Shifters (Shifters series Book 1) (23 page)

He drops the gun and takes off running, back the way we had come. Some killer instinct in me screams to chase him down, to make him pay, to slaughter him. But I don
’
t. I turn to Tanner.

“
Your plan sucks,
” I say. “Ready to blow this joint?”

He stares at me in awe, as though he’s seeing me for the very first time. Perhaps he is. Perhaps I’m not the girl I was three weeks ago. Perhaps I’m not the girl I was three hours ago.

He nods slowly.

We reach the elevator quickly. “What happened to Devon?” I ask, remembering what started this whole fight in the first place.

“Oh,” he says quietly. “She got into a fight with one of the guards. I think her ribs might be broken or cracked or something.”

“How could anyone fight Devon?” I ask. “They can
’
t even recognize when she
’
s right in front of them.”

“Apparently Kai and Kyle didn
’
t follow her signal because they
’
re
idiots
,” he intentionally snaps his head to the left as he says this, clearly indicating his thoughts to everyone on the radio. “She jumped in to protect Kyle.”

I smile smugly at him. “That
’
s one tough girl you got,” I wink at him.

He blushes despite the circumstances.

We reach the elevator, and he closes his eyes to concentrate. Next thing I know, we’re at ground level in some museum. Crazy, right? Such an obvious spy elevator.

“So, where
’s our ride?
” I ask him.

“Coming,” he mumbles quietly.

“You okay?” I ask, concerned.

He shakes his head. “I
’
m worried,” he says, pulling the earpiece free. “I think Kai . . . I think there
’
s a bitterness there, a hatred.”

I shrug. “Kai’s earned his hatred,” I say. “He has a right. They murdered his parents.”

“And our own people murdered ours,” he says as his eyes bore into mine. “That doesn
’
t mean we
’
re all evil. That doesn
’
t mean our home planet can
’
t be saved.”

“Yeah,” I admit grudgingly. “So? What
’
s your point?”

“
I just . . .”
He breaks off. “I know you like him, but be careful.”

I start to laugh. “Is this some sort of protective big brother thing? Oh, man, Tanner, I can take care of myself.”

“I know that!” he snaps, looking a little hurt. “I know you can fight and fly and do anything you want. Only . . .”

I look closely at him. He looks older now, more mature. His eyes contain a depth and wisdom I
’
ve really only seen in the faces of those who have suffered long and hard. “Only what?” I ask, softly now.

“
I don’
t want you to become like that, full of bitterness and loathing. What I saw down there . . .” he trails off, unable to look me in the eyes.

“I know,” I say. “I was bluffing.” It
’
s only half a lie.

Tanner tries to look relieved, but the suspicion and hurt are still there in his deep blue eyes.

Chapter 36

We Join a Cult?

–TANNER–

I don’
t really think she was bluffing. I mean, I hope she was, but she does seem a lot older and more serious now. I don
’
t blame her. After all we’ve seen, who could be the same? It’s hard to believe how callous the Keepers are when it comes to little kids, but I know not all of them can be like that. After all, Kyle was one of them a couple of days ago, and when I see him with Solé, I know there’s no way he would ever do anything to hurt her or anyone she cared about.

So, here we are in a museum. Kai, Kyle, and Devon have made it back out to the entrance of the Hoover building, and Solé has the driver coming around to pick them up. My sister and I are walking through the Smithsonian, and people are starting to take notice.

I
’
m pretty beat up, but Ryland is clearly gaining the most attention. I can tell she’s more than a little self conscious about how much of her is showing through the torn dress. She has several smears of dried blood on her arms and legs, but she doesn
’
t look as cut up and scraped as she did when we were down in the Keepers
’ lair.

“I wish I could do what your girlfriend does right now,” she quietly says.

That makes me smile. My girlfriend? Wow!

“What? Do you really think?” I ask, although this isn’t really the time to have this conversation.

“Duh,” Ryland says. “She’s like totally into you, and you obviously like her,” she says in her fake Valley girl voice; then, she looks around and whispers, “We need to get out of here quickly before people put two and two together.”

“They
’
ll meet us on Constitution Avenue out front in a couple of minutes,” I tell her as we pick up our pace.

But it’s too late.

I see a couple of guards point at us, talking into their radios. We duck behind some extremely boring agricultural exhibit and head away from the guards.

“They
’
re over there,” one of them says as we hear them getting closer.

“Stay here,” Ryland says.

“Where are you going?”

“I
’
ll distract them. You run when they come after me.”

“
Wait,
” I say, but she’s already Shifted.

I scrunch down as small as I can, just waiting for the guard to come around the corner and nail me when I hear Ryland say, “Hey, you looking for someone?”

“There!” a guard yells, and the one right by me runs toward her voice.

At that, I get up and run to the next exhibit and duck down. I can see the exit, but no limo.

Just then, Ryland appears in the midst of a small crowd of tourists and says, “Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you the fine protectors of America
’
s treasures.” She does her best imatation of Vanna White toward the approaching guards.

One of the guards yells out, “Surround her!”

As they gather around Ryland, I sneak to the next exhibit. When she disappears from the center of the crowd, a couple of ladies scream while some kids cheer.

A young woman holding a guy
’
s hand says, “I didn
’
t know they did shows here.”

Ryland appears instantaneously in the middle of an Asian tourist group who immediately begins applauding. Ryland looks like she enjoys toying with the guards. What a show-off! She takes a bow before vanishing once more.

The guards start looking around then spot her one more time. This time she’s on top of an architectural exhibit of a colonial house. The entire crowd immediately breaks into cheers.

As they applaud, I open the door then walk out the front as the limo pulls up. Kai opens the door and waves for me to hurry.

“Where
’
s Ryland?” he asks. I can tell he’s actually worried.

“Right here,” Ryland says from behind me.

We both get into the limo and tell the driver to get us back to the Mandarin Oriental. He slowly pulls out into the traffic on Constitution without the guards even looking outside.

“What was that about?” I ask Ryland.

“What?” Kai asks.

“What?” Ryland says with a smirk. “I thought I would give them their money
’
s worth.”

“You shouldn
’
t be Shifting in public like that,” I tell her.

“It worked, didn
’
t it?” she says, giving me a dirty look.

“What did you do?” Solé asks enthusiastically.

“Don
’t encourage her,
” I say sternly.

Obviously, nobody listens to me. They ask again, and Ryland tells them all about her stunts and the crowd
’
s cheers. She describes the bumbling guards like this was some Charlie Chaplin movie mixed with the Keystone Cops.

Okay, I only know about those old black-and-white movies because my dad loved them. I thought they were kind of funny, so I watched them with him. That was one of the only things we had in common, so it made him happy.

We get back to the hotel and walk into the lobby. Kai starts to head straight toward the elevator.

“I
’
ve already reserved the room for a second night just in case. Besides, we had to leave our stuff somewhere,” he tells us without turning around to explain.

We all shrug and hurry along to catch up. Ryland is the slowest. She’s limping along in her shredded gown, still grinning about the museum.

We get back up to the room, and Ryland immediately says, “Dibs on the shower!”

Looking at her, no one argues. She disappears into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

Devon says, “I need one, too. Who needs the bathroom before I go in?”

We all raise our hands except Sol
é. She gets up and goes into the bathroom with Ryland.

“That
’
s so weird how girls do that,” Kyle says, shaking his head.

The rest of us take turns in the other bathroom. When we
’
re done, Devon takes it over. She needed it. She looks like she
’
s been in a fight, although nothing like Ryland.

Devon is tough, I think. She isn
’
t just beautiful. She bruised her ribs tonight and didn
’
t even complain. She didn
’
t demand the shower first. She just waited patiently.

So Kai, Kyle, and I all relax on the expensive furniture and turn the TV on. Naturally, there’s nothing about the infiltration of the secret FBI Keeper headquarters break-in. They are covering the magic show at the Smithsonian though.

“Today, a surprise demonstration of illusion was presented to an unsuspecting crowd inside the Smithsonian Institute. For those lucky enough to be in attendance, it was an awe-inspiring event. The illusionist’s display was in preparation for the upcoming feature of the great Houdini
’
s props and paraphernalia next month at the National Mall,” the reporter explains.

They show several amateur cell phone videos and talk to a number of excited witnesses. Once the event was explained to them, they all seemed excited and ready to share their story. All of them completely bought the lie the Keepers told them.

Kai has a slight smile on his face as he watches Ryland stun the crowd with what they now think are illusions. I think he may actually be proud of her. In truth, I’m kind of proud of her, too. Without her little stunt, I might be sitting in a holding cell a half-mile under the J. Edgar Hoover building right now. Maybe without a head while they prepare it for mounting in their sinister trophy hall of horrors.

We’re sitting, enjoying the accounts of Ryland
’
s public exhibition when the door to the bathroom opens. All three girls step out of the bathroom. I don
’
t even remember seeing Devon go in. She must have somehow snuck by us.

All of them are wearing these amazing, and obviously expensive sheer nightgowns. The three of us instantly sit up in total awe. Seriously, Devon looks amazing, apart from some slight bruising around her ribs. I feel my entire body flush, and I
’
m sure I’m beat red.

“
So we
’
re going to bed. You boys should, too. It
’
s been a rough day,” Ryland says, and they all head into one of the bedrooms together and shut the door.

We all just sit stunned for several minutes.

“So . . . I
’
m gonna need a cold shower,” Kyle says as he gets up and heads toward the bathroom.

Kai says, “I
’
ll be in the other bathroom.”

I have no idea what they’re talking about, but I don
’
t think there
’
s any way I could sleep right now, and I don
’
t know how a shower could help. Not after that. Devon
’
s perfect form is now permanently burned into my mind.

–RYLAND–

I have more strange dreams. We
’
re on another planet. I don
’
t know where or how I know this, but we are. The sky is a sickly green. The air’s thick and heavy, choking me.

Tanner looks so different that I almost think I
’
m watching Kai for a moment. He
’
s larger, more muscular. His face is harder, less childish. He wears these gray-brown camouflage pants with a torn up gray t-shirt. He has a gun strapped to his back like he
’
s in some sort of low-budget action movie.

He’s moving, disappearing, Shifting, I realize with a shock. He’s fighting with more skill than anyone I’ve ever seen. He dives and shoots and wrestles with perfect ease.

He turns back to me and shouts something I can
’
t hear. I try to decipher the words, the lack of sound, but I can
’
t.

Something flies toward me and lands at my feet. I stare down at the black circle in confusion and shock.

Tanner’s screaming my name now, but I hear it as a whisper.

Suddenly, the thing at my feet explodes. My legs are trapped by a thousand mechanical, metal vines. Their thorns dig into my legs as I scream and try to wriggle my way free. The more I move, the more they encompass my body. Eventually, I can
’
t move or even breathe. I’m encased in metal.

I wake up screaming with the sheets and blankets wrapped so tightly around me I can
’
t move. I tear them from my body. My legs are bleeding again.

I
’
m shaking and shuddering in fear. Solé is there, holding me, her cool arms wrap around me. I realize how warm I am. I
’
m sweating profusely.

“Shh,” she soothes. “It was just a dream.”

I shake my head and realize tears are falling from my face.

“Tell me about it,” she says reassuringly.

I can
’
t speak for a few moments. Finally, I find my voice again. “Tanner was fighting. He looked older, stronger. He looked like a stranger.”

Solé nods slowly. “That makes sense. You
’
re seeing him differently now. He
’
s not the little boy you grew up with.”

“That
’
s not it,” I say. “He was fighting, Shifting. He was killing people. We were on a strange planet. The air was so thick and heavy. It was choking me, and the sky was this hideous green.”

Solé pales a little at that. “What else?”

“It was barren, like a desert.” I realize. “We fought on the red-brown earth, the color of rust.” The more I talk, the calmer I feel. What a ridiculous dream.

“Did you hear anything?” she asks quickly, her voice tight.

“No, Tanner was yelling at me, but I couldn
’
t hear him,” I say. “I couldn
’
t hear the bullets or bombs.”

She frowns.

“What
’
s wrong?” I ask.

“What happened in the dream?” she replies slowly, pulling her arms away from me.

I feel nervous now, unsure. “We were fighting. He tried to warn me, but . . .”

“What?” she asks, breathless.

“Nothing,” I snap. “It was a nightmare.”

“Tell me!” she commands.

“They threw a bomb, a grenade, something at me. It exploded into all these silvery, metal vines. They had sharp thorns. They stabbed me and grabbed me. I was entombed.” By the time I finish telling her, my voice is hollow. I feel cold now. The room is too clinical, too white.

She shudders.

“What?”
I demand.
“Why? Why do you need to know?”

“I think,” she says slowly, hesitantly. “I think you should tell me if you have any more dreams.”

“Why?” I shout. “What’s happening?”

“I . . .” she stops.

I want to growl in frustration when it occurs to me what Solé is. “Oh, my God . . .” I breathe. “You think . . . you think I
’
m seeing something, don
’
t you?”

She shakes her head. “
I don’
t know. I
’
ve never heard of something like that, someone seeing in their dreams.” Her voice is small.

“But that
’
s what I
’m doing, isn’
t it? Is that why I saw my mother?” I ask hopefully. I’m sure now, the dancing woman from my dreams was my mother.

“What did you see exactly?” she asks, clearly trying not to get my hopes up.

“I was a baby. She was holding me and dancing. I also saw my family, my adopted family, running. There were explosions all around, people screaming and frightened,” I rush through the dreams, wondering what it all means.

“You
’
re seeing the past? Things you couldn
’
t remember?” she asks, suddenly brightening.

“Yes, I suppose. Does that mean something?” I’m hopeful now.

She shakes her head and looks at me strangely. “I think . . . you
’
re something special.”

“Why did you look shocked when I mentioned the planet?” I ask, suddenly curious. Maybe that can help explain what’s happening to me. Maybe that can tell me what these dreams are.

She bites her bottom lip. “When I was young, my parents used to tell me stories. They told me about our home world and the other colonies. In one of my favorite stories, the hero travels to the ninth colony. It
’
s a strange world, almost poisonous. The air’s heavy, thick. It makes him very ill. He lays in bed for many days and watches the green sky swirl with color.”