Second Nature (36 page)

When she walked farther into the casino, the whir of the roulette wheel and the clacking of the ball as it lost momentum mingled with the sound of dice hitting the wall of a table. Dealers called out winning numbers. Sometimes, curses or shouts of joy rose over the constant din of conversation. Glasses clinked, and the smell of alcohol and cigarette smoke burned Griffin's nose. Her eyes stung. The overwhelming scents of excitement and despair from all the human players made her dizzy.

Knowing that her every step was watched by security guards and video cameras didn't help her to relax either.

After searching for Jorie in three casinos, Griffin's patience was running thin. She had thought that a casino was the perfect hiding place for Jorie because no Wrasa would ever voluntarily set foot in one. So far, however, there was no sign of Jorie. Maybe her hunch had been wrong.

The itching of her skin lessened as she made her way over to the poker room, where it was quieter. Only the clacking of chips and the scraping of cards against the green felt table was heard here.

Griffin's gaze slid over the players at the three tables.

Nothing. Jorie wasn't here.

She was running out of time. If she didn't find Jorie soon, the Saru would catch her before she did.

Griffin turned and shouldered her way through the crowd, using her height and bulk to clear her path. As she passed a table where a game of dice was played, she caught a whiff of coconut. She stopped and looked around, letting her gaze slide over each and every one of the humans around the table.

Jorie wasn't among them.

Come on. Get out of here. It's probably just someone's piña colada you smelled.
The myriad of different scents and sounds hitting her from all directions were confusing her senses.

Someone stumbled into her from behind, not prepared for Griffin's sudden stop.

Growling with irritation, Griffin whirled around. Her firm grip on a slender arm prevented the human from tumbling to the ground.

A familiar scent hit Griffin. This time, it couldn't be explained away with someone's cocktail. There was no mistaking the scent that clung to the woman.

Jorie!
Why did the stranger smell like Jorie?

Griffin sucked in the scent while her eyes took in every detail about the woman. Aside from her height, she seemed average in every way — nondescript, chin-length brown hair and a nice, though not spectacular build — until she looked up. Even with her catlike color vision, Griffin was startled by the intense blue of the woman's eyes. Humans probably found the gaze unsettling, but Griffin just suppressed a grin when she felt that gaze rake over her body.

Is she checking me out?

"Sorry," the woman said, indicating their bodies, which had collided moments before. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

Had she stumbled into Jorie too? Was that why Jorie's scent clung to her? Or had Jorie hugged her? Were they friends — or possibly more? "No harm done," Griffin said with her most friendly smile.

The stranger gave her a polite nod and continued on her way.

Griffin followed her through the casino, using slot machines, pillars, and other visitors as a cover. Even with her height, she could make herself all but invisible if she wanted to.

Her heartbeat picked up when the woman stopped one of the security guards. She gesticulated animatedly, explaining something, but even with her superior hearing, Griffin couldn't understand her words over the din of the casino.

The security guard raised his arm, waving to another man in the uniform of the casino.

What is she doing? Is she telling them about me? Has Jorie warned her?
Griffin's muscles tightened and flexed, readying herself for a fight — or a quick getaway.

But the humans weren't interested in her. The security guard returned to his work while the other man left the casino with the woman.

Griffin followed at a discreet distance.

Instead of heading to one of the cars that were parked in front of the building, the woman rounded the corner.

"It's not far," Griffin heard the woman say, now that they had left the noise in the casino behind. "Just follow me, and then I'll drive you back here." She handed the guard something and pointed to one of the cars behind the building.

Jorie's car. But where's Jorie?

The man got in and waited for the woman to start her own car. Slowly, the two cars drove off together.

Griffin sprinted to her own car and jumped in.

By the time she reached the parking lot's entrance, the two cars were gone.

Her gaze darted left and right.
Come on; come on! Where are you?

There!

She caught a flash of a car's taillights before they disappeared around the corner.

Her foot pressed down on the accelerator. The excitement of the hunt pulsed through every cell of her body. Soon, the lights of Jorie's car came into view again.

When the two cars stopped in front of a small house, Griffin continued driving. She watched in the rearview mirror as the casino employee got out of Jorie's car and opened the passenger side door of the waiting car.

The woman's car made a U-turn and drove off.

For a few seconds, Griffin's hunting instincts urged her to follow, but then her rational mind prevailed. She put her car in reverse and stopped in front of Jorie's small blue car. Getting out, she sucked in the air.

Jorie's scent was fading. She hadn't used her car for a few hours.

One quick glance through the car's window revealed no clues about Jorie's whereabouts. When she straightened, a flash of white caught her eye.

A sheet of paper was lying on the floor in front of the passenger seat. Was it Jorie's, or had the security guard lost it? Griffin bent close to the window and squinted to make out the printed words on the paper. With some effort, she could decipher the names of several towns and cities.

Is that... a bus schedule?
Griffin shook her head in reluctant admiration.
Great Hunter, she's one clever human.
Using public transportation would ensure Jorie was constantly among other humans, where no one could kill her without a lot of witnesses. Her scent would mingle with those of the people around her, making her harder to find.

Griffin scanned the list again until her gaze stopped on the name of the largest city: Detroit. She was almost sure that it was Jorie's destination. It provided the most protection and had a lot of casinos where Jorie could make more money to get even farther away. Also, if she read the schedule correctly, it would take about fifteen hours, with four transfers from one bus to the other, to reach Detroit. Time enough for Jorie to calm down and think about what to do next.

If only I had the same time to think about what to do.
So far, Griffin hadn't thought any further than finding Jorie. She had avoided thinking about what she'd do once she found her. Maybe she could convince her fellow saru to let Jorie live for a while longer until they got some answers, but before too long, Jennings would insist on killing her. If she wanted to save Jorie's life, she would have to go against the First Law, the Saru's principles, and everything she had been taught was right. She'd have to fight her own people. Was she really willing to risk everything, even her life, to save one single human?

Another car rumbled down the street. Was the woman back so soon?

Biting back a curse, Griffin ducked behind Jorie's car.

The car drove by, and Griffin could make out two faces — two familiar faces.

Saru!

They were already closing in on her and Jorie, combing the streets of every town in the area. Very likely, they had already set up posts along the major routes and gas stations. The first rays of the rising sun were already coloring the horizon. Time was running out. She needed to find Jorie — and find her fast.

Her chances at finding Jorie on her own were almost nonexistent, though. Detroit was a big city, and she had no idea where to start looking — but she knew someone who might know. Asking for help from one of her fathers' men wasn't something she would normally do, because her fathers would know about it within mere hours. She had no choice, though. If it could save Jorie's life, she would swallow her pride. Her lips formed a grim line as she reached for her cell phone.

CHAPTER 17

L
EIGH LEANED OVER and absentmindedly picked the egg white that she knew Ronnie didn't like from her plate. In exchange, she nudged a little of her bacon over onto Ronnie's plate while she listened to her fathers discussing next month's border patrol rotation.

Steps on the porch interrupted them.

"I'll get it," Ronnie said and swallowed her last bite of bacon. "I should head out anyway."

"Wait." Leigh grabbed her arm. Her nose told her that the man at the front door was not one of their Kasari. Nervous agitation was flowing off him in waves so strong that Leigh wondered how he kept from shifting into animal form. "Let me."

Ronnie's gentle, but determined fingers removed Leigh's hand from her arm. "I'm not the little girl you need to protect anymore, Leigh," she said. "I'm quite capable of opening the door on my own."

The unexpected rebuff made Leigh blink in surprise.
I didn't say she wasn't capable of opening the door, did I?
Leigh grumbled to herself.

Gus patted her on the back. He didn't say anything, but the amused grin on his face spoke volumes.

When the door opened and the scent of the agitated Wrasa got stronger, Leigh couldn't stop herself from following Ronnie into the hall.

The Ashawe in the doorway respectfully lowered his gaze when he saw Leigh step next to Ronnie. "I'm sorry to interrupt so early in the day, but my commander sent me."

His explanation wasn't necessary to tell Leigh he was a saru. No one but a saru was allowed to enter another Wrasa's territory and just appear on his doorstep without asking for permission first. Even saru were supposed to announce themselves politely... except for emergencies.

"Come in," Brian said from the living room.

The coyote-shifter entered and stepped in front of the nataks. He chose to stand closer to Gus than to Brian, probably feeling more relaxed around the quiet, laid-back Gus than around the more dominant Brian.

Leigh grinned. It was a classic mistake. With his charm and friendliness, Gus could wheedle information out of people that even Brian's harsh orders couldn't crack.

"My commander sent me," the Ashawe repeated. "We have an emergency, and we're calling up every saru in the area and all of the reserves. Volunteers are welcome to help too."

"I've always been willing to help out the Saru," Brian said. That was one of the first things he had taught Leigh. Helping out the Saru and the council paid off when you wanted to rule your pride without their interruption. "What's going on?"

The Ashawe shuffled his feet, unable to meet Brian's gaze. He glanced at Gus instead, who just looked back at him with a neutral expression.

"What's going on?" Brian asked. He didn't raise his voice. He didn't need to. His commanding tone and the glint in his eyes worked well enough to intimidate the Ashawe.

"A human target escaped from one of our hunters... after seeing her shift," the Ashawe said.

Leigh frowned. There was only one active investigation in the area.

"That hunter wouldn't by any chance be Saru Westmore?" Brian asked, coming to the same conclusion.

"Y-yes," the Ashawe said. He looked as if he was afraid they might kill the messenger.

Impossible. Griffin wouldn't make that kind of mistake,
the part of Leigh that had admired her older sister as a child piped up. Then her older, more disillusioned self was back. "Great Hunter! How did she manage to fuck this up so bad?"

Ronnie's elbow hit her in the ribs. "We don't know what happened yet."

"What happened?" Brian asked. He paced back and forth in front of the Ashawe like a caged lion, but Gus's restraining hand on his arm stopped him.

"Saru Westmore was supposed to kill the human tonight, but the human woke and attacked her instead, causing Saru Westmore to shift. The human got away in the middle of all this confusion," the Ashawe said. Leigh was sure that he wasn't supposed to blurt out the details of Griffin's mission, but more experienced men had buckled under the weight of Brian's commanding gaze.

"Is Griffin... Saru Westmore okay?" Ronnie asked.

Shame flushed Leigh's cheeks, and she ducked her head. She hadn't even thought to ask how Griffin was.

"As far as I know, she's all right," the Ashawe answered, "but the human is on the run, and if we don't find her..."

The silent threat hung in the air. If the human got away, Griffin's career — and maybe even her life — was forfeit.

Brian and Gus exchanged a quick glance. "We'll send our people to search for the human," Brian promised.

"And... and for Saru Westmore," the Ashawe said, ducking a little. "She headed out on her own, without backup, and she hasn't called in."

"What?" Brian let out a protective growl. "What are you implying?"

Leigh was torn between wanting to take a stance next to him and Gus, snarling at the Ashawe, and wanting to tell her fathers to finally write Griffin off and let her fend for herself. Griffin wouldn't want their help, but Leigh knew her fathers would offer it anyway. No matter what Griffin did, how often she disappointed and rejected them, they continued to hope she would one day return to live with the pride. Leigh wondered what would happen if Griffin ever did. Would Griffin take her place even though Leigh was the one who had put the pride first her whole life?

"I'm not implying anything," the Ashawe said. He straightened. "Yet. We don't know what's going on. So far, we're only searching for her because we think she might be hot on the human's trail and might need a little help."

Oh, right. Sure.
Leigh didn't believe it for a second. A trained saru who could turn into a 400-pound cat didn't need any help hunting down a single human.