Courage in a Fur Coat (The Fur Coat Society Book 5)

by Meyers,Sloane

  “You’re gonna want to use the five point harness, Lily,” Bash said as calmly and kindly as he could. Lily looked over at him with wide, frightened eyes, and it took her a moment to even comprehend what he was saying.

  “Oh, right,” she said, and strapped in. “Are you a good pilot?”

  She was obviously trying to sound casual while asking the question, but she was terrified out of her mind.

  “I’m not too bad,” Bash said. “I learned from the best of them. If you can fly through stormy Alaskan skies, you can fly through anything.”

  “Well then,” Mia piped up. “Enough talk. More action. Let’s go, big guy.”

  Bash let out another one of his signature hearty laughs before powering up the engine.

  “Time for a little adventure,” he said. He couldn’t resist letting out a loud whoop as the Ferrari’s powerful engine quickly launched the hover high above the city.

  Chapter Three

  “Don’t puke. Don’t puke. Don’t puke.”

  Lily repeated this mantra to herself over and over, but she wasn’t sure how much good it was actually doing. Up until now, the craziest thing she’d ever ridden was a kiddie roller coaster at the county fair, and that was nothing compared to this. She was pretty sure Drew had done a lot more tumbling around in the sky than was necessary, obviously relishing the fact that he got to drive a Ferrari hover. Lily had never understood the point of the sports hovers, anyway. All of the hovers were self driving, and manually driving them in the city was strictly prohibited. It seemed kind of pointless to buy a Ferrari. Sure they were capable of going fast, but the only way to experience that was to go to a hover track outside the city. Most people never made time for that. But Ferrari was still a status symbol of sorts. People liked to prove they were rich, which was another thing Lily never understood. She’d never been into hanging out with people so unoriginal that all they could do was show off how much money they had. She’d take brains over a bank account any day. Lily’s stomach flip-flopped again as the hover lurched forward, then dove downward without warning.

  “Hold on to your horses, people,” Bash said. “We’re almost there.”

  “You could’ve said that a couple seconds earlier,” Lily muttered under her breath. Any fantasies she’d had about dating Bash had gone out the window after about five minutes in a hover with him. He was the definition of a daredevil. Not her type it all. The ride to D.C. had been relatively uneventful, and it would have been smooth sailing if it hadn’t been for Bash’s insatiable need to show off. They hadn’t encountered any police or government hovers, which meant the override codes Grant input were working. They also hadn’t encountered any rough skies. All of the crazy flying had been just for show. Lily would have been annoyed if she hadn’t been so busy being terrified. She breathed a huge sigh of relief when the hover finally came to a secure landing on a rooftop in southern Maryland. This was the hideout that Drew had arranged for them, just outside D.C. Bash and Mia started unbuckling their harnesses right away but Lily had to take a few deep breaths before starting in on hers.

  “You okay back there?” Bash asked.

  Lily nodded. She would’ve liked to go off on him, but she was a little too queasy at the moment. She was just thankful that they were on the ground and everything wasn’t spinning anymore. At least they’d made it here without getting caught by anyone. Lily was amazed, actually, that they could fly all the way from Chicago to D.C. and manage not to be seen, even with scrambled computer codes. There used to be so many police hovers around that someone would see you if you were flying erratically. The fact that this wasn’t the case anymore was a sharp reminder of how much the world’s population had dropped. Lily had wanted to fly at night, as had Mia. But that suggestion was overruled. The consensus was that the cover of darkness was not helpful when you had to use the headlights on the hover, and it was too dangerous to fly such a long distance without any assistance from headlights. So here they were, safe and sound at their new hideout—and it was still just early afternoon. As if he read her mind, Bash spoke up.

  “It’s still pretty early in the afternoon. Only one p.m., so we still have time to make it into D.C. and get to the White House today.”

  Lily felt her stomach tightening up again. So much for having a moment to relax. She’d hoped to have a day or so to recover before heading up to the White House to tell her story, but she knew deep down that it was better if she went sooner rather than later. People were dying every second. They couldn’t afford to waste a bunch of time for Lily to build up her nerves. As Lily finally started to step out of the hover, the second hover, driven by Juno, landed softly on the roof next to them. Juno looked like a much saner driver than Bash, and Lily swore to herself that she would insist on riding with Juno the next time they had to make a trip.

  But Lily’s resolve not to ride with Bash again didn’t last long, because the group quickly decided that Lily should go to D.C. right away with two shifters to guard her. Bash would be one of the guards and would fly the hover, and Wyatt would be the other guard since his firebreathing abilities made him naturally one of the best bodyguards. Lily swallowed back the fear in her stomach as Bash planned out the mission with Wyatt.

  “Everything okay?” Juno asked, sidling up to Lily. “You look pale.”

  “Yeah, everything is okay,” Lily answered. “I’m just a little nervous about this trip into DC. It seems like I’ll draw a lot of attention by heading in with two shifters.”

  Bash overheard this and looked over at them. “I don’t disagree with you there,” he said. “But to go in without a shifter you’ll have to go alone. No one is faulting you for not being comfortable with that.”

  Lily felt her heart pounding faster. She didn’t want to go anywhere alone right now, especially not to the middle of the military zone that was D.C. And yet, she knew deep down that although the shifters would never force her to go alone, she was putting their lives at risk by asking them to go with her. They had been lucky to avoid detection on the way over here, and it was unlikely they would be as lucky again if they ventured into D.C. Lily bit her lower lip. She admired their bravery. They were standing over there, planning to go into a major danger zone, and they didn’t even look like they were breaking a sweat. Was courage an inborn trait for shifters, or were they just that much braver than her? Lily had a feeling that they were just a heck of a lot braver, and the thought depressed her. She had spent her whole life holding back, being shy, and avoiding risks at all costs. Maybe bravery was just a muscle she had never worked, and so it had atrophied. All Lily knew for sure right now was that she could walk freely along the streets of D.C. as a full human. Bash and Wyatt could not, and it didn’t seem fair to ask them to risk their lives because she was being a baby who needed handholding.

  “I’ll go alone,” she said as bravely as she could, but her voice was still shaking. Bash raised an eyebrow in her direction.

  “Are you sure?” he asked. “I don’t want to push you into something you’re not comfortable with.”

  Lily nodded, even though on the inside she felt like crumbling into a little heap on the floor.

  “I’m sure,” she said. “I’ve been been to D.C. before as a tourist, and walked right up to the fence in front of the White House. I’ll just do the same thing now and pretend I’m on vacation. I don’t want to put you guys at risk for no reason.”

  Sebastian and Wyatt exchanged worried glances. She knew they weren’t sure whether they could count on her to actually finish the job, and she couldn’t blame them. After all, Lily was scared of her own shadow most of the time. But she was determined to change that, starting right now. These guys were selflessly putting their lives on the line for humanity. It was time for her to do the same.

  “I’m sure,” she said again, her voice sounding a little stronger this time.

  “Alright,” Bash said slowly. “If you’re really sure, then we’ll send you by yourself.”

  Which is how, an hour later,
Lily found herself alone and boarding a train to D.C. She was somewhat amazed that the trains were still running, since no one was really on them. But since they were self driving and solar powered, no one had bothered to turn them off. Lily watched as the desolate Maryland scenery raced by. She’d been on this train before years ago, when she came to visit a friend in Maryland and they went to D.C. together. Back then, the train had been loaded with people laughing, reading newspapers, or just going about their normal day-to-day lives, which everyone had taken for granted until the bear flu hit.

  Lily tapped her foot anxiously as the minutes passed and the scenery slowly gave way to the underground subway tunnels in D.C. The city was still surprisingly full of people, but everyone was wearing face masks in an attempt to keep away the bear flu. Lily wasn’t sure how much good the masks actually did, but if it made people feel better than whatever. There were soldiers everywhere, carrying huge guns. But the soldiers seemed bored, and there weren’t any riots or protests going on. The city wasn’t full of activists—there were just a bunch of people scared out of their minds that they were going to be the next one to die.

  Lily got off at the subway station closest to the White House, then made her way toward Pennsylvania Avenue. As she’d expected, the area near the Front Lawn was crawling with soldiers. She counted at least fifteen men in uniform patrolling the immediate area, and she was sure there were plenty more nearby. Lily took a deep breath and willed her pounding heart to slow down.

  “Be brave,” she told herself. “You can do this. It’s no big deal. Just walk up to them, tell them who you are, and what you want.”

  Despite her little pep talk to herself, she was still shaking as she approached one of the soldiers.

  “Excuse me,” she said, trying to sound confident. The solider looked over at her with a gruff expression on his face. He raised an eyebrow, probably surprised by the fact that she didn’t have a face mask on. After initially glancing at her he kept walking.

  “Excuse me,” she said again, trying to sound louder and more authoritative. She was really going to have to work on this courage thing. He stopped and looked over at her again.

  “Can I help you?” he asked, in a tone of voice that said he clearly wasn’t interested in helping her.

  Lily stood to her full height. “I need to talk to the President,” she said. “I know about a cure for bear flu.”

  The soldier was speechless for a moment, then cracked a smile.

  “Good one,” he said. “But I don’t have direct access to the President. Besides, everyone knows there’s no cure. I’m sure if any of the remaining scientists are getting close to discovering one, then the President knows about it. He doesn’t need some crazy woman off the streets to tell him.”

  “I’m serious,” Lily said. “Look, don’t you see that I’m not wearing a face mask? I’m not scared of bear flu. It’s because I’ve been cured. I had it, and it was awful. I know what it’s like. But I found someone who has medicine to cure it, and I need to talk to the President about it.”

  The soldier laughed. “Look, if somebody has medicine that cures bear flu, why don’t they come tell the President themselves? And I don’t think you’re cured because you’re out here without a mask. I think you’re crazy. Now move along.”

  With that, the man turned and continued walking, leaving Lily to stand by herself in frustration. She was about to walk away and head for the train station in defeat when she felt something strange rising within her. A feeling of determination like she’d never felt before rose from the pit of her stomach and radiated through her entire body.

  “No,” she said to herself, gritting her teeth. “I’m not giving up yet.”

  So she moved on to the next soldier. “Excuse me,” she said. “Excuse me! I need your help.”

  The soldier turned to look at her, his hands warily holding his gun as if he wasn’t sure whether she might be intending to attack him at any moment.

  “I need to talk to the President,” Lily said. “I know of a cure for bear flu, and I need to talk to him about it.”

  The soldier rolled his eyes. “Yeah, nice try,” he said. “Everyone knows there’s no cure, and if there was I don’t think some random girl on the street would know about it before the President. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll head back to safety. Or at least put on a damn face mask.”

  The soldier was about to start patrolling again when Lily stopped him.

  “No! Wait! It’s true,” Lily said. “I know you think I’m crazy, but I had bear flu. My whole family died from it, but someone was working secretly on a cure and they tested it on me. I got better, and that’s why I’m here without a face mask. I’m immune to the flu now. I can walk around without a mask, because my body has already beaten the disease.”

  The soldier shook his head. “Look, Miss, I can’t help you. Even if I didn’t think you were crazy, which I do, no one even knows where the President is. They’re keeping him in a quarantine away from the general population so that he won’t catch the flu.”

  “But you must know someone who knows how to get to him,” Lily said.

  The soldier frowned. “I might know someone who knows someone who knows someone,” he said, sounding frustrated. “But it’s not a really close connection. And, like I said, I think you’re crazy. My superiors will definitely think you’re crazy, and I’m not risking my own credibility for you. Now go on. Get out of here. And don’t keep harassing the soldiers. We’re here to guard the White House, not to listen to crazy theories about curing bear flu.”

  “It’s not crazy,” Lily insisted. “I was on the brink of death, and I was saved. I just want to share that same lifesaving knowledge with the rest of the world.” Lily stood as tall as she could, trying to look as convincing as she could. But it didn’t seem to have any effect on the soldier.

  “Go on. Get out of here,” he said, his voice taking on an even rougher tone. “If I see you talking to another soldier, I’m going to report you. And trust me, my superiors are not going to be interested in helping you.”

  The soldier pushed past her and kept walking. Lily stood there, feeling defeated and shivering in the late winter sunshine. She made her way back to the train in a state of dejection, drawing quite a few funny looks from people who probably wondered why she was the only one out here without a mask. She wanted to stop everyone, shake them, and tell them that she had the solution to their problems—if only someone could get her to the President. But everyone would just think she was crazy. Besides, it wasn’t her place to decide the next move on her own. She had to get back to the shifters and tell them what had happened. Her heart felt heavy as she climbed on board the subway and it started heading back toward Maryland. She had let everyone down, and she wondered if they would regret letting her go by herself. She knew deep down that it wasn’t her fault. Even if Bash and Wyatt had come with her, they wouldn’t have been there with her when she talked to the soldiers. She’d done the best she could to be brave and courageous, but it hadn’t paid off. Maybe she should’ve said something differently, but maybe it wouldn’t have made a difference. Who knew? All Lily really knew as the train kept speeding forward was that her heart had never felt so heavy, and she had never felt as worried about disappointing someone as she did right now. Bash already thought she was too timid.

  The real question was why she cared so much what he thought of her.

  Chapter Four

  Lily didn’t have to say anything when she walked into the room. The shifters turned to look at her, and from the expression on her face they knew her mission hadn’t been successful.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I really tried. I tried with more than one soldier, even. But they just thought I was crazy. I promise I gave it my best effort.”

  To Lily’s relief, nobody seemed all that surprised or angry about the outcome.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Mia said. “It was a long shot, but it was probably the safest option, which is why we had t
o try it first.”

  Lily glanced over at Mia. “I know. It’s still disappointing, though. I tried really hard to be courageous, and I feel like it was for nothing.

  “Well, you’ll have another chance to be courageous pretty soon,” Bash said.

  Lily looked directly at him for the first time since she’d arrived back at the hideout. She’d been avoiding his eyes, not wanting to see the disappointment in them. But as soon as she looked at him, she realized that he didn’t actually seem all that disappointed. In fact, he seemed like he was in a pretty good mood.

  “What do you mean, I’ll have another chance?” Lily asked.

  “We’ve moved on to Plan B,” Bash said. Lily furrowed her brow, trying to remember what Plan B was. They had made so many plans that she couldn’t keep track of them all, let alone what order the plans were supposed to be in. But before she could even ask, Bash spoke up.

  “It’s actually a new Plan B, not the original Plan B,” he said. “We’ve decided to try to drum up some media interest. I think we threw this out as a suggestion once or twice but never discussed it much because we thought there weren’t many media options left to contact. With the bear flu so rampant and the population so low, reporters aren’t exactly excited to be out and about reporting. The news has been mostly a loop of the same old stories with old footage. I was sitting here thinking about it, and suddenly it hit me—it’s been a long time since there’s been an original story out. Which means if you offer a news channel a realistic story that’s big news they’ll jump on it. Especially when they can do so without danger of catching the flu. It took a lot of persistence, and I made several calls today to several different networks. But I finally managed to find a reporter who’s on board. She’s meeting us first thing tomorrow morning at an abandoned café nearby to interview you. Have you ever been interviewed by the news before?”

  Lily shook her head no, suddenly feeling nervous again. Bash seemed to notice her discomfort, and, to her surprise, he smiled at her kindly. His eyes crinkled adorably, and Lily felt her heart skip a beat at the sight of it.