Midnight Magic, page 115
I should have known that, I thought, looking at the amazing cheekbones and gleaming skin.
She gave a throaty laugh and tossed her impossibly beautiful hair. “Is that all I am these days?”
Nate did not respond and turned to address her brother instead. “Moses, stay with your family. We will call you when we need you.”
Moses lowered his head and then looked back up with fire in his eyes. “We will fight at each other’s side.”
“We will,” Nate said. “Clementine and I are expected at a meeting.”
I paused to write my cell phone number on the whiteboard.
Solstice laughed at my attempts to be in charge. “If we need you, we’ll get you, little Jasper.”
Moses gave a growl which didn’t seem to intimidate his rude sister at all.
“Are you a nurse or a vet tech?” I asked.
“I am a nurse practitioner. I think I can manage this.”
I insisted on giving some orders. “Run one more bag of fluids through. Nothing but water to drink until tomorrow.”
She wasn’t even pretending to pay attention to what I was saying. “Hey,” I said. “Do I need to get someone out here who will do what I ask? I just lavage a poisoned lion cub. Victor is my patient.”
If I paused to think about this further, I would have elaborated to explain that I was Victor’s doctor when he was a cub, but that we probably needed someone else for Victor the robust little boy. I decided to fuck my professional ethics. I had saved the little guy, and I was going to make sure he got the best possible care.
“Very well, Doctor,” she said, in what had to be the worst entry in the “I’m being polite, but she is not the boss of me” Oscar’s.
“He may vomit, that’s to be expected, but if there is any change in his vitals, I need to know immediately,” I said, hoping I sounded firm and capable, and not short, flat-chested, and insecure.
“Got it, Doc.” I had been dismissed by Solstice and her Destiny’s Child’s hair.
CHAPER FOURTEEN- JEROME AND THE GIANT PICKLE JAR
Nate helped me into the truck.
“Can I ask you some more questions?”
“Shoot,” he said.
“Why did you do this?” I attempted to open my nostrils and failed. “When Solstice came into the surgery?”
“She’s a lioness, I can smell her.”
“Is she your ex-girlfriend?”
“Yes, very much emphasis on the ‘Ex.’ Any questions that don’t involve my long past love life?”
“Not yet,” I continued.
He started the truck. “We have known each other all our lives. Everyone thought we would end up together and have a family full of lion shifters.”
“Solstice and Moses aren’t Barbary lions.”
“No, they are Panthera Leo Melanochaita, native to the African cape. We could breed, though,” he responded.
To which the only possible response was, “Gross.”
“Next question,” he said firmly.
It wasn’t my first choice, but it would have to do. “Does my dad have files on all the shifters like he does on you?” I asked.
“Yes, but I’ve only seen my own.”
I thought for a few seconds. “Since Arielle isn’t a shifter, does this mean they can only have boy lions?”
“That’s right. There are a lot more males than females.”
“Why?”
“Because male shifters are more likely to breed out.”
“Excuse me?”
“To have offspring with non-shifters.”
“Offspring? I don’t think Moses considers his son with his wife to be his offspring. God, you sound like a eugenics textbook.”
“I do not. I didn’t say it was wrong. The fact remains, though, that we are in danger of dying out. In the old days, shifter families mostly married into other shifter families. The modern world sort of scattered us all over.”
We didn’t talk much for the rest of the drive. I was staring out of the window without noticing where we were going, busy wondering what treasure troves I would find in those files. I was surprised when he pulled up to what looked like a very rich person’s hunting lodge with many cars parked in the wide driveway. “I thought you were taking me to see Al?”
“I am,” he said.
“What are we here for?” I wondered, suddenly very nervous.
“It’s a meeting. Folks are worried about your dad, so I am bringing them up to speed, and I am introducing you.”
“A little notice would have been nice. I would have changed my clothes.”
“No time,” he said, sauntering around and helping me out of the truck.
We walked into the building, and I was stunned when the large group of people in the entrance hall suddenly all stood. As we walked towards the front of the room, people patted my arm, and a few of them squeezed my hand and whispered that everyone was praying for my dad.
Under normal circumstances, this would have set off a tsunami of questions within me. What faith did shifters have, and what were they were thanking me for? But it didn’t seem the time or place, and Nate had his hand on the small of my back, propelling me forward. We came to a sudden stop in front of a man even taller and better-looking than Nate, which I would not have thought possible.
The man’s nostrils flared. “What the hell were you doing near a tiger?”
Nate shook his head. “Not today, bro.”
An expression that looked a little like concern passed the new man’s face. “Are you hurt at all?”
Nate gestured towards me. “The doc here fixed me up.”
“Her father isn’t the only one missing, “the stranger said doggedly.
Nate seemed to give up. “Clementine, this is my brother, Rome.”
Rome had no interest in making nice with me. “Look, no offense to your father, but why is the whole colony looking for a human when one of our own has been missing for weeks?”
“Who is missing?” I asked.
Nate was clearly annoyed by his brother’s presence. “Rome says a girl is missing, but she’s not from this colony, and none of us have found any trace of her.”
“Have you looked for her?” I asked.
Nate clearly viewed this as a disloyal question. “Of course, we have. Look, you don’t know much about us, but shifters don’t tend to have what you’d call stable lives. We fight each other, we get killed.” He turned his attention back to his angry brother. “Marissa’s own family say she’s using drugs and had run away.”
Rome interrupted, “They are full of shit. She’s not using anymore, and they had something to do with her disappearance.”
Nate rolled his eyes. “You can’t be sure she’s not using. Look, I know you were friends with her, but her family knows her better than you do.”
Fury rolled off Rome like a wave. Everyone in the room was aware of it and looked towards us.
“She’s one of us!” Rome addressed the group at large, and then turned back to his brother.
“She needs to be a priority. You only care about your pet Einstein. It doesn’t matter where Marissa is from or what her family says. She’s a shifter. She’s more important.”
Now I was annoyed, too. “Not more important to me,” I sniped.
Nate’s brother whirled to face me and roared, “Be quiet!” The tension in the room ratcheted up. Nate moved to stand in front of me. Great, now I was going to cause a shifter brother rumble.
I held up my hands. “OK, look. Let’s all calm down. Wait… is it Rome, like the city?” I blurted out awkwardly.
The interloper dramatically raised his arms and said, “Like the graveyard of gladiators!”
The click of heels behind me made me turn my head. A woman in a bright silk salwar kameez held out her arms. “Jerome, I’m so glad you are here. I need your help.” She handed him the largest jar of pickles I had ever seen.
“He has the strongest hands,” she explained to me.
Nate shared an intense look with Rome. “This issue will be on the table tonight, I promise.”
“Hey,” I whispered to Nate. “Gladiators seem like prime getting turned to shifter folks.”
He gave a nod. “Yeah, but we can have that history lesson later.”
There was a table with chairs along one side of it, facing the group. Nate pulled out a chair for me, and I gratefully sat down. He brought one large hand down onto the table with a crash, and the room went silent.
“We’ve got a few things to cover, so let’s get started. Most importantly, the Chiruthai are working to find Dr. Jasper’s location.” He gave a sort of startled look my way and added, “I mean Dr. Zebadiah Jasper. Warriors, be ready if we need you.”
Everyone in the room made a swift and decided downward nod, including Rome. It must be some sort of formal recognition of orders, I speculated.
A tall, strong-looking red-haired woman stood. “General, I have been in touch with our compatriots in Caspar.”
I rudely interrupted, “Caspar? My mom lives in Caspar.”
Nate gave her a strange look, and the woman said, “There is nothing to report, actually. It’s just a random town and everything is fine there.”
“We keep an eye on much of the state. Not all shifters live in colonies,” Nate said. I opened my mouth to question what the hell was going on, but somehow sensed that this was not the time. I allowed myself a frank look around the room. It could have been a meeting in any small town in America, except that no one was overweight. I was suddenly very aware of the freshman 15 I had carried for more than a decade.
There were people of all races. This being Wyoming, there were burly men in baseball caps bearing the name Winchester. Women in artsy, gauzy skirts bore long braids and crystal jewelry, while others wore leggings and tank tops. Every one of them exuded strength. I didn’t see any small children, but little Victor was proof that the colony had at least some.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN- SHIFTER RUMSPRINGA
I didn’t want to be seen staring at people, so I kept my eyes on Nate. He looked around the room. “There are introductions and plans to be made, but let’s get another piece of business off the table first. The Wilson girl has applied to take a wilding year in Tasmania. As always, the group needs to vote to fund the trip.” A steady chorus of “Ayes” was rising from the group when the door opened with a jerk and an angry man strode in.
“I should have known you’d call for a vote on those bullshit trips when I’m not here to stop it.”
My jaw dropped when I saw who the man was.
“Wait!” I whispered. “Al is a lion, too?”
Nate rolled his eyes at me. Apparently, that was an absurd question. “His family is from Peru.”
I shrugged. “So, they don’t have shifters in Peru?”
“It’s inherited. His family was first turned by a jaguar.”
I suddenly understood why Al had not been shocked by the tiger’s claw, and why he had warned me to be quiet.
“Al,” Nate began, “this isn’t even the first order of business tonight. It’s not our fault if you are late.”
Al was clearly not buying it. His voice grew more strident. “We have lots of other things we need to do with that money! A year playing ‘wild animal in the woods’ does nothing to secure these kids’ futures. We need to be getting them up to speed, and then send them to college.”
Nate broke in, “We have sent kids to college, and we will continue to do so, but not everyone shares your opinion about our assimilating into the human world entirely.”
I sat there with nothing to add while the debate grew heated around me. Most people seemed to agree with Nate, and I began to understand that it was something of a tradition for a young adult to go live as their extra-species for a period. A sort of shifter rumspringa.
Most of the shifters seemed to believe that it was an essential part of knowing themselves, and that when it was possible, the colony should help pay for the trip. While the fighting continued in another part of the room, I whispered to Nate, “Did you go wild?”
He shook his head. “I couldn’t. The habitat is all gone.” I vaguely remembered something about Barbary lions being native to Egypt, something about desertification, loss of habitat, rise of cities. “Couldn’t you go to other parts of Africa?”
“It’s harder to go wild amongst a pride. You can’t just appear and say, ‘Hi, I’m an exchange student’.” I laughed out loud at that.
“Are kangaroos solitary animals?” I asked.
“I have no idea. Why?”
“Doesn’t the Wilson girl want to go to Australia? Is she a kangaroo or a wallaby?”
He appeared to be at a loss for words. He seemed to be thinking carefully. He raised a hand and pointed discreetly towards a tall, slender girl with a long, dark ponytail. “Jedda is one of thirty thylacines left on planet earth.”
“NO WAY!” I shrieked. Which served to end all the other discussions and make everyone stare straight at us. I lowered my voice. “Tasmanian tigers! Maybe she’s not one of the last ones. People keep reporting seeing them.”
Nate nodded slowly, apparently waiting for me to catch up. “Oh, my God!” I whispered fiercely. “Those are shifters having a gap year!”
For the first time since I had fallen down this insane rabbit hole, I sensed the wonder of it. If all of this was real, the world was a much more magical place than I had ever known. No wonder my dad had dived into it with such fervor. If only he had felt that he could tell me about it, I thought ruefully.
Al’s voice was beginning to echo through the hall. “Stop feeding these kids this romantic ‘we belong in the wilderness’ bullshit. Neither world wants us, but we can pass in the human world.”
I tried to keep my voice down and asked Nate, “What do other animals think of you when you are shifted?”
It turned out I had underestimated the acoustics of the room.
Al heard me and came thundering down the aisle between chairs. “I’ll tell you what they think! They don’t recognize us.” There was some murmuring and shifting in chairs. I could only assume that everyone else in the room had heard this story before.
It was new to me, however, and I leaned forward. He continued, “I worked at the wildcat sanctuary all through high school. I shoveled shit and pushed wheelbarrows of roadkill so that I would someday get a chance to shift and be with an actual jaguar. When I got my chance, I stepped into Samson’s enclosure, and I shifted. Have you ever seen a startled cat? Their hair puffs out, and they leap up into the air.”
“It’s called the hyper startle feline response and it...”
He didn’t let me finish. “That’s what Samson did. He jumped six feet into the air, climbed onto his shed, and hissed at me.”
“Jaguars are solitary animals. You are probably lucky he did not attack you.”
This was not the answer Al was looking for. “That would have been better. Then I would have known that he recognized me for another jaguar. He didn’t. It’s a crock of bullshit that humans might be scared of us, but we could thrive in the jungle with our own kind. We are not their kind. They don’t want us either. Better to learn to function in the world we live in, breed our shifter traits out, and get a future for our kids.”
Rome strode towards him with a snarl on his lips. “Scurry away, little kitty. Go hide with the big scary humans. That is such bullshit. We are fucking kings!” His roar echoed through the meeting room, literally shaking the rafters.
Nate had placed an arm in front of me, which felt comforting, because Al and Rome were circling each other. I could see why duo-species might have a short life expectancy. They didn’t seem inclined to peaceful solutions.
“You want us all to risk ourselves for some tigress none of us even know,” spat the policeman.
“She deserves our help. How can you just be OK with the Reds taking one of our females? Marissa is a tiger. But who’s next? Lupe? Solstice?” He looked around. “We need to protect ourselves.”
“Who are the Reds?” I whispered.
“He means the Russians who work for Volchok.”
The woman who had asked Jerome to open the pickles stood up, and everyone grew quiet at a firm look from her. “We are not going to agree on this general issue tonight. I say we hold a vote on this specific wilding trip, take a break, and then Nate can introduce our guest. We will make arrangements to rescue the good doctor and any shifters who need our help.”
Whoever she was, no one was inclined to argue with her. Al, Nate, and Rome suddenly looked like grade-schoolers in trouble for hitting a baseball through a kindly neighbor’s window.
Al lost the vote by a landslide. He appeared used to this but was not happy about it. “Alrighty then. We spend a couple grand sending her off to shit in the eucalyptus forests instead of going to school. Great plan. Next time you stage a vote without me, I will string you up feet first.” His growl was meant for Nate. Nate’s eyes flashed fire.
I remembered what I had read about shifters not being able to morph unless all their four feet were on the ground. It seemed like a dangerous threat to make.
Nate growled, “And the next time a friend of this colony goes missing, I need to be the first to know about it.”
Al crossed his arms. “It’s called having actual responsibilities in the real world.”
There was no doubt that this was not the first time they had fought over this. Nate leaned forward. “Maybe you need to reconsider how you balance that with being a warrior of this colony.”
“Maybe I do,” the cop blasted back defiantly. Everyone present was on high alert. I was reminded of how a pride of lion’s functions, with younger males trying to push out the present leader.
A few chairs were pushed back, and suddenly the room was full of standing people with extraordinary reflexes. It occurred to me that if everyone were to start shifting, I was going to find myself at the bottom of the food chain. Nate probably sensed my fear and quietly said, “Chaya, please, let’s take that break.”
