HOTSHOT BROTHERS: Coyote Shifters

by Hunt, Sabrina

  Without meaning to, I swiveled my head around the room. No one was looking. “You’re just saying that.”

  Folding his arms on the table, Cree tilted his head. “Why would I?”

  “Because…because you’re nice. And my brother’s friend,” I answered lamely.

  A bemused look crossed his face. “Niceness is worthless without honesty. And this has nothing do with Rayner. Well, except for–” he paused. “Ah, forget I said that.”

  “You really saw guys checking me out?” I asked, flattered. “I know this is going to sound weird, but I only ever notice like weirdos and pushy guys.”

  “Yeah, well, men have mastered the art of subtle checking out. Most men, anyways. You gotta be stealthy.” He paused, making a face. “Or not be an ass about it, I guess. I don’t know. I hate when guys ogle women, but I can’t say I don’t notice a good-lookin’ gal.” Cree gave me a sage look. “Women can be as blatant as they want.”

  The conversation had taken such a weird turn, I goggled at Cree for a second.

  He looked sheepish. “What?”

  “Nothing, I’ve never heard a guy talk about stuff like that – it’s kind of refreshing.”

  “Oh, thanks,” Cree said. “I mean, I could be wrong. But at the end of the day, I think you just gotta respect people and be cool. That’s how I live and it hasn’t served me wrong yet.”

  My lips twitched. Oh, Cree. “So, does this mean you’ve subtly checked me out?”

  Cree gave me a startled look and a dark red rushed into his cheeks. “What – no. I respect you.” His voice sounded strained. “I mean, I respect other women, too. I…”

  “Is that why you never flirt with me?”

  Opening and closing his mouth, I saw Cree glance around, clearly praying the waiter would come back and save him from answering. A vindictive kind of glow went through me as I watched him rub the back of his neck and shift in his seat.

  “No. Uh, yes?” He paused and wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Why are you asking me this stuff?”

  “I’m a reporter. I like to have the whole story,” I said, a challenge in my voice.

  Cree laughed at that and looked back at me. Then he let out a long sigh and shook his head. “I’m not sure what you mean, but okay.”

  “Oh, please,” I said. “Yes, you do. Otherwise, what was that look and little sigh for? What’s going through that head of yours, Campbell?”

  Running his hand through his hair, Cree’s blue eyes filled with the smolder I’d seen the night we’d met. Inside my shoes, I felt my toes curl.

  “Wishing that I didn’t promise Rayner I wouldn’t flirt with you,” he said in a low voice, resting his cheek on his hands. “It’s a lot more difficult than I anticipated. You’re fun.”

  “Why would he ask you that?” I breathed, as I suddenly began to wish the waiter would come back with the check. How long does it take to close out?

  Cree shrugged. “I assume out of protectiveness.”

  “But for whom?” I let out a laugh and leaned forward a little. “Me or you?”

  “Who knows?” A smile was playing around his mouth. It was the kind of smile that had a certain kind of thought behind it. One that you wanted to find out yourself by any means necessary.

  “Bet it was you,” I said haughtily, even as I could feel every beat of my heart knocking against my ribcage.

  “How much you wanna bet, exactly? I play a mean game of poker.”

  “You have no poker face!” I exclaimed.

  “Or do I use the fact that I have no poker face as an advantage?” Cree raised his eyebrows at me. “That’s the trouble when people assume they’ve got you all figured out. They don’t.”

  “Oh?” I asked.

  “Yeah. That’s why I don’t assume.” His eyes tracked down my face to my lips. “I prefer to watch and wait. Play the long game.”

  Without meaning to, I touched my lips. “You don’t seem very patient.”

  “Oh, I’m not,” Cree said. “I’m impatient as all hell. Because I know what I want. But I endure the agony of waiting ’cause the winning hand is always worth it.”

  Looking back up, he met my eyes and leaned forward more. I couldn’t move.

  “Here you go!” The waiter reappeared, breathless, and shoved a black folder at us. “Sorry, we got slammed. One of our servers didn’t show.”

  A little breathless myself, I quickly scrawled my signature and shoved my card away. I needed fresh air and I hastened to the outside of the restaurant, gratefully pulling in the cool air. Cree came strolling out after me, a small smirk on his face and his hands in his pockets.

  We started walking in silence and my nerves keyed up. Each brush of his arm against mine seemed to send them into a new tailspin.

  This is what I get, I thought ruefully. Poking a sleeping lion.

  “What is that music?” Cree asked as we approached one of Pike Place’s most signature and unique dance clubs, Emerald City Soul. “Sky, we have to check it out.”

  “Oh, yeah, it’s a good time, but maybe not tonight. We’ve been running around all day…” I trailed off at the look on Cree’s face.

  “I mean, if you’re tired, sure we can go home,” he said innocently.

  “I’m not tired! I oh, fine.”

  His entire body seemed to light up as he squeezed me around the shoulders and marched us over. “You won’t regret it.”

  Once inside, the funky “northern soul” unique to this club pounded through my veins. Neither of us was really dressed for this – most people were wearing vintage outfits with old school hats, vests, and flowing dresses. We were both in jeans. At least I was wearing a nice top.

  Immediately an upbeat song by the Four Tops came on and Cree and I both grinned. Grabbing my hand, we began to dance, losing ourselves in the music as everyone sang along during the chorus.

  I can’t help myself!

  I’m fool in love you see…

  Laughing, I gave myself utterly to the music. I’d always been a good dancer; it was one of those things that came easily to me. I wasn’t thinking about my sneakers or my butt or even Cree. I was just dancing.

  Then the version of Beggin’ by the Timebox came on and I screamed in excitement. “This is one of my favorite songs!” I told Cree and he threw his head back, laughing. I sang along, loudly, “Oh, put your loving hand out, baby... I'm beggin’…”

  “I can see why!” he shouted and he seized my other hand. We began to move together, the steps coming instinctively as he twirled me and pulled me around him. Cree was a good dancer, which wasn’t surprising, but he moved with a hell of a lot of rhythm for a tall, brawny guy.

  When the song ended, everyone clapped and I realized we’d cleared out a little space and a circle had formed around us. One guy let out a wolf whistle and I flushed, pulling free from Cree and pressing my hands to my cheeks.

  Over the speakers came a mellow voice, “Hey, folks, here’s song to help you catch your breath and a little sugar.”

  A dreamy, romantic song poured from the speakers. Etta James began to sing.

  I found love… I found a love…

  All around us, people were either pairing off or leaving the floor. Cree held out his hands, smiling a little, but the look in his eyes was one of uncertainty. It tugged at my heart.

  “Oh, yeah. Of course.” I said, taking his hands, and he pulled me close. A breath exuded from me as I gripped his shoulder and his hand, his other arm sliding around my back.

  He smelled so good. It wasn’t fair. A little salty, like cashews or the ocean, and a fresh, pine-like cologne underneath it. I inhaled quietly, trying to memorize that scent and move closer.

  Even though there were people all around us, they faded away. I was lost in Cree’s embrace, letting my head fall against his shoulder, my hand slipping down a little, over the ridge of his deltoid. At that, Cree gripped me tighter until we were flush against each other.

  And I was very glad I’d worn this top. It was thin, so I co
uld feel his belt buckle gently scratching against me and the lines of his stomach pressing into mine. Heat purred through me.

  Then Cree pressed the side of his face into the top of my head and let out a shaky sigh. Without thinking, I slipped my arm around his back, holding onto him even tighter.

  There was nothing but this moment and the music.

  When the song ended, it was like all the outside noise and people crashed down on me at once. It pinned me down as I froze in Cree’s arms. What am I doing? I’m not even that drunk!

  An announcement blasted over the speakers – something about an illegally parked car, but I was barely listening. Cree was still holding onto me and I didn’t know what to do.

  “Sky,” he started to say.

  At that, I jerked away and he fell back immediately. I couldn’t even look at him. “We should go.” I turned and flew to the front, bursting out of the doors. People were milling around and smoking, talking in excited voices.

  “Can you believe this shit, man? It was a cop, too,” I heard one guy telling his buddy.

  “Hey, Sky–” Cree was behind me and sounding worried.

  “Sh, wait a second.” My antenna was up as I moved closer to the guys.

  “I mean, did you see the video? It was crazy. Like a legit monster. And after that Bigfoot guy got whacked the other day… Like something is seriously up.”

  “Hey, now – what’s going on?” Cree had pushed forward. “Hey, how are ya? Sorry, couldn’t help overhearing. I was there that night the Bigfoot guy was, well…”

  “Damn, dude,” the first guy said and blew out a puff of smoke. “Yeah, one of the cops who was there too – he just posted this crazy video from being on patrol – a monster in Volunteer Park.”

  “A monster?” Cree asked and the guy shoved his phone at Cree.

  You could hear someone yelling “What the hell? Run! Run!” and then a snarling noise, and out of the shrubbery jumped a massive shaggy thing with gleaming red eyes.

  “Could it be a coyote?” I asked dubiously.

  “Massive coyote if so, little lady,” said the other guy. “Looked like a werewolf to me. Been a lot of weird stuff happening lately. Bigfoot guy was gonna reveal all and look what happened.” He gave us a drunken, sardonic grin. “Dead as a doornail.”

  “You come up with this theory on your own?” I asked, eyeing him.

  “Nah, it’s all over the internet. Check it out, this is the site – Seattle Monster Mash. It’s a tell-all. Apparently this guy claims he was the one to tell Professor Huxley to go public. Now he’s on the run. Government and other shit after him. Crazy.”

  “Wait, there’s another person connected to Professor Huxley’s research?” Cree asked. “I wonder…” He paused and shook his head. “Well, thanks, guys. Have a good night.”

  “Watch out for those monsters, friends!” the phone guy said with a wink.

  Walking back to my apartment, it was quiet between us. Cree was lost in thought and I saw his fingers flying across his phone more than once. When we got to my building, he gave me an apologetic look.

  “Sky, I have to make a phone call. Do you mind?”

  Questions burst into my head, but I shook my head and handed him my pass to unlock the outside door after I swiped myself in.

  “Thank you,” he said. “I’ll be right up.” His phone was at his ear. “Oh, hey, Wes, listen…”

  I stepped inside and let the door shut. Cree was pacing, his face more serious than I had ever seen it, and a strange, off-kilter feeling went through me.

  All I could think of was how I’d neglected to tell him something. Now it seemed like the door had closed on it. I’d blown my shot.

  Thank you. I had fun tonight.

  But Cree had sat down on the front steps, still talking, so I turned and went upstairs, alone.

  Chapter 7

  “You shouldn’t have gone alone!” Wes snarled at me, his voice echoing through the cell’s speakerphone and all around the bathroom. “Why do you do things like this, Quickfoot?”

  I peered into the bathroom mirror as I mopped up my bloody shoulder and winced as the towel brushed over a particularly nasty spot. “Mhmm, yeah,” I said absently.

  “I told you not to let Rayner go off on his own, either,” Burr growled, sounding worried and exasperated. “Neither of them listen. We shouldn’t have never let them go out there alone.” He hesitated. “Cree, I’m not trying to bust your balls, bro, but should we come out there? For real?”

  “Not yet,” I said. “Not when you guys have so much going on there.”

  Since Friday night, it seemed like everything had become a tumult of confusion. I’d spent the early hours of Saturday digging into the Seattle Monster Mash site and jotting down places where people reported strange activity. Taken altogether, there was a lot of weird stuff going down. Spirit and Shadow World kind of weird. But what I couldn’t understand was how people were getting it on tape or film. That shouldn’t have been possible.

  Most of it was concentrated in the many parks around the city. None more so than Discovery Park, a wide swath of land north of Belltown jutting into the bay.

  The rest of Saturday I’d spent sleeping and coming up with plans to investigate. And since then, Sky and I had barely seen each other. I tried to tell myself that was a good thing. It had given me time to think. But I didn’t know what to think about her, except how hard it was not to.

  The way her laugh seemed to hum through my veins like a strain of music. Or the way her hair swirled around her face in waves of gold and amber. The way she frowned at her computer while she wrote and then smiled to herself. And the way she’d felt in my arms while we danced.

  “Earth to Cree,” Wes said, now sounding amused. “Are you daydreaming about Sky again?”

  “No!” I glared at the phone.

  “He was,” Burr chuckled. “What’s Rayner going to say about that?”

  My brothers seemed to find it infinitely amusing that Rayner had warned me off Sky. They’d been harassing me about her for days, saying things like “the heart wants what it can’t have,” “going after the forbidden fruit,” and “star-crossed crushes.”

  God, even six hundred miles away in Montana, they were still irritating.

  Not paying attention, I clumsily swiped at my shoulder again. “Ouch,” I muttered.

  “Do you need stitches?” Burr asked, real concern in his voice. “Wait, don’t answer that. Send a pic to Doc and let him decide.”

  “I don’t even have to look – you should probably go get stitches. Just be careful not to let them take any blood is all,” Ben said.

  “I’m fine, morons,” I said shortly.

  “You shouldn’t have gone alone in the first place!” Wes snapped again.

  “Hi, what’s going on?” Kalin’s voice floated down the line. “What did Cree do now?”

  “He went alone to some park and got attacked by nirumbee. The ass,” Wes snorted.

  “I get bit by cannibal dwarves and you’re calling me names? Cold, man, cold,” I tried to joke, but I was feeling a bit lightheaded and wondering if I did need stitches.

  “Cannibal what? What are they?” Kalin asked.

  “Annoying,” Burr growled.

  “And not usually found in urban areas, but Seattle might be unique in that regard. Two big national forests not even a hundred miles away on either side of the city… Anyways, nirumbee are little forest ghouls with fangs, along with an appetite for both petty theft and mutilation,” Wes explained. “We ran into a gang of them once in the Kootenai Forest. Ben almost lost a few toes.”

  “You’re one to talk! You almost lost your whole damn foot, Stealth,” Ben retorted.

  “Do you think nirumbee could have attacked Professor Huxley?” I asked.

  “I mean, maybe, but they usually only attack when provoked,” Wes paused, “or if someone goes sniffing around their territory.”

  “Let it go, Wes,” I said tiredly. Then I checked the time. It was afte
r eight. Sky would probably be home soon and the bathroom was looking gory.

  “Are you sure you’re okay, Quickfoot?” he asked quickly.

  “Yes, I’m fine.” I looked at myself in the mirror. My cheeks were pale. In my head, I relived the panicked moments where those goddamn goblins had swung down from nowhere, swarming me, slashing and biting. “They were guarding something, I think. There’s a remote area along the water called Magnolia Bluff. No trails. That’s where I was trying to go.”

  I’d been in my shifted form and had to flee, the nirumbee pursuing me with no apparent fear of being seen. But once I’d gotten about a mile away from the bluffs, they’d fallen back. Since it was sunset, I’d managed to sneak my way back to Sky’s apartment as a coyote without being seen.

  Though there had been a close call behind her building when Mrs. Kuoi suddenly appeared to take out the trash. I’d had to flatten myself into the shadows. My heart still pounded to think of it.

  “Well, we all know the Crooked Man likes to have a base of operations. Maybe that’s where he’s working,” Burr commented.

  “Recruiting nirumbee? That’s a new one,” Ben said thoughtfully.

  I was thinking so hard about everything, I wasn’t keeping as sharp an ear out as I should have been. Or maybe I was just exhausted. Either way, I jumped a mile when Sky suddenly knocked on the bathroom door. “Cree, are you in there? Are you almost done? I need to talk to you.”

  “Shit!” I whispered, turning the phone off speaker and whirling around helplessly.

  “Was that Sky?” Wes asked as he laughed. “Oh no, what are you gonna do?”

  “Have her bandage you up,” Burr suggested. “Women love to nurse a man back to health. Right, Lolo?” he hollered. I heard Willow call back something rude sounding and Burr laughed.

  “You guys are friggin’ useless. Bye,” I snapped and hung up.

  “Cree?” Sky was starting to sound impatient.

  “Um, yeah, hold on a minute.” I gazed around at the bloody towels and my mind went blank.

  What the hell am I supposed to tell her? Oh, hey, Sky. Yeah, I went out to Discovery Park and some miniature goblins tore me apart with their teeth. No big, just think they might be the henchman of the Hotshot’s greatest enemy. Oh, wait, right, you don’t know what the Hotshots are because your brother left me hogtied with our secrets in his sister’s apartment!