Shadow Bloodlines (Shadow Bloodlines #1) (17 page)

His stubble tickled and thrilled me at the same time. Slowly, he swept his tongue along the edge of my mouth. I groaned in pleasure. Answering me with a groan, his kiss grew hungrier, urgent.

I pushed aside my unease and focused on the satin caress of Amar’s lips on mine. When his tongue teased at the edge of my mouth, I let out a soft moan and grasped his shoulders to guide him closer to me. He growled in response and sent a shiver of pleasure through me. One of his hands cradled the back of my head and the other slid around my waist. Our kiss deepened, and I yearned for his lips to…

My dad cleared his throat as the cabin door whipped shut. I jumped apart from Amar, breaking our kiss. My lips and face burned from embarrassment and our kiss.

“Ready to go ashore?” Dad’s cheeks reddened as he sidestepped Amar to the anchor on the other side.

Amar turned to help Dad pull up the thick chain. Sunlight glimmered across the turquoise waves as they lapped against the side of the boat. The salt in the air filled my nostrils, and I yearned to stay here forever, cruising the seas and pretending the shadow creatures didn’t exist.

“Have you told her what you know about fox shifters?” my dad asked Amar.

“Not enough.” He scouted back to get more leverage on the anchor’s chain. “She needs more. And training.”

My dad nodded, but said nothing.

“I’m right here; you don’t have to speak in the third person about me.” I strolled closer while they hauled up the anchor. “And don’t you have a machine to do that?”

“I like doing some things with my hands, and I haven’t gotten around to replacing the old engine,” Dad grinned over his shoulder.

“I thought you were a mechanic?” I asked with a hand on my hip

“I can’t fix rust and corrosion.” He shook his head. “The parts I need are on the mainland, and I try not to go there unless I absolutely have to, or after dark.”

Before I could ask why they locked the anchor. My dad let Amar take the wheel, and the smile on Amar’s face was that of a small kid going toy shopping. Dad directed him to a port lined with hundreds of ships.

“I’ll take the wheel when you get close to the dock.” Dad walked to the mast and cranked the rigging, hosting down the sail. “If it’s clear of Blood Spirits, we’ll eat lunch at Wharf’s Bar, I know the owner and I can get a shave next door too. Best if I change my appearance before we leave. Too many people recognize me now with this.” He stroked his beard.

I watched the town draw closer with its mix of hotels, restaurants, museums, and homes in-between the beach and swaying trees. What would be waiting there? Here on the waves, I could pretend I was safe, and nothing evil outside of the norm lurked. Just thinking about getting trapped again by the Spirits of Blood made nausea churn in my stomach.

“How much do you know about foxes?” Amar asked me as he steered the boat.

I moved closer to him so he wouldn’t have to shout over the motor and waves. His arm brushed mine. I wished we hadn’t been interrupted earlier.

“Not much. Do you have a history with them, besides your sister?”

“Foxes are curious and playful when they aren’t being cunning. Long before humans domesticated dogs, I met a man in Jordan who had a fox as a pet. They were even buried together.”

My smile widened as I remembered what he had said about foxes sometimes making temporary dens in uninhabited hawk’s nests. Perhaps that was one reason I felt so at ease with him, maybe we were meant to work together.

Aside from the growl earlier when we were kissing, I had yet to see the manifestation or anything of his wolf totem animal. What if it was severely limited because of his sacrifice to become the gargoyle?

Had he ever heard the tale of
The Wolf and the Fox
by the Brothers Grimm? Even though wolves are larger and fiercer than the fox, the former was still outsmarted by the latter.

Wait. He had never told me what his other shifter was. “What was your other animal? The one you gave up?”

“A badger.”

I’d heard of badgers but didn’t know much about them. Another reason bio should teach about animals rather than just how to cut them up.

“That figures,” Jacqueline said from behind us.

I flinched at her voice.

“Nothing too special about them.” She picked at one of her nails. “I’d have given it up to over a hawk and a wolf.”

“Careful.” Amar straightened his shoulders while keeping his hands on the wheel. “Badgers have been known to force even bears and wolves away if confronted.”

In answer, Jacqui tossed her blonde hair over a shoulder. “Beth, can I speak with you alone?”

With a shrug, I followed her below deck as we passed Dad going up to switch out with Amar. If she was going to tell me to stay away from Amar, I was going to put her in her place. If the situation were reversed, I’d be supportive, not brash.

She closed the door behind us and leaned against it. When I saw her biting her lip, I knew she was nervous. “Sorry about earlier. I-I’m… envious.” She weaved fingers through her hair and shrugged. “Here you have three shifters, all with amazing abilities. The potential to completely transform into at least one of them like the ancients.”

When I opened my mouth to protest and say I only knew of two of them, she held up a hand.

“Let me finish. I’ve always wanted to do what you could do and swim like you were part mermaid. And when Amar paid attention to you more than me, I-I didn’t know how to handle it. I used the excuse of Amar’s and my shifters being enemies to justify my attitude. It was wrong. I was wrong. You’ve always been there for me, the best friend whenever I had a boyfriend or the breakup after. I didn’t know how to do the same for you.” She kept her back to the door as though afraid I’d come after her and she needed a quick escape.

My hands fell to my sides. “You’re jealous of me and Amar?” I didn’t add that we had just kissed when I was alone with him. “He’s already told me he’s a soldier, a guardian and no relationship can exist between us other than that.” Though his kiss told me he didn’t agree with the rules.

“Yeah, right. I see the way he stares at you.” She strolled over to the cabin’s bed and plopped down by a stack of opened letters.

“But you don’t
like
him, do you?” Every girl’s worst nightmare was that their friend had a crush on their boyfriend.
Please don’t say yes.

“No, I’m not attracted to him in the least.”

Relief zipped through me. Yet, I was still miffed at her that we fought over her jealousy. Though, I’d be fighting back my own possessiveness if Amar had shown interest in her.

She picked up one of the pieces of papers off the bed. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t see how gorgeous he is.” Winking, she handed me the letter. “Read this one.”

And she said he stared at me? I hadn’t noticed. Definitely would have to check that out later.

I sat on the bed as the boat’s engine cut out. “It’s time to go eat.”

“Read first.” She pulled on her tennis shoes. “Food can wait for a bit. I’ll meet you on deck.”

I nodded, wondering why she was so serious. Before she closed the cabin door, I scanned the letter.

Dearest Jack,

I miss you so much. Call me when you reach a payphone.

You’d be pleased to know Bethany has developed your octopus abilities while my own fox in her is less noticeable. Though in these trying times, I think both equally serve her better. Last week she caught me on the phone with you and I had to lie and tell her it was a salesman. I hate lying to her, but it’s the only way I know we can keep her safe.

A woman came by the school today. But the principal remembered me protesting a mandatory eye exam when Bethany was in first grade. Thankfully he did because she had forgotten to give me the newsletter showing it. Now here again, in fourth, they returned. But I had thrown such a tantrum last time that the principal had the school nurse call me to ask permission to check her eyes. Panicked, I whisked Bethany away from school that day saying she had a dentist appointment I had forgotten about. Then I got Dr. Zovo to write an excuse and complete a shifter eye exam for me to take to the school.

This Moor woman is persistent and worries me. I think she suspects something or maybe she is one of the Spirits of Blood. Regardless, if anything should come about this, I’ll take Beth and run. You’ll know it’s me because I’ll text and call you from different phone numbers. Payphones, borrowed cell phones, retail shop phones, etc. Then we’ll meet at our cabin, the one by the lake and mountain?

I love you now and always.

Yours eternally,

Terri

Dr. Zovo was a shifter? Cabin? What was she talking about? I read the letter again when the words about different numbers flashed at me. I felt the pocket of my shorts for my cell phone.

It was gone.

I searched the blankets and floor for it. The calls. All those messages and texts from various numbers I had deleted when I thought my mom was dead and that Ms. Moor and her creatures were trying to trick me. Maybe it was my mom!

Where was my damn cell phone?! I snatched the pillows off the bed and checked under the table for my phone. I couldn’t have lost it.

Then I jerked to a halt; I remembered where my cell was. Back in Jacqui’s car… which was on Sunset Key. The same place where the Blood Spirit tar creature had been. Was nothing ever easy?

When I scrambled out of the boat’s cabin, Amar and the others were already on the dock, waiting for me. I raced across the boat as the starboard side rubbed against the wooden planks, holding out Mom’s letter.

“We need to talk about this.” I waved the letter at my dad while he bent down to double-check the boat was securely tied to the dock by tugging on the rope looped around the pole.

“While we eat. I don’t know how much time we’ll have before the Spirits of Blood head this far north on the mainland, let’s hope they’re only on Sunset Key. So let’s grab some food, then a change of clothes for you all.”

My stomach rumbled and I wanted a burger, but I also wanted answers. Ironically, I was already sick of the taste and smell of fish.

Dad took the lead with Jacqui and me side by side, and Amar taking up the rear. Part of me contemplated walking with Amar, but I didn’t want to add to Jacqui’s emotional state. Perhaps I could spend time with her now, then with Amar later.

Balance. Thinking of Amar, I wondered why he hadn’t said anything about our kiss. Not that we’d been alone since then. I stole a glance back at him, but he was looking back and forth between the buildings, cars, and a multitude of bikes lining the road.

Jacqueline leaned closer and whispered, “Hey, you know he’s been checking out your ass.”

“J-Jac—” I stammered. “How do you know?” It was impossible to stay mad at her.

“Chameleon, remember? Not only can I see in two directions at once, but three hundred and sixty degrees as well.”

“Guess that’s why you drive so much better at night than me.”

“Duh.” She gave my arm a squeeze. “And I can see better during the daytime too, including the ultraviolet light. I slipped in grade school saying there were more than seven colors in a rainbow. Didn’t realize humans couldn’t see ultraviolet light with the naked eye.”

Why’d Jacqui have to tell me about Amar checking out my butt? Now my skin tingled and the urge to pull my top down over my ass had me buzzing.

It was strange to hear her talk of humans like this. Like they were another species… I guess they were. If someone had told me I wasn’t human before all of this, I would have laughed at them. But now… now I wondered just how many different species were among us. I had done a research paper on vampires and knew ancient Greek and Roman papers proclaimed mythical creatures like the Empusae, Lamia, and Striges who feasted on blood. Some were thought of spirits or ghouls like the Vetalas of India. How many of those folktales and myths might be true, since shapeshifters were?

We passed a Saloon with a fake fish gaping over the sign.

“How far to Wharf’s Bar?” I was famished. Bikes lined the street in a colorful parade.

“Just a few more blocks.”

The early afternoon sun warmed my skin as we zigzagged through the city. I smiled back at Amar. His eyes scanned the street, but he relaxed when he saw me. My stomach fluttered.

“Here we are.” My dad gestured us into a small shop that I guessed was a restaurant and a bar. Or more a bar than an eating place. The bar stretched along all the walls except the entrance and exit. A dance floor stood in the middle with a few tables and dozen wooden chairs thrown about.

We took a table next to the bar and I noticed a few girls in bikinis and short shorts were eyeballing Amar like he was dipped in chocolate. In the opposite corner were two surfer dudes with a bright yellow board between them.

“I’m Max.” A man dressed in what looked like fishing gear complete with muddy boots that stopped on his thighs leaned against our table. “What would y’all like to eat?”

“Got a menu?” Jacqui scrunched up her nose as she glanced down at his boots.

“Whatever I caught this morning tuna, mangrove snapper, and some grouper. Or you tell me what you want and I’ll make it.”

“Cheeseburger?” I asked.

He nodded.

“I’ll take the same.” Amar scooted back as if testing to see if how far before he hit the back of the chair. Guess he was still adjusting to his wings not being in the way.

My dad and Jacqueline ordered the grilled steak salad.

After Max yelled our orders into the kitchen, he came back and flipped an empty chair around and sat with his hands propped up on the back.

“So. Long time, Jonathan.”

“This is my daughter and her friends.” My dad gestured to us. “Thought I’d take them on a tour of the mainland. Not too much on Sunset Key to show them.”

Max whistled. “Good thing you weren’t there last night. Some type of oil spill came through Sunset and tore up everything. My cousin called me this morning from his cell to let me know the power is out and tons of police and firefighters are there surveying and cleaning up the muck.”

Ms. Moor. She was here, swimming distance away, and closer than I wanted to be. Panic swelled up inside my chest. I had nearly been captured by her or her creatures twice. Both times Amar had saved me.

My leg brushed his under the table and he captured my foot between his calves until I glanced up at him. He gave me a smile and I returned it, but still my hands shook.

“Still got your barber shop in the back?” Dad asked.

I looked behind us and saw nothing but the bar, kitchen, and a blinking exit sign. I didn’t even see restrooms.

“Sure do.” Max patted his bare chin. “Have to or I’ll have a beard like yours in a week and Leslie wouldn’t let me get within an arm’s length of her. Come on back after you’ve finished eating and we’ll make you more presentable.” He rose and ambled into the kitchen.

After we ate, which was the best burger I’d had ever had, I pulled out Mom’s letter and handed it to my dad.

“I think there’s a chance that Mom’s still alive.”

“W-what?” His eyes widened. “Wait. You told me she died. Weren’t you there?” He ran a hand down his greying beard. “Didn’t you see her when you and she were attacked?”

“Uh, no.” My gut wrenched. I had assumed at the time from everything I knew, or thought I knew, that mom was human and had been replaced. Now I wasn’t sure about anything.

“I went to Jacqui’s first and we were attacked there. Then I called Mom, but she was all weird and acted like she didn’t know you two were broken up.”

“But you don’t know.” He shook the letter. “Maybe she gave them what they wanted and slipped away once she knew you were safe. Damn, I tossed my cell overboard when you told me she was dead, so they couldn’t use my phone to track us. And your mom might have tried to call me.”

My heart fell to my stomach. I didn’t know. “Well, part of this is your fault – and hers. I had no idea when all this happened to me that Mom wasn’t human. How would a human have survived Ms. Moor and her creeps?” I rose and noticed the bikini girls gawking our way.

“Maybe if you and Mom had stayed together and not kept secrets, then I would know what the hell was going on. Then maybe I would have answered the dozens of text and voice messages someone, I don’t know who, maybe Mom, has left on my phone since the incident.”

Red spots colored his cheeks. “Let me see your phone.”

“It’s in Jacqui’s car on Sunset Key.”

“Why did you leave it there?” His voice was a whisper, but I cringed as if he had shouted.

“The battery was dead and I didn’t bring a charger.” I crossed my arms. “How was I to know we’d end up here, and a living vampiric tar called Spirits of Blood would cover the island? Can’t we just go to this place she mentioned and look for her?”

My dad ran a hand over his face as if trying to control his temper. Jacqui picked at a grain of rice on her plate and Amar looked around as though memorizing the place.

“There is no such place.”

“But—”

He held up a hand. “Your mom wrote in code. Just in case someone found this. She wanted to send them on a false trail. We need your cell phone since mine is at the bottom of the ocean.”

“How will that help unless she answers us back?” I kept my arms crossed but rested them on the table, guilt eating me up that I hadn’t trusted my dad enough to tell him everything from the beginning. “If it is her, then she’d call and text from different numbers. She wouldn’t keep a phone on her.”

“The numbers are part of the key. A pattern. I just need them to figure it out.”

I bit my lip. “Um… I kind of deleted most of them.”

His face reddened and his eyes grew narrow and hard. “You what!?” He didn’t hold back his yell this time. “She could be injured or trapped.” His hand raked his hair and appeared to tremble slightly. “How will we find her now? Maybe she was right not to tell you about your powers… you obviously have no instinct whatsoever.”

His words stung me and I stood. “And neither of you gave me a chance either!” I stormed out and didn’t stop even when I heard Jacqui and Amar shouting my name.

Tears clouded my vision, but I brushed them away with my hand. I had been so elated when I’d read Mom’s letter. That there was a chance she was alive.

I had been stupid. But it wasn’t my fault! If they had told me all of this, I would have known what to watch for. Been prepared.

As I dashed through the streets, I kicked aside a pebble. Even though I didn’t know where I was going, I had to keep moving. If I stood still I felt as though I would burst out of my skin.

The sun blared overhead and I felt my skin prickle in the heat. Soon I’d have to retrace my steps before I was sunburned and angry. A shadow drifted across the concrete in front of me, and I jumped. I shielded my eyes to see what it was. Had Amar shifted back into his winged form and come after me? I thought it was too soon for him to be able to do that.

Hearing a flock of crows crooned as they went by, I let out a sigh. I decided to go to the end of the block before turning around. There was the saloon with the fake fish over it. So I had been headed back to the pier. Maybe I’d detour to the ocean for a few minutes before heading back to Wharf’s bar. My dad needed a shave and I was sure Amar and Jacqui had gone back as well by now.

Behind me, I heard a scraping sound that caused a chill to zig down my spine. I didn’t stop. Every horror movie I’d ever seen had someone stopping to investigate some weird sound, right before they got killed.

Not me.

I quickened my pace and turned beside a coffee shop filled with customers. But they were lined out the door and I couldn’t get inside. Panic made me dash to the next street and now I was glancing behind me as I ran. The scratching sound growing louder and closer, but I saw nothing.

A dead end. The back of a five-story building rose from the end of the alley. A dumpster buzzing with flies jutted out from a shoe store’s brick façade. The coffee store’s brick wall of varied red, tan, and black brick stood on the opposite side.

I danced backward and spun to run out of the street, when from between the coffee shop and alley, I spotted oozing coming out from a crack between the concrete wall and the brick of a store. My heart slammed against my ribcage. Was it the Spirits of Blood?

But as the light the oozing substance, it revealed green sludge rather than the black pitch.

Laughter drew my gaze to the coffee house and a guy and girl kissed as if not seeing me, or the glob of green jelly pooling a few feet from them.

I didn’t know what this thing was, but my instinct was screaming at me to run. “Get out of here!” I dashed by the couple and, when they ignored me, I skidded to a stop. Grabbing the girl’s arm, I pulled.

“Hey, watch it!”

“Run!” I yelled and yanked harder, but her boyfriend shoved me away. “Look behind you—something’s coming out of the wall.”

He laughed and I scrambled up, seeing a shadow of a man materialize behind him. The teen’s laugh stopped at the same time as his girlfriend’s screams started. The shadow slammed the man’s body into the far wall, where his head hit first. Blood ran from his skull in a thick pool.

Then the shadow moved into the sunlight, and I saw it was a man with a greenish tint to his skin. He grabbed the screaming woman and twisted her neck. Shit! He killed her! Without blinking an eye or with even a trace of remorse in his expression, only disgust. My heart raced and my whole body shook.

He hadn’t materialized out of smoke like the guys with Ms. Moor in Jacqueline’s house. And all the green goo I’d seen earlier was gone. His skin morphed into a closer color to human and he wore brown pants and a green shirt the color of the slime.

I didn’t know what or who he was, but he had just killed two people, so whatever he was it was evil.

“Run if you want, but I’m faster.” His voice sounded gritty.

I raised my chin despite my knees quivering. “What are you?”

“A shifter, like you.”

At first, I relaxed some, but then I remembered what my dad had said on the boat about shifters being evil if they chose. Maybe I could stall him long enough to get away or help. Amar should sense my terror or something about now.

“Why are you after me?”

“I’m a shifter-hunter. Paid to the highest bidder to bring back dead or alive.” He cocked his head. “Guess you could say a kind of bounty hunter but it makes no difference to me whether the pay is for a dead body or not.”