Chapter 16
Grim
Wren’s whole face lights up, and she laughs.
“What is it?” I ask.
“You’re not going to believe it.” She grins at me.
“What’s going on?” Sally asks. “You look like a kid at Christmas.”
“That’s because I am one.” Wren reaches into her jeans pocket and pulls out her cellphone. She holds it up. “Ta da!”
Holy shit.
I want to kiss her. Right here, right now.
Sally gasps. “You are a lifesaver, Wren!” she yells. “I can’t believe you have your—”
“Shhhh!” Wren presses a finger to her lips, her eyes darting toward the door. “If they hear us, they’ll take it away,” she whispers.
Sally nods. “Good point. That is a lucky break.”
“It is. I dropped my purse out there, and they must have assumed that this was in it.” She whispers. “They didn’t think to check my pockets.”
“Why would they?” Sally whispers. “You gave them your keycard. They got what they wanted.”
“Freaking genius,” I tell her.
Wren shakes her head. “More like self-preservation. I didn’t do it to keep this.” She holds up the phone. “I forgot it was even there. I stuffed it in my pocket when I decided to join you guys. I felt it there as I sat down.”
“What are we going to do?” Sally asks, her eyes on the door.
“Who do we call?” Wren asks. “Draig Security already knows what’s going on, but we could give them insider info.”
“That’s a good idea,” I say.
“I’d like to speak with my husband,” Sally says, her voice catching. “To let him know I’m okay. He’s probably losing his mind right now.”
There aren’t many people I trust on the island. I decide to call the one I trust the most.
“Can I call Councilor Drake? He’s a friend. He’ll pass on information to the relevant parties.” I turn to Sally. “You can call your husband as soon as I’m done. I promise to keep it brief.”
Both women look at me with wide eyes.
“You know Councilor Drake?” Wren asks. “Personally?”
“Yeah.” I shrug. “We go way back. If anyone can help us, it’s Drake.”
“That’s fantastic. It’s a good idea.” Sally nods. “Yes. You should call him. My husband can wait a few more minutes.”
Wren hands me the phone after swiping to open it.
I navigate to the dial pad with my bound wrists. I punch in Drake’s number and hit call.
It rings twice before he picks up.
“Hello?” He sounds unsure. “Can I help you?” This is a number he doesn’t recognize.
“Drake. It’s Grim.”
“Grim?” He’s shocked. “Is that really you?” Still unsure.
“Yes, it’s me.”
“It sounds like you, but—” He sounds dubious.
“Why would I lie? It is me! My favorite food is rare steak. I love dogs, but won’t get one because I—”
“Holy fuck! It is you.”
Why is that so hard for him to believe? Am I missing something here?
“Yes. We don’t have much time to talk,” I say in a rush, my eyes on the door. I’m speaking as softly as I can. “We—”
“What the hell is wrong with you? Have you lost your ever-loving mind?” He’s pissed. I guess I can’t blame him.
“I had to shift. You know that, right? I didn’t have a choice.”
“That’s absolute bullshit, and you know it. What were you thinking?” he growls. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done? It was stupid and reckless. People could have died.”
“I was trying to protect Wren. I was trying to—”
“Protect Wren. How did you come up with that one? The building is surrounded. You need to give yourself up. I mean it, Grim. I know you’ve had a bad run of it. What happened with Jordyn was terrible. I know you’re still hurting. That your dragon—”
“This has nothing to do with Jordyn or what happened to me. I was trying to protect the clinic. The anti-vaxxers were trying to get into the center. They were going to—”
“What anti-vaxxers?” Drake barks. “What are you talking about?”
“What do you mean, what anti-vaxxers? And what do you mean when you say that I need to give myself up? Are you telling me you don’t know what’s going on?”
How can that be? This isn’t making sense.
“Don’t know what?” Drake’s voice sharpens.
“I was told that you lost it. That you shifted out of nowhere. That you went berserk and killed an innocent bystander before shifting back and taking several people hostage in the vaccination center. You’re holed up in there right now, trying to avoid prosecution for what you did. ”
My blood runs cold. No wonder it took some convincing before he believed it was me.
“That’s bullshit,” I growl, trying to keep my voice down.
“Which part?” Drake asks. “Because there’s footage of you in your dragon form. I saw it with my own eyes. I thought you had finally reached your breaking point. That I put too much pressure on you and that you snapped. You need to turn yourself in and stop this.”
“That isn’t it at all,” I tell him, forcing myself to stay calm.
To think. “Drake, listen to me. This male, Kaine, and eight other males showed up at the clinic. They attacked Wren and me in the parking lot. They grabbed Sally from inside. I shifted to protect Wren and Sally. It shouldn’t have happened; I shouldn’t have done it, but I did.
The only person who died was one of the offenders.
When I shifted back, they took us hostage anyway.
It isn’t me. The anti-vaxxers are trying to get access to the pharmaceutical storage.
They wanted to make a statement to the media about the vaccinations being poison.
I think they want to destroy the vaccinations and make a big show of it.
They’re saying that the Mainland is using the vaccinations to control us somehow. ”
I quickly run through what happened. Filling him in on the rest of the information.
“This is bad,” he sighs. “Seriously fucking bad.”
“You’re telling me.”
“I think they’re trying to bury what is actually going on. They don’t want the general public to hear what these males have to say, because it’s too close to home,” Drake tells me.
“My thinking exactly. I take it the media isn’t being sent as per their demands?” I ask.
“Nope. On the contrary, they’re putting up barricades to keep them away. The choppers are there to hunt you, but also to keep the media at a distance.”
My hands clench into fists. The chains bite into my wrists.
“This is the Mainland’s doing,” Drake continues. “They don’t want seeds planted in the general population’s minds.”
“That’s it exactly.” I glance at Wren and Sally, who are watching me with wide eyes. “I’m about to be made the scapegoat so that this can all be buried.”
I hate the idea. Hate it with every fiber of my being.
“It’s looking that way,” Drake says.
“And the anti-vaxxers?”
“I’m pretty sure it will be ‘shoot to kill.’ In fact, they might want all of you dead. No witnesses that way.”
This keeps getting better and better.
I scrub a hand over my face and sigh.
“What are you going to do?” Drake asks.
“I don’t know. Every idea I have is worse than the last. Once I figure it out, I’ll let you know.”
“Do that,” Drake says. “I’ll try to see what I can do, but I can’t make any promises.
The Council is in an uproar. Vector wants your head on a spike.
Reed is trying to buy you time, but…” He trails off.
“This is a volatile situation. I’m not sure what I can do to help you.
Maybe if you get me evidence…video footage… I might be able to do something.”
“We’ll come up with a plan,” I tell him. “I’ll be in touch soon.”
“I’ll be waiting. Be careful, Grim. And whatever you do, don’t shift again. That was seriously reckless.”
“I know, and I won’t.”
He doesn’t know how close it came to being a total fucking disaster.
The line goes dead.
I lower the phone, staring at it for a moment before handing it back to Wren.
“What is it?” Wren asks. Both women are looking at me strangely. “Why are you being made a scapegoat?”
“And did I hear right about the media not coming?” Sally asks. “That was their one and only demand. I thought it was fairly straightforward.”
I don’t know what to tell them. I don’t know how much to reveal.
I take a breath. “I’m not sure exactly what’s going on. Drake doesn’t know anything about the anti-vaxxers.”
“What?” Wren asks, frowning. “I thought he was a Council member. Surely Council members are kept up to date with all important matters pertaining to island safety?”
“They are. They were told by Draig Security that I shifted and lost control of my dragon. That someone was killed as a result. They think that to avoid being captured and jailed, I’ve taken hostages. There was no mention made of any anti-vaxxers.”
Sally gasps, her hand covering her mouth for a few seconds. “That’s ridiculous. That male, Kaine, spoke to someone out there. They must know it’s them and not you. Why would they assume that?”
“They know about the anti-vaxxers, but they’re covering the truth,” I say.
“Why?” Wren shakes her head. “This doesn’t make any sense. Why would they want to pin this on you?”
“I don’t understand either,” Sally says, shaking her head.
“I don’t know,” I lie. “But it’s happening. Drake thinks they’re planning on taking out the anti-vaxxers, so that the truth will be buried with them.”
“That’s ridiculous.” Sally snorts. “We’ll set the record straight.”
“Unless…they…unless…” Wren’s lip trembles. “This can’t be happening.”
Sally’s face goes pale.
“This is crazy, Grim. We’re sounding just as bad as them.” Wren points at the door. “Just as deranged. Why would Draig Security pin this on you and bury the truth by murdering people in cold blood? Why?”
“We will get out of this, won’t we?” Sally’s lip trembles.
My whole body tightens. “We will if I have anything to say about it.”
“This can’t be happening.” Tears stream down Sally’s face. “There must be some mistake. Councilor Drake is wrong. He misunderstood.”
“Can I see your phone again?” I ask Wren.
“Sure.” She hands the device to me. “The code is one, two, three, four.”
I give her a look, trying hard not to laugh. “You should think of changing that.”
She shrugs. “I keep meaning to, but…”
I quickly Google the Vaccination Center.
There is coverage of the story. But it’s just speculation about what is going on.
All the media know at this point is that something is going on in this area.
That there was an illegal shift and a dragon sighting, and that it must be quite serious to garner this much security.
Otherwise, as Drake said, they are being kept at a distance, and no official statements have been given at this time.
“What is it?” Wren asks. “You’re frowning.”
“Drake is right; the media has no idea what’s really going on.” I hand Wren her phone. After scrolling for a few seconds, she hands it to Sally.
“No, no, no.” Sally starts crying again.
“Hey.” Wren moves to her side, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “We’re going to figure this out. We need to keep our cool and be clever about this.” She looks at me. “We have this cellphone, and we have someone on our side out there.”
Sally moans. “They’re going to kill us, Wren. All of us. I’m never going to see my Stephan again. Or my kids. We’re witnesses and—”
“Sally.” Wren’s voice is firm. “Look at me. Look at me,” she repeats.
Sally meets her eye.
“We are not going to die,” Wren says slowly. “We’re smart. We’re going to get out of this.”
Sally nods, taking shaky breaths. “Okay. Okay. I need to call Stephan. I need—”
“No,” I tell her. “I’m sorry, you can’t. Things have changed. If you tell him anything, it could put a target on his back.”
Her face pales even more, making her look ashen. “You’re right.”
Wren looks up at me. “There must be something there. Maybe what the anti-vaxxers are saying isn’t complete nonsense.
” Her voice drops lower. “There must be some truth to what they are saying. Otherwise, why would they try to bury this? Surely these males are deranged? They sound deranged…but…” She shrugs.
“It’s the only thing that makes sense to me.
Are the vaccinations really for Hemorrhagic Fever?
Are they poison? Surely not. No one has died or had any crazy side-effects. ”
My respect for Wren triples in that moment. She’s clever, and she’s putting the pieces together faster than I expected.
I like her. I like her a lot.
“You might be right.” It’s all I have for her. “That’s my thinking as well.”
Wren nods slowly, processing this. “So, the Mainland is covering something up. Something big enough to frame you. Something big enough to possibly want to kill all of us.”
“Looks that way,” I admit.
Sally is looking between us, her face still pale. “What are we going to do? How are we going to get out of this? I can’t see a way.” Her voice hitches.
I take a breath. I’ve been turning this over in my mind since Drake hung up.
“I have an idea,” I say. “But you’re not going to like it.”