maya!” Bethany said, even as the men dropped their human forms. There was a lot of sniffing and growling going on between them and Lisa, but it evened out into a dull roar.

  “You are a very valuable commodity,” Maya said. “Especially now. Our tribe can’t afford to lose you.” And with that, she made her way back up to the podium. Bethany could see the other chiefs congratulating her good fortune that her pet Tech was still alive. Stepping over the wolves, Bethany grabbed a seat on a log. With her entourage, no one was able to sit close enough to talk to her.

  “It’s nice to be wanted,” Bethany said sarcastically and dug into her pack for some dried meat. She nibbled on it and offered some to the Shifters while the conclave was called to order and the opening statements began. She scouted the sky for a glimpse of an eagle or anything that might be Lucas. Closing her eyes, she started to drift. It was like last night was just a dream. All she could feel was pain, and it hurt to breathe. Bethany tried not to cry.

  This was only her third conclave, but it started out no different from the last two. Thank you all for coming. We’re the inheritors of the Earth. Our survival is crucial on our working together. Keep the lines of trades open. Yada, yada, yada. And no fighting among the tribes.

  The last bit caused some stir with the crowd. Chief Alexander of the Mid Region got up to speak.

  “We believe that a group of assassins calling themselves the Purebloods are behind the cowardly attack on our Tech cabin. They have banded together to murder anyone that they consider not to be human.”

  Bethany’s eyes popped open, and the pain burned away as she seethed with anger. Somewhere a radio began to play music. When Chief Alexander looked pointedly at her, Bethany realized her emotions had triggered it. She lowered her eyes and actively disengaged the link between her and the radio. The chief cleared his throat. “Of course any rational person realizes the bigotry and nonsense behind the assassins’ ideology. They
had started out exterminating Shifters, telling us that they were feral and that they were becoming bogeymen from the old stories. Werewolves, dragons, that type of nonsense.”

  The three Shifters surrounding Bethany made disgruntled noises.

  “Sadly there were some who believed their lies. All of us have a story to tell about what has hunted us in the great night. Those of us old enough to remember the days after the meteor can tell you that if these super creatures really existed, they would have taken over in the chaos years that followed. Might making right and all that. The tribes of the Northern Conclave have made a decision to excommunicate the Purebloods. No tribe will offer them sanctuary or respite. Those who are found to have aided them will be given the same fate. The Purebloods are to be killed on sight. For the good of the tribes and all of our futures.”

  There were even more distressed murmurings going on with that. On the one hand, it was good to kill an enemy. On the other hand, how many people were going to offer as an excuse “I thought he was a Pureblood” for murdering their neighbor? But then again, it was good that the tribes were taking a stand against the genocide on what a few crazies thought were “nonhumans.”

  The next up to speak were two men dressed in fine wool jackets and heavy canvas pants. They might have even been wearing pre-Meteor boots, but Bethany couldn’t get a good look at them from the angle she was sitting at. Lisa nudged her knee with her nose, and Bethany made sure she paid attention.

  “My name is Lewis, and this is my partner, Clark. We’re looking to hire a team of professionals to take a journey across the country to the Pacific Ocean.”

  He waited until the mutterings died down.

  “We will need Techs and Shifters, hunters and looters. We’re going to investigate rumors of a college library, still intact and above the waterline.”

  This time it took a good ten minutes for the chattering to die down.

  “I am offering ten items of salvage from the library, full meals, and transportation to and from the site. Also anything you loot for yourself along the journey is yours to keep as well. We’ll start from our base camp a few hours’ away in New York, travel through to our territory in Colorado, and then onward to Nevada where we’ll pick up our boat.”