Claws and Effect

by Jessica Sims

  "One blindfold, coming right up," Ellis said, and pulled out one of his long, dirty sweat socks.

  "Ew, no!" I said, laughing. "Don't put that thing anywhere near me!"

  "Come on. We gotta get you blindfolded."

  Laughing, we wrestled over the fake 'blindfold' for a moment, and then Ellis trapped me in his arms. My breathing grew shallow and I stared up into his face. This flirting thing was potent. He gazed down at me, and the dirty sock was forgotten. After a moment, he brushed his knuckles along my jaw. "No more teasing."

  "No more dirty socks."

  "Fair enough." He produced a black length of fabric. "You want to change shirts before I put this on?"

  I looked down at the sweatshirt I was wearing. "Is this one bad?"

  "It's warm outside. Won't you get hot?"

  I tugged at the long sleeves. "I want to wear this one. It covers up all the bite marks."

  Ellis was silent. When I looked up, his expression was grim. He said nothing, though, just gestured for me to turn.

  I did, obedient, and then I was blindfolded. My hands stretched out, feeling around. "I'm going to run into every tree from here until Sunday."

  "I've got you," he said, and his arm slid around my waist.

  That...was more distracting than being blindfolded. "Are...we going to be able to walk like this?"

  "Oh sure," Ellis said easily.

  We made it out of the cabin and a few feet more before I stumbled on a rock.

  "Careful," Ellis warned, then sighed. "Actually, change of plans. Put your arms around my neck. I'm going to give you a piggyback ride."

  "A piggyback ride? Seriously?" I mentally pictured Ellis with me sprawled across his back and swallowed my laughter. "How far do you think you'll be able to take me before your back gives out?"

  "Oh please. You're a twig. Besides, I'm strong. Feel."

  I reached out and he took my hand and placed it on his bicep, then flexed. I felt it move under my fingers, rock hard, and another giggle escaped me. My pulse was fluttering in response to his nearness, and I had to admit, I rather liked feeling him flex that bicep. "This is just a ploy to get me to admire your guns, isn't it?"

  "You figured me out. Now, come on."

  I felt him squat low, and with his hands guiding me, I went to his back, looped my arms around his neck, and gave a squeak of alarm when he hauled me into the air. With a bounce, he hefted me higher on his hips. "You good?"

  "I'm good," I replied, clinging to him for dear life.

  Chapter Five

  He was strong, it seemed, because he was able to carry me all the way in. We tromped through the woods, the only sounds that of my breathing and the crunch of Ellis's feet on the undergrowth as we talked and chatted about the weather, Everett's books, and the kittens. I hugged his neck and clung to him, enjoying just being outside, even if I couldn't see anything.

  "All right, we're here," Ellis said at one point. "You can get down."

  I peered through the black fabric of my blindfold. "I don't hear anything."

  "We're still a short ways off, but you can take the blindfold off now."

  I did, blinking at the bright afternoon sunlight. We were still in the woods, but in the distance I could see a plume of smoke from a chimney, and caught the occasional hint of laughter on the wind. We were close. I slid off his back, my feet landing on the ground. "Where are we?"

  "Top secret," Ellis said again, and I rolled my eyes. I stuffed the blindfold into his pocket. "Come on," he said. "You can meet the others."

  "Other whats?" I asked.

  "Shifters, of course. This is a clan party. My family's throwing a shindig to welcome Marie to the cougar clan."

  I gasped, stepping away from Ellis in shock. "She did what?"

  His brow furrowed as he looked over at me, clearly surprised by my reaction. "My brother Josh changed her into a shifter."

  "How does that happen?"

  Ellis shrugged. "He bit her until she turned."

  I shuddered, my memory full of Andre's sucking, painful bites. "I thought you said you weren't like the vampires."

  "We're not," he told me. "I promise. It's very rare that someone's turned. Marie was only turned because she was dying, and Josh didn't care if he got in trouble or not."

  He tried to pull me against him to hug me, but I pulled away. My mind was full of flashing images of teeth and fangs and pain. Poor Marie. How she'd suffered. I swallowed hard. And we were celebrating this like it was something good? I didn't understand.

  "You okay?" Ellis asked softly, dropping his hand.

  "Yeah, just...yeah." I crossed my arms tight over my chest and walked a few paces away from him.

  ***

  Marie's party turned out to be a picnic and barbecue. The backyard of the house was filled with wooden tables and people milling about them. In the distance, a row of grills were lined up, and one man stood at them with a beer, flipping meat while others played football and a few others hovered around the tables, chatting. I counted heads - there were maybe twenty or more people of all shapes and sizes. All of these people were shifters? They looked so normal.

  Marie was out on the football field, looking healthy and incredibly happy. She gave me a cheerful wave and nearly got tackled thanks to the distraction. She was no longer ghost-pale, her skin a healthy flush and she looked like she'd put on a few pounds. I guessed being a shifter suited her. I still longed to pull her aside and ask her if she was okay. If she had nightmares about teeth like I did.

  Almost as soon as we arrived, Ellis was pulled away to play football, and he gave me a questioning look, as if asking if I'd be all right. I shrugged. I was feeling a little weird about us at the moment. On one hand, the kiss we'd shared had felt...perfect. On the other, his mention of Marie being bitten until she turned freaked me out. I rubbed the bites on my arms and approached a small group of women sitting at one of the wooden tables.

  "Hi there," chirped a blonde with pigtails. She was dressed in a bright pink track suit. "You must be Lily! I'm Ryder." She beamed at me, all dimples and blue eyes. "And I'm sitting over here minding the food because all those kitty cats like to play rough."

  I sat down next to her, smiling. "You're not a shifter?" She already felt safe.

  Ryder waved a pink manicured hand in the air. "God, no. I work for the dating agency but that's it."

  "Dating...agency?"

  She nodded. "Midnight Liaisons. It's where they go when they need a little tail." She gave me an exaggerated wink. "Bad joke, I know. Cue the sad trombone noises."

  I giggled. "It's a good joke, though."

  "I thought so." She picked up a can of Red Bull and offered me one. I declined, and took a soda instead. "Soooo," Ryder said. "You're here with Ellis? You two dating?"

  I choked on my first sip of soda. "What? No. Why do you ask that?"

  She fluttered her eyelashes at me, all coy. "Just, you know. Rumors."

  "What kind of rumors?"

  "Well," she said, hunching down like we were gossiping at the school lunch table. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Basically that he's chasing off everyone that tries to show up and spend time with you. And that he's been bailing out on work to take more shifts with you."

  "Oh," I said, then shook my head. "We're just friends. And Everett had a deadline to meet."

  "Uh huh. What about Austin and Jeremiah?"

  I frowned. "Who are they?"

  "Precisely," she said with a grin. "Those are two more delectable Russells. Mind you, Jeremiah's got a girl and a guy already." Ryder shrugged her shoulders. "But Austin is footloose and fancy free, and Ellis won't let him go near you for all that they're cousins. The only person he trusts is his twin, and it sounds like he doesn't trust him all that much."

  My eyes widened. "Those are some crazy rumors."

  "Aren't they?" Ryder said, chugging her Red Bull. "We could put them to the test, see how much truth there is."

  "How?"

  "Just watch the master," she sai
d in that teasing voice, and got to her feet. "Hey, Austin! Come here, sweetie!" She waved frantically, her entire body bouncing.

  A tall guy trotted off the sidelines, his dark hair plastered to his forehead with sweat. He was good looking, long body and lean face, and it was clear that he was related to Ellis and Everett - they had similar coloring and bone structure. He wiped his face on his shirt as he approached, and then grinned. "Ryder, my sweet little human nugget, what can I get for you?"

  "I just wanted to say hi," Ryder said in a flirty voice, twirling one of her pigtails. "Did you get a chance to meet Lily yet?" She tilted her head in my direction.

  His face lit up and he wiped a hand on his sweatpants, then extended it out to me. "Hey, sugar. I'm Austin. I've heard a lot about you. You holding up okay?"

  He seemed friendly enough. I gave him a polite smile and shook his hand. "I'm doing about as well as one can expect."

  "I was thinking about heading out there some time," Austin said. "You know, give Ellis a breather and all."

  "Sure."

  Ryder watched us, her eyes gleaming with fascination.

  "So, how are those kittens doing?" Austin shifted on his feet, moving a little closer to me. "Heard that Ellis had to rescue them from our barn cat."

  I smiled, thinking about my kittens. "They're the only things keeping me from going crazy from being shut in. They're the sweetest little things. Their eyes just opened and--"

  A body flew past, tackling Austin to the ground.

  Both Ryder and I stumbled backward a few steps, in shock. Sure enough, Austin started wrestling with the person who'd tackled him. I caught sight of two sleeves of tattoos, and my eyes widened. Ellis? Friendly, easygoing Ellis had just tackled Austin? Why?

  "You coming back to the game, douchebag?" Ellis asked, punching Austin in the gut.

  "I'm coming, I'm coming," Austin said, trying to get Ellis in a headlock. They wrestled on the ground for a moment longer and then both rolled away.

  Ellis flashed me a grin before he trotted back out on the field.

  "Mmmhmm," Ryder said. "Thought so. He's protecting you."

  I couldn't deny that Ryder was clearly on to something. "Protecting me from what, do you think?" Maybe it was just carryover from his self-appointed task as my one and only guardian.

  "Why, from interested males, of course." Ryder leaned in again. "I work with a lot of shifters, and they get super possessive when they think their woman is being hit on by someone else."

  I stared at the football field, watching Ellis move amongst the others. Was that true? Was he deliberately keeping other people away from me? I thought back to our kiss this morning, and his erection. This...was good, wasn't it? This was what I wanted. I needed Ellis on my side.

  But for some reason, I felt weird about it. Flustered. Was I just using him and he was thinking of me as 'his' woman? That meant I was a huge jerk, and Ellis had been nothing but nice to me. If I wasn't a captive, I'd have loved going out with a smart, funny, sexy guy like him with a soft spot for animals. As it was...I didn't know what to think.

  This was all part of my plan, right?

  But that kiss had kind of thrown me for a loop. If I was supposed to be using Ellis, why did I keep thinking about that kiss?

  Ryder continued to chatter away in my ear, setting herself up as my new buddy while the shifters played on the field. I saw Marie's father again and gave him a hug - he'd been part of Marie and I's breakout from Andre's basement. He was a good, sweet man, and he looked happy as heck that Marie was so healthy. I also met a tiny woman named Miko, who was sitting in the lap of a guy named Sam, and they were both watching Jeremiah (another Russell) play football. Ryder pointed out to me that Bathsheba, another human female, was on the field, and I noticed that everyone played very gently around her.

  Eventually, the rough and tumble shifters piled in for food, and I was squeezed onto the middle of one bench next to Ryder and Marie's dad. It was clear that humans sat together in this motley group, I thought wryly. Someone shoved a plate of burgers and chips into my hands, and I ate, listening to the rapid-fire conversations going back and forth across the tables.

  "Hey, scoot down," came a voice from above me. I looked up to see Ellis squeezing his plate in on the table between me and Marie's Dad.

  Really? He was trying to protect me from Marie's Dad? Ryder giggled at my side, and I frowned as everyone shuffled around to make room for Ellis so he could sit next to me.

  "I'm fine," I whispered to him as he sat.

  "I don't care. Eat up. You're pale."

  Rolling my eyes, I took a big bite of my burger, noticing that a few others were sending smirking looks in our direction. I didn't blame them. I was feeling a little uncomfortable myself. My position here with the group was already tenuous. It was clear they all knew each other and hung out, and I was just the resident captive. I didn't know what to think.

  "Eat," Ellis said, nudging me with his elbow again.

  So I ate.

  ***

  I didn't get a chance to talk to Marie after all. She was clearly the center of attention, surrounded by shifters at all times. We chatted a bit in passing, but I ended up talking with her dad and Ryder more than Marie. That was okay, I supposed. She just looked so darn happy that I couldn't think ill of her. Maybe the biting thing was just a rumor. Or maybe Marie was really good at pushing those kinds of thoughts away.

  I wasn't, though. I still had nightmares about Andre and his teeth. They were less now that I slept snuggled next to Ellis, but they were still there from time to time.

  After dinner, everyone went out on the grounds and I thought they were going to play more football. My eyes widened when they started to strip, Ellis included. So...he hadn't been joking about that. They were all going to change and run together? I looked at the motley mix of men and women on the field, pulling off clothing and chatting as if this was a totally normal sort of thing.

  "Ladies...and Dad, shall we head in and have some coffee?" The woman named Bathsheba said, ushering us all into the house. "We can let the shifters do their thing."

  I glanced back at Ellis, and noticed he was watching me, his shirt wadded in his hands. I gestured that I was heading off with Bathsheba, and he nodded slowly. Then, Bathsheba was steering me inside, and sitting me down at the kitchen table. Everyone chatted idly as we drank coffee, but I only sipped mine, thinking. If all the shifters were in the woods, now would be an optimal time to escape. Once the idea was in my head, I couldn't shake it. I toyed with my mug, thinking as Bathsheba chatted happily with Marie's father about Marie's new job as Bathsheba's husband's assistant.

  "You okay?" Ryder asked, looking over at me.

  I nodded slowly. "How long do you think the others will be gone?"

  She gave me a knowing grin. "Missing lover boy already?" I rolled my eyes in response, and she went on. "I imagine they'll be gone for a few hours yet. This is a clan run, so it's kind of a bonding thing."

  A few hours? That would give me plenty of time. A weird sort of tension - not exactly excitement - bubbled up inside me. This was my chance. I didn't need to drag Ellis to my side if I could get away on my own. I wouldn't have to hurt him or lead him on. All I'd have to do was lead on a few humans sitting at the table across from me.

  So I clutched my stomach and put a pained expression on my face. "Oh no. I think something's not sitting right. Where's the bathroom?"

  Bathsheba's look turned to one of concern, and she immediately bustled to a nearby counter, producing a bottle of antacid and pushing it into my hands. "Just down the hall, honey. Take your time."

  I nodded, clutching the antacid and heading dutifully toward the restroom. Luckily, the hall had a bend and no one could see me pass the door and head right on out to the front. I winced as I eased the front door open a few inches, then slid out, and closed it quietly again. The porch of the big house creaked as I stepped forward and I bit my lip, but when no one came running, I went down the steps and passed the fleet
of vehicles parked in front of the house. There was a dirt road here, and a mailbox, which meant that it lead to a bigger road.

  I took off and started running.

  One country road wandered into another, and my running slowed to a jog. I still kept moving as fast as I could, but I wasn't as healthy as I used to be. Six months of sitting in a dank basement had pretty much killed my athleticism, and I was still weak from Andre's feedings. I slowed to a walk, but I kept moving with determination. When the occasional car would pass by, I'd avert my face. If I could just get into the city before Ellis and the others found me, I'd be home free...

  And then what?

  I rolled the thought in my mind, back and forth. I had a small savings and an apartment. My savings would still be there - if I hadn't been declared legally dead at this point - but my apartment wouldn't be. I had no parents waiting for me; that was one reason Andre had picked me off -- I was a great target. I didn't even have any close friends I could call. I was just...alone. I could call the police station, I suppose. But they'd ask all kinds of questions, and I kept picturing Marie's happy face in my mind. How could I explain that I'd disappeared for six months without incriminating her? No one would buy a "I went on a sabbatical to find myself" type of story.

  And what about Ellis? I thought of him, his sexy laugh, and the way he held me so tight when I slept. And I thought about my kittens. Poor little Wonder Woman and SuperGirl. It was probably time for a feeding. I hesitated, then kept walking again.

  I needed to be free. Everything that came afterward... I'd cross that bridge when I got there. One thing at a time.

  A low growl sounded in the bushes to the side of me. I froze and turned. A large cat emerged from the bushes, and I sighed with something like relief when I realized it was Ellis. He growled again and took a step toward me.

  "You're pissed, aren't you?" I said, and kept walking. "Well, you can just be pissed. I had to try and you know it."

  He growled again and tried to catch my hand, but I pulled away from him.

  "You can't do anything," I told him. "I'm in human form and you're a cat. You're not going to attack me. We both know you're not. So I'm just going to keep walking to town until I get someplace public. And don't worry about me blabbing, because I won't say a word. I promise. I just want to go home."