“Avalanche is guarding the boy?” Coyote asks, startled enough to say it aloud.

  “No, it was a female, but she is extremely strong for being so young. That will make killing the boy more difficult.”

  In his mind, Coyote lunges forward. He barely stops himself from doing it in reality. Instead, as casually as possible, he stands and heads into the house.

  “Not going to ask what happened?” Badmoon taunts.

  “I have more important things to do,” Coyote says, heading for the kitchen to prepare supper.

  “When you threw him out, it was because you were afraid he’d wind up like me, wasn’t it? You were afraid he’d be a rabid dog instead of a Coyote.”

  “Can you blame me?” Coyote asks. “You turned on our people—”

  “Our ‘people’ turned on us, long before I turned on them!” Badmoon roars. “They hated us.”

  “No, Moon Chaser, they FEARED us,” Coyote says. “They feared you. There were rules—ways that we were to conduct ourselves and you followed none of them! You terrorized the people! And… I allowed it,” he says quietly.

  “Why should we follow stupid rules when we are superior to them? We should have been the ones ruling! Instead, you and our father decided to play by those stupid rules—”

  “We were accepted and revered because we kept our word and lived in a way that worked for everyone,” Coyote says. “We have had this argument millions of times, brother, and we will never agree. Are you eating here or will you hunt tonight?”

  “I’ll hunt.”

  “Refrain from attacking livestock. If you do, I will not protect you.”

  Badmoon glares at him before storming away, unable to say anything to that. As soon as Coyote is certain he’s far enough away, he slams a fist down on the kitchen counter, cracking it. There are two of them, he thinks, and he’s the one to blame. His grandson would be… fourteen, or fifteen, now, he thinks, the transition time.

  No one knows why the Coyote line goes through the transition time. You would think that the childhood powers would be enough—but maybe that’s WHY there is a transition time. Maybe it’s a way to keep the line pure.

  If he isn’t strong enough, the boy will be stuck with only one animal form for the rest of his life, just like Moon Chaser and his daughter had been. If he IS strong enough… he will be the next Coyote, whether his grandfather agrees or not.

  ***

  He’d been heading for Coyote’s place, but as soon as he heard about what happened to Lance, Century changed course. He’s now standing in the ER room where the boy is being checked over by Aubrey. “And he lost control?” he silently asks Nico, who’s standing next to him.

  “According to Rocco, he changed every two to three seconds. There didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to the forms, either.”

  “I see.”

  “What do you know of the Coyote line?” Nico asks.

  “Not much. No one does. They’ve never actually been in the photo-op game. They aren’t heroes, but they aren’t exactly villains, either. Honestly, son, they’re more myth than super. They keep to themselves.”

  “Then how do we have one, here?” Nico asks.

  “Lance says it’s because he’s not full-blooded. His grandfather doesn’t accept him.”

  Nico growls a particularly rude reply, which Century nods in agreement to. “He sounds like a real winner.”

  “Doesn’t he just? I was about to go visit him before I heard what happened,” Century says.

  “You can go do that now,” Nico says.

  “Lance’s health is more important than finding a wily Coyote,” Century says, his eyes glued to the boy in question. “Can he hear us?”

  “Yes, sorry, sir,” Lance says quietly.

  “Really…” Century says, looking at Nico.

  “I never really paid attention to his hearing capabilities,” Nico admits. “Would you rather we take this conversation elsewhere, Lance?”

  “No, it’s fine,” Lance says. “You’re just worried about me. I’m worried about me, too.”

  “Aubrey?” Nico says, looking to her.

  “It’s…” She lowers the hand touching Lance’s arm. “There’s something changing in his power levels. I’m not sure what, but I think it’s… I think it’s natural,” she admits. “It’s not like his body is attacking itself, or even like he has a fever, but his genes are… I don’t know how else to describe it, except as his genes are… shifting.” She goes silent for a moment. “We need to know more about his family line.”

  “All the more reason to go talk with Coyote,” Century says.

  “Or find his mother,” Aubrey says. “Right now, don’t you think he needs her more?”

  Nico and Century look at each other. “We’ll find his mother, first.”

  “Thank you,” Aubrey says, turning back to Lance. “Lance, I hate to say this… but can you stay here for—”

  “No!” Lance says. “I don’t know if I’ll change in the middle of the night—and if I do, what if I freak people out? I don’t want to wake up in some stranger’s room with no clue how I got there—”

  “Take him to the apartments,” Nico says. “You can watch over him, there, and if he wakes up in someone’s bed, they’ll probably just move him to a spare pillow. Will that work for you, Lance?”

  Lance nods, but there’s a slight frown on his face. “Yeah,” he says quietly. “That will do. But—but if you find my mom—”

  “We’ll bring her to you,” Century says. “Don’t worry, we’ll find her.”

  “Thank you,” he says.

  ***

  The sounds are strange. I keep hearing the Liberty’s dog fart, on top of it. I can only thank God that smells don’t travel as well as sounds do, otherwise I would have to get that gas mask out again. I’m in Aubrey and her family’s front room, sleeping on a bed they brought up from who-knows-where. It smells faintly of dust, which I can ignore. I hear the door open and I sit up, looking over. It’s the middle of the night, so who—

  “No, you can’t come in for coffee,” I hear Firefly say. “The girls are already in bed.”

  “Oh, come on, Liz, you know as well as I do that my fridge is empty,” I hear Taurus say, much to my surprise.

  “So it wasn’t coffee you were after, it was free food, huh?” she says, snorting. “Figures. Okay, fine, but keep it quiet. You could have picked up something on the way home, you know.”

  “I can’t exactly walk into a fast food joint in full uniform—” he stops, and I can practically see him realize I’m there. “You have an unexpected visitor,” he says, even as he heads for the kitchen.

  “What? Who?” Firefly asks, bursting into the front room and lighting it up like a fireworks show. It instantly calms down as she sees me. “Lance?” she says.

  “Sorry for intruding,” I say a bit sheepishly.

  “What are you doing here, kid?” she asks, taking her mask off and tossing it onto a table. “Sleepover?”

  “I… Aubrey’s keeping an eye on me for the night,” I say. “Were you two on a date?”

  “We weren’t!” she says, blushing.

  “We were doing our patrol together,” Taurus says, coming out of the kitchen with a huge sandwich and chips on a paper plate. “It’s practically the same thing.”

  “So when you’re on patrol with Mega, it’s really a date?” she asks, sitting on the couch next to my bed and smiling smugly at Taurus as he chokes on his sandwich.

  “You just had to go there, didn’t you?” he asks.

  “Do you keep calling him on the private com-line, too?” she asks.

  “Mega is definitely not my type,” he says, making a face before going back to eating. He looks at me once the sandwich has disappeared. “What happened?”

  “I don’t know,” I admit. “But I feel fine, now. Do you think you could get me back on campus?”

  “Not if my daughter wants you here for the night,” Liz says.

  “But I might shift in my sleep and crawl in your bed—” I say, only to get a strange look from Taurus.

  “Has that been happening a lot, lately?” he asks, moving to my bedside and flipping on the nearest light. “Unplanned shifting?”

  “Ye—yeah,” I say.

  “And what has you here? Did it have something to do with that?”

  “I—I lost control,” I say, wondering where he’s going with this.

  “I see,” he says. To my surprise, he pulls out his phone. “Hey, yeah, sorry for waking you, Pan. We’ve got a problem.”

  “A problem?” I hear Panther ask.

  “Lance is having trouble controlling his shifting.”

  “Lance is the multiple animal shifter, correct?”

  “Yeah, he is.”

  “I’ll be right over.” I frown, not certain I want a ton of shapeshifters looking me over. I mean, I know Taurus—he’s my gym teacher, but I’ve barely ever seen Panther. He’s a villain, too. Do I trust an unknown villain to figure out what’s wrong with me?

  Also, I feel antsy, like I should be doing something—like I should be… like I should go and try to save my grandfather from the Hall. That’s stupid. He disowned me when I was four years old! I don’t owe him ANYTHING. And if he IS harboring Badmoon, he deserves everything they hit him with, right? I mull over this for a few minutes, trying to figure out what I should do.

  I blink as I realize that Liz is staring me in the eyes. I have no idea how long she’s been looking at me. “You okay, Lance?” she asks.

  “I’m fine,” I say.

  “But you look like you want to do something.”

  “How did you—I mean, I want to sleep,” I say. “I don’t think I’ll be able to, though.” I look up as a knock comes at the door and Panther steps into the apartment.

  “Forgive me for my intrusion, Firefly,” he says. “I realize that it is late.”

  “It’s fine,” Liz says. “Do you think it’s something really bad?”

  Pan walks past her, stopping at my bedside with a slight frown. “There are only a few multiple animal shifters recorded, and they are usually associated with the myths and legends of the world. There is the Loki line, the Māui line, and the—”

  “Coyote line,” I finish for him.

  “Yes, the Coyote line,” he agrees. “Most of those lines have already died out, or they have gone into deep hiding. There is very little knowledge about them.” I expect him to ask, but instead he places the suitcase he brought with him on my bed and opens it up. “Lance, may I draw your blood?” he asks.

  “You’re a veterinary, aren’t you?” Liz asks, looking startled.

  “No, my wife is. I have PhDs in Molecular Biology and Genetics, specializing in both animals and shifters. It’s something of a passion of mine.” He looks at me, and I hold out my arm. I look on curiously as he draws my blood and sets up a slide before pulling out a microscope. “Do you mind if I set up in your kitchen?” he asks Liz.

  “No, that’s fine,” Liz says. “If there is something wrong with him, though, don’t you think Aubrey would have fixed him?”

  “Shifters are an unstable breed,” Pan says quietly. “We are constantly changing forms. Even those of us with only one species are constantly in flux. For those like Lance, well—”

  “It’s us times millions, possibly even billions,” Taurus finishes for him. The two men look at each other, with matching expressions. “It’s actually sort of amazing that you’re sane,” he says, looking at me.

  I shrug. “I like variety?” I offer, making them both laugh.

  “I’ll just go look at this,” Pan says, heading into the kitchen.

  “Do you mind if I join you?” Taurus asks. “I’ve only done a bit of research into our genetics. The norm world is rather lacking in knowledge, and Dad never went past the ‘I can change’ stage.”

  “We often don’t,” Pan says. “I just found it fascinating.” They walk away, leaving Liz to sit on the edge of my bed.

  “Sorry,” she says. “You should be sleeping right now.”

  “I don’t think I could, even if they weren’t here,” I say quietly. “I keep hearing the dog farting. I think he needs to get that looked at.”

  She starts laughing. “Good point. But you should at least try closing your eyes. You look exhausted.” I nod and she pulls my covers up, tucking me in like a child. “Whatever it is you’re thinking of doing,” she whispers, “wait until morning.”

  She walks out, leaving me with the light from the kitchen filtering into the room and a soft, steady murmur of Pan and Taurus talking. They both have deep, calm voices that easily drown out the sounds of gassy dogs. I find myself slowly closing my eyes, exhaustion dragging me into sleep.

  ***

  I’m standing outside a small house with a large back porch. There are two rocking chairs with a table between them. One is still rocking slightly, as if someone just got out of it. There’s a cloyingly sweet smell in the air. It lingers over the place as if it’s ingrained in the very wood. I know that smell. I should leave, I tell myself, but I’m almost positive that this is a dream.

  I head for the porch, testing each of the steps before putting my weight on them. I don’t want them to creak. It’s just a dream, I remind myself. No one will notice the sound. I still step lightly, pausing on the porch to look around.

  There’s someone inside the house. I can hear the television, even though the sound is on low. I dare to peek through one of the rather dirty windows, seeing the back of a chair and the light flashing from the TV. There’s a man in the chair. He’s silent. I should leave, my mind urges me again, but I don’t. I open the door, slowly, stepping into the house.

  “You shouldn’t be here, boy,” the man says.

  “What’s happening to me?” I hear myself ask as I move closer, stopping next to his chair.

  He turns, looking at me. “You’re going through the transition.” He turns back to the television. He’s dismissed me.

  “What’s the transition?” I ask. I won’t be dismissed by a dream, even if the sight of his chiseled face has my hands growing sweaty.

  “The transition is where you’ll either prove you’re a true Coyote, or you’ll lose all but one of your forms,” he says, picking up a carved pipe and tapping it on the table before lighting it. “You’ll be just like the rest of them.”

  “How do I—how do I prove I’m a Coyote?” I ask.

  He turns, looking at me steadily. His eyes are almost black, they’re so dark. “That’s not up to me to decide,” he says.

  “How did you?” I ask.

  “You need to leave,” he says, turning and looking at the door.

  “How do I prove myself?” I demand again. “I don’t want to lose my forms, Grandfather!”

  “Leave, now!” he snaps as the door swings open. I turn, seeing a large man step through the door.

  “Bad—”

  I jerk awake, breathing heavily as I realize what just happened. It was just a dream, I tell myself. I know I’m lying. I’m going to lose my abilities… and I have no idea how to stop it.

  ***

  “As far as I can tell, his body is shutting down his abilities by… turning off large portions of his DNA,” Pan says. “That’s simplifying it greatly, but that is the best way to explain it. It could reverse, and he could recover, or… I honestly don’t see how this could be,” he admits. “I’ve never seen such a thing before.”

  “You said he was in constant flux, right?” Nico says. He, Taurus, and Pan are standing in the school’s science room, taking turns looking at the blood samples. “What if this is nature’s way of stabilizing him?”

  “So it’s natural?” Taurus asks.

  “We know there aren’t many multiple animal shifters out there,” Nico says. “Maybe that’s because their bodies or minds couldn’t take the strain. In the long run, though, do you think he’ll retain his abilities?”

  “I’m not certain,” Pan admits. “For my family, as well as for Taurus’s, I believe, once you gain your shifter powers, they merely grow stronger with time.”

  Taurus nods, frowning darkly. “If it continues like it has, we don’t know if he’ll ever change into something again.”

  “Look at this,” Nico says, waving a hand at the nearest wall. An outline of a male shows up, with the lines in various colors. “This is Lance. The green lines are shifter ability—he’s at a solid eighty-five percent for that. But the blue lines are—”

  “Psychic ability?” Pan says.

  “Exactly, my theory is that he’s capable of speaking with animals thanks to that—your wife has a very similar set-up.”

  “What are you trying to say?”

  “This amount—you, Adanna, Taurus, none of you have this level. You have them, don’t get me wrong, but not like this. Lance believes that Badmoon is his uncle. Badmoon can control animals of different species, but he’s only got the one form—the wolf. It all fits. Badmoon is a failed Coyote.”

  “And you think Lance will become one as well?”

  “It’s a possibility… or we could see what Star Born can do about it,” Nico says. The room goes silent as all three of them contemplate that idea. “We have to admit, she behaved herself extremely well when the cell break happened.”

  “She is a sociopath,” Pan says bluntly.

  “Both dangerous and crazy,” Taurus agrees. “You can’t even blame it on her super abilities, she was born a norm.”

  “But she’s good at what she does,” Nico says.

  “What’s happening is natural for his line, though,” Pan says. “At least that’s what it seems like. Do we truly want to change a natural process of elimination?”

  “When it will take away what makes the kid happiest? Hell, yes. Besides, as far as we know, he’s the last of the line. Sure, the old man’s still alive, as far as we can tell, but he’s a jerk, so I say he shouldn’t count.”

  “I thought you were against changing people’s power levels that way,” Taurus says.

  “I won’t do it to make them more powerful, but I will do whatever I have to, to make sure they keep the power they’ve got.”

 

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