Second Nature (40 page)

"So you didn't kill the human, because you decided it would be wrong?" Brian said. His baritone was calmer now, but he still didn't sound as if he liked or at least understood her actions.

Griffin took a deep breath and shoved her pain away. She had done it so often before that it was almost second nature now. Acting as if she didn't care allowed her to focus on the issue at hand. "The law says killing a human always has to be the last resort, but lately, some people on the command staff have started to be a little lax with their interpretation of 'last resort,'" Griffin finally said out loud what she had only recently begun to admit to herself. "My report pointed out that I think Ms. Price's book is not a threat and that we should take the time to find out how she knows so much about us. The council gave the kill order anyway. Why would they send me to investigate if they have already made up their minds and just ignore whatever I say? I don't understand why the council and Tas Jennings are putting so much pressure on me to kill Jorie."

"She might not have been a big threat before, but now that she saw you shift, time is running out. We have to kill her. If you can't, one of my people can do it." Brian said it calmly, without any true regret. After losing his mate, Leigh's mother, to human hunters, he wasn't on friendly terms with humans.

"No," Griffin said sharply. "It was my fault, and I don't want anyone else suffering for it."

Brian flinched and looked away again.

"I don't want anyone to kill her," Griffin pressed on, using his slight defeat to her advantage. "At least not before we have all the answers and can make an informed decision."

"It's out of your hands," Brian said, sitting on the couch again. "Every saru in the state is looking for her, and if they find her, they'll kill her without asking you for permission first."

"I know." Griffin took a deep breath. "That's why I brought her here."

In the sudden silence, Griffin's heartbeat echoed in her ears.

Then Brian leaped forward. His big hands clamped down on Griffin's shoulders as if he wanted to force her to her knees, but since their last confrontation, Griffin had grown up and was now taller and stronger than he was. "Are you out of your mind? You brought her into our territory?" he exploded, shaking Griffin. "What makes you think I'd break the law just to help some human I don't know and don't care about?"

Griffin's fingers closed around his wrists and forcefully removed his hands from her shoulders. "You're not doing it to help some human. You're doing it to help your daughter," she said.

"My daughter?" Brian snorted. "You've never wanted to be my daughter before. You didn't even try to be part of our pride, our life."

Griffin let go of his wrists and shoved him away from her. The physical connection suddenly nauseated her. "So I'm only your daughter if I'm part of the pride? If I jump through all the right political hoops and bend over backward to be part of both Puwar and Kasari society, like Ky does? Is that your idea of unconditional fatherly love?" In the past, Griffin had never given it much thought. Helen Price had shown her what unconditional love from a parent looked like, though, and Griffin had realized that she had never gotten it from any of her parents. Until now, she hadn't even realized she wanted it.

Two pairs of green eyes stared at Griffin, but neither Brian nor Gus said anything.

"Rhonda said you sent them to search for me because you wanted to make sure I'm okay." A part of Griffin wanted to believe it, but Brian's refusal to help without question now made her doubt it. "What you really wanted was to make sure I do my job and don't disgrace the family name any more than my birth already has. Well, thanks for the audience, Natak." Griffin whirled around and stormed to the door. "I'll be out of your territory within the hour."

"They'd kill you within the hour!" Brian shouted after her.

Griffin turned back around and looked at him. "Would you even care?" she asked, barely keeping herself from yelling too.

"Of course I care!"

"Then act like it." She stabbed her index finger at Brian. "Me staying or going is your choice this time."

True regret now glowed in Brian's eyes. "Choice?" he repeated. "I'm not free to do whatever I want, Griffin. I'm not only a father; I'm a natak too. I have to do what's best for the pride. If they find you here..."

Hope stirred. Griffin took a step toward him. "They won't look here for me. They already searched the area and have now moved on to Detroit. My tas and I talked about our families during some of our patrols through the forest, and he knows we haven't been on speaking terms for a lot of years." Cedric Jennings had been amazed by her preference for solitude and her dismissal of family bonds, so she was sure he remembered their conversation. "He knows I would never ask you for help, because I don't want to owe you anything."

"Then why are you asking for our help now?" Brian asked. His green eyes glittered with emotion, but in the chaotic blend of scents that filled the room, Griffin couldn't pinpoint what he was feeling.

Good question.
Just a few weeks ago, she would just have kept driving, trying to outrun the Saru, even though she knew it was nearly hopeless. "Maybe I'm learning that having to say thank you doesn't hurt," she answered with a small smile. "So, can we stay?"

Brian's gaze slid over to Gus, who said nothing. He didn't need to. Her fathers had always been able to communicate with each other without many words. "Bring the human over here. I want to talk to her," Brian finally said.

"No!" Jorie was scared and confused enough; she didn't need the intimidating Brian to add to that. "She's fine at Rhonda's." The easy-going librarian wouldn't scare Jorie and would help convince her that Wrasa were not monsters.

"It wasn't a polite invitation that you can just decline. It was an order, and I'm still the natak around here." Brian growled.

Oh, now the good old power games are starting.
Griffin had expected it. After their confrontation, he needed to re-establish his authority.

"One of them," Gus said. "And as the other natak, I think we should trust Griffin to make the right decision. She knows better how to deal with the human."

Griffin threw him a surprised glance.
Why is he helping me?
Never before had Gus intervened with one of Brian's decisions, and he had certainly never expressed this level of trust in her.

"Make sure she doesn't cause any trouble," Brian said.  "And now go."

With a grateful nod to Gus, Griffin stepped into the night.

CHAPTER 18

J
ORIE RUBBED HER arm after Griffin's sister had dragged her into the house and finally let go of her.

"Do you think you'll be all right alone with the human for half an hour?" Leigh asked her smaller companion. "I'd really like to go for a run to shake off the effects of the catnip." She eyed Rhonda with concern, then shot Jorie a glance that said she didn't want to be in a room with her for longer than necessary.

Rhonda nodded without hesitation. "I'll be fine."

Relief trickled through Jorie. Her instincts told her that Leigh was the more dangerous one of her captors.

"Be careful," Rhonda said.

Something in her voice made Jorie turn around and study her expression. Rhonda's concern for the taller woman wasn't hard to read. Jorie remembered how the catnip-drunk Leigh had snuggled up to Rhonda.
Is she Leigh's girlfriend? Do these shape-shifters even have girlfriends? Or is Rhonda human after all?
Compared to Leigh and Griffin, Rhonda appeared kinder and more approachable, just like the typical girl next door. Jorie remembered how nice she had thought Rhonda was when she had met her at her book reading. Nothing about her screamed "predator."

"Come in, and make yourself at home," Rhonda said with a friendly smile.

Doesn't sound very predatory, but she must be stronger and more dangerous than she looks or Leigh wouldn't have left her in charge of guarding me.
Jorie was determined not to let herself be fooled. Never again. She wouldn't turn her back on Rhonda even for a second.

Her hostess-slash-jailer led her into the living room and turned on the light.

Despite her restless tension, Jorie couldn't help looking around with curiosity. She wasn't sure what she had expected to find in the "lion's den," but it wasn't the comfortable-looking couch, the fireplace, or the hundreds of books that filled the bookshelves from floor to ceiling.
What do you know — shape-shifters like to read. At least this one does.
Maybe Rhonda really was the librarian she had pretended to be when they met.

Jorie trailed her hand over a few of the books, taking comfort in them, until her hand landed on a very familiar book. "So you really read 'Port of Call'?" Or had it all just been a trick? Had the shape-shifters infiltrated her life, even back then?

Her jumbled nerves made her flinch when Rhonda stepped next to her. Rhonda didn't notice. She was looking down at the book that Jorie had pulled from the shelf. "I've read all of your books. I guess you could say I'm a fan of yours," she said with a hint of a blush.

Jorie wasn't sure whether that was a comforting or a scary thought. "Are you... one of them?" Compared to the brusque Leigh and Griffin, who had tried to kill her, Rhonda just seemed so harmless.
But then again, Griffin seemed harmless too.

"One of them?" Rhonda pretended not to understand.

"A... Wrasa." That was what Leigh had called them, forgetting that Jorie was listening.

"I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to tell you," Rhonda answered. The hazel eyes looked at Jorie with regret. "Maybe it would be better if you don't ask me any questions."

"So that's a yes," Jorie concluded. If Rhonda were human, she would have just told her so.

Rhonda neither confirmed nor denied it. "You're taking this awfully well," she said instead. "I don't think I would be so calm if I suddenly learned that vampires existed."

So vampires don't exist. First good news all day.
Jorie felt anything but calm, but if she wanted to survive, she needed to be as composed as possible. "I'm pretending to be a character in one of my novels," she quipped, then realized it wasn't all that far off the truth. Her fictional shifters had a lot in common with the Wrasa.
Well, other than the fact that my shifters don't go around killing innocent humans.

"Do you want a cup of tea?" Rhonda asked, changing the topic. "I don't have any coffee, sorry."

First they want to kill me, and now they invite me for tea?
Jorie's strained nerves almost made her laugh hysterically, but she forced herself to stay calm. She distracted herself with gathering as much information about the Wrasa as she could.
She drinks tea, not coffee.
Griffin had never drunk coffee either.
They can't drink coffee because the caffeine is toxic for them. They really are like big cats.
"I'd love a cup of tea, thanks. Can I use your bathroom?" Jorie asked, trying to sound normal.
Let her think she's about to drink tea with one of her favorite authors. Let her forget that I'm a captive and she's my guard.

"Of course." On her way to the kitchen, Rhonda showed her the bathroom.

When the door closed behind her, Jorie pressed her ear to the door and counted to ten. The noises outside told her that Rhonda was busy preparing the tea. Her heartbeat picked up as she opened the bathroom window and stepped onto the closed toilet. Stiff muscles protested, but she ignored them and heaved herself up and pushed off with her feet. Her shoulders scraped along the frame of the small window. She struggled until the rest of her body followed.

Gravity took hold of her. She almost tumbled face-first into a rosebush.

The thorns scratched her arms, and she bit back a curse.
Quick!
Within just a few minutes, Rhonda would notice she was missing.

She raced down the street, always staying in the cover of houses and shadows as the half-light of dusk slowly replaced the darkness.
Now what?
Her thoughts raced along with her feet. Where could she go? Where would she be safe? She didn't know the town or its inhabitants, but she didn't dare to stop at one of the houses to ask for help. With the luck she'd been having lately, the person who opened the door would turn out to be one of the shape-shifters, who would promptly deliver her back to her captors.

When she reached the edge of town, she leaned against the wall of a house, breathing heavily. Her gaze darted down the street. Staying on the open road, with no cover, seemed like a bad idea. Her only other option was trying to flee through the forest. She would have some cover there, but her instincts told her that the shape-shifting creatures felt quite at home in the forest.
They're at home on the road too. They drive cars, and they'll expect me to take the easy way out and choose the only way out of town that I know.

There was no time to think. Another second and her decision was made. She dashed down the dirt road that vanished between trees, hoping to reach the forest before Rhonda noticed her missing.

Up ahead, something rustled in the forest. Was there something moving in those bushes?

Jorie crouched down behind a tree. With one eye, she peeked out from behind her hiding place.

A woman was stepping out from between the trees. A naked woman.

Wow,
was Jorie's first thought, quickly followed by,
Oh, shit!
as she realized the woman was Leigh. She jerked her head back and pressed herself against the rough bark of the tree.

Blood rushed through her ears, making it hard to hear anything. She held her breath. Even though she was almost bursting with tension, she didn't move an inch for fear of alerting Leigh to her presence.

Everything stayed quiet in the forest. Was Leigh still there?

Long minutes ticked by. Jorie's legs were cramping. She didn't hear anything. Maybe Leigh was long gone. Jorie took another cautious peek around the tree.