The Shark Who Rode a Seahorse (15 page)

112

Scarlet Hyacinth

With the same helicopter he’d arrived in, Byron headed over the ocean. Once he was a good distance away from the coast, he jumped into the water without even bothering to lower himself to the surface.

He swam deeply into the ocean, feeling both apprehensive and free at the same time. Before, he’d never gotten the chance to shift so close to the continent. Now, he would at last use his power for the good of his kin. It was strange.

Casting aside all his doubts, Byron shifted into his shark form. His body grew and grew, until he at last transformed into the creature humans recreated in documentaries about the prehistoric age.

Following his acute senses, Byron headed toward the place the ships were anchored in. Two large carrier vessels, they were meant to be scanning the water for anything that might be lurking in its depths.

But the navy certainly wouldn’t be expecting something like Byron.

Byron gathered there would be sensors that would detect his approach and, indeed, as he approached the first ship, he heard people shouting above him. His keen hearing deciphered the words even from the great depth. “I think a submarine is coming in.”

“Try to identify the approaching sub. If it doesn’t respond to our transmissions, prepare the depth charges.”

If he’d been in human form, Byron would have snorted. Sharks had thick skin, and while the depth charges might hurt, they wouldn’t be able to kill him or incapacitate him. Perhaps they’d have been able to injure an actual shark, but not a shape-shifter like Byron.

Furthermore, whatever wound he received would heal before the humans even tried to inflict another one.

The message the humans sent failed to reach him, but either way, it wouldn’t have mattered. He approached at full speed and broke out of the water, going for the most impressive entrance he could come up with. His huge fangs tore into the ship deck, without irremediably damaging it. He was going for frightening and pointing out the potential danger, not actually killing people.

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The humans screamed, but to their credit, stood their ground.

Many retrieved their guns and directed them at Byron. Byron focused his entire abilities and with a thought, sent a wave of paralysis over the ship.

It was strikingly easy. The humans instantly froze, their fingers on the triggers of their guns. Satisfied, Byron shifted into his legged form and jumped onto the ship.

He saw the horror in the humans’ eyes as he approached them, but they couldn’t even make their vocal cords work to express it. Byron scanned the area for the person who seemed to be in charge.

Thankfully, the navy made things easy due to the difference in uniforms. Byron grinned when he spotted the commanding officer.

He made his way to the man’s side and wrapped his arm around the captain’s shoulder in a mock-friendly gesture. He allowed the paralysis to dwindle off the human. “Let’s have a talk, shall we, Captain?”

“I’m not talking to something like you,” the human shot back.

Byron glared at him, putting his most frightening face on. “Oh, I think you will. If not, I’ll eat you, your ship, and your men, and just go to your colleagues on other ships. Would you want that?”

Technically speaking, he couldn’t actually eat the ship—it was far too big—but he could destroy it, and the captain obviously knew it.

Besides, even without his words, the power Byron exuded made the military man cave. In a way, Byron admired the human simply because he’d stood his ground. That didn’t mean he would have any qualms in doing what he’d come here to do. Even if paralyzing his prey had been easy, actually keeping the humans under control proved to be quite difficult, due to their large number. For that reason and many others, Byron needed to hasten things along.

“You see, Captain, I have a problem with how your boss is acting.

I’m not very happy with my kin being hunted.”

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Scarlet Hyacinth

“It is your kin that attacked first,” the man said, apparently finding a sliver of courage. “We’re taking steps to ensure the safety of our great nation.”

Byron frowned. “Is that so? Well, let me tell you something, Captain. We’ve lived among humans for thousands of years. The fact that one fanatic chose to reveal our existence matters very little.” He shrugged. “At any rate, it’s not you I need to convince.”

Byron suppressed a grimace. The strain of keeping three thousand men paralyzed was getting to him. He focused on his bond with his mate, and as always, Skylar was there, anchoring him.
“I love you,
Byron,”
the seahorse said.
“You can do this.”

The words instilled even more conviction inside Byron.

Thankfully, he wasn’t forced to hold on to the paralysis for too long.

His own people climbed onto the ship. The CO gaped at the sight and Byron snorted. “You didn’t think I’d come alone, did you? Now, lead me to the radio room. I need to have a word with Commander in Chief.”

This time, he didn’t even try to be polite in any way. The human swallowed and nodded. As Malcolm led his men around, knocking humans out with smoke grenades, the captain directed Byron to the main communications room. Byron felt somewhat amused as he saw all the people on the ship frozen in what they’d been doing. With every man Malcolm took out of commission, Byron’s headache was subsiding, and Skylar’s soothing presence at the back of his mind took care of the rest.

Apparently, the staff of the carrier had reported Byron’s appearance to other troops, as the soldiers in questions were wildly trying to reestablish contact. “Answer it,” Byron ordered the CO.

The human did. “Base, this is Captain James Harrington, from the USS The Pearl, reporting in.”

“What’s going on there, Harrington?” a male voice asked. “Your men reported a submarine. The last message spoke of a sea monster, and then nothing. What’s happening?”

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“The ship has been taken over by a…” Harrington looked at Byron. Grinning, Byron mouthed “diplomat.” Obediently, Harrington finished his phrase, “a diplomat.”

“Captain Harrington, please repeat that.”

“A diplomat, Sir.”

“What does this person want?”

Byron gestured for the CO to hand him over the receiver. “Just a discussion with your Commander in Chief. We’re both reasonable men, and I’m sure we can reach an agreement.”

“Sir, this is General Wilson, of the US Navy. Please identify yourself.”

Byron almost chuckled at the authoritative tone. The man was used to being obeyed, but so was Byron. He didn’t have anything to hide, though. He’d come here knowing he would need to reveal certain aspects of his life, but it couldn’t be helped. “Byron Cunningham. A pleasure, General. Now, no offense to you, but I’m a man with limited time at his disposal. Please direct me to the president.”

“I’m not in the habit of facilitating conversations between terrorists and the president, Mr. Cunningham,” the general shouted.

“You want to hear about terror?” Byron replied calmly. “Turn on the television, General Wilson. You’ll see my kin being hunted, innocent people who haven’t done anything wrong, citizens of the United States, just like you.”

“The United States is a nation of humans, not abominations.”

“Oh? Where does it say shape-shifters are excluded from citizenship?” Byron was getting more and more frustrated. “I’m not going to get into a debate with you. Direct me to the president, or the United States will find themselves with a very big problem on their hands, starting with this ship and its staff.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“Take it as you like, a threat or a promise. And I don’t make promises I can’t keep.”

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Scarlet Hyacinth

Knowing he didn’t have a choice, he mentally told Skylar,
“Give
the go ahead for Nicolas and Garth.”

It was the easiest way to contact his people without having the humans here knowing. Through their connection, Skylar could find out everything that was going on, even without actually being here.

“I’m calling Nico now,
” Skylar said.

Once more, Byron put his hopes into his friends. Their plan was reckless at best, but they didn’t have any other choice but to go through with it.

* * * *

“It’s a go,” Skylar told Nicolas. “Take care, Nico, all right? If you can’t get in, don’t risk it.”

Nicolas grinned. “Don’t worry, Skylar. We’ll be fine.”

He ended the connection with his friend and looked at the people around him. His clan had all come upon his request, both because they owed him and due to the fact that the current elder, Sara, acknowledged the necessity.

Nicolas had grown up in the rainforest as a warrior strongly bound to his roots. His people venerated their Aztec ancestors, and for that reason, they’d made many mistakes. Sara was working on fixing that.

However, having Rick Carver reveal the existence of shape-shifters changed many priorities. Even if Nicolas still hadn’t forgotten about what they’d done—hell, he still had the scar to make him remember—now was the time to be united.

For this reason, they’d gathered in the city of Washington DC.

The state of affairs was critical, especially since the panic over shape-shifters had spread beyond the borders of the United States. The president had pulled in the big guns and had the army guarding all key locations, including the White House.

However, what the president didn’t expect was a clan of insect-sized hummingbirds. “Let’s do this,” Nicolas told his kin.

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Everyone began to shift into their second forms.
“Be careful,
Nico,”
Garth said through his connection with Nicolas.
“If you don’t
manage to reach your goal, get out of there.”

“Trust me,”
Nicolas replied.
“We’ll be fine.”
They had to be.

Byron Cunningham was counting on them, as were shape-shifters in the whole world, whether they knew it or not.

Nicolas melted into his hummingbird form, and their group flew out of the building they’d stationed themselves in, a private residence of a wealthy oil magnate. The man didn’t even know about it, and any inspection of the grounds would be useless.

Their task force here in DC managed to establish a temporary base of operations in the subway underground, but down there, communications were unreliable. They’d agreed to stay in contact through Garth’s connection with Nicolas. It might have been easier to attempt this at night, but every second that passed, a shape-shifter could be killed. Byron had done his best to organize their little army as quickly as possible, emphasizing the need to strike fast. Nicolas agreed. They couldn’t allow the thing that had happened to Carson to repeat itself.

Once Nicolas and his group infiltrated The White House, they would kill the alarms and take out most of the security. The second group would arrive after that as backup. Nicolas was counting on them. The werewolves in particular were itching for a fight after what had been done to their pack lands. The attack on Carson and Angel also pissed everyone off. Thankfully, Soren and his pack had managed to get away unhurt, and they’d now joined the task force as well.

It was the closest thing to a coup d’état shape-shifters had ever attempted, and the responsibility weighed heavily on Nicolas.

Still, once he turned into a hummingbird, he found it strikingly easy to go in mission mode. All the possible bad outcomes vanished from his mind, and only the bond with his mate lingered, a comforting golden thread that gave him strength.

118

Scarlet Hyacinth

The military had, indeed, gone all out in attempting to secure the White House. However, they obviously hadn’t expected shape-shifters Nicolas’s size, and the hummingbird group slipped past all their defenses unnoticed.

As was planned, Nicolas and his kin infiltrated the air vents, the smallest ones where not even the slimmest of cat burglars could fit in and heat sensors couldn’t detect them. Hummingbirds were too small, and even if alarm systems did catch their trace, something very unlikely, the humans would decide it was a false alarm. Of course, the plan wasn’t foolproof, but it worked like a charm. A part of the clan went in search of the Oval Office, while the rest scattered around the vents, their mission to destroy the alarms protecting the property.

Actually finding the president was the real problem. They didn’t know if the man was even here or if he’d left the office for a more secure location. As it turned out, they needn’t have worried.

The human had indeed stayed inside the office and was on the phone with someone. “No, I will not make any deals with freaks of nature. They’re bluffing. Stand your ground, General.”

Nicolas realized the conversation must be about Byron. Well, it was Nicolas’s purpose here to add a further dose of persuasion to their cause.

Slowly, but surely, he and his clan slipped out of the air vents and into the room. The president was so caught up in his conversation that he didn’t even sense them coming. Nicolas flew so close he was almost over the president’s shoulder. Around him, his kin fluttered inches from the floor, just out of sight.

Finally, the president ended the conversation and set down the receiver angrily. The moment the head of state terminated the call, Nicolas placed a hand on the human’s shoulder and another on his mouth.

The man tensed and Nicolas forcibly turned him around. “Shh,”

Nicolas said, grinning. “We’re not here to harm you.”

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The president took in the presence of the people in his office.

Given that Nicolas and his companions were nude, it wouldn’t be hard to figure out who they were. The president’s eyes flew to his desk, where undoubtedly the alarm button was located. Nicolas chuckled lowly. “I don’t think so, Mr. President. Even if you do push that button, no one will come. My friends and I have made sure of it.