"You're taking this better than I thought you would," Lucas said.
"You took a chance bringing me up here. I might have decided to fling myself off the roof."
He laughed. "Not you. If anything, I was worried you'd toss me off."
I smiled at that. I guessed I did have a reputation for being tough. "So what now?"
"I'm going to meet with the guy who can give us some tips on how to bring down the Bio-Chrome lab without creating a fire hazard. Then Kayla and I are driving back to Tarrant. I've got the patrollers' backpacks I need to drop off at the entrance to the national park. Other things that need transporting. But there's room in my jeep if you want to ride with us. Or you can make your own way back."
As a hiker—my only option—it would take too long, longer by far than as a wolf. Wolves could attain a burst of speed up to forty miles an hour, but they couldn't maintain it for long. Not even Shifters. In wolf form, it would take longer to reach the park entrance than by car. So it would be perfectly reasonable for me to accept the reprieve he offered. "I'd rather go with you. I think my mom is supposed to be back from her trip today. I'm anxious to see her."
I wondered how many lies and excuses I could get away with before Lucas became suspicious. He wasn't stupid.
I started to regret that I hadn't decided to just hike it on my own when I climbed into the back of the jeep behind Lucas and Kayla. It was like I had a front row seat to just-discovered love as they smiled at each other and held hands as much as possible during the journey. I didn't resent that they had each other, but seeing them together was a constant reminder of what I didn't have. I spent a lot of time staring out the window, watching the scenery rush by.
At one point, I asked, "So how did your meeting with the imploding guy go?"
Lucas met my gaze in the rearview mirror. "He offered a lot of suggestions. I don't know if that's the way we'll go though. He needs plans of the building. If it's a secret facility, we may not be able to find anything in the public records."
"What are you going to do then?"
"Do some research. Maybe send in a spy. I don't know. I'm going to talk with my dad."
His dad had once been the leader of the Dark Guardians. Then he'd handed the position over to his older son, who had betrayed us by revealing our existence to Bio-Chrome. I figured Lucas felt as though he had something to prove, to show everyone that he was nothing like his brother.
Kayla looked back over her shoulder at me. "So last night. At the movie. You and Connor."
"It wasn't like it was a date. We just both got there at the same time." I shrugged as though it wasn't a big deal. "So we sat together."
"And you left together."
I sighed. "Are you hinting at something?"
"Just wondering how you feel about him."
"You know, I really don't know." I wasn't about to confess how much I cared for him, not with Lucas there. So many things in my life weren't working out exactly as I'd planned. I was trying to limit collateral damage, how many things people would want to give me sympathy for.
"Well, I think you're cute together," Kayla said.
Ringing endorsement.
"I'll keep that in mind," I said with a grin.
Then Kayla turned her attention back to Lucas, and I shifted my gaze back to the passing scenery. It was the middle of summer, and the foliage was thick. Sunlight dappled through the trees, creating a mosaic of brightness and shadows. It was all so beautiful.
Then something—a dark furry mound?—came into my line of vision too quickly for me to be sure.
"Wait' Lucas, stop'" I yelled.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Just stop. I saw something back there."
Before the jeep came to a complete shuddering stop, I was out the door and racing back in the direction from where we'd come. I leaped over a narrow ravine. Dried leaves and twigs crunched beneath my boots as I searched frantically for what I'd seen. Exactly where had it been?
And then I saw it, and my heart leaped into my throat. I staggered to a halt and knelt beside the fallen wolf. It was unnaturally still, its chest barely rising with each shallow breath.
"What's wrong with it? Is it dying?" Kayla asked as she and Lucas crouched beside me.
"I don't know," I whispered. I stroked it tenderly, my fingers combing through the black fur until they encountered something hard. Gingerly, I parted the fur.
"A tranquilizer dart," Lucas said angrily, reaching for it and tugging it out. Dropping his head back, he inhaled deeply. "Bio-Chrome. I smell Mason. The guy reeks."
Slowly we all glanced around. I couldn't smell them, but I could definitely detect a disharmony in the forest.
"Why would they do this?" Kayla asked.
"Maybe they thought it was a Shifter," I responded.
"But why leave it?" she asked.
I didn't have an answer for that. Neither did Lucas.
"They could still be around," Kayla said.
Lucas shook his head. "The scent isn't strong enough."
"I feel like I still have so much to learn," Kayla said.
Lucas took her hand. "You're doing fine. This Bio-Chrome stuff—it's not what we usually have to worry about."
"What are we going to do about the wolf?" I asked. "We can't leave it like this, vulnerable to predators."
"I'll shift and stay with it," Lucas said. "Then I want to do some reconnaissance. See what else I can pick up. You go back to the jeep, drive into town, and I'll meet you at the Sly Fox tonight."
"I don't want to leave you alone," Kayla said.
"I'll be fine," Lucas assured her.
If I could have shifted, I'd have volunteered to stay behind. Instead, I got to my feet. I needed to leave so Lucas could shift. I also wanted them to have a couple of minutes alone to say goodbye. "I'll meet you back at the jeep. Be careful," I said.
Lucas grinned. "Will do."
I took a step and heard something crack beneath my hiking boot. Bending down, I picked up a broken microscope slide smeared with blood. "Okay, this is something we don't see in the forest every day."
I showed it to Lucas and Kayla.
"Huh," Lucas said. "They must be traveling with some kind of lab equipment so they can test blood. That's the reason they left the wolf. They were able to figure out it was pure wolf."
"Then they leave it behind, vulnerable." I couldn't stop the anger from resonating through me. It was one thing to come after Shifters, but now they were putting innocent wolves in danger.
The wolf began to slowly stir.
"He's not going to be happy when he's fully awake," Lucas said. "You need to go."
"Like I said, be careful," I reminded him before I headed back.
A couple of minutes later, Kayla joined me at the jeep, Lucas's clothes bundled in her arms.
"I can't believe I thought Mason was a nice guy," she said.
"I thought he was, too," I told her. "He's just gotten obsessed."
She got behind the wheel, while I climbed into the passenger seat. After tossing Lucas's clothes into the back, she started the jeep and we were off.
"They're getting closer," she said quietly. "I can sense it. Can't you?"
"Yeah." Even now, I felt as though they were watching.
"How can we make them leave us alone?" Kayla asked.
"I don't know if we can. I think Connor is right. If we destroy the lab, we may slow them down, but I don't think we'll stop them. I guess this isn't exactly how you'd planned to spend your summer vacation."
Kayla released a puff of laughter. "Hardly. I didn't even know Shifters existed when the summer started." She grew serious. "But I'd do anything to protect them now."
"You and me both."
"Do you think we'll win?" she asked.
I didn't answer. I'd met my lie quota for the day. The truth was they were encroaching on our forest, on our lives. I didn't think anything would stop them until they had one of us in their clutches.
NINE
br /> When we got to Tarrant, I gave Kayla directions to my house. I stared at the two-story structure that shouted middle class. My mom had worked hard to buy us that house. I'd always known that I wasn't destined to be the leader of the pack or to even hook up with the leader. I was okay with that. I was okay with the life my mom had given me. Being the best Dark Guardian I could be was the only thing I'd ever wanted. Well, okay, finding my true mate had ranked right up there near the top, but that I couldn't control. Honing my skills as a Guardian—I could.
I grabbed my backpack. "Thanks for the ride."
"We'll be at the Sly Fox tonight," Kayla said. "Come by if you get a chance."
"Yeah, I will. I want to find out what Lucas discovered."
I got out of the jeep and started up the walk, slowing my steps as I heard Kayla drive away. Mom's car was in the driveway so I knew she was home. I saw a curtain at the window flutter. I wondered if Mom was expecting me to shift on my way through the door. We'd always gotten along, even though she thought I needed a life beyond what she saw as my obsession with being a Dark Guardian.
"It isn't everything," she'd often told me.
My usual response had been, "What planet are you from?"
The door didn't spring open. Mom didn't come running out to greet me. Obviously this wasn't going to be a Hallmark moment.
It wasn't until I'd closed the door behind me that Mom rushed forward and crushed me in her embrace. "Oh, baby, are you all right?"
I hated when she called me baby. So juvenile. I hadn't been a baby in a long time. Normally I would have wiggled out of her suffocating embrace, but right at that moment I needed to be held. I was once again fighting back tears. God, these emotions were such a nuisance.
Finally Mom pushed me back, her hands still clutching my shoulders as though she was considering giving me a shake. Her eyes, a green like leaves in spring, stared into mine. Her hair was a reddish brown that I'd always wished she'd passed on to me. I'd never seen a picture of my dad, but she'd told me that I'd taken my dark looks from him.
Mom's anxious eyes filled with sorrow. "You didn't shift."
And my damned eyes filled with tears. "How did you know?" I rasped.
She pulled me close and began to rock me. "Oh, baby, I'm so sorry."
In her voice I heard guilt. I broke free of her hold, crossed my arms over my chest, and glared at her. At least my curiosity had made the tears stop. "For what? What did you do, Mom?"
"Sit down," Mom said.
"I don't need to sit down. Just tell me."
Mom nodded, but she wouldn't meet my eyes. "During the summer I turned seventeen, I went to Europe. I met someone…in France. Antonio. I fell in love."
The European Shifter the elders had mentioned. "My dad, right?"
She finally looked at me directly. "Yes. I always told you that he went through the transformation with me—but he didn't."
"So you went through it alone and survived?"
"No, I had a friend. Michael. He went through it with me, but we both knew we were never destined to be mates. And I'd met your father—"
"But he wouldn't go through it with you. So he was what? A total and complete loser? Why did you even love him? And what has that got to do with—"
"He was human."
I didn't think a nuclear bomb going off in our living room could have destroyed me more effectively. Black dots danced in front of my vision, and I realized that I had stopped breathing. I wasn't sure I wanted to start up again. But my body that had betrayed me during the last full moon betrayed me again. I dragged in a deep breath.
"You didn't think…you didn't"—I'd lost my ability to form coherent thoughts, to speak words—"that was worth mentioning before now?"
"I was hoping that you'd never have to know, that you'd inherited my genes, that you'd shift. Especially as you got older and your one dream was to be a Dark Guardian. I didn't want to take that away from you if I didn't have to." She reached for me. "Baby, I—"
"Don't call me that'" I screamed, slapping her hand away. I started to pace around the room. "I'm not a baby. I'm finally a Dark Guardian—but I can't shift. All the work I've done, all the preparation…"
"I know. I know how badly you wanted this. I was hoping during this recent trip to Europe that I'd find Antonio, in case you needed him."
I spun around and glared at her. "Why would I need him now?"
"I thought you might need someplace to go. As you neared your time, I never sensed…" Her voice trailed off.
"That I was a Shifter?"
She nodded with shame.
"That's just great, Mom. I always thought you were there for me—but when I needed you the most, you weren't. How could you not tell me?"
"I was ashamed. A human. No one knows. I never told a soul."
If my own mom was ashamed that she'd hooked up with a human, how did she feel now that she knew for sure her daughter was human? Wouldn't every Shifter's reaction to me if the truth came out be horror? They wouldn't want me. I was no longer one of them.
"I had a right to know." I headed for the door.
"Where are you going?"
"To deal with this the way I've dealt with everything lately—alone."
I felt mean as I trudged toward the Sly Fox. I knew eventually I'd forgive her. We'd talk, and fall back into our odd family roles: Me being the strong one and Mom worrying about things that couldn't be changed. But for now, I was angry, and hurt, and disappointed. In her. And in myself.
My birth date wasn't wrong. My genes were. I was a Static. I was never going to change. And I knew that I couldn't confide what I considered to be a horrible situation to anyone. It wasn't just a reflection on me, but on my mother. Hadn't that been evident in her words as she'd told me about my father?
Whatever Connor might have been feeling last night with our kiss, he'd probably wash his mouth out with soap if he discovered he'd been kissing a Static. I knew I would.
Twilight was settling in. Tarrant was like a little tourist town with cheesy souvenir shops, bed and breakfast inns, and equipment rental places that ran along the main street down the center of town. I wasn't in the mood to deal with tourists so I kept to the back streets that lined the woods. Eventually I'd reach the Sly Fox, which had been built at the edge of town so when it had live bands, no one in town was disturbed. I would meet up with my friends, get lost in the chaos, but until then my mother's revelation was burning itself into the back of my brain.
My head hurt. So did my heart.
Why hadn't I figured it out? Our kind mated for life. Guys didn't just leave. But like all societies, we had those who didn't conform. I'd thought of my father as the ultimate bad boy who didn't want to be tied down. While it had hurt that he hadn't hung around, I'd fantasized him into being some lonely hero-type. I felt like such an idiot.
I turned down the road that would lead me to the Sly Fox. Connor should be there by now to meet with Lucas. I had a desperate need to see him. I didn't plan to repeat last night, but maybe we could just talk. I could no longer pursue any sort of relationship with him or with any Shifter.
Tomorrow I'd return to Wolford. I'd explain to the elders that I couldn't serve as a Dark Guardian. I wasn't sure yet if I'd tell them the reason. I wasn't even certain my mouth could form the words.
I'm not a Shifter. I'm a Static.
But that fact didn't change the threat to Shifters. I could still help them somehow. I didn't want to walk away when they were in danger.
It was ironic that I wanted to be involved in destroying the one thing that could lead to my salvation. I nearly stumbled over my feet with the thought.
Was what they wanted really so selfish? Or were we the selfish ones? Why not share what we were with the world? If a serum would make me become like all my friends, would I allow it to be injected into my body?
In a heartbeat.
I heard a twig snap. I was too lost in my own thoughts to be alert.
I twisted around just as someone gr
abbed me, snaking a massive arm around me so I could barely move. I felt a sharp pinprick in my neck. My body instantly went limp and my eyes started fluttering as I struggled to keep them open, as I tried to figure out what had happened.
Then I saw green eyes and brown hair and a triumphant grin. They all came together to form a face I recognized. Mason.
"Don't fight it," he said, almost gently.
But I did. Bio-Chrome was here' I tried to yell for help, but my mouth wouldn't move.
Then the world went black.
The headache that I'd had after I left my mom was ten times worse when I woke up. I wanted to rub my temples, but my hands were tied behind my back. I could feel hard plastic biting into my wrists. And that's when I remembered the needle prick and the other pain: Mason.
My eyes sprung open. I was slumped with my back against a tree, the scent of the rich earth filling my nostrils. I could see plastic-looking things around my ankles. This was so not good.
"Hey, she's up," someone called out.
I glanced over my shoulder to see a Neanderthal-looking guy holding a gun. His head was shaved and he seemed to be in the habit of periodically flexing his muscles as though to draw attention to his amazing biceps. I couldn't see the lights of town, but I could see that the headlights of some vehicle had been strategically placed so I was in the spotlight. This didn't bode well.
I watched as hiking boots came into view and then Mason was crouching in front of me.
"Hey," he said, like we were buddies about to exchange homework answers.
He tugged on my braid. I jerked my head back, trying to break free of his hold. But my hair was too long, and all I accomplished was to give myself a case of whiplash when he jerked me back toward him.
"Play nice," he said.
"Why? You don't."
"Which is why you should." He studied my braid as though he'd never seen hair before. "So is this the color of your fur?"
"You mean the fur that lines my parka? No, it's more a golden brown." My answer made me think of Connor. If I concentrated on him, maybe I could get through this ordeal.
Mason tugged harder.
"Ow'"