Shifters (Shifters series Book 1) (18 page)

Tanner chooses this moment to reenter the room. “Great news,” he says. “I spoke to—”

Before he can finish his sentence, Solé collapses. Kyle rushes to her side, barely catching her head before it hits the stained concrete floor. Her body is shaking and convulsing, and her eyes are white.

I feel fear creep into my chest, filling me entirely. If her vision is this bad, I don
’
t want to know what it is. I don
’
t want to know that my family’s going to die or I’m going to die or Kai’s going to die or . . . I can hardly breathe.

Devon jumps up like she just saw a mouse. She stands up on her chair and whimpers. Super weird!

“Solé?” Kyle whispers softly. “Everything is okay.” He’s so soothing and sweet.

Solé slowly stops convulsing. She comes to rest in Kyle
’
s arms, but her heavy breathing continues for several moments. Her eyelids flutter, and she gasps.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no,” she mutters over and over, hiding her face in her hands.

“Shhh,” Kyle murmurs. “Hush, it
’
s okay.”

Solé is sobbing now, practically foaming at the mouth. When she finally quiets down, Kyle tries to ask her what she saw, but she won
’
t answer. He finally takes her outside for air.

The room remains silent. It feels as though someone has died. Perhaps, I think macabrely, in a way someone has. For Solé, the future has already happened. Even if she hasn
’
t met them yet, they’re already dead.

I shudder.

Chapter 28

Ryland Is Going to Punch Someone

–TANNER–

I kind of missed all of that since I had to go make plans to save us and all. So, I call Heather using her note, and she remembers me, which is pretty cool. It seems like it
’
s been so long since she gave me my first cool haircut at Macy
’
s. I know it
’
s only been a few days, but with how much has happened, it seems like months.

I can hear people talking in the background like she
’
s at a party or something.

“Can you talk now?” I ask.

At first, the sound is muffled as she says, “Shhh . . . quiet. It
’
s him. It
’
s him.” Then, her voice gets clearer as she says, “I
’
m glad you called, cutie. What can I do for you?”

“You know when you said, ‘Anything I can do to help?
’”
I ask hesitantly.

“Of course,” she says with the sound of girls giggling in the background.

“Did you mean it? I mean… when you said anything?”

“
Anything
for Tanner,” I hear a voice call out.

“Shut up! Or I
’
ll take it off speaker,” Heather warns.

“What?” I say, now totally confused.

“Nothing. Not you,” she says apologetically. “It
’
s my friends. We were . . . uh . . . just watching your sister . . . on the news, I mean.”

“My sister?”

“Yeah,” one voice says.

Another voice continues, “She
’
s totally famous. Both of you are. Like Kardashian famous.”

“Be quiet,” Heather says.

“What?” I ask again. I must sound like a broken record.

“Yeah,” the other voice says. “She told us she met you, and we were totally like, you wish.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah. I mean yes, I meant it,” Heather says.

“Me too,”
a voice says.

“And me,” from yet another unknown girl.

This is really weird. These girls are acting like I
’
m an actor or some kind of rock star or something.

“It could be dangerous,” I warn.

“Danger
’
s our middle name. Well, my middle name anyway,” one of the girls says. “I
’
m Wendy, by the way. Wendy Dangerous.”

“Tanner, my name
’
s Sammy,” the other voice adds. She lowers her voice about an octave and says, “Sammy Dangerous.”

“Shut up, you guys. He
’
s asking me,” Heather says to her friends. “I,” she pauses then continues, “I mean, we’ll do it. What do you need us to do?”

“I need you to send a message,” I tell them.

“That doesn
’
t sound scary,” one of them says with disappointment.

“I need it to be big, like national. When you do, the people who are after us may come after you,” I tell them.

“Who
’
s after you?” Heather asks.

“It
’
s hard to explain, but there
’
s this secret group in the government that wants us dead because of what we are,” I say, thinking how ridiculous I must sound. Listen to me. What we are? Hey, girls, listen to this crazy guy on the phone you don
’
t even know who thinks secret agents are out to get him. No, that certainly doesn
’
t sound crazy at all.

Seriously, how do you explain to people that you
’
re an alien and the
Men in Black
really are coming after you? Not like the ones from the movies where you make friends with them and work together to save the world from evil aliens bent on the destruction of the world. Geez! How I wish that was true. No! For us, it
’
s like we’re just trying to survive while they are
all
trying to kill us. And, the men in black don
’
t even know there are evil aliens out there!

“What
are
you?” one of the girls asks.

“I
’
m just a kid, really. I grew up in Connecticut,” I tell them. “
I just
. . . wasn
’
t exactly born here,” I trail off.

“I knew it!” one of them shouts triumphantly. “The stories are true, aren
’
t they?”

“What exactly are the stories?” I ask, not sure if I want to know the answer.

“Aliens?” she answers, although it sounds more like a question than an answer.

Wow! This is it. Do I tell them the truth? If I do, they
’
ll probably laugh. Why wouldn
’
t they? A couple of weeks ago, I would have. Oh, yeah . . . sure, you are. Uh-huh. Here, let me show you to your nice, new, comfortable padded room. How about if you stay here a little while? Until you feel better.

Oh, well. What do I have to lose?

“I didn
’
t know until a couple of days ago when some strange things started happening,” I tell them, not exactly sure where I
’
m going with it. “My family escaped when a revolution broke out.”

“So, you are,” she says, sounding confident now. She believes me?

“What do we do?” Heather says, sounding determined.

“I need you to get on the news. I don
’
t know exactly how right now, but I’ll call you later with more details. I
’
ll let you know what to say when I have it figured out,” I tell her. “Will you do it?”

“Definitely,” they answer in unison.

I go back into the command center of the house to tell everyone about how we’re going to let the world know about the game, but Solé starts to have one of her scary episodes before I can say anything.

–RYLAND–

I know, Tanner really didn
’
t have much to say. My parts are way more exciting. I
’
ll try not to let him talk so much.

No offense, but being ogled by some girls on the phone is not what our audience is looking for, Tanner. They want action and excitement and, well, me. Duh.

So after ten minutes of awkward silence and macabre meditation, I can
’
t take it anymore. “What next?” I ask.

The twins grin at me. “You
’
re going to Keeper headquarters, aren
’
t you?”

“Can we come?” they ask.

“Ummm . . . we are? Right now?” I ask, confused.

Tanner looks surprised.

Kyle and Solé pick this moment to reenter the room. “Yes,” Kyle says. “I need to use the control room there to enable my new content.”

Solé smiles weakly. “We
’
re going to be like spies. Dun dun dun-na, dun dun dun-na.”

Even in her weakened and obviously fragile state, she’s still so excited by this idea. She even makes her fingers into a gun as she sings the song. Is that from
Mission Impossible
or
007
? I can never remember. I think
007
.

“Look,” Kyle says, seeming somewhat unhappy with his decision. “There
’
s no putting it off. From there, I think I can install my new updates for the game and simultaneously disrupt the Keepers
’
ability to detect Shifters. I can keep us safe-er, safer.”

“You feel bad about it, don
’
t you?” Tanner asks softly. “You feel like you
’
re betraying your people, your family, your dad.”

He can be quite perceptive sometimes. When, that is, he’s not being completely big headed. So never where the audience is concerned.

“My dad,” Kyle breaks off. “You’re innocent people, kids. I need to put a stop to it, to the atrocities we’re committing. I need them to see.”

Solé takes his hand gently. “It isn
’
t a betrayal,” she says. “You
’
re stopping them from doing something they
’
ll regret.” She smiles comfortingly at him.

He forces a smile back at her. “My dad . . . he
’
ll never understand.”

I don’
t know what to say. If he
’
s right about some of the older, more indoctrinated Keepers, they’ll never understand. They’ll hate him forever. If his dad is one of those people, I can understand why this decision would be so difficult, even if you knew it was the right thing to do.

He might be about to lose his family . . . forever.

I wonder where my family is. Have I lost them? Are they beyond saving? I wonder again about Sol
é’
s vision.

“Let
’
s roll out,
” Kai says, determined and completely ignoring the heart-wrenching pain of the boy standing right next to him.

“So, can we come?” the twins ask in unison this time.

“Of course not,” their mother snaps. “I won’t lose my precious boys.” She walks down the stairs to run her fingers possessively through their hair.

“
Can I come?
” the voice behind me is so meek and quiet I almost believe it
’
s my imagination. I turn to see Devon standing defensively, ready for a no.

“It
’
s too dangerous,” Tanner answers as her mother shrugs. “If anything happened to you . . .”

Solé
shudders.

“I can help,” Devon says stubbornly. “I can help with the coding and the firewalls. I can fight.” Her voice grows quieter as she talks, ending in a tiny whisper, almost inaudible.

“
I just don’
t think it
’
s a good idea,” I say. Devon looks completely crestfallen. She
’
s finally being noticed, and we
’
re rejecting her. That can’t feel good. “It
’
s not you,” I explain. “If we
’
re infiltrating enemy headquarters, we need to be sneaky. Adding an extra person,” I stop talking, coming to a realization. “They won
’
t even notice you, will they?” I ask.

She smiles slowly. As it spreads across her face, I think she may even be beautiful. “No, no, they won’t.”

I grin back at her then turn to Tanner. “Tanner,” I prepare my arguments mentally. “We need her. She
’
s like the ultimate spy.”

Tanner looks at me like he wants to punch me in the face. He
’
s only ever done that once. I almost don
’
t remember it since it was so long ago. I think I stole his toy or something. I was like three.

Bryce jumped in the middle of our fight and pushed Tanner to the ground. I know Bryce got in trouble for that, but he just kept saying, “Never hit a girl.” Tanner never has.

He sighs. I can tell that, despite his wanting to protect Devon, he
’
s just a little bit happy with the idea that he doesn
’
t have to leave her behind. “Okay,” he says, and I see a small smile.

Devon beams.

Her father looks at me. I
’
m afraid he
’
ll say no. She’s his baby girl, and he doesn
’
t want to lose her. All he says is, “
You can
’
t take any of our supplies. We need those.”

My stomach turns. His baby daughter is going to invade Keeper headquarters and attempt to heroically free our people from their fear of the Keepers hunting them down like animals. All he says is we can
’
t take their stuff. I want to shake him. What a jerk!

“Fine,” I snap. “We
’
ll leave.”

“Oh, dear,” Aleksandria says. “I
’
d really like you to take some clothing with you. I’ve already thrown out your dreadful rags. I have so many beautiful designer things I would love to share with a daughter like you—the daughter I always wanted.”

I step toward her, fists clenched. I’m going to punch her in the face. I’m going to make her bleed and cry and regret ever opening her little—

Devon steps between us and gently puts her hand on my shoulder. “I’m sure she would love some new clothes,
Mom,
” Devon smiles sweetly.

Her mother frowns disdainfully at her, and I cringe. We need to leave before I hurt someone.

Chapter 29

Command Center and the FBI

–TANNER–

Okay, it
’
s my turn, and my parts
are
important. Somebody has to come up with a plan. Ryland may be smart, pretty, and have an amazing Apt, but she’s not really a planner. Besides, she’s always had boys fighting for her attention. Ever since we were little, all I ever heard was how cute my sister was. By the time I was thirteen, it was “Man, your sister is so hot.”
She was eleven! Still, nothing
’
s changed.

Anyway, I reluctantly agree to take Devon with us. To tell you the truth, I really don
’
t want to leave her. It
’
s not just because she
’
s the most beautiful girl I
’
ve ever seen—no offense, Ryland. She’s great on the computer, so I
’
m sure she can help. Besides, her parents don
’
t seem that good to her. I think Ryland is gonna to punch her mom.

Devon looks happy, but her brothers seem disappointed. I ask them, “Can you like mask our communications or something?”

Both of the Js smile. One of them, I really can
’
t tell the difference, says, “Where do you want it to come from? Maybe France, or a government satellite?”

“You can do that?” Kyle asks.

“Oh, yeah,” the J says. “Want to see?” he turns to the screen and begins to type frantically. In a few seconds, a global map appears on the screen with lines bouncing all over between the Earth and what look like satellites as he asks, “Want to know how it works?”

I stare at him like an idiot, and he starts to explain using jargon I totally don
’
t understand. I stop him, asking, “It works though, right? We can setup a communication network that
’
s untraceable?”

I hear a small, beautiful voice quietly say, “Untraceable.”

Devon’s right beside me, nodding her head. Both of the Js seem a little put out that I would even doubt them. If Devon says they can, that
’
s good enough for me.

“What do we do?” I ask whichever one of the Js was losing me in a way too technical explanation.

The other J rushes over, slaps a cell phone into my hand, and turns to his parents, ordering, “Give me your phones.”

Their mom gets a surprised and possessive look on her face, “No, they can have yours.”

Their dad blurts out, “I said no supplies.”

Seriously? We can take your daughter, but you won
’
t let us have a cell phone? It
’
s not like we
’
re trying to save the entire world or anything.

The J, I really can
’
t tell which one, looks around and spots what he
’
s looking for. He walks over to an end table, picks up his mom
’
s purse, and pulls out her phone. His dad gives him a stern look.

“Yours too, Dad,” the J orders.

His dad shakes his head, so the other J stands up to him and argues, “This is important. We have to do this. It
’
s not like you paid for it anyway. I
’
ll hack in and have them overnight some new ones to us. We need these ones for Devon since they
’
ve already been jailbroken.”

Their dad reluctantly reaches in his pocket and hands a shiny new iPhone to his son. I can
’
t believe they can talk to their dad like that. I don
’
t want to think about what would have happened if I talked to my dad that way.

I mean, my dad isn
’
t mean or anything, but still. When Bryce and I were younger, he used to take us out back to play catch. Ry had him wrapped around her finger even then, begging to play with us even though she couldn
’
t keep up. But if I talked back to my dad? Nope. Never gonna fly. Pardon my slang.

The J hands the first phone to Kyle. Jayden (I think) gives his phone to Kai. The other one gives his to Solé, who looks like she’s just been handed the keys to a jewelry store. She lets out a little squeal of delight. It
’
s so sweet how she gets excited about the smallest things. Like a little kid. Like Peanut. She gives Kyle a hug and starts to examine every little detail of her new treasure.

“Perfect. How do we use them?” I ask.

Kyle looks frustrated at my question. “It
’
s a phone, you idiot.” He holds it up to his ear and says mockingly, “You make calls.”

“Uh . . . not exactly,” one of the Js says.

I give Kyle a smirk, and he narrows his eyes at me.

Devon hesitantly says, “I know the protocol. I can show you.”

“Nobody knows it better,” her brother says, giving his little sister a nudge.

Devon turns to Ryland and says, “I need to get some things. Will you help me?”

Ryland gives their mom a look and says, in a voice more sweet than I thought was possible, “I would love to. Let
’
s do this.”

The two girls rush out of the room and up the stairs, leaving us in the command center. We now have a command center. I never thought I would have a command center. I have to admit, this is cool.

–RYLAND–

I gratefully accept Devon
’
s excuse to get away from her family before there
’
s a quadruple homicide. I
’
m not even sure that
’
s a thing, but it definitely could’ve happened. Her parents are awful.

Seriously, awful.

I can
’
t even stop talking about it. I
’
m so furious my skin could just boil and melt right off. I know, gross.

So, we head upstairs to Devon
’
s room, I should say uninsulated attic we can only access via a pull-down wooden ladder. This is really the only space in the house she can have? What about the entire bedroom Aleksandria has turned into a closet? Why can
’
t she have that?

Despite that, there’s something cool about Devon
’
s room. She has collages covering the slanted roofline. There are images of her school, her locker, her peers, nature, everything you can imagine. Except for pictures of her or friends.

“Are you a photographer?” I ask, too focused on the pictures to notice that she
’
s furiously packing.

“I just like to take pictures,” she answers softly. “They aren
’
t special or anything.”

“These are incredible,” I say, looking at the detail and life bursting out of every photograph.

“Thank you,” Devon whispers, as she neatly packs everything she owns into a tiny, beat up, old duffle.

“Is that everything?” I ask as I look around to see the rest of the room is empty. She has a simple twin bed with an old princess comforter. It’s so worn through I wonder if she
’
s had it since she was six years old.

This room makes me want to cry. I look at Devon and feel like I
’
m seeing her for the first time. Her long red hair falls across her face, casting it into shadow. Her bright eyes are shining with tears.

“You
’
re much prettier than your mom,” I say.

She surreptitiously wipes the tears from her face and smiles at me. “Thank you.”

When we get back downstairs, everyone else is ready to go. I flip Aleksandria off before we leave. I can
’
t help it. She grins proudly at me like I
’
ve done something wonderful. What’s wrong with that woman?

We pile into the car. I
’
m getting used to this. Now, it
’
s Tanner and Devon in the back, Solé and Kyle in the middle, and Kai and me in the front.

“So, where exactly are we going in DC?” Kai asks as we pull away.

“Ummm,” Kyle begins. “
Well . . .”

“Are we going to the White House? Can we?” Solé asks excitedly. Obviously, that was not something she saw.

“
We don’
t have to infiltrate FBI headquarters or something awful, do we?” Tanner asks skeptically.

“I think infiltrating the White House would be worse, Tanner,” I snap sarcastically.

“It
’
s not the White House,” Kyle says.

Everyone, except for Solé, looks relieved. “So where are we going?”
Devon pipes up.

I
’
m slightly surprised at her speaking at all. She’s so painfully shy (with good reason). I never thought she would just jump into a conversation like that.

When he doesn
’
t respond, dread spreads through me like a slow, cold wildfire. Yes, I know that
’
s like a paradox or something. I would say oxymoron, but it
’
s three words; I
’
m not sure if it counts. “It
’
s FBI headquarters, isn
’
t it?”

“
Well,”
Kyle says slowly. “Not exactly. It
’
s underneath FBI headquarters.”

“You’ve got to be joking,” Tanner says.

He isn
’
t.