Two
Riley
Months of detailed research, calling in favors, and combing through this area came down to this final chance. I had a feeling, with how the curse was tightening around me, that I was running out of time to break free of Boyce and rescue my mom.
My gut was tightening with worry the later it got with no sign of an entry point. Everything I’d done couldn’t be for nothing! I needed to get inside!
Having circled this road about a million times before, I was pretty sure I hadn’t missed the entrance to the town I’d heard stood here. I couldn’t have. My search had been as meticulous as the curse would allow. This was what I needed: a way to have a break from this curse.
Somewhere in these woods was my salvation, or rather, a town where I was sure to find my freedom. In the old forest, there was a sanctuary for people like me: supernaturals in need of help.
Rumor said it was here. That it had been set in this very spot for a reason.
In a valley between the peaks, an entire concealed place teeming with supernaturals of all types, living harmoniously.
Everyone was welcome if they had good intentions, though they didn’t make finding an entrance simple.
Decades ago, it would have been easy to find it, but with more technology and groups popping up who wanted to hunt us, the sanctuary had to protect itself.
If you could find it, you could make it your new home.
The magic that surrounded the area was the first thing I noticed.
Each time I came to this area, I felt it as it prickled over my skin.
There were other signs of high magical density aside from how it lingered in the air.
All the towns nearby were strangely fertile with crops, had low incidence of disease, the people lived longer lives, and they had a shockingly low crime rate.
Then there were the animal sightings and the occasional out-of-place noises I’d heard while wandering the woods.
Those were evidence enough of the supernatural.
No, there was something… off about the area, though it was probably to be expected with so many supernaturals in one place. I was certain I’d found the right place. I just hadn’t banked on it taking so long to find a way in.
The curse had me running out of options.
There weren’t many towns nearby that I hadn’t briefly called home.
My car was making a suspicious noise and needed to be checked out soon, or I’d have to abandon it and my trailer to the mounds of snow at the edge of the road and head off for help in fur.
Which was less than ideal, considering that the nearest place I hadn’t stayed in was about forty miles away.
No, I had to find the opening today. I couldn’t risk a human seeing a bobcat running around with a backpack on, or worse, a bear out of season. I had to avoid attention.
Snow fell in a thick flurry, darkening the late morning sky to the point I needed lights on to see despite my heightened senses.
The road was slick and treacherous. I was crawling along, hoping against logic that I’d find where I needed to go.
I needed help. Surely that meant fate would be kind.
I prayed to gods I wasn’t sure I believed in to help me.
To concentrate better, I turned down the radio, thoroughly sick of Christmas songs and the host’s bubbly voice in between. The quiet inside made the rumbling sounds from the engine sound worse. I nearly turned it back up again, but I needed to focus.
Suddenly, my car hit then skidded on a patch of ice, pointing the nose at a path, barely a track, that I’d missed on my many trips down this road.
Taking it as a much-needed sign, and offering up a prayer of thanks to the fates, I turned the car onto it, crawling along as the trees on either side hemmed me in.
It was almost fully dark here with the canopy of ancient firs and thick snow falling.
With my hands gripping the worn steering wheel, and peering into the darkness, I willed the car to just hang on until there was somewhere safe to stop.
I pushed on, fear making my heart hammer in my chest. Praying to whatever deity who had listened to my last plea, I wished for safety and warmth.
It wasn’t quite December, but it was so cold that the heater in my car was struggling to keep me warm.
If I’d had a form with fur that I could drive in, then I would have shifted.
The magic always seemed to keep me warm.
The road seemed to last forever, making me doubt my sanity for following it so far. I was about to attempt to turn around and head back when I felt it.
An intense pressure fell over me when I hit a barrier.
Of course the town was warded! I took a deep breath and put my foot down on the gas.
“Please, please, please!” I muttered under my breath.
With a shudder, the car jolted forward, breaking through and crossing over the threshold into more woodland.
Only now the road was wider, the snow wasn’t as heavy, and I could see the weak winter sun.
Blinking at the sudden brightness, I stopped the car just to the side of the road, where a small lot lay with markers for hiking trails. The engine stalled and then cut out completely just as I got it and the trailer cleared off the road.
“Fuck!”
I pounded on the steering wheel before I tried turning over the engine again.
Nothing. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” I yelled into the quiet of the car.
Even the radio had gone dead. Rationally, I’d known that the car was in danger of doing exactly what it was doing.
I’d just hoped to be closer to civilization when it crapped out on me.
With a sigh, I got out and shivered in the freezing air. Thankfully, the snow had slowed to a light dusting. I got my backpack out of the back seat and checked it for everything important. Phone, keys to the trailer, wallet, and some clothes.
After making sure that the trailer and my car were secure, I started down the road toward the sounds and smells of the town below.
I’d made it! Relief threatened to make my knees weak.
I fought against a wave of hope surging in my chest. If they couldn’t help me…
No, I pushed that thought away. After all my work to get here, there had to be something someone could do.
Even if they couldn’t break the curse, maybe I could come up with another plan. I had to stay positive.
Down below me, the town stretched out. I had to admit, on first impression, Greyhaven was pretty nice.
The sanctuary town of Greyhaven seemed to be in a bowl in the middle of the mountains.
It was far larger than I’d anticipated. There were a number of large buildings, some of which could only be schools, a hospital, maybe even a fire station.
There was a busy street, maybe with stores.
From this distance, it was difficult to see it clearly.
I guess it made sense that they’d be as self-sufficient as possible, being that they were so isolated.
In my time in the nearby towns and cities, I’d never heard of anyone from this place.
Most of it was “a friend of a friend” lived there.
No solid information. No wonder it had taken me so long to find it.
Of course, it was pure dumb luck when I had.
If I hadn’t skidded, I would never have caught that trail.
I shivered and pulled my coat tighter around me. It felt like the temperature had dropped, so while I was walking, I should have felt a little warmer; I was getting colder with every step.
Taking my backpack off, I adjusted it and set it down to let the familiar feeling of the shift come over me.
I went for my bobcat form, grateful for the wide paws on the snowy road, and the thick fur keeping me warm.
I was lucky I didn’t have to strip to shift.
My clothes went with me if I wished them to.
I picked up the pack in my teeth and started off down the road.
I didn’t like to shift with my pack on because it made me feel cramped, like it was stretching the magic that held the shift too thin.
Instead, I just had to deal with carrying it.
It was cumbersome, but more comfortable than shifting with it.
I walked cautiously, my pace slow. It was maybe ten minutes later, and a mile closer to the town, that I heard it—the wafting sound wings made as they flapped.
I looked up, my keen hearing in this form easily picking out the direction it was coming from.
My sharper eyesight soon spotted it overhead.
I had to look twice, sure I was hallucinating.
There was no way. The cold had to be getting to me.
Up above, and quickly coming closer, was an honest to goodness motherfucking dragon!
My tail puffed with fright, and my hackles rose. I darted into the woods that lined the trail as the dragon found a spot to land.
No wonder no one knew anyone from this town if this was their welcoming squad. What kind of sanctuary sent a fucking dragon to supernaturals in need of help?
I was regretting all my life’s choices as it landed. From my place under a bush, I kept as still as possible. I barely breathed in the hope the dragon would take off again.
The beast landed carefully. It was huge, taking up most of both lanes of the road.
It was a mix of purples and blues with piercing green eyes.
As soon as it was on the ground, its wings tucked in, and it shifted into a young man.
He was tall, lean, with sleek black hair that kept falling into his face.
He pushed it back with an impatient hand.
His magic must have been like mine, since he was clothed, though in a police uniform with no jacket to fend off the growing chill.
“I can smell you. We mean you no harm,” he called into the dense undergrowth where I stood hiding from sight.
We? That couldn’t be good.
Behind the dragon, a vehicle pulled up. Somehow, in my panic over the fucking dragon, I’d missed the car approaching.
The SUV was better prepared for the snow than my beat-up truck was.
It had snow chains on the tires, for a start.
Then I noticed it was a police car. Fuck.
I was in deep shit. Did they not want me here?
I’d hoped I could get some help, but it seemed like this was just another dead end.
Inside, there were two men, both with features similar to the dark-haired dragon. I wondered vaguely if they were related.
The driver’s window rolled down. “Any sign?” the driver called to the dragon that was still staring in my direction.
“I can smell a shifter. Their scent is weird. Caught sight of a cat rushing into the undergrowth there.” He pointed unerringly at me.
“Hey,” the driver shouted toward me. “It’s too cold to be out here. Come out and we’ll take you into town so we can all get warmed up.”
“Fucking right,” the passenger said to the driver, my sensitive ears picking up the words. “It’s fucking freezing.”
“My brother’s right. It’s much too cold. You’re safe here.” This time, the dragon spoke again. Brother, he said. So the driver was a dragon too. I’d never heard of multiple dragons in one place. I thought they were solitary creatures.
Staying still was beginning to hurt as the cold leeched all the warmth from me. I shifted to speak but stayed where I was, still partially hidden behind a tree. “I need sanctuary. My car is dead.”
“You can have it,” the first dragon assured me. “I’m Tatsuya. The deputy chief of police.”
“Chief of police, huh? Quite the welcome wagon.” I smirked, though he wouldn’t be able to see. Or at least he couldn’t pick me out in the shadows of the trees.
“Deputy. My sister is the chief.” Tatsuya took a few steps closer, peering into the winter gloom to find me. “I was going to be the quickest, and the weather’s been shit, so…” Tatsuya shrugged. “You coming?”
“Am I really safe here? You’ll help me?”
“Dude, Greyhaven works miracles.”