Saving Autumn
Page 7
Suddenly, she found herself even more aware of his presence beside her, the heat from his skin pressing against her like something tangible. She forced her mind away from the memory of his nakedness, her cheeks already burning. She stared out of the passenger window until the color died down, and then her curious mind spoke up. “Can I ask you something?”
He glanced at her quickly before refocusing on the road. “Sure.”
“Do you know what type of animal Toby shifts into? I mean, you’re both shifters, right? Can you sense that sort of thing about each other?”
“It depends on the person and the spirit attached to them.” He paused for a minute, his smooth brow creasing. “The animal spirits we shift into all exist on different levels, so we don’t always see the other spirit, though sometimes we can catch traces of them, like an aura the spirit leaves behind. Does that make sense?”
She shook her head. “Sorry, not really. This is all still completely mind-blowing for me.”
He appeared to think again. “Think of our existence as a skyscraper. Our world, the one we live and breathe on, is the ground floor. Everything on this level is real to us. We can see and touch almost everything around us.”
She nodded cautiously, trying to follow where he was going with the analogy. “Ooo … kay.”
“Then above us are all the spirit levels of existence. We don’t know they’re there unless something happens to take us to them, such as we die. Or, some people have abilities which allow them to communicate with the spirit world.”
“Like mediums?” she interrupted.
“Exactly. But each of the levels can’t see each other, just like we can’t see them, for the most part. The spirits that reside on the levels closest to ours are normally the spirits which have the closest link to their shifters.”
“So your spirit guide, the mountain lion I saw you turn into, is on a different level than Toby’s spirit?”
“Possibly. That might be why I’ve not seen it. Or it might just be that our two spirit guides are simply nowhere near each other.”
Silence settled upon them as Mia allowed what she’d just learned to sink in. Wasn’t what Peter was saying proof that an afterlife existed? If that were the case, and her twin brother who vanished on the way home from school when they were children hadn’t survived, then he still existed somehow, if only in spirit form.
No. She shook the thought from her head. Marcus was still out there somewhere, alive. She could feel it in her soul.
As they headed toward the center of the city, she noticed Peter’s eyes flicking continuously to the rearview mirror, as if he were more interested in what lay behind them than ahead.
The reason why dawned on her. “You’re checking if we’re being followed, aren’t you?” she said in alarm.
Peter glanced at her and nodded. “Just because our names didn’t appear in any of the files Toby hacked into, doesn’t mean someone isn’t watching us. Also, if the government is keeping an eye on Toby, then our appearance at his parents’ place will have just put us on their radar.”
“Was it wrong to go and visit him?”
Peter shook his head. “No, I’m glad we did. Knowledge is power, and we know more now than we did earlier today.” He smiled at her. “Plus, I got to spend more time with you.”
Mia had to stop herself from breaking into a stupid grin.
They headed deeper into the city. The streets were a mess. Shop windows had been smashed, glass littering the sidewalk like confetti. Groups of young men with hoods pulled up over their heads ran and jumped and whooped as if they were at some kind of illegal party. A fire had been lit in a trashcan and someone kicked it over to spill out onto the road, though whether they wanted to spread the fire or try to put it out was unclear.
Mia looked around at the passing streets in dismay. She caught sight of a number of abandoned homemade signs with writing too damaged to read in the brief moment she got as they passed. The black smear of either blood or oil on the road and sidewalk—a frighteningly large amount—terrified her.
“Oh, my God. This must be what Autumn was talking about when she said they’d gotten caught up in a protest. She’d said someone had been hurt.”
“Of course. I’d forgotten you mentioned a protest. What were they protesting against?”
A sheet hung from an apartment window, spreading down so it covered a large part of the wall. The letters were tall and looping and written in red. Mia hoped it was paint and not blood. Werewolves are monsters, it read.
She turned to him. “You.”
He gave her a grim smile. “Ah, shit.”
They passed through downtown and toward Near North Side, where Peter said he lived. Instead of getting quieter, there seemed to be more crowds around. People began to run along the street, toward something instead of away, as if they were eager to join in a party.
“What’s going on?” asked Mia, twisting in her seat to watch the streets go by.
“I’m not sure, but I’ve got a bad feeling.”
“Yeah, me too.”
Her eyes widened as she caught sight of a middle-aged man with a gut bulging against his faded jeans toting a shotgun against his shoulder. She didn’t need to hear him speak to know he was spouting something along the lines of “The only good werebeast is a dead werebeast.”
Where are the police? Why weren’t they doing anything about men openly patrolling the streets with guns? The answer came to her—because they’re on the same side. She hated to think what would happen if any of these people realized the man she drove with was one of the things they hated and feared so badly.
The density of people increased, spilling from the sidewalk out onto the road.
“Something’s blocking the street up ahead,” said Peter, forced to slow the car to a crawl.
Mia’s questions about the police were answered. Trying to contain the riots to downtown, the Mounted Division of the Chicago Police Department had been brought in to try to regain control. The chestnut geldings stood in a solid line, blocking the main route out of the city. The mounted police wore white protective helmets with faceguards, and the horses wore similar guards across their eyes. The police sat straight and strong, their expressions unreadable beneath the gear.
People ran toward the mounted unit yelling, fists raised.
“What the hell is this city coming to?” Peter said. “They’re fighting their own, the fools.”
“Is this the same protest Autumn and Blake got caught up in?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so. This is less of a protest and more just people causing trouble. That must be why they’ve called in the mounted police, to try to contain the mob.”
“So none of those are horse-shifters then,” she said, thinking they needed something on their side.
“Not that I know of.” There was a low growl to his tone. “Shifters tend to be more … predatory.”
For the first time, she glimpsed something dangerous about the man and a delicious shiver ran through her. But she didn’t have time to wallow in the sensation. Bodies were forced closer to their waiting car, pressing up against the windows. She began to feel claustrophobic, and her heart rate increased, her palms beginning to sweat.
A couple of youths turned to them through the windshield, acne-scarred faces pressed up against the glass, grinning with glee, hyped on the excitement. They began to rock the car, causing Mia and Peter to bounce up and down in their seats.
“Hey!” Peter yelled. “Get the hell away from here.”
Mia bit down a shriek and clutched the dashboard, her knuckles white.
“Screw this.” Peter reached for the door handle. “I’ll show them exactly what they should be afraid of.”
“No! Don’t.” She knew what he’d been planning. “They don’t know about you yet. Remember that Toby never found your name associated with the shifters. That’s the one advantage you have right now.”
He paused as if torn between wanting to go out there
and listening to Mia’s advice.
Mia’s hand on his arm stopped him. “Please, Peter. Think about this.”
His shoulders relaxed slightly, though his face was still tightened in anger. The youths surrounding them got bored and wandered off to find their next victim.
A shifter seemed to appear from nowhere. The sight of a giant, snarling wolf heading toward them sent the horses into distress. Whinnying, their eyes rolled in their heads, ears flat against their skulls. The horses began to foam at the mouth, their riders trying to keep control as the animals fought between their training and their natural instinct to bolt.
“What’s he doing?” asked Mia in alarm. “Why doesn’t the wolf leave them alone?”
Peter pressed his lips together, slowly shaking his head. “Not all shifters are good, Mia. Looks to me like this guy is just out to cause trouble.”
A shot cracked through the air and several people shrieked. A bloom of blood appeared on the wolf’s flank. The animal snarled and snapped, and a couple of the police horses reared, eyes rolling to show the whites. One of the officers lost his seat and fell to the ground, the horse trampling him with its hind hooves.
“Oh, God!” Mia cried, one hand covering her face, not wanting to look, but unable to completely tear her eyes away. She caught sight of someone else with blood pouring down their forehead, and another person clutching their arm to their chest. More gun shots went off, and she struggled to pinpoint the direction they came from. The wolf took off, the crowd separating like Moses parting the Red Sea to allow the beast through. Red droplets of blood splattered those nearest as the animal ran.
Peter studied Mia, a grim expression of determination settling over his face. “Right. I promised your father I’d take care of you. I’m getting you out of here.” He grabbed the gear shift and shoved the car into reverse. He drove back slowly, the big car pushing through the crowd. When the crowd grew too dense, he changed direction, putting the car into first and moving forward again, the wheel twisted fully to the right. He repeated the process—reverse, forward, reverse, forward—until he’d managed to turn the car around, and finally drove away from the violence.
Chapter Eight
AUTUMN HAD WAITED in the car for Blake as long as she’d dared, not wanting to give up on him, while also not wanting to call attention to herself. In the end, she’d come to the conclusion that he wasn’t coming back, so she’d started the rental car back up and begun to drive, on hyper-alert for any more signs of trouble. Things seemed to have calmed down somewhat—the arrival of the huge animals had sent the protesters scattering, probably to another part of the city—but she’d still seen the remnants of the trouble everywhere she looked. Plus, the atmosphere was strained, a tension that hadn’t existed a few days earlier. People seemed to have realized the world was less predictable than they’d believed and were preparing themselves for a change in their reality.
When Mia had called, Autumn had just reached Blake’s apartment and let herself in through the hidden door at the back that he’d shown her the first time she’d been there. She’d not wanted to come across as a weepy woman, but upon entering the big, loft-style space, her breath had hitched in her chest, hoping she’d find Blake waiting for her. But the place had been empty and her stomach dipped in disappointment. Then her phone rang. She’d been so quick to answer she hadn’t even glanced at the display, just assuming it was him. It hadn’t been. Once she’d explained to Mia what was going on and hung up, she’d noticed the numerous missed calls and cursed herself for not having heard her phone over the din of the riot. But when she checked, she found they’d all come from the same number. Blake hadn’t called.
Where was he?
Movement came from behind, and she spun, her heart lurching up her throat. Blake’s huge form entered the building, and she had to suppress a smile at the clothes he wore—a tiny, too-tight t-shirt and a pair of pants he’d not even been able to fasten. He looked as though he should be frequenting some of the certain kind of bars downtown. But even the sight of him didn’t quell the worry that had been bubbling inside her for the past couple of hours, and the hint of a smile quickly vanished from her mouth.
“Where have you been?” she snapped, her anxiety making her sound more fractious than she felt.
He frowned. “You know where I’ve been. You were there.”
“I saw you dragging that lioness shifter off. I don’t know where you went after that. I waited for you for ages!”
“We both needed to shift back. I had to ask her some questions.”
They would have been naked together, she realized, ugly jealousy twisting her insides like a cloth being rung out.
“I didn’t think you were the type of person to just abandon a woman in the middle of a riot.” Her mixed feelings were causing words to spill from her mouth that she would normally keep to herself. She suddenly felt exposed, vulnerable. As though she’d ripped open her own skin and uncovered her soft insides.
“And I didn’t realize you needed protecting, Autumn. You’ve always told me you didn’t need me to look after you.”
“Yes, I know, but …” She stumbled over her words. How could she say ‘I feel like you chose a strange female shifter over me’ without sounding like a whining woman?
“But nothing. I did what I had to do. I’ve had enough of pretending about who I am and letting others get hurt.”
“Does that mean you support Chogan’s point of view?”
“No, but the damage has already been done. All I can hope for now is to limit the fallout.”
He ran a hand over his head and began to pace back and forth across the floor of his apartment. Autumn was glad they were here instead of at her place. At least there was space for this six-foot-four brooding shifter in his converted warehouse apartment.
“I have to find Chogan. He’s at the heart of all this. He’s riling people up, and this is only going to end in bloodshed. If the Government gets involved, they’ll start rounding shifters up like we’re some kind of disease outbreak that needs to be contained.”
“But you’ve already searched the city and there’s been no sign of him.”
“The lion-shifter I helped today has seen him. She confirmed that he headed up the meeting where the shooting took place last night. She also told me Tala was with him.”
“Your sister? What’s she doing there?”
“That’s what I intend on finding out. I need to go back to the reservation, see if anyone there has any idea about what Tala wants with Chogan, and where they might be.”
She could sense him withdraw from her mentally. The reservation had a lot of bad memories for Blake after he’d lost his childhood sweetheart and was betrayed by his cousin. Going back again wouldn’t be easy for him. He would need her support.
“So when do we go?”
But Blake shook his head. “I don’t think you should come. I’ll be faster without you, and besides, I think people will be more open with me if I’m alone.”
His words stung. For the second time that day, she felt as though he was pushing her away. “You mean if you’re not with an outsider.”
He had the grace to at least look uncomfortable, his gaze shifting to the floor.
Despite the bloodline she was apparently from—though she’d still not managed to confirm it scientifically—what she could do? She was still an outsider in the eyes of his people.
She pushed away the hurt she felt at his wanting to leave her side once more. If she had things her way, she wouldn’t want to leave him for a second. Stop being a stupid little girl, she scolded herself. He has far bigger things to worry about than your silly, romantic notions.
“How long will you be gone?” she asked.
His brow furrowed. “No more than twenty-four hours, I wouldn’t think. Depends on what I find when I get there.”
“He might be sitting at home with Tala, minding their business,” she said hopefully.
His eyebrow lifted. “You think?”
“You can say that again.”
Chapter Nine
THE NEWS STUDIO the redheaded reporter, Annabel Christie, worked at was located on North Michigan Avenue downtown. Chogan went directly to the studio, ignoring the growl in his stomach that still demanded pancakes. A fire burned inside him, and he couldn’t ignore it.
Another thing he couldn’t ignore was the state of the city. Cars had their windshields smashed in, the hoods battered for no apparent reason. Shop windows were cracked and broken, the owners forced to close up for the day.
Chogan kicked at a discarded homemade sign that read Say No to Freaks. Despite the destruction, or perhaps because of it, the city seemed quieter than he’d normally expect in the middle of the day, as if people had been expecting trouble and stayed home. The only people he saw were groups of young men who seemed out to cause trouble, yelling and throwing things.
He lifted his chin and threw back his shoulders, deliberately creating a don’t-fuck-with-me stance. The last thing he needed right now was to get caught up in some fist fight with a couple of punks.
Near the news building, the atmosphere changed. As he reached the building, smartly-dressed men and women flitted in and out of the big glass doors. When the rest of the city either caused chaos or hid away, the news appeared to be busier than ever.
Chogan approached, aware he looked out of place in his denim jeans, leather jacket, and long hair, but he didn’t intend on buying a suit now. Considering the number of times he shifted, he only ended up ruining any decent clothes he owned.