Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The scent hadn’t hit, and the noise was at least several miles away. Luckily, the falcon couldn’t hear us—as birds didn’t have exceptional hearing like wolves and angels—but their vision was better.
"We need to get out of here before that falcon finds us." Granted, the bird might not be working for our enemy—but we couldn’t risk it. "Rosemary, when you get back to Griffin’s, we can make more concrete plans. It’s probably better if Carter doesn’t know the details in case anyone comes poking around ahead of time."
"True," Rosemary agreed and picked up Carter, throwing him over her shoulder as her black wings sprouted from her back.
"What the—" he gasped, and she placed a hand over his mouth as his eyes grew wide. She took flight, using the trees as cover, flying in the opposite direction from the bird. She flapped her wings hard and disappeared from our sights within seconds.
Killian chuckled. "That was one way of handling it."
"At least she knew to stay hidden, but we better change the subject." I walked back toward the Navigator.
"Shouldn’t we stay out here for a little while?" Killian asked as he glanced at the sky. "Not that I want to."
Ideally, we would go deeper into the woods for a hike to keep up our pretenses. "The bird could be leading others over to attack us. Maybe they caught on that Carter was alerting us to their plans and this was the true strategy." Too much was at risk to stay, including the memories that haunted Killian.
"You’re right." Killian nodded.
Let me take the lead. You’re the one they’re after, so please let me lead with Killian following you. Griffin moved in front, not bothering to wait for my answer.
I wanted to argue, because he’d only pretended to run that by me, but we didn’t have time to spare. All it would potentially do was put us in more danger, and I cared too much about these two to let pride get in my way. I swallowed the hurt feelings, even though the lump in my throat refused to go down. Being an alpha wolf myself, I didn’t like people taking decisions away from me.
I stayed between the two men, focusing on getting back to the car. We moved at a much quicker pace than we had when entering the woods, so if the bird caught up to us, we’d be safely around others.
The next kak sounded much closer because he did have the advantage of traveling through the sky, but he wasn’t gaining as much on us as he might expect. The three of us were comfortable in nature, and even in unfamiliar territory, we could cover a lot of ground quickly.
Water splashing could be heard, which meant that we were nearing the lake with the bears and the vampires. Right now, they’d be a welcome sight…even with the vampires’ hateful expressions.
When the trees began to thin, my heart returned to a normal rhythm. We would definitely make it back before anyone could attack.
Sprinting even faster, we reached the tree line in minutes. Griffin slowed down before the other supernaturals could see us. They’d probably heard our approach, but that shouldn’t seem odd due to the kind of supernaturals we were. The only thing that might seem strange was the short amount of time we’d been gone; wolves tended to enjoy running for a while, not minutes.
As expected, the vampires looked at us with varying puzzled expressions. One was visibly upset, stroking his short beard while watching us the entire way to the vehicle.
The three of us pretended to not notice their stares, our focus on getting to the Navigator. When my hand clutched the door handle, the falcon flew overhead.
Unable to stop myself, I looked up and saw a mostly white-feathered falcon. He didn’t seem to be paying any attention to us as he swooped down toward the bear shifter couple, who were locked in a lingering kiss.
He landed right in the girl’s thick black hair, causing her to jerk back and swat at him. She yelled, "Ollie! What the hell?"
As I climbed into the vehicle, my body sagged in the seat. I was so paranoid, every bird shifter was potentially evil. That was how prejudice started—but right now we had to be careful. When this was all over, I would befriend some bird shifters and prove to myself that most of them were good.
Dad had told me over and over that the main problem with our supernatural world was that we were still segregated; we lived independently from one another and came together only when necessary. When I first got to Shadow Ridge, I’d found his words hard to believe, especially that first day at the university. The place was full of all kinds of supernaturals, and I knew the council was a mixed bag as well. But the longer I stayed, the more his words began to make sense. Each race was fighting for their best interests and not for the greater good of the community. Shadow City had started as a refuge, but when the angels took over, they’d recruited and let in only the strongest supernaturals in the world. The original intent of a safe haven had been thrown out the door.
"All that, and he came to hang out with bear shifters." Killian shut his door. "I’m not complaining, though. I’d rather we be severely risk-averse and alive instead of the alternative."
"Now that’s something we agree on." Griffin put the car in drive. "I feel like we haven’t been on the same page lately."
"Why? Because of Carter?" Killian huffed.
I did not want to hear this argument again. "That’s the only thing you two disagree on. So please, stop. I don’t have the energy to listen to you bicker like an old married couple again."
No one responded, and Griffin placed his hand back on my thigh.
You better be glad I love you, Griffin teased, and pretended to glare at me. Because if I didn’t , I might accuse you of taking his side.
I ’ve made it clear that I agree with him on this one. I kissed his cheek, not wanting to truly upset him. So, there.
Yeah, I know. He watched the road once again, and the rest of the ride was silent.
"Where the hell is she?" Griffin paced in front of the couch and loveseat. "You’d think she’d be back by now."
"Chill." Sierra snorted as she plopped next to me on the loveseat, taking Griffin’s usual spot. She smelled of grease from her shift at the bar. "I’ve only been here for ten minutes, and you’ve already got me so tense that I might snap at any second."
"That’s my spot," he growled and pointed at her.
"You weren’t sitting here." She stuck out her tongue. "That means it’s fair game."
Moments like these were my favorite. These were the small pockets of time where things felt almost normal. They were the ones that gave me enough hope and strength to waddle through the shit. A little bit of clarity among the chaos.
Killian entered the room with the burger Sierra had brought for him. "Did you roll around in the fryer before coming here? We could smell the grease on you before you even walked in."
"Don’t hate." She lifted her head high. "Unlike you two, some of us have to serve bar food in order to make ends meet."
"Hey, we work hard, too." Killian gestured his burger in my direction. "It’s a full-time job keeping this one alive. I swear I’ve never worked this hard, even when Dad was alive."
"Does that mean when things calm down, you’re officially going to take over?" Sierra tugged at her bottom lip. "The both of you?"
I already knew Griffin’s answer, but I’d never directly asked Killian. We didn’t get alone time as we had before, with Griffin, Rosemary, and Sierra always around.
"Sterlyn and I have already discussed this." Griffin winked at me. "When we’ve taken down the enemy, we’re going to continue Dad’s original plans and make some of our own."
"Really?" She faced me. "I love this. You two will make a fierce team." She leaned closer to me and whispered, despite her voice still being loud enough for Griffin and Killian to hear, "Honestly, you’re the one I’m excited to see lead. You keep his head on straight…and girl power."
"I’m standing right here," Griffin deadpanned.
"Oh, she knows." I bumped my shoulder into hers. "She’s trying to get a rise out of you."
"True, but I did mean it." Sierra blew her bangs out of her face and focused on Killian. "Now, what about you?"
"Yeah, I think it’s time I stop being afraid." Killian inhaled. "It’s important that we protect this part of Shadow City, and with Griffin and Sterlyn in charge, I feel like it’s time for me to step up and take my rightful place. How do you think Billy is going to take it?"
Sierra snorted loudly. "He’ll be dancing the macarena."
Killian pursed his lips. "You think so?"
"Don’t get me wrong, he’s been a great leader in your absence, but he doesn’t have that alpha edge." Sierra shrugged. "You’ll be fine. He is an amazing second-hand. Your dad always said so."
Feet landed outside the back door, and Rosemary entered the house.
"What the hell took you so long?" Griffin bellowed as he pivoted toward her.
He should have known better than to talk to her that way. The angel wouldn’t put up with that kind of attitude.
"Excuse me?" Rosemary turned her head in his direction and pointed at her ear. "I did hear ‘thank you,’ and ‘how did everything go’, right?"
"No." Sierra leaned forward, shaking her head wildly. "You did not. In fact, you heard—"
"He might not have said it, but I will." We didn’t need to alienate the one person who gave us an edge—especially when the other side had crows, bear shifters, and wolves. And those were the ones we knew about. "Thank you. I hope Carter didn’t drive you too insane on the flight back to wherever you dropped him off." He lived somewhere in this neighborhood, but I didn’t know where.
"Oh, it went fine." A rare smile flitted across her face, making her even more breathtaking. "Covering his mouth was something I should’ve done from the get-go, and I may have given him a little hint of what could happen if I have to take him somewhere again and he screams."
Killian frowned, but that didn’t stop him from taking another huge bite of his burger. With a full mouth, he asked, "Wha dijoo do?"
"I may have dropped him from ten feet up when he whimpered loudly." Rosemary rubbed her ears. "I can’t handle him being a freaking lunatic anymore. I think he learned his lesson."
"Did he get hurt?" He shouldn’t have, but with Carter, anything was possible.
"No. It may have stung a little when his feet hit the ground." She shrugged. "No biggie."
"Can we focus here?" Griffin massaged his temples. "We need to make sure we have a solid plan for tomorrow. I am personally against this plan, but obviously, I’m outvoted."
"Outvoted doesn’t matter." This was my decision. No one else’s. "I’m the one putting my life at risk."
"Exactly," Griffin growled.
"What about that bird?" Rosemary asked, and then snatched Killian’s burger from his hands. She took a large bite out of it before handing it back to him and sitting on the other side of the couch.
He blinked several times, looking from his burger to the angel. "What the hell just happened?"
"What?" Rosemary asked and lifted both hands. "I’m hungry."
Sierra laughed. "I brought you a burger too. It’s in the kitchen."
"Thank God." Rosemary sighed. "Because that’s really good."
"It’s from Dick’s." Sierra wrinkled her nose. "Which I hate to say, but see—if you angels tried some of the shifter restaurants, you might find that you like them."
Even though shifters would eat at each other’s restaurants, we still kept to our own races. No other supernaturals frequented shifter establishments.
A pink hue tinted Griffin’s face.
He might spontaneously combust if we didn’t keep on track. This was hard enough on him even without their squirrel moments. "We’re pretty sure the falcon wasn’t spying or scouting us out. He playfully attacked a bear shifter couple who were making out."
"Okay, good. But I’ll be careful and go to campus early to scan for any suspicious birds or anything else before I hide in a tree." Rosemary licked her lips. "We all need to take precautions."
"We rented a car on the way home." Griffin’s jaw twitched. "And parked it in the lot. Killian and Sierra will get there early, as well, and I’ll sneak over after walking Sterlyn in like normal."
Rosemary nodded. "Good—that’s key. We have to make everything appear completely normal."
Easier said than done. Tomorrow morning, I’d be riddled with anxiety…but I’d have to hide it. "So, I play the part of the unsuspecting target." I only hoped that I didn’t wind up in a trunk again. That had been horrible and hot.
"How the hell is Carter going to pull off you taking out the garbage?" Sierra sat back and crossed her legs. "I mean, every business that serves food takes the garbage out each night. How is he going to justify a morning trash run?"
"That isn’t my problem." I shrugged, at a loss.
"It’s Carter." A vein in Griffin’s neck stuck out. "You can’t count on him to figure out something like that. He’s an idiot."
"In all fairness, he did get me into the supply closet and drug me." I hated to admit it, but the truth was just that.
The truth.
"I’m sure we can find something to throw out." One more thing to determine in the morning.
Can I talk to you? Griffin asked, his mesmerizing eyes locking with mine as his feelings of anxiety and worry slammed into me. Alone?
Crap. Of course. I stood, wishing I could tell him no. But I couldn’t. I knew how concerned he was about this plan, and I needed to hear him out. I just hoped the rest of our night wouldn’t be ruined.