Shift (The Neturu Chronicles) (38 page)

               
“I promise, that’s the next thing we will teach you,” Damien states, kissing
the top of her head.  “Let’s get back.  I don’t need you shifting in
the car on the way home.”

               
“I thought coming to Shima was supposed to help.”

               
Smiling, Damien replies, “Yes, but it is still a really expensive car and I
prefer not to have a dog in it.”  Kayla pinches his side and Damien
gasps.  “All right, all right, no more dog jokes!”

               
“Yeah, well, I’m allergic to cats, especially orange ones.”

               
“You can’t be allergic to anything, so you’re lying.  Come on, let’s go.”

               
With a giggle, Kayla closes her eyes.  When she opens them, they are
sitting in Damien’s car.  “What’s the plan?” Kayla asks.

               
“Your car will be delivered the day after tomorrow.  Not that you can
drive it anytime soon, but at least you’ll have it.”

               
“I still don’t think I should let you buy me a car.  That guy made it
sound like you will do anything to get me to marry you.  Is that what this
is about?  Are you buying me a car to win me over?”

               
He shakes his head.  “No, but that’s not a bad idea.”  Kayla glares
at him.  Damien laughs. “I’m kidding.  No, my family has a lot of
money.  My dad was okay with it, and I really thought you needed to have a
car.  Plus, I won’t lie, I have a thing for buying cars, and this was the
best excuse to research and haggle about a badass vehicle.  It made my
week.”

               
Kayla laughs.  “You know I told Jackson that it didn’t impress me when
boys spend money, and it really doesn’t, but you buying me a car kind of wins
you some points.”

               
“Awesome,” Damien chirps with a grin.  “That’s not why I did it though, just
so you know.”

               
Kayla leans over and puts her hand on the side of his face.  “Thank you,”
she whispers.  Leaning in, she gently kisses him.  They sit there
tenderly embracing each other until she feels Damien moving his seat
back.  Giggling, she asks, “What are you doing?”

               
“This,” he retorts, grabbing her.  Damien lifts her up and pulls her over
sideways on top of his lap.  She wraps her arms around him.  “See,
much better,” he murmurs, bringing her down to kiss him again. 

               
Kayla finally pulls away and breathes out, “We should go. We’e going to be home
late, and aren’t you worried about me shifting?”

               
“We can pull off on the side of the road,” Damien whispers, pulling her back
down.

               
Laughing, Kayla pushes him back. “Stop, we probably have an audience in the car
dealership.”

               
“Whatever, free
show.
” Damien chuckles.  “All
right, let’s go.”

               
It takes some maneuvering but Kayla gets off of him.  She honks the horn
in the process, which sends them both reeling in hysterical laughter. 
They talk all the way home.  Damien makes her laugh a lot, and Kayla
watches him carefully. 

               
As they get closer to Jackson’s house, Kayla’s phone rings.  She picks it
up and answers it. “Hello?”

               
“Kayla, where are you, honey?” her mom asks.

               
“Oh, I’m with Damien.  Are you home?”

               
Her mom sighs. “Yes, where are
you?”                      

               
“We’re almost back in town.  We’ll come right home.”

               
“No, go to Jackson’s.  You’re supposed to be there.”

               
Kayla frowns. “What?  I can’t even be at home with you?”

               
“No, the council wants you with Damien and Jackson’s family.”

               
“I’m with Damien.  Jackson’s in school, so I can’t really be with him.”

               
“Where did you go with Damien?  You shouldn’t be out and about.  When
you first start shifting, it sends your body into a tailspin.”

               
Rolling her eyes, Kayla snorts. “Yeah, I know, Jackson and Damien have been
extra helpful with information, since you never taught me anything about
shifting and what to expect.”

               
“I’m sorry, sweetie.  We thought we were doing the right thing.”

               
Kayla stews in silence until she can’t take it anymore.  “Well, now I get
to take a crash course on how to be a shapeshifter!”

               
“We’ll talk about it when you get here, okay?  How far away are you?”

               
“Like fifteen minutes, we wanted to get back before anyone knew we were gone.”

               
“Where did you go?”

               
A smirk passes over Kayla’s face.  “We went to a dealership and bought me
a car.  A Tesla to be exact.”

               
“Excuse me?”

               
“Yup, Damien’s dad bought me a car, kind of a welcome to our society gift.”

               
Her mom is quiet for a long time before speaking.  “I wouldn’t dare say
anything about what he decides to do, but do you really think you should accept
it?”

               
“You won’t buy me a car, so yes, I will accept his gift.  Is it a little
excessive and expensive, yes, but I need a car.”

               
“Okay, Kayla, just come back here.  We’ll meet you at Jackson’s.”

               
“See you there,” Kayla snaps, ending the call.  “I missed my parents, but
now that they’re back, I want to scream!”

               
Damien reaches over and takes her hand.  “Yelling won’t get you
anywhere.  Just talk to them.  They are your parents and they love
you.”

               
“Yeah,” Kayla grumbles as she stares out the window.  The rest of the car
ride is spent in silence.  When they get to Jackson’s, Kayla crosses her
arms and glares.  “I don’t want to go in there.”

               
“We can bypass them and go to my room or your room.  Technically, it’s
like you’re emancipated and under my care now, so really, you don’t have to
listen to them,” Damien tells Kayla with raised eyebrows.

               
She laughs. “They are my parents, no matter what.  Ignoring them would
never
fly.  Come on, let’s go in.”  She gets out of the car and
exhales.  Damien comes around the front of the car and takes her
hand.  He squeezes it, and they walk to the house. “Hello?” Kayla calls
when they get inside.

               
Her mom comes out of the kitchen and sweeps her into a hug.  “Oh, honey,
we were so worried.”

               
The relief of having her mom finally home and the frustration from her parents’
secrecy makes Kayla cry. “How could you do this?  How could you hide who
we really are?”

               
“Kayla,” her dad says, coming up behind her mom.  “We thought you might be
happier just being human.”

               
“Why?  It’s not who I am.  We’re alien shapeshifters.  No matter
what you do, you can’t change that!”

               
Her dad hangs his head.  “We know that now.  Can we just try to get
past this?  We want to help you.”

               
“Damien and Jackson have been doing a fine job of helping me.  They don’t
hide things.”

               
“That’s good,” her mom sighs.  “What kind of progress have you made?”

               
Rolling her eyes, Kayla says, “I can turn into a dog and run, shift on the fly,
meditate, and go to Shima.  And some crazy dude came to me while I was there
last time.”

               
“What?” Kayla’s father snaps, looking at Damien.  “What is she talking
about?”

               
Damien crosses his arms.  “Someone went to Shima and talked to her, tried
to pin her against my family and me.  I can’t figure out who it could be.”

               
“Did he give a name?” Kayla’s dad asks.

               
“Yeah, do you know who William Caster is?” Damien asks.

               
Kayla’s dad nods.  “Yes, of course, my father worked with him for a short
while, brilliant man.  Why?”

               
“That’s what the guy said his name was, but he was only around
twenty-one.  The Caster family has no male heirs.  I don’t get it,”
Damien murmurs with a perplexed expression.

               
Furrowing his eyebrows, Kayla’s dad replies, “I have no idea.  That’s
really weird.  William Caster only had a son.”

               
“Yeah, Gregory,” Damien says in return.  “He’s the head of the family
now.  He has three daughters; none of them are blonde, which this guy was,
blond hair, and blue eyes.”

               
“He made me nervous,” Kayla whispers, shuffling her feet.

               
Damien put his hand on her shoulder. “You won’t go there alone until you can
block people out.”  Kayla nods.  Damien looks at her father.  “The
whole situation bothers me.  I haven’t lied or hidden anything from Kayla,
so I don’t know what his motives are.”

               
Her father shrugs. “I have no idea.  We just need to be mindful of what
she’s doing.”

               
“I’ll do that from now on.” Damien sighs.  “We need to get her some more
Kiej.  There are some brownies in the kitchen.  Come on.”  He
takes Kayla’s hand and leads her there.

               
“What are your plans for her training, Master Damien,” her father asks.

               
Kayla turns around. “Master what?”

               
“You don’t need to talk to me so formally,” Damien declares.  “Damien is
fine.”

               
“Fine, Damien,” her father corrects himself.

               
“She needs to control her shifting before she can go back to school. 
Kayla’s learning fast, so I don’t think that will take long.  Also,
Jackson will be with her there; he’ll be able to help.”

               
Kayla grins. “Shifting is so much fun!  Can you turn into everything dad?”

               
He shakes his head.  “No, I can do a lot, but not everything.  That
is why you are so special.  Since you’re a girl, you will pass that down
to your children and then your daughters will transfer it down, and so on and
so forth.”

               
Damien hands Kayla the brownies.  She takes one and eats it.  With
her mouth half full, she asks her mom, “What about you?”

               
“I am very limited,” her mother replies with a smirk.  “There are three
forms I prefer, and I usually don’t shift into anything else.”

               
“What are those?” Kayla murmurs in between bites.

               
“Panther, deer, and bear,” her mom answers.

               
Half choking on her food, Kayla says, “Two predators and…a deer.”

               
“It’s fun to just frolic through the woods,” her mom retorts somewhat
defensively.

               
Kayla looks at Damien.  He has the biggest smile on his face.  
“Don’t make fun of her.  I’ve been a deer before and a moose and an elk.”

               
“Okay,” Kayla says, swallowing.  “Can anyone turn into birds?”

               
“Jackson and I do,” Damien replies.

               
A wicked grin creeps across Kayla’s face. “I want to do that.”

               
“Way, way, way in the future.  You are nowhere near close to that. 
You have to pick a pretty big bird.  Small birds get hit by stuff.”

               
Thinking for a minute, Kayla says, “So you really don’t want to turn into a
rabbit because you could get eaten?”

               
“Yeah,” her father replies.  “Bad idea, unless you need to get into
someplace small.”

               
“Duly noted,” Kayla says.  “Want a brownie?  They’re delicious.”

               
Her parents hold up their hands.  “We’ll pass,” her dad says.

               
With a shrug, Kayla eats another one.  “I haven’t asked yet, but what do
you call us?”

               
“What do you mean?  Like our race?”  Kayla nods.  “Neturu,” her
father answers.  “Our planet was Jiub.”

               
“Wow. I will never be able to pronounce that.  You would think since I was
part of an alien race, I would be able to understand other languages, but
no.  Where is our planet?”

               
“Far, far away. I would have to blow up a map to show you the star.”

               
Looking at her dad, Kayla says, “We came here on ships?”

               
“Mmhmm.”

               
“Where are those ships?” Kayla asks.  “They have to be huge.”

               
Damien interjects, “They’re hidden for obvious reasons.”

               
“So humans don’t know about us?”