Talons (17 page)

“
If it’s too loud; you’re
too old!”

“
When you get to be my age,
that crap just makes you nervous,” he said apologetically, grinning
at her disappointed expression.

After fifteen minutes, the city of
Denver was unfolding before her eyes. She’d never been anywhere but
Minnesota, and craned her neck to take in the sights.

“
You need anything from the
drugstore?” Ty asked as he pulled into a Sam’s Club and looked for
parking.

“
I wouldn’t mind getting
some books,” she said. “I’m getting kind of bored.”

“
Vivian, with everything we
have back at the compound, you can’t possibly be bored
yet.”

“
I haven’t left my room,”
she disclosed tightly, unwilling to let him see how shy she was of
setting out on her own without him there as a tour
guide.

“
Well, we just have to get
you out of your shell, don’t we?” he said, his golden eyes warm as
they slid over her face. “Tonight’s movie night, and I need a
date.”

“
What’s showing?” she asked
with a smile, delighted he asked her out.

“
I think it’s a double
feature if I’m not mistaken; Transformers 3 and Iron Man
2.”

“
Seen them both, but you’re
on,” Vivvie said brightly. “I’m an action flick chick all the
way.”

She felt Ty’s eyes on her, exactly
where she wanted them to be, if she was honest. He was an enigma
and she couldn’t stop wanting to explore this attraction. Even
though he was a big bad tomcat all the way, she couldn’t help it.
Knowing he wanted no strings attached didn’t send her running as it
would have when she was the old Vivvie.

No, the old Vivvie was gone. She peeled
her off the bathroom floor earlier and tossed her into the trash,
hardly missing that girl she was. Now she was the new Vivvie, and
determined to make the best of this new life she was
given.

She followed Ty into Sam’s Club, amazed
at the amount of stuff he collected in the shopping cart. He was
loading up on popcorn, boxed candy and cases of Nesquik. She
smiled, thinking the children would go ballistic on the candy and
chocolate milk.

Ty paid for their purchases and they
made their way out of the store. He took Vivvie to a small
bookstore and handed her a twenty dollar bill.

“
Go get what you need,” he
said as he withdrew his phone. “I have to make a call.”

Vivvie accepted the money and went into
the bookstore. She went to the mystery section and picked up a few
paperbacks. Wandering around, she came to the newsstand. Seeing her
picture splashed on the front page made her tense and pick up the
USA Today.

The story highlighted her disappearance
and supposed murder. She read with dread the tearful interviews
with her father and Marsha, as well as pleas from Salem and her
friends at the diner for her safe return. Guilt ate at her to know
they feared the worst. The FBI was investigating her disappearance.
Agent Whitlow was appealing to anyone with information of her
whereabouts. The story said nothing about all her things being
missing, hardly an abduction at all. When did a kidnapper ever let
you pack? She knew the FBI was deliberately omitting those details.
Her eyes widened to read Mr. Reeves gave a surprisingly good
description of Ty to the authorities. They were trying to link her
disappearance to Dina and Rachel’s now, thinking Vivvie was lured
away too by the mystery man.

Vivvie paid for her books and left the
store, feeling miserable to know she put her friends and family
through this. What could it hurt to let them know she was fine? Eli
warned her she would be in deep shit if she screwed up. Thinking of
his ruthless methods made her hesitate to contact her family. The
leader scared her with his powerful presence and glowing blue eyes.
Vivvie found him exceedingly attractive and was terrified of him
too, a bad combo to her mind.

She handed Ty his change. He hung up
from his call and noticed her expression.

“
What is it?” he asked,
concern filling his golden eyes.

“
I’m on the cover of USA
Today!” Vivvie said angrily, tears brightening her green eyes. They
looked iridescent as they met Ty’s. “It’s kind of hard to feel good
about knowing I’m putting my family through Hell right now,
Ty!”

“
Vivian, you have to forget
about them. I know it’s painful, but it’s for the best,” he said
sadly. “The FBI would be crawling all over our mountain if they
found you here. Eli worries more about the humans than Ryken right
now.”

“
What is he so worried
about?” she snapped. “Isn’t it your goal to blend in with
them?”

“
Knowing what little you
know of us, do you really see that as a possibility, Vivian?” Ty
asked with a bitter laugh. “We might get through eight hours a day
at our jobs, but living in a neighborhood, an apartment? You have
to be kidding? We would have to hide what we are twenty-four
seven!”

“
But it’s possible?” she
asked, tears blinding her. “It’s what Jericho wants.”

Ty looked furious as he started the
Yukon. “Even Jericho sees the flaws in his master plan, Vivian. We
risk discovery if we live in the open among the humans. Shifting
can be triggered at any time; when we’re angry, sad, or even happy!
Learning to control our emotions is not easy for us. The elders
have mastered it, but the young can’t! What do you think would
happen if a fight broke out on a schoolyard with one of our
children, Vivian?”

Her face went white. He looked grim as
he pulled out of the parking lot.

“
Now do you see?” he asked
and looked sad. “If you wish to protect your family, staying away
is the only thing you can do for them now. None of the elders would
ever allow you to live in the open. You wouldn’t be allowed to live
at all. They would see you as a threat to all of us.”

“
Don’t you see they keep you
all locked away down there?” Vivvie raged and her eyes lit up with
her fury. “When have they ever tried to be normal?”

“
I tried to be out there
once, Vivian,” Ty said quietly as he drove back to the interstate.
“A long time ago I rented an apartment and stayed in town. It was
one of Jericho’s experiments. It didn’t work. I almost shifted in
the middle of WalMart. I have way more control than the others, and
I couldn’t do it for even a month.”

Vivvie felt heartbreak to know she was
cut off from her family. “It’s killing me with them thinking me
dead, Ty!”

He looked at her with his brooding
expression. “Don’t give into what I see in your face, Vivian. Eli
has been lenient in allowing you to live, much less stay with us.
It’s not like him at all. If he found out you contacted your
family, there will be Hell to pay.”

Vivvie tensed, knowing Eli had little
liking for her. “How can I live with what I’m doing to them?” she
sobbed and buried her face in her hands, her heart breaking to know
she had no choice.

“
You need to think very hard
about what you spare them from, Vivian,” he reminded her sadly. “I
know it’s painful, but it’s for your own good and yours. You would
never forgive yourself if you hurt them.”

Vivvie wiped at her tears, feeling like
an idiot for carrying on about it. The shock of seeing her face on
USA Today subsided. Raw pain was felt to know her parents feared
the worst, but Ty was right.

There was no going back for her. She
imagined shifting in G’s when a regular stiffed her for a tip, and
smiled slightly. No, she had a lot to learn before she even
contemplated the outside world again.

“
I promise, one day you will
learn to live with it,” Ty said and turned off on the mountain
road. “Embrace your nature, Vivian. It’s the only way to get passed
this.”

“
How do I do that?” she
asked curiously, eyes dry now.

“
You allow instincts to
develop as they will. Don’t fight them. Give into your desires as
well. If you know anything about cats, you know they’re determined
to have their way in things,” he said and his large hand covered
hers warmly. “Let your inner kitty out, Vivian. She is coming out
anyway whether you like it or not.”

Vivvie chuckled at his words. “Let my
inner kitty out, huh? I’ll have to think about that.”

Ty’s eyes darkened at her words,
growing slightly dilated. The hand covering hers slid away as if
burned. He looked back at the road for a time and when they turned
off onto the two track road. He gazed at her with a serious look in
his face once more.

“
Think long and hard before
you make the mistake of crossing Eli, Vivian,” Ty warned. “He puts
the tribe ahead of everything. He won’t bend on these rules. I
wouldn’t like to see you hurt.”

He used what looked like a garage door
opener to click the elevator open. He drove inside and saw her
pensive expression as the doors closed behind them.

“
I won’t do anything to
bring any risk to anyone, I promise,” Vivvie said, and meant it. Ty
was right, as always.

“
Alright, you need to let me
take you get you something to eat,” Ty said. “Hunger also brings on
the shift, Vivian. You would be surprised what we will eat if we’re
hungry.”

Vivvie smiled at his words and was
tempted to giggle. Just thinking of what she ate for breakfast
again made her silently agree. Yes, she had a lot to
learn.

Ty hefted their burdens from Sam’s. He
took Vivvie to the dining room, and showed her to the kitchens in
the back. She was in awe of the huge industrial-sized kitchen with
its walk-in freezer and refrigerator. Her eyes widened at the
stockpiled shelves packed with canned goods.

There were two Viking ovens there. A
huge butcher-block island stood in the center, with pots and pans
dangling from hooks above. A huge dishwasher hummed, reminding them
they were too late for lunch.

Ty set his purchases down on the island
counter and left the receipt there. He opened the refrigerator and
went inside. He returned with two raw steaks and two bottled
waters. Vivvie swallowed hard at the sight of the steaks, but when
he put hers on a plate and retrieved her silverware, she was
practically drooling.

Ty watched her gobble down her steak in
amusement. She only used a fork for his benefit. It was gone before
he cut up half of his. His golden eyes filled with
amusement.

“
I guess you got over your
aversion to raw meat,” he teased. “Now tell me if that wasn’t
better than a Whopper with cheese?”

Vivvie wasn’t listening to him,
watching his steak with a hopeful expression. “Are you gonna eat
all that?”

He smiled and picked up a piece of raw
steak, bringing it to her lips, watching her eat it with his golden
eyes glowing in appreciation. “I bet that deer sounds good about
now too.”

“
Shut up and feed me,” she
said, ravenous as he cut another piece off and brought it to her
lips again.

“
Vivian, why didn’t you tell
me you made the change?” he asked while she was chewing.

She coughed slightly, swallowed and saw
his amused expression. “How did you know?”

“
The cut on your hand is
gone,” he said knowingly and gazed down into her face with a
maddening smile. “And you have a bit of a glow you didn’t have
before. It comes on with the change. You will find your hair gets
thicker and grows fast, fingernails grow faster too, and you don’t
feel the cold the same as before. It’s been a while since I saw a
human go through it, I apologize. None of us thought to
explain.”

Vivvie felt his eyes on her and
shrugged. “I just wanted to sit with it for a bit.”

“
Now you need to learn to
control the shift.”

“
How?” she asked, eyes
glowing with interest. “I can hardly remember anything while it
happened.”

“
That is the true trick of
it, to focus while you shift, or you become the animal you are,” Ty
said sadly. “Now do you see? You could have killed someone and not
even known it. Do you see why we can’t mix with humans
now?”

“
But you’re aware while
you’re the other way,” she protested.

“
I’m nearly three hundred
years old, Vivian. You’re one day old!” he scolded gently and shook
his head. “You’re literally like a big kitten now; no sense at
all.”

“
Teach me to control it,”
she asked with excitement in her eyes. “I ate my couch and drank
from the toilet. I need help with this.”

Ty chuckled and cut her another piece
of steak, his golden eyes sliding over her expectant features.
“Alright, we will go up and I’ll teach you to control it so you’re
not wrecking your room. You might have told me before we went to
town. As upset as you were after the bookstore; you could have
shifted in front of everyone.”

“
It was kind of personal for
me. I’m sorry,” she said guiltily.

“
Rule number one, unless you
want to run out of clothes very fast, take nothing but a bathrobe
up with us,” he said, seeing her face turn red. “Sorry, but we
shift in the buff. If you’re shy, you might want to leave clothes
outside where you can find them, or everybody will get an
eyeful.”