Chapter 24
While waiting for Krys outside the airport, Salem wrapped up his call with Lakota. “Do me a favor.”
“What’s that?”
“Krys always checks the windows and locks at night. Quinn sleepwalks, and I don’t want her wandering the property and getting hurt.”
“Does she do that because of her sickness?”
“I don’t know.” Salem turned away from the biting northeastern wind and lowered his voice. “It might be because she hasn’t shifted in years.”
“Oh. Like her wolf’s trying to take control even though she can’t come out? Gotcha.”
“Or maybe she just sleepwalks. I need you to protect her from hurting herself.”
“No problem.”
“You’ll make sure?”
“On my word. I’ll barricade your door if I have to. How long do you think you’ll be there?”
“For as long as it takes.”
“Do you really think you’ll get someone to help with your little science experiment? I think you should’ve posted on the black-market site.”
“That’s preposterous.”
“My bad. I figured you didn’t want to get your ass beat by knocking on doors.”
“I’m hardly going door to door. Lucian has a friend, but this isn’t a subject I can discuss with them over the phone. I’d rather meet them face-to-face. Infusers are rare and don’t advertise their existence, so I need to play my cards right.”
“What if it doesn’t work out?”
“It’s a big city with a high Breed population. I’ll ask around.”
“Door to door?” Lakota sniffed. “Look, if you hit a wall, one of my uncles can help. He’s a Mage with a lot of contacts.”
“You have an unusual family.”
Lakota laughed. “Tell me about it.”
After ending the call, Salem put his phone back in his pocket and zipped up his brown leather jacket. Snow pelted him in the face.
Krys shot through the automatic doors and yanked a black knit hat over his head. “Security can fuck all the way off.”
Salem picked up his travel bag while Krys grabbed his own. “Maybe you shouldn’t have tied your belt around your neck on the plane.”
“Whatever.”
During their flight, Krys had gotten spooked.
Flying presented a host of problems for immortals.
Besides the obvious fact that most didn’t survive plane crashes, flying was unnatural for Shifters, and midway through the flight, it started getting to Krys.
To prevent himself from shifting, he tied his belt around his neck, much against Salem’s advice.
Animals won’t force their way out if their human counterpart is bound in a way that could injure or kill them.
When a flight attendant noticed, she asked him to remove it. Krys locked himself in the bathroom for the rest of the flight, and as soon as they landed, security escorted him off.
Before they left the airport in Austin, Lakota gave them a few names and numbers in case they ran into trouble, and luckily one of the individuals on the list ran the security department at the airport.
Cognito was one of the most populous cities with Breed, so they had more insiders working in key locations.
Krys scanned their surroundings. The snowflakes clung to his long dark hair and black leather jacket. He was dressed as if he were going to a biker rally—leather from head to toe. Still behaving anxiously, he rubbed his goatee before spotting an available cab.
“If I don’t get to the hotel, I’m going to lose my fucking mind. It better be a Breed hotel like Lakota said.”
Salem opened his car door. “I double-checked. It is.”
Once inside the cab, Salem informed the driver where they were heading. “Killbear Inn.”
Krys frowned. “Kill a bear what?”
“Killbear is one word, not two.”
Krys crunched on a breath mint. “Like that makes a difference.”
The driver twisted around and studied them through the plastic divider. His black mustache was about as thick as they came. “Let me guess—you’re Shifters!” He laughed haughtily. “Hang on, boys.” He had a heavy accent, but Salem couldn’t begin to guess where he was from.
The driver shot out of traffic and gunned it, making Salem instantly regret not getting a rental car.
“Slow down, motherfucker!” Krys pounded his fist on the plastic barrier. “I barely survived the plane ride.”
The driver had a boisterous voice and seemed excited. “I always get humans. You know how I know you’re Breed? Because I’m a Mage. I can sense energy.”
Krys reclined his head. “Great. We get stuck with a talker. How long is this drive?”
“All the way across town. Is this your first time in Cognito? I’ll give a tour you won’t forget. All the sights. All the action.”
“No, thanks. You’re not bleeding us dry for the scenic tour.
You hear me?” When the driver didn’t answer, Krys leaned forward and rapped his knuckles on the barrier.
“My wolf barely made it through the flight, so unless you wanna see him tearing out the back seat of your car, get us there as fast as you can.”
“You Shifters are all alike.”
“Yeah, well, if you were hoping to drain someone’s bank account, you should’ve picked a bunch of humans.” When Krys leaned back, he turned his gaze out the window.
They watched the city appear, some parts upscale with digital billboards and historical markers, others run-down and covered in graffiti.
Uncertain if there were restaurants near their hotel, they stopped off at Coyote Burger and ate in the back seat.
Salem could tell the human districts from Breed by the subtleties.
As they passed a club called Flavors, a man emerged in a black cape and shadow walked out of sight.
When the door opened in front of a club called Urban Safari, Salem could’ve sworn he glimpsed a tall man with large horns.
“Jesus. There’s a club on every corner,” Krys remarked when they passed one called Roughnecks.
The scenery blurred by as Salem disappeared in his thoughts. Four days had passed since the wedding, and it seemed like a lifetime ago. Sometimes he didn’t feel like he deserved Quinn. She overlooked his faults and had forgiven him for his past in a way he never could.
All this time, he had imagined himself taking care of her.
No one had ever spoiled him, not even his own parents.
Yesterday, he spent half the afternoon getting berated and yelled at by a group of drunken Sensors.
They had gotten into a brawl and beaten each other for nothing.
After patching them up, he went home to find Quinn had drawn him a bath.
He wasn’t normally a bath guy, but she sat at the edge and rubbed his tension away with a foot massage.
Salem smiled when he remembered waking up beside her.
The first two nights, she had woken up early to watch him sleep.
The first thing he would see when he opened his eyes was her warm smile and copper hair.
Then her freckles came into focus, and finally her eyes.
The seafoam green was slowly disappearing, the burnt-orange color replacing it like a plague.
But the past day or two, she’d been more fatigued than usual and had slept late.
He had taken blood, saliva, and tissue samples from her to study.
Quinn was apprehensive about the organ biopsies, but she was brave and did them under a light anesthesia.
While in that twilight state, she spoke freely, as if intoxicated, and confessed she wasn’t holding her breath for a cure but maybe it would help someone else.
That’s when he knew she didn’t have hope for herself. Even though she assured him she had faith in his abilities, maybe those were two different things in her eyes.
The brakes squealed when the cab came to a stop. Salem snapped his eyes open, realizing he’d nodded off for a minute or two. After paying the driver, they stood on the sidewalk, staring at a building.
“What in the Amityville Horror is this place?” Krys dropped his bag by his side. “I thought we were staying in a hotel?”
“Inns are smaller and more private. Archer said your wolf might do better here. Fewer people to bite.”
The two-story red building could’ve been a house at one point in history, but now a shingle with Killbear Inn hung by the door.
The small windows were trimmed in white, and a blanket of snow topped the roof, all except for the chimneys.
There were benches and wooden chairs on the right side of the building in a small courtyard.
A low stone wall wrapped around the outer perimeter, trees lining the road.
The inn was nestled in the city, but a quick look around revealed they were surrounded by townhomes.
Obviously they weren’t catering to tourists who wanted attractions within walking distance.
When they reached the door, they kicked the sludge off their shoes before entering a small vestibule enclosed by a glass door on either side.
Krys pointed at the bearskin hanging on the wall in front of them. “How much you wanna bet that hide belongs to a Shifter? I got bad vibes already.”
Salem opened the glass door on the left and unzipped his jacket. They followed a maroon carpet to the right, the lighting dim, the décor antiquated if not tacky.
After reaching the end, they searched inside an empty dining room on the left, which reminded him of an old-fashioned saloon.
The tables and curved-back chairs were scratched up and dull.
Dark wood covered the walls, and the curtains were likely coated in a thin layer of dust. He briefly glanced at a china cabinet full of fine tableware before turning his attention to the stone fireplace.
A small fire crackled, but it did little to warm the room.
Dim lamps against the walls provided additional light, but not much.
It was probably dark as hell in here at night.
They approached a curved counter to their right and stared at the swing door behind it. Salem tapped the silver bell while Krys meandered around the empty room, his boots loudly clomping against the wood floor.
When no one came, Salem stepped into the hallway and peered inside the opposite entryway. It led to a kitchen in the back. “Hello?”