Shift (The Neturu Chronicles) (62 page)

               
Damien responds, “Wow, I miss you too.  I’ll see you tonight.  Are
you okay?  What happened?”

               
“Nothing. Woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”

               
“Isn’t it the wrong side of the tent?”

               
Kayla laughs lightly.  “I just want to be near you.  I want out of
this car.”  She hears Jackson exhale loudly but ignores him.

               
“What did Jackson do now?”

               
“Nothing,” Kayla answers.  “We just lock horns sometimes.”

               
“Do I need to punch him?”

               
“No, I’ll do that if need be.”

               
“Okay, well, two guards should meet up with you within the hour.  They
have Jackson’s number.  I don’t want you to answer your phone for any
number that you don’t know.”

               
“Sounds like a plan.  What are their names?”

               
“Cane and Toby,” Damien replies.

               
Laughing, Kayla says, “They don’t sound like tough guys.”

               
“Toby is the one you need to be scared of,” Damien states.  “Trust me.”

               
“Are they going to be mean to me?  Am I going to be uncomfortable around
them?”

               
“No,” Damien replies.  “They are actually both really nice guys. 
Cane has a great sense of humor.”

               
Kayla smiles. “That’s good.  I need to be put in a better mood.”

               
“I’ll do everything I can to make you happy.  We’re going to be in
Vegas.  There’s plenty to do.”

               
“Is there a shifters club?”

               
Damien answers, “Yeah, of course,
it’s
Vegas. 
How do you know about those?”

               
“Jackson brought it up.  I want to go to one.”

               
“Tonight?” Damien inquires.

               
“Sure, we’re going to be there in like five hours.”

               
Damien says, “They won’t open until much later, but there’s plenty for us to do
until then.  I’ll be there around the same time you are, probably a little
sooner.”

               
“That sounds good.” Kayla sighs.  “I’m done with driving.”

               
“Hang up the phone,” Jackson instructs.

               
“Excuse me?”

               
He grabs the phone and ends the call.  “We need to stop doing this.”

               
“You just hung up on Damien!  What is wrong with you?” Kayla exclaims.

               
Jackson looks at her.  “Kayla, I care.  Okay?  I do, a lot, but
if we decided to be together—”

               
“Jackson,” Kayla spits out.  “I said I was done talking about this and I
am.  If there was a window, you lost it.”

               
Jackson hesitates for a moment.  “I want to be your friend, that’s what
I’m worried about right now,” he pleads.  “I don’t want you mad at me.”

               
“Hanging up on Damien is not going to help that,” Kayla shouts.  “I’m
angry and that isn’t going to change anytime soon.”

               
“What do I have to do to make you not mad?”

               
Kayla throws up her hands. “I don’t know!”

               
“Think of something, what can I do right now to put a smile on your face?”

               
“Let me drive,” Kayla orders. “And don’t tell Damien if I get pulled over.”

               
Laughing, Jackson says, “You want me to let you race your car down the
highway?”

               
“Yes,” Kayla says, quickly sitting up and turning toward him.

               
“Fine,” Jackson replies, pulling over on the side of the highway.  “Get
out and switch seats.”

               
Kayla jumps out of the car and sprints to the driver’s side.  When they
get back in, Kayla’s phone rings.  Picking it up, Kayla says, “Sorry,
Jackson was being a pain in the ass.”

               
“When some strange guy is stalking you, please do not abruptly hang up the
phone.  It scares me,” Damien says.  “Now, what’s going on with you
two?”

               
“Nothing, we’re fine.”

               
“You sound like you’re in a much better mood.”

               
Looking over her shoulder, Kayla pulls out onto the highway.  “Much
better.”

               
“Did Jackson apologize?”

               
“Sort of. So these guys are going to call us when they get close?”

               
“Yeah.”

               
“Get off the phone if you’re going to drive,” Jackson whispers.

               
“Hey, I’m going to eat something.  Can I call you back in a bit?”

               
“Sure,” Damien replies.  “I’m just driving.”

               
“You shouldn’t be driving and talking on the phone,” Kayla scolds him.

               
“Neither should you,” Jackson hisses quietly.

               
“It’s called Bluetooth, dear.  I’ll get you one, but for right now I’ll
let you go.  Stay out of trouble, and when the guard meets up with you,
play nice.”

               
With a smirk, Kayla replies, “What’s the fun in that?”

               
“Oh, boy,” Damien says with a chuckle.  “Go eat.  I’ll talk to you in
a little bit.”

               
“Okay, bye,” Kayla says too quickly and hangs up.  She grips the steering
wheel and smiles.  “Ready?”

               
“Our parents are going to be really upset if you kill us,” Jackson
states.  “Just so you know.”

               
That doesn’t stop Kayla.  She floors the gas pedal and takes off down the
highway.  They don’t get very far before she slows down.  “Holy cow.”

               
“Yeah, it’s a sports car, Kayla.  It goes really fast, really quickly,”
Jackson says.

               
“I see that. Whoa.  Okay, now that that’s out of my system.” Kayla
snorts.  “Why did I let him buy me such a powerful car?”

               
“Because he’s hot and the car was free.  I would give in too.” Jackson
chuckles.  “You know you just lied to the guy you’re dating, right?
 Too easily, I might add.”

               
Kayla looks at him and cocks an eyebrow.  “Are you going to tell on me?”

               
“Are we still fighting?” Jackson asks with a grin.

               
Kayla glares at him. “No, I don’t think I could be mad at you for very long.”

               
“That’s because of my glowing personality.”

               
“No, it’s probably more because you’re pretty to look at,” Kayla replies. 
“Your personality sucks.”

               
She sees him roll his eyes.  “Whatever,” Jackson groans.  “I’m
awesome.”

               
“Mmm, I think I’m going to enjoy driving for a while.”

               
“You should be fine for the hour that it takes to meet up with these guys,”
Jackson says.  “If you start to feel twitchy though, you have to pull
over.”

               
“Duh, turn on some good music.”

               
He picks up her iPod.  “Do you even have good music on here?”

               
“Yes!  Turn something on.  You listened to my music all day
yesterday.”

               
“Good point,” Jackson replies.  “It’s my turn.”  He takes out his
phone and plugs it into the car’s stereo system.  “Let me introduce you to
some new music.”  He presses play.

               
Some song that Kayla has never heard before comes on.  They listen for a
minute and then Kayla says, “This isn’t bad.”

               
“Told you.  See, I have a wider range of interests from living all around
the world.”

               
“Sometimes I forget that you’ve done that.  I haven’t even left the
country.  Of course, my parents were probably afraid to take me on the
plane.”

               
Jackson smiles at her.  “I’ll take you someplace as soon as you have your
shifting under control.  Maybe our first spring break when we’re in
college.”

               
“I don’t want to go to some party place.  I want to go someplace cool,
like Italy.”

               
“We can do that.  How about Venice?”

               
“That would be awesome,” Kayla sighs.

               
They settle into a comfortable silence for a while and listen to the
music.  “Are you going through withdrawal?”

               
She turns and looks at him.  “Huh?”

               
“From singing at the top of your lungs. This is the first time you’ve been
quiet the whole trip.”

               
“Shut up,” Kayla snaps playfully.  “If you would turn on something I
actually know, I’d have something to sing to.”

               
He grins. “Maybe later.  You can serenade the guys while we drive to
Vegas.”

               
Shaking her head vigorously, Kayla says, “Oh no, that would be embarrassing.”

               
“You sing beautifully; always sing your heart out.”

               
Kayla smiles.  After another half hour of driving, Jackson’s phone
rings.  “Is that them?” Kayla asks.

               
Jackson picks up his phone.  “I think so.”  He slides the bar on the
screen to answer the call. “Hello?  Yes, this is.  The next exit,
okay.  Kayla, take the exit coming up.”

               
“Okay,” Kayla says, taking the off-ramp.

               
“Turn into the large parking lot to the right,” Jackson guides Kayla before
speaking into his phone.  “We’ll be there in a minute.  Okay,
bye.”  He points to a car in the back of the parking lot. “I think that’s
them.”

               
Kayla pulls up next to them.  She eyes the two guys who step out of the
vehicle beside them.  She isn’t impressed.  Jackson is bigger than
both of them. “They’re supposed to protect me?  You’re scarier than they
are.”

               
Laughing, Jackson says, “No, they are scary, trust me.  If you want guards
who know how to kill our kind, it’s them.  They are also trained in how to
use our weaponry.  Come on, let’s get out.”

               
She turns the car off and opens the door.  The two guys walk towards
her.  Kayla smiles awkwardly. “Hi.”

               
The blond comes over and hugs her.  Whispering in her ear, he says, “Hug
me back like I’m a really old
friend.”               

               
Kayla complies.  “What’s your name?” she murmurs.

               
“Cane,” the guy replies.  “That’s Toby.”

               
Toby nods with a serious expression.  Kayla raises her eyebrows. 
“What’s the plan?” she inquires.

               
“We’ll get into your car,” Cane replies.  “I’ll drive.”

               
“Be nice to my car, it’s new.” 

               
“If we get into a high-speed chase, I make no promises,” Cane quips with a
grin.

               
Kayla rolls her eyes.  “If we get into a chase, we have more to worry
about than my car.”

               
“There won’t be a chase of any kind,” Toby says.  “We would just get out
of the car and kill them.”

               
“Toby,” Cane draws out.  “Don’t scare the girl.”

               
Toby shrugs.  “It’s the truth.”

               
Her eyes widen.  “Oh wow, that makes me less nervous.”

               
“Just think of it this way,” Cane states. “You’re in good hands.”

               
“We’ll sit in the backseat,” Jackson says.  “We need to move stuff
around.”

               
After everyone is settled in the car, Cane rubs his hands together. “I can’t
wait to see what this car can do.”

               
“Hey!” Kayla exclaims.

               
He turns around.  “I was only joking.”  Turning to Toby, he says,
“Let them know we’re leaving.”

               
Bringing his hand up, Toby presses right below his ear.  “We have secured
her and are leaving right now.”

               
“Who is he talking to?” Kayla asks Jackson.

               
Jackson smirks. “They have communicators planted in them.  That way
there’s no need to have anything physically on them that may give them away if
they are ever captured.”

               
Kayla snorts. “Do we just implant everything?”

               
“Kind of,” Cane replies as he pulls out onto the road.  “Tiny, tiny
microchips.”

               
“Like the one in my leg?” Kayla asks.