Autumn's Blood: The Spirit Shifters, Book One (24 page)

“You’ll still be exposing the rest of
us, plus, there’s a chance Dumas will walk free. The government is
very good at covering up for their own. If he walks free, he’ll
come after you. This is his obsession.”

“So I guess I have no choice. I have
to give up my life and everything I’ve worked for and live the rest
of my life looking over my shoulder, all because of some weird
genetic defect in my blood.”

“Or we kill him.”

Chogan’s voice came from the
doorway.

Blake turned to his cousin and nodded.
“Or we kill him,” he said in agreement.

Autumn blanched. “I don’t want people
killed.”

Chogan straightened and walked fully
into the room. “Even a psycho who has kidnapped your best
friend?”

“It’s vigilante justice. I’d rather
see him go through the courts for what he’s done.”

“That’s never going to happen,” said
Blake.

“What about all those people out
there?” she said. “They don’t seem like people who would kill a
man.”

“Perhaps as humans they’re not, but in
their animal forms they are. An animal doesn’t consider the things
a human does, it only does what it needs to survive. In this
situation, their animal guides will show them what to
do.”

“They’ll fight for the cause,” said
Chogan. “They know what’s being done to those shifters is
wrong.”

Autumn chewed her lower lip. “I hope
you’re right.”

Voices rose from the living room
again. Chogan turned and left, Blake watching him go.

“What about you and Chogan?” Autumn
asked, keeping her voice low. “Are you two going to be able to put
your differences aside?”

“I don’t trust Chogan. You know
that.”

“So cut him out. Leave him
behind.”

“You don’t understand. We need
him.”

“Just because of our numbers? Surely
it’s better to have one person less than someone by your side you
don’t trust.”

Blake paused and then said, “You’ve
noticed that when we shift, our fur is a different
color.”

She nodded. “You’re silver and Chogan
is a russet red. I thought, because your hair is black, your fur
would be too.”

He shook his head. “The color we are
as a wolf isn’t anything do with us. It’s to do with the type of
guide our spirits are. Each color has a different strength. For
example, my silver fur means I am a protector.”

A small smile played on her lips and
she lifted her eyes to his. “I could have guessed that.”

He smiled back and glanced away
briefly before looking back at her.

“And red?” she asked. “What does red
mean?”

Blake frowned. “Fighter. It means
Chogan is a fighter.”

“So that’s why we need
him.”

Blake nodded.

She seemed to mull this
over.

The voices in the living room rose
another notch and she looked toward the sound. “I guess you should
get back in there before they rile up the whole
reservation.”

He grinned. “I’m not sure that would
be a bad thing.”

As they headed back out into the hall,
the door burst open. A young man in his early twenties stood in the
doorway, his eyes wild. “There’s a van full of men in SWAT gear on
the outskirts of the reservation!”

The people in the other room all rose
to their feet, looking worriedly at each other.

Instantly, Blake focused in on his
wolf, trying to get an idea of what lay outside. The big animal ran
through the streets, heading toward the edge of the town. A few
people had wandered out of their homes, wondering what the
disturbance was. The now familiar thrum of helicopter blades
filtered through to his sensitive ears.

He and Autumn exchanged a
glance.

“Shit!” he said. “They’ve already
found us.”

Chapter
Twenty-one

THE INHABITANTS OF the small house
burst into action.

“Quick, everyone, out the back,” said
Blake. “Head into the forest and shift. They won’t be able to track
you so easily in animal form.”

The shifters grabbed their things,
hustling to get out of the property. Too many bodies filled the
small space, jostling each other in their haste to get out.
Autumn’s heart fluttered in fear as she kept her back to the wall,
trying to stay out of the way, unsure of what to do.

“We’ll meet you in Chicago, Blake,”
said Enyeto. “We won’t let these bastards win.”

Blake gave him a grim nod.

Lakota Wolfcollar stood tall. “I’ll
try to put them off the scent. I’ll tell them you were here, but
that you left hours ago.”

Blake shook his head. “You should hide
too, Father. I don’t know how far they’ll go to get information
from you.”

Lakota’s lips thinned. “No one is
chasing me out of my home. This is a reservation. Those men don’t
have any authority here.”

Seeming to remember Autumn, Blake took
hold of her arm and shoved her toward Chogan. “Take Autumn. You’re
faster than me. You need to get her out of here.”

Chogan caught her against his strong
body, but she spun back to Blake and blurted, “But you don’t trust
him! You said so yourself.”

His eyes flicked coolly toward Chogan.
“I guess I don’t have any choice in the matter. You need to get out
of here.”

“No!” she cried. “I won’t leave
you.”

“You have to. Don’t worry, I’ll catch
you up. You need to leave here. Right now.”

Tears threatened, her lower lip
trembling. “Please, Blake. Don’t make me go without
you.”

“It’s all right. I’m trained to deal
with these people, and I won’t leave the reservation in their hands
unprotected. I’ll be fine. Now get the hell out of
here.”

She hesitated again.

“Go!” he snarled at her.

She turned back to Chogan. The other
man caught her by the hand and they ran from the rear of the house,
across the yard and out onto the street behind. The thrum of the
helicopter grew louder and louder. Autumn craned her neck, trying
to catch its location, but Chogan yanked on her hand again, pulling
her forward. She had to watch where she was going or she’d fall
over her own feet. Her breath rasped in her lungs, her heart
hammering so hard she thought the organ might burst from her chest.
Shouts came from behind them, and they exchanged a wide-eyed
glance. Chogan was much faster than she was, but she pushed herself
hard, her feet pounding the sidewalk, her thighs burning,
determined not to be the one responsible for getting him caught as
well.

Oh, Blake …

They left the outskirts of the small
town and broke through the line of trees. The terrain was harder
going now, her feet seemingly resolute in getting caught in roots
or in stumbling over rocks. Whip-like branches lashed at her face,
and she used the hand Chogan wasn’t holding to shield her eyes. The
sound of the chopper faded, replaced by the rustle of wind moving
through the trees.

Where had everyone else gone? The
reservation and surrounding forest was plenty big enough for them
each to get lost in.

A stitch ripped pain in her side. “I’m
sorry,” she gasped. I need to—” She couldn’t finish; there wasn’t
enough air in her lungs.

Chogan noted the state she was in and
stopped beside her, glancing over the top of her back where she was
bent double. “We can’t stop long.”

He seemed to make a decision. He
reached beneath his leather jacket and pulled out a gun, handing it
to her.

She took the weapon from him, the
metal cool and heavy in her grip.

“Where the hell did you get
this?”

“Never mind where I got it. Do you
know how to use it?”

“I think so.” The past forty-eight
hours had brought her closer to guns than she’d ever been in her
life.

“It’s just in case they catch up
before I’ve finished shifting.” On the last word, his bones
crunched, cracking, his shoulders wrenching one way and the next.
His face stretched, teeth appearing in his lengthening
jaw.

“Oh God,” Autumn whimpered, taking
several steps away from him. She held the gun out at arm’s length,
pointing it in the direction they’d come. She didn’t want to have
to shoot someone, though she would if it came down to them or
her.

Or Chogan. I’d shoot them
for Chogan.

But Blake doesn’t trust
him.
Had something really been going on
between Chogan and Blake’s girlfriend when they’d been younger?
From Chogan’s disposition, she certainly wouldn’t put it past him
to have tried something, but she also got the impression that he
would be the first to admit it if something had been going on. And
despite what Blake said, Chogan did seem to genuinely care about
his cousin. It had been such a long time ago now, what reason would
he have to continue lying?

Unless he was trying to
protect Blake from something …

She realized how close she’d grown to
the two cousins in such a short space of time. There was no denying
they were special, but she felt more connected to them than she had
to anyone else—probably with the exception of Mia—in her whole
life.

The big, russet wolf approached, his
head lowered in a form of submission. Autumn checked left and
right, making sure none of the men now swarming the town was
heading toward them. She waited a moment longer, praying Blake
would come bursting through the woods, but he didn’t
appear.

Oh, Blake. Please stay
safe.

Feeling like she was leaving a part of
herself behind, she turned from the direction of the town and ran
to the wolf waiting for her. She checked the safety on the gun and
then shoved it in the waistband of her suit pants before stopping
beside Chogan.

Before she climbed onto him, she
remembered something. “Hang on,” she told him.

Running to where he had completed his
shift, she scooped up his discarded clothes, bundling them together
in her arms. When they reached the city, he would need something to
wear.

“Okay, ready,” she said, back at his
side. He lowered his body down to the ground, allowing her to swing
one leg over his back and pull herself on, straddling his back. She
stuffed his clothes between her body and his, then leaned forward,
placing her bodyweight between his shoulders, burying her fingers
into the soft fur of his neck.

Movement came from behind them and she
turned to see men appear between the trees.

“Go!” she urged him. “They’re
coming!”

A shot rang out, a hot streak of air
close to her ear. Instinctively, she lay closer to Chogan’s back.
The wolf leapt forward, taking off at a gallop through the
forest.

Blake had been right, Chogan was
faster. But then, they’d not had men shooting at them when she’d
been riding with Blake. More shots cut through the air, but now
they seemed farther away. They were leaving their attackers, and
Blake, behind them.

Please be all right,
please be all right.

She placed her cheek
against Chogan’s red fur
and was surprised
to find it damp. Only then did she realize she was
crying.

He continued to run, his powerful body
moving beneath her, loping through undergrowth, splashing through
rivers, leaping from boulder to boulder. He slowed in places,
navigating harder territory, but as soon as they were in any kind
of space, he took off at a gallop, the wind tearing at her hair.
She buried her face in his fur to escape the force of the
air.

They’d been going for a couple of
hours now, but he didn’t seem to tire. Daylight faded, to be
replaced by a purple dusk and, finally, night. The daytime sounds
of the forest, tweeting of birds, were replaced by those of night,
the scurry of nocturnal animals and the hoot of an owl.

This time, Autumn didn’t sleep. She
was too worried about Blake, praying the other shots she’d heard
hadn’t been meant for him, hoping Dumas’ men hadn’t taken him
captive. Would he be waiting for her and the others as planned? She
thought her heart would break if they reached the rendezvous point
only to find him missing. What would they do then? While she was
sure Chogan would try to lead the rest of the shifters in a rescue
attempt, she would feel so much better with Blake by her
side.

Finally, they slowed to a
trot.

They were on the outskirts of the
city. Chogan needed to shift back.

She climbed down and moved away. In a
small clearing, he sat on his haunches, his body shrouded in
moonlight. Bones cracked and snapped into place, his limbs
shrinking, fur melting back into his skin. She blinked several
times, her brain still trying to convince her that what her eyes
were seeing wasn’t real.

Chogan stood naked before her, his
long hair falling down one side of his chiseled chest, his features
noble and strong.

The sight of him caught her breath,
and she realized she’d been staring.