As Love Shifts (12 page)

“Yeah, well…the interior crew was still working on it as the outer construction crew began the north bunker and then everything got put on hold by the Parth incident.”

As she finished the comment, Ever knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Parth family was in the bunkers. “Go find that old fuck. I want to ask him if he is enjoying our new-age underground houses?”

“I haven’t seen him,” said Kris.

“I don’t need to see him. I know that he is here. I can feel it. Please go ask someone to find him.”

“Is it really necessary to make him grovel?”

“He insulted me on so many levels. I think I deserve to see him grovel just a little bit.”

Kris bent down, breathing against her ear. “This is not the time or place for this. The tunnel is slowly refilling to relieve some of the cramping in the main bunker. Please don’t do this. Everyone is already on edge, and you confronting Willis will make it worse.”

He was right, but she wanted him to be humiliated in front of the clan, as he had humiliated her with his accusations. Of course, if she made an issue out of it at the moment and Willis decided to turn and go after her, it would force Kris to fight him. Anything that might distract her energy from the invisible tube above could be tragic and kill them all. “Fine. I will let it go,
for now
.”

“It is unlike you to hold onto such strong hate.” He bit her earlobe and then stood, walking away.

“Kris,” she called out. Was he honestly mad at her? Did he think her unjustified in her anger?

He did not reply or return and she didn’t really want to look around and risk breaking her focus point, which was Demetri’s eyes. “Is he mad at me?”

“I don’t know, I think maybe he is. He looked mad.”

“Am I wrong?”

“Traditionally, yes. The inquest happened, you won the challenge, and Willis turned belly up to beg for mercy. That is supposed to be the end of it. You humiliated him in the highest sense possible. It was even more profound because you are female and you are a half-breed. Let it go. It’s over and done. There is no way in hell that the clan would deny him access to the bunkers. Would you honestly condemn his family to death because of the actions of one bigoted old man?”

That was what she had said, but… “Of course not. I guess that I’m overreacting. He just made me so mad.”

He rubbed her hands with his thumbs. “I know. Just remember that there are bigger issues than him.”

“I’ll try. Now I’m feeling guilty because Kris is angry with me and I can’t go talk to him.”

“I know. He’ll come back.”

Ever felt as if she was locked in a bubble with Demetri, his dreamy hazel eyes with the odd light blue flecks holding her there, keeping her grounded and stationary. Could the others around them hear them talking? She had a feeling they couldn’t because their sounds were muted. “Is my hearing still fucked up, or are we in our own private space?”

“Right now, we are in our own space.”

“Did you do this?”

He grinned. “Yes. I can do it with little effort and only a tiny bit of my mind. I used to do it at the store when I needed to think and some customer was blabbing at me about something. I would separate my mind so only part of me was hearing what they were saying.”

She giggled. “That’s kind of rude.”

“I know, but people do it all the time. How many husbands and wives pretend to be listening when their spouse is going on and on about something that has been said many times before? Are they really listening or are they thinking about something else? You do it with the children.”

He was right. She had done it when the babies had been eager to tell her a story, but she was trying to figure out something else. She would give the appropriate answers, but was only half listening to what they were saying. “You have me there.”

“You are doing it now. Part of your mind is on the shield we created while the rest of your brain is considering what is being said. I call it mental multitasking.”

“That is a good way to describe it,” said Ever.

“Do you multitask during sex? I have always wondered.”

That was an interesting question. “Not usually. That is one thing that demands my entire mind. I love the feelings and sensations and don’t want to miss a single one.”

A hand touched her shoulder, and she split her mind again, trying to sense who it was. Liam leaned and kissed the top of her head. “Want a cup of coffee? It’s cold, but…”

“That sounds good.” He walked around beside her and Ever released Demetri’s left hand, taking the cup. He was right. It was room temperature and she was tempted to see if she could warm it with her power, but was afraid to use any additional energy. “What time is it?”

“Four thirty-nine. Sunrise should be in an hour and a half. How tired are the two of you getting?”

“I’m okay. Demetri?”

“I would be better if I had gotten some sleep last night.” He sipped at the coffee and grimaced.

Ever knew that he liked his coffee just short of hot enough to burn his mouth. She was so accustomed to drinking it lukewarm or room temperature that it wasn’t really bothering her. Maybe someday she would be free to finish an entire cup while it was still hot. “Is Kris mad at me?”

“A little. He is playing with the children. He wanted to get them out of our room and into the fresh air. The level has dropped down to point seven five, and it is slowly falling.”

“That’s good. If worse comes to worst, once it gets back down to normal we can seal the hatch back up.” She saw him grimace in her side vision. “What?”

“Kris snapped the hinge when he was trying to get it open. Gear is going to try and figure out how to fix it, but he’s not sure if he can with the limited tools we have down here. They’ll figure something out.”

Ever sagged. It wasn’t only what would happen when their energy dwindled, it was also the temperature. Even if they could create a way to keep the air flowing without flooding the tunnel, the air coming in would be frigid without their warming power. Anything that created heat would also create more carbon dioxide. “Didn’t someone say something about it being brutally cold for a while?”

“Yes. We are trying to figure out something for that problem also. It will stay warm down here, if it is sealed up, but…If we have to, we do have some heavy sheets of plastic that can seal up the hole, but it won’t be watertight. We are figuring that if it gets cold enough, the entire body of water will freeze and then we won’t have to worry about flooding.”

Ever really wanted to look at the cameras or even better, go up and look out the tunnel, but she couldn’t. It would also take too much of her concentration to do a mind connection to get the image from their minds. “I really want to see outside.”

Liam leaned and planted a kiss on her cheek. “Be right back.”

She shrugged at Demetri and he shrugged back. “No clue. It’s not like they can move the security monitors. They are wired in place.”

“What he said about the ice is interesting. If it gets thick enough, then we can walk on it. We would be able to go check on the solar panels and maybe even get a real idea of how much damage has been done. I wonder if the mountain caves would be a viable option to get some of the people out of the bunkers? Considering how high the water is, they wouldn’t even have to climb much to get to them.”

“That’s an interesting point.”

“I wonder if Charity is here?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen her. Of course, that doesn’t mean anything.”

Liam walked back over and shoved his phone in front of her face. Playing on the screen was a video that he had captured off the camera system. It showed nothing but water and the occasional top of an uprooted tree. The sight was devastating. “Holy shit, there is nothing left. The world is flat just as Avia predicted.”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

It occurred to Ever that maybe they should have captured some of the forest animals like Noah had done. From the looks of things, most or all of them were dead. Ever tried to refocus her mind on something besides the horror of what she had seen. “Can you find out if Charity is here?”

“No, she isn’t. I hope her and her family went up into the caves above where they live. Why?”

“I was thinking that she could shift into a bird and fly over the property to see what was left. So much for that idea.”

Ever heard Liam growl, the sound sending a shiver up her spine. In her side vision, she could see him turning, first in
to
a furry man and then dropping to the floor as his body shivered and morphed into a light brown-and-gray wolf. She wanted to look around to see what had prompted such a dramatic change, but didn’t want to completely take her eyes off Demetri.

More growling behind her, the sound threatening as she heard one, no three or maybe four distinct tones. Those who had gathered in the tunnel around them were moving back, plastering themselves to the walls as they seemed to slither back toward the main bunker. “What the fuck it going on, Demetri?”

“I don’t know. If I look slightly past you, Kris, Julius, Sherra, and Gear just shifted. I think there may be others, but I couldn’t see who they were.”

Ever tried to do as he had done, keep him as a central point as she looked past him. Her body shivered with tension as her nose caught the scent and she saw Willis Parth in the distance, with five or maybe six other wolves to his flanks. Was the man seriously going to challenge them?

She felt her pores prickle as fur started to grow. She couldn’t turn into a were and still keep her power focused on the opening above.

“No!” Demetri snarled at her. “Ever, you cannot turn.”

“I know that, Demetri.” Her voice was low and almost a wolf’s growl. She needed to stop her body from reacting to the situation, but she wasn’t sure if she could.

“Look directly at me!”

She sat up straighter, trying to focus her attention only on Demetri. If the shield failed because she turned, they would all drown. Her children would die in a flood of airless water. She could feel Demetri as he withdrew his energy from the overhead shield and then formed another one directly around them. “Can you hold it?”

“I don’t think you have left me much choice, have you?”

All sound around them ceased, the scents gone, her body slowly turning back to human without the external input. Demetri had done what he needed to do for the good of them all, but it left Ever without knowledge of what was happening around her. For all she knew, a bloody battle was raging outside their tiny, safe bubble. What if one of her men was badly injured? She couldn’t help them as she was now.

This was too much, the stress making her quiver as her breathing increased.

“Ever?”

“What?” she asked between gasps of air.

“You are hyperventilating. You are going to pass out and kill us all.”

That information was not helping. “Sing me a song.”

He stunned her when he began to sing the song “Ever Ever After” from Avia’s favorite Disney movie. The words and the melodious sound of his voice filled the air around them with sweetness. Ever could almost imagine flowers and tiny sparkles of fantasy stars whizzing and popping around her. His voice was filled with love and calming energy as it flowed from his lips. Not only did the song make her smile, but it filled her with the sweetness of the tune and instantly began to calm her. Demetri had a way of singing with magic in the words, the sound sending tendrils of joy into her brain. By the time he finished it, she was almost melted to her seat in a sea of relaxed bliss. He giggled at her. “Better?”

“Do I look better?”

“You look like we just had great sex and you are ready to go to sleep.”

“Sex would be nice.”

A large wolf slammed into the outer shield, its body being thrown off into the air as if it had hit a brick wall. Ever instinctively turned her head and then panicked because she had lost contact with Demetri’s eyes. She looked back at him and then looked upward, suddenly remembering that she was completely in charge of the shield that was flowing upward. Water was not pouring down onto them, so her subconscious mind was doing better than her conscious one. She wanted to know what was going on, but knew that if she looked, she would lose control again. “Please talk to me.”

“We need something that is completely off the subject. Want to play a word game?”

“Okay, anything.”

“I’m going to ask you a question and you have to retort with a question that is related to mine. You lose if you don’t think of one fast enough.”

“Try me.”

“Name a book.”

“Um, name a character created by Anne Rice.”

He chuckled. “Name a werewolf.”

“Name the clan’s alpha.”

“Name an animal with black fur.”

“Name something with white stripes that smells.”

Ever thought the question would stump him. She had no idea of what the answer might be. Demetri came back with grilled garlic and she retorted with onion soup, which opened up a whole new category. The game went on and on, their minds matched with equally quick wit. It was an interesting way to pass the time, and her competitive nature kept her asking questions, but she still wanted to know what was happening around them.

It was finally Demetri who sagged his shoulders. “Okay, this just became an eternal game and I don’t think either of us is without an answer. I’ve had enough.”

“Honestly, so have I. Let’s call it a draw.”

She could feel the energy fading around them and heard the sounds of moans and whimpers. Demetri took her hands again. “Keep your mind on the shield. I will let you know what’s going on.”

Ever didn’t need him to tell her anything. In her side vision, she could see Kris. He had remained in wolf form, standing on three legs with his front right one curled painfully into his body. The right side of his muzzle was dripping with blood and he had his eye closed as he stared at her.

“Get someone to seal up this fucking hatch!” she howled in a voice that echoed through the tunnel around her. “Now!” The tunnel shook with her fury, and she suddenly knew that she didn’t need to wait for anyone. Ever stood, looking upward, and with her mind, slammed the door shut. It clinked loudly into place, the safety wheel spinning as the door sucked itself closed. Fuck the broken hinge. It was closed now.