Parahuman (Parahuman Series) (25 page)

    
“What?”

     “Since
we probably won’t have school tomorrow, what are your plans?” 

     Devan
had no idea what to say. “Uhh…I’m not sure.”

    “What
do you usually do?” She asked sounding interested.

     “Run,
climb,” he said.

      Laney’s
face was turning red before his eyes as she seemed to struggle with what she
wanted to say. “You shouldn’t be climbing with that arm, or running too much
after your blood loss, but maybe we could go hiking a little bit…together.”  

     Devan
could have told her that he would be almost in top working condition tomorrow,
but he was sidetrack by her offer. “Together?” Devan repeated, nonplussed. Her
suggestion for some reason wasn’t computing.

     She
looked at him with a smile softly curving her mouth; a smile that spread from one
rosy cheek to the other. “Well yes. I like to climb, and run, and hike, too. How
about I come over about ten o’clock tomorrow, okay?” Not waiting for a reply to
her question, she jumped from the jeep. “Make sure you get some rest, I’ll see
you tomorrow.” 

     Devan
stared after Laney in amazement as she ran toward her truck. He had only been
echoing her statement but she seemed to have taken it as an agreement to a
rendezvous. Was there a polite way to get out of it? Did he want to get out of
it? The only way that was going to be possible now was for him to call her
since she had run off so fast. He did have her number on his phone given to him
the night of the peer gathering.

     Laney
slid into her vehicle with a wave. Devan stared after her as she drove away.
She gave the appearance of having no problem with what he was, and her
acceptance felt…great…no amazing. Relief beyond anything he’d ever known flowed
through him. But there was also another part of him that was exceedingly
anxious.

     Another
person knew his secret. He knew he was placing a great deal of trust in Laney,
and even though he truly believed she wouldn’t tell anyone his secret it still
left him feeling edgy.

     These
feelings of edginess made Devan brood over the power of Laney’s touch; the rush
of heat that flooded his body and tensed his muscles. He grew up only
experiencing analytical manners of touching; when he was measured, examined or
poked with needles. However, when Laney touched him it in no way felt
analytical; it felt like nothing he had ever experienced before. Each time she
laid her hand on him it was an emotional experience. When she had tended to his
arm, the concern and anxiety in her eyes, the soft touch of her hands; no one,
not even Brett had ever displayed that level of emotion toward him before. It
made his throat constrict in…in what he still didn’t know. Devan knew he was
beyond thankful that it had been him that was hurt and not Laney. The thought
of that…

     His
mind shied away from those thoughts and shifted to the wolves. What was with
their strange behavior this morning and why had they come onto populated school
grounds? Wolves typically stayed away from people. For a pack of them to stroll
into a school yard was extremely bazaar. It would be like a person strolling
into a wolf’s den and sitting down in the middle of them. It just wasn’t done. 

     Sick
or diseased wolves were sometimes reported straying into populated areas, but
this was a rare occurrence; for a whole pack of them to stray was—a quick
calculation in his head—one in eight hundred seventy six million, two hundred
fifty three. The number was probably even higher since this was the only known
wolf pack known to exist in Colorado at the moment. 

     The
way those wolves had methodically searched that parking lot wasn’t the actions
of sick animals…they had been searching or hunting for something. The pursuit
had been so consuming that they had even risked the presence of countless
people to look for it, and Devan couldn’t shake the feeling that he was the
focus of their hunt. But why?

     The
way they had all honed in on his jeep and then moved to the storage building;
those actions had been purposeful, not random. Everything about the packs
behavior wasn’t normal; their conduct outside the building, the way that single
wolf had jumped through the window, and how it had attacked and come back for
more…it was all exceedingly out of the ordinary.

    
Animals did have strange reactions to his scent; it was quite possible they had
just taken an extreme aversion to his presence in their territory. They were
canine and he was part feline. However, the size and facial structure of the
wolves were a disquieting element and something he couldn’t ignore. 

     When
moving to Silverton Devan had committed to memory the layout of the entire
town. There was only one veterinary clinic and it was the most likely place
they would have taken that dead wolf. He would have to go past The Diner to get
to the vet’s possibly bringing attention to himself. However, he’d noted the
great number of vehicles lining the street near that establishment as he drove
into town so another vehicle would probably go relatively unnoticed.

     He
had to take care of one thing here at the school though. He drove his jeep over
near the athletic building. Police tape stretched across the broken door,
rollup door, and window, but after taking a quick examination of the grounds to
make sure no one was watching he ducked under the tape and stepped inside.
Blood still covered the ground where the wolf had bled out, but Devan wasn’t
interested in that. He was here to remove any evidence of his presence.

     He went
and stood in the spot he’d hoisted Laney into the rafters, and rolled the
morning’s scene through his head where the wolf had crashed into him from
behind. It was like a movie playing in his head. He saw himself lifting Laney
and then her yelling a warning as the wolf crashed into his back. The weight of
the wolf made him stumble forward and this caused his glasses to fly off his
face. Devan could see them soar through the air several feet before landing on
the ground and sliding under the same stack of track and field hurdles he’d
thrown the wolf into earlier.

     He
delved into the twisted mess and unearthed the demolished glasses, putting them
in his pocket to get rid of later. Walking over to the window Devan checked out
the sill to ensure he’d left no blood behind. He’d been careful when he’d climbed
out but also in hurry.

     He
was happy to see that his carefulness had paid off. He’d dripped blood as he’d
snuck away and there was some on the roof of the school, but no one besides him
or another animal would discern small drops of blood in the grass, and it was scheduled
to rain in two days so that would wash away the blood on the roof. It was
extremely unlikely someone would go up there before it rained and even if they
did the roof was black making the blood barely noticeable.

     He
exited the building still aware of his surroundings, hopped in his jeep and
headed for the veterinary clinic. Passing through town it looked like the
weekend; cars lined the street and The Diner was overflowing with the town
citizens. Devan took note of Laney’s truck, as well as Hali’s,
and
Jarrod’s along the street.

     The
Veterinary clinic was just a couple buildings down from The Diner on the
opposite side of the road. Finding a spot a further bit down the road he
parked.

     The
Clinic wasn’t a customary office building, but rather it was someone’s home and
they ran their office out of it. The residence looked deserted with no vehicles
present in the driveway, but Devan knocked on the door just in case. The only
sound he received in reply was barking.     

     The
door was unlocked of course; no one locked their houses in these towns. Poking
his head in he called out, “Anyone home?”

     No
person answered, but he did get more barking from a dog in the other room. It
sounded like a large breed by the timbre of the bark.     

     The
house smelled like a variety of animals had passed through it on the way to
getting their checkups, but there was no smell of the wolf anywhere inside this
home. Stepping back out of the house Devan went around to the back. 

    
Directly behind and to the right of the home was a building set up to lodge
animals for overnight treatment. Breathing in deeply he could smell that the
dead wolf had definitely come this way. Looking around cautiously, he hurried
over and stepped inside the building.

     The
entrance consisted of an animal emergency room with an examining table and
beyond that was a cold room; the most likely place to hold a dead animal so it
wouldn’t start to smell. Opening that door Devan found what he was searching
for.

     On
the floor was the wolf. It took up quite a large area of the floor. Whoever had
hauled it in had used a blue tarp to transfer it. There wasn’t a lot of
blood—the animal having bled out at the school—so it really didn’t look all
that macabre. 

     Devan
grabbed some supplies from out of the vet’s cupboards. Putting on some latex
gloves he cut around the area of the chest where he’d impaled the animal with
the ski pole. Devan had aimed for the heart and hadn’t missed. He stored the
tissue sample in a borrowed baggie stuffing it his pocket. He also combed the animal’s
fur for particulates, putting those into another baggie.

    
Opening the jaws of the animal Devan inspected the oral cavity. It looked free
of any kind of disease or infection. There was no bleeding gums or swollen,
cracked tongue. It appeared to be the mouth of a very healthy animal. He moved
onto its eyes and ears and found nothing there indicating signs of sickness. 

    
Stepping back Devan looked at the animal as a whole. There wasn’t any sign of
malnutrition or any other injuries to the wolf besides the hole in the chest.
In its immobile state the irregularities of the animals feature became even
more prominent; the jaws and snout
were
larger as well as the forehead,
and the cranium broader. It brought back disturbing memories of other animals
that didn’t look quite normal making Devan’s heart skip a beat. 

    
Taking the scalpel Devan made a jagged cut into the foot of the animal and
snapped off a small bone. Dropping it into a baggie he added it to the other
two in his pocket.               

     The
crunch of gravel from outside alerted Devan to the possibility of company. He’d
left the door to the cold room open so he would hear if anyone was coming. Stashing
everything back where he found it he closed the door to the cold room silently
hoping whoever it was would pass on by. No such luck, the footsteps were coming
closer. Being a teenager it wouldn’t be difficult to impress on someone that
he’d only just been curious and wanted to see a wolf up close.

     The
door handle clicked and Devan strived to put a shamefaced expression on his
face.

     The
person who opened the door transformed it into sincere surprise.

    
Laney!

CHAPTER NINETEEN

    
“What are you doing here?” Laney glared at Devan. When she
had seen his jeep drive by she had thought for a minute he might actually come
into The Diner. After a few moments had passed and he hadn’t come in she
knocked herself on the head, figuratively of course, for thinking that he would
voluntarily enter an establishment to be surrounded by unknown people. She may
only have known him for a couple of days, but she knew he wasn’t comfortable
around a lot of people. Small groups of people probably made him uncomfortable.

     She’d
made a quick excuse to Hali and Donny and left to go look for him. After
finding his jeep and quite by chance catching the vet clinic sign she’d immediately
realized where he’d gone. The question was why?

     Devan
looked at her in surprise. “I needed a closer examination of the wolf. What are
you doing here?”

     Laney
stepped into building and closed the door. No need to advertise their presence.

     “I
was sitting over at The Diner when I saw your jeep go past, but I said to
myself that I must be mistaken because Devan should be at home resting from the
attack he was in earlier today. Instead, here you are sneaking into the vet’s.”
Laney knew her voice was sounding way too ‘momish’, but she was really upset
that he was running around after almost dying a few hours ago. She didn’t care
what he said about it not being that close of a call. He’d looked next to
deaths door when he’d come down from that roof.

    
Devan’s surprise turned to confusion. “I’m fine, really. My recovery from
injuries is fairly rapid, and something about the wolf was troubling me so I
decided to come and get a look.”

     Laney
rolled her eyes. “Of course there’s something wrong with it; it’s sick or
diseased. No normal, healthy wolf comes into a school ground loaded with people
and then attacks for no reason.”

    
“Probably.”

     Laney
narrowed her eyes at Devan’s short reply. There seemed to be a load of meaning
behind that one word.

     “You
think it’s something else?” She asked curiously.

    
“Possibly,” he answered just as vaguely.

     Laney
growled. “Probably, possibly. What are we playing; the ambiguity game, because
I never learned to play that.”

     Devan
gave her guarded look…at least it looked guarded from what she could tell from
behind those blasted glasses. “I’m not sure; that’s why I came so I could get
some samples.”

    
Samples?
“Samples?” Laney asked, intrigued.

     “I
was retrieving some specimen samples to test for diseases.” Devan looked back
at the cold storage door thoughtfully. “Although, the animal isn’t showing any
visible signs of being sick or diseased that I can see.”

     Laney
frowned. “You don’t think it’s sick?”

     Devan
walked back to the cold storage and opened the door. Laney followed and felt a
little trepidation. The animal was dead, but it had just tried to kill them
this morning. She looked down at the dead wolf, and…
Jesh
, was it huge!

     Devan
knelt down by the animals head and Laney again followed suit. He reached over
and tugged up the wolf’s lips. Laney wasn’t easily frightened but she could
help the shiver at all those sharp, pointy teeth.

     “This
is not the mouth of a sick or diseased animal. There is no bleeding or cracking
of the gums or tongue, there was no foaming of the mouth, and there was no
madness in its eyes when it attacked us in the building. In fact, there was a
calculating gleam to its gaze. I’m not sure why it did what it did, but it
wasn’t because it was sick.”

    
“Maybe it was just one of those ‘fluke’ things, or maybe the sickness hasn’t
manifested itself physically yet.”

    
“Maybe,” he granted.

    
Laney’s breath huffed out in aggravation at his one liner. She was starting to
change her opinion on how cute they were. 

     “But
you don’t think so, do you?” Laney pressed.

     He
sighed. “No.”

     Laney
stood up. “Getting information out of you is like pulling teeth.” She huffed
irritably.

     A
small indent appeared between Devan’s brows and his lip twisted slightly as he
stood up next to her. “Sorry, it’s hard to break the habit of concealing
everything.”

     Laney
immediately became contrite upon seeing his expression and hearing those words.
Devan had been laying low for six years; he wasn’t all of a sudden going to
spill what was going on in his mind with her just because he revealed his
secret to her an hour plus ago.

     “No,
I’m sorry. I need to recognize that it will take awhile for you to trust me and
hopefully feel like you can share with me. I mean, this is only our first day
as collaborators.” 

     Devan
appeared to stare at her appraisingly for a moment. Laney smiled and could only
hope he would see her as a friend soon. He cleared his throat and gestured for
them to leave the cold locker. Shutting the door he turned to face her, rubbing
the back of his neck.

     “I’m
unsure of my facts at the moment. Sickness or disease is a valid hypothesis,
but the wolves’ behavior in the parking lot seemed strategic to me, like they
were searching for something. Their manner was restrained, not out of control.
That they might have set their sights on me is concerning.”

     Her
eyes rounded in alarm. “You think they were hunting you.”

     Devan
gave a small shake of his head. “I don’t have the data to support that
supposition at the moment.”

     “Do
animals make a habit of stalking you?” She asked curious and worried at the
same time. Did other animal’s sense the animal DNA in him?

     He
looked pensive. “The predators I’ve encountered before have kept their
distance, but they have been either singular or part of a small faction. I’ve
never come across such a large group before.”

    
“Animals in a larger group would probably be more territorial.” Laney stated.
At least, it made sense to her.

     Devan
threw a brooding look at the cold room. “I’m all set here; we should leave
before someone comes back.” He shuffled her toward the door.

    
Unfortunately, when they opened the door to step outside it was to see Jarrod
storming down the driveway with Hali hustling after him. Jarrod’s expression
turned angry as he watched them exit the building together. Hali raised her
brows in amused surprise. 

     Jarrod
plowed toward them and Laney placed herself in front of Devan, but Jarrod
didn’t pay any attention to her. His concentration was focused on Devan.

     “Every
time I turn around you’re panting after her like a dog in heat and I’m sick of
it.” Jarrod yelled angrily, continuing to storm forward.

     The
animal comment did not sit well with Laney, and all she could think was that it
might have hurt Devan’s feelings. She couldn’t turn to see though, because
Jarrod wasn’t halting his stride. He was also raising a fisted hand as he barreled
toward them. Laney’s own anger rose and she stepped forward putting her arm out
to physically stop Jarrod herself.

     Suddenly,
she was lifted in the air and spun out of the way as Jarrod’s fist swung toward
her, and the words she had been about to blast Jarrod with came out in a
squeak. Laney was held tight to Devan’s body for just a moment and then she was
deposited next to a huffing Hali. 

     “I
tried to stop him.” Hali gasped out looking at Devan in astonishment.

     Devan
released her and stepped back. She looked up into a face that looked hard the
only sign of emotion a vein bulging and twitching on the side of his neck. “Make
sure she stays out of it.” He ordered Hali before turning to face Jarrod.

     What!
Oh no he didn’t. She wasn’t going to allow them to fight each other while she
stood on the sidelines. Jarrod was being an idiot and Devan was hurt. He
shouldn’t be fighting! Laney went to intercept Devan, or Jarrod, or both of
them; the whole dang fight.

     “Stay
out of their way. If you get in the middle of it, then I have to get in the
middle of it, and that’s just too many people throwing fists. Devan looks like
he can take care of himself anyway.” Hali said, gripping Laney’s wrist firmly. 

     Jarrod
was facing Devan with a malicious smile. “Just you and me,” he sneered.
Clenching his fists he made another run for Devan.

     Laney
tensed, prepared for a collision of bodies and flying of fists, but Devan did
some sidestep maneuver spinning Jarrod with him and then gave him a shove.
Laney could tell Devan was conscious of where Hali and she were standing and
made sure to send Jarrod in the opposite direction. It was a pretty fancy move.
Her tension eased a little at the absence of actual fighting.  

    
Jarrod stumbled forward before righting himself. He turned and his expression
was filled with fury.

     “Jarrod,
you need to stop this right now.” Laney yelled furiously. She tugged at Hali’s
hold but was unable to dislodge her death grip. Hali might be smaller than her
but she was pretty strong, and she wasn’t going to get into a tugging match
with her best friend…at least not until she was actually needed, because it did
look like Devan was handling himself.

     Jarrod
glanced at her briefly his face flushed with anger. Turning his attention back
to Devan he attempted another rush. Devan just sidestepped him again with
another spin movement. Laney was pleased to see that Devan was keeping his
injured side away from any contact.

    
“Whoa, that boy sure has some moves.” Hali whistled next to her.  

    
“Jarrod, I swear if you don’t stop right now I will have my father fire you.”
Laney shouted.

    
Jarrod staggered around from Devan’s last push, panting in his fury and
exertion. “Your dad wouldn’t fire me over some Frankenstein freak he doesn’t even
know,” he snarled.

     “He
would if I told him how you’ve been acting.” Laney retorted, infuriated again
at Jarrod’s comment.

     He
opened his mouth and took step in her direction, but before he could say
anything or even take half a step Devan was between them. This seemed to
infuriate Jarrod even more and he charged forward again. Devan grabbed his arm
effortlessly swinging it behind his back, catching Jarrod’s leg with his foot
Devan swept it out from under him sending Jarrod down to the ground. While the
move had been super fast Laney noted that Devan could have allowed Jarrod to
fall to the ground to earn some serious well deserved bruises but he didn’t;
instead, he took Jarrod down almost gently. Jarrod didn’t seem to care about
that because he began yelling profanities. 

     “The
more you struggle the more it’s going to hurt.” Devan’s tone was calm and he
held Jarrod easily as he struggled.     

    
Hali’s grip on Laney’s arm slackened at either what had transpired or from the
decrease in the threat level. Laney took advantage of the freedom and ran over.

     “Is
that hold hurting him?” Laney asked in concern. Even though Jarrod had
instigated the whole thing she didn’t want him really hurt.

     Devan
looked up. “Only when he struggles.”

     “I’m
going to kick your ass when I get up from here.” Jarrod gasped from the ground.

     “Are
you serious, Jarrod? He took you down easily and would probably just do it
again.” Hali stated, looking at Devan in wonder. Laney watched Devan glance
away self-consciously.

     “He’s
a dead man when…”

    
“Jarrod,” Laney interrupted. “He’s not going to let you up while you’re making
threats toward him.” She remarked sarcastically. 

    
“Someone will be by soon, and when they see him on top of me you’re going to
have explaining to do.” He rejoined.

    
“There are three of us to contradict anything you might have to say.” Laney
countered, but Devan shifted and Laney realized that he didn’t want to be here
if someone came around. He didn’t want that kind of attention.

     Laney
leaned down near Jarrod’s face. “Is that what we have to do, wait for someone
to come by and relieve us of your idiocy, or are you going to calm down so he
can let you go?”

     Jarrod
glowered fiercely, not bothering to answer. Laney frowned, what was up his
butt? This was really extreme behavior for him. She looked at Devan fretfully,
baffled at what to do.

     A
look of resignation crossed Devan’s face as he reached up and gripped a spot
between Jarrod’s neck and shoulder. A couple seconds later Jarrod’s eyes rolled
back in his head and he slumped inertly.

     Laney
gasped in alarm. “What did you do?”  

     Devan
stood up from Jarrod’s seemingly lifeless body. “I pinched a nerve in his neck
causing a significant decrease of blood to flow to his brain which in turn
caused him to pass out.”

     Laney
knelt down and examined Jarrod for a pulse. “He’s going to be okay though,
right?” She asked shakily. It had been creepy watching Jarrod’s eyes roll back.