Coyote's Howl (Cape High Series Book 17), page 9
“Save her from what?” Vinny asks.
“From her uncle,” I say.
CHAPTER FIVE
“So I propose that we bring Star Born to one of the branches. I’ll provide the security—it will be every bit as good as the security she would have in the Cape Cells,” Nico says to the council. Most of them are holograms. This is a rather impromptu meeting.
“And there’s a reason we can’t consult her at the Cape Cells, instead?” Mastermental asks. Max is sitting behind him, although he isn’t officially on the board just yet.
“Because I have to slip on my old black suit and a collar every time I go in,” Nico says with a disgusted look. “Even though I’m the one that had a hand in putting those in there now back in. It gets irritating. Besides, a geneticist is a good thing to have—”
“Unless she’s experimenting on children,” Negatia says.
“I really don’t think the Liberty family would be happy with her being in the Hall,” Mastermental points out. “Or am I wrong to believe that Jack is still a bit… miffed, you might say?”
“Oh, he’s beyond miffed,” Nico says. “And don’t think I haven’t forgotten what she did to my fiance. But the fact of the matter is, for some strange reason Lance is losing all of his forms. We need to stop that from happening. The only one I know even capable of fixing a problem like that is Star Born.”
“Some strange reason?” Marigold repeats. “Wait, isn’t Lance that little multiple animal shifter?”
“He is,” Century says. He’s the only leader actually in the room.
“That’s a shame,” she says. “You don’t see many of that type.”
“No, you don’t, and that’s even more of a reason to bring Star Born in,” Nico says.
“Have you talked to Lady Rose about this?” Isotonic asks.
“I haven’t,” Nico admits. “I’m going to, after I get your permission.”
“You know that this sort of thing can kill a marriage, don’t you?” Isotonic warns.
“Once she knows what it’s for, I’m sure she’ll be supportive. I don’t plan on setting her free, I don’t even plan on giving her unlimited access to the tools that she’ll need. I just will not allow one of mine to lose his powers for no reason. That’s the ultimate punishment for our kind, and he’s done nothing to deserve it.”
“Well…” Century says, letting the word linger in the air. Everyone turns to look at him. “How about we allow the boy to build his security room? We can do several checks and run a few simulations once it’s built, to see if she would be able to escape.”
“She would be wearing a collar and a suit, still, as well,” Nico says.
“She did not escape when we kept her in one of the regular cells,” Mastermental points out. “In fact, we’ve all come to the conclusion that she is perfectly happy being held captive, as long as everything she needs to do her work is provided.”
“It’s more expensive for us, cheaper for her,” Century grumbles.
“Exactly.”
“I don’t like it,” Max says, making the holograms swivel to look at him. “We saw what happened to the people she experimented on. The last thing she deserves is a comfortable mad scientist lab built on our dime.”
“We all feel that way,” Nico says, “but you’re a villain, Max. You should realize that having her where we can keep an eye on her AND use what she comes up with is worth… indulging her a bit.”
“But Jack—”
“You’re taking this personally, son, and while we can’t blame you for it, we need you to step back a bit,” Century says kindly. “You’ll soon be in the position to decide whether you’ll follow your heart or logic when running a Hall.”
“Besides,” Nico says, “you can keep a closer eye on her, this way, as well.”
“What I was going to say,” Max says, “is that while you might be able to keep her in, it’ll be a LOT harder to keep Jack out, if he gets the urge to pay her a visit while she’s collared.”
The group goes quiet.
“He has a very good point,” Mastermental says.
“Do you really need to worry about this ‘Jack’ fellow?” Negatia asks curiously. “Who is he?”
“Cold Steel,” half of the group responds in the same dry tone.
“Oh,” she says.
“But he’s still just a teenager,” Isotonic points out. “Is he really so difficult to deal with?”
“Actually, Jack is extremely easy to deal with,” Mastermental says. “He’s become quite the Liberty boy. But that does not mean he is going to be complacent in this situation. And if you feel that dealing with an enraged metal mimic—”
“He’s actually categorized as an Elementalist,” Nico points out. “He has the capacity to create metal—we’re still working on that aspect, but he WAS changed with my fiance’s DNA. He’s slow, and he has several weaknesses, sure—but the first person that knowingly uses a power blocker on him will have to deal with me.” He’s still obviously angry about what happened to the boy at the parade. “That includes you, Negatia,” he adds, looking straight at the Hall leader.
“I was led to believe that he was an exemplary villain,” she says, sounding a bit offended. “I would hardly attack a behaving Hall member.”
“No need to throw around threats, Nico,” Mastermental says quietly. “We will merely have to talk to Jack before we move her. I’m sure he will be willing to behave himself if he understands what’s at risk. Unless Jack dislikes Lance?” he says, looking over at Max.
“Nah, Jack’s pretty fond of all the zoo kids,” Max admits, looking thoughtful. “He’s dating one of them—and she once told him she’d dump him if he ever bullied them. They’re the safest kids in the school thanks to that.”
“Does this Jack bully the other kids?” Isotonic demands. “Is my daughter at risk?”
“Olivia?” Max asks. “She’s one of Jen’s little pals—and Jen’s going to be our—well, she’s one of us. Nah, for the most part Jack and Justin have a running fight going on—”
“Oh, so he picks on my son, does he?” Negatia says, her eyes narrowing.
“Justin holds his own,” Nico says, smiling slightly. “To be honest, Jack is just… well, I like the kid, but he’s…” he looks at Max, who’s grinning crookedly.
“Jack’s a jerk, but he’s funny,” Max sums it up, “and he has plenty of people to hit him upside the head when he pushes it too far, me included. Plus, he’s a Liberty, now. If you put up with him being him, you’ve got a tank behind you whenever you need it.”
“So why are you so worried about him?” Century asks.
“Because we haven’t done anything to him that deserves revenge,” Max says. “Star Born ABSOLUTELY has. She almost killed him with her experimenting.”
The group goes quiet. “Can we talk with him?” Marigold says, looking at Nico.
“I can arrange it, but we need to do this quickly. Lance is losing more of his abilities by the moment.”
“Can you bring him into this conversation, then?” Marigold asks.
“Yeah,” Nico says, waving a hand. They all blink as a hologram of the teen appears. He’s about to bite the head off of the biggest gingerbread man any of them have ever seen.
“’Sup, Nico?” he asks before finishing his bite. His hologram swivels, looking around curiously. “Did I accidentally hit my com-bracelet?”
“No, we’re…” Nico stops, looking at the gingerbread man, “did your mom make that?”
“Mmhmm,” Jack says, his mouth full.
“Can I get a few of those?”
“Nico, now is hardly the time,” Mastermental says.
“Star Spangled is a really good baker, you know?” Nico has to point out. “Well, anyway, Jack, we need to talk about something with you.”
***
“So… you just left Skye somewhere?” Rocco asks as we step out of the school’s security field. “She’s going to notice you leaving, you know.”
“Yeah, but… well, she’ll want to drag me back here whenever I start losing my powers again. I don’t have the time for that,” I say, pulling on my gas mask and motioning him forward. He hesitates, looking over at the apartments for a moment.
“Looks like she found Liz,” he says after a moment. “That should at least distract her for a little while.” He reaches out, only to hesitate as Sandra just stands there, looking at his hand. “Look, I know that I’m Shadowman’s kid, but I don’t even like the guy and I have no desire whatsoever to kidnap you—”
“Do I really have to hold your hand for this?” she asks.
“Well… yeah,” he says. “Or you can hold Lance’s, and I’ll hold his other one.” She promptly takes my hand. I can feel the rockiness of her skin through the illusion. I don’t mind. It feels a lot more stable than her illusionary hand would have been. I take Rocco’s offered hand without a word, and we head through the shadow into the noxious smelling Shadowlands.
“Huh,” she says, looking around as she lets go of my hand. “Not a bad place.”
“You’re kidding me, right?” I say, my voice muffled by the mask.
“Nah, it sort of feels homey.”
“Say that after you’ve seen the shadow-dinos,” Rocco says.
“So it comes complete with pets?” she asks, excitedly. “Can I move in?”
“No,” we say. “But the Liberty family comes with a mutant Rottweiler,” I say. “I bet they’d let you move in, there!”
“Krispy is pretty cool,” she admits. “Hey, where are the shadow-dinos?” she asks, looking around eagerly. “I don’t see any, and I’ve got pretty good night vision.”
“Yeah, it’s weird,” Rocco says. “They didn’t come around that close when I brought Lance down, earlier, either.”
“You’re scaring away the dinos?” Sandra accuses me.
“I’m not doing it!” I protest. “At least I don’t think I am…”
“He might be!” Rocco says. “I might have to drag you down here more often, if you are!” he says cheerfully. “They’re annoying—especially since I started feeding them trash. Now they show up begging for scraps whenever I come down.”
“So that’s where all the trash has been going,” I say. “We wondered why Vinny was just tossing the trash bags out front.”
“It’s more eco-friendly to feed it to the dinosaurs,” Rocco says cheerfully. “But whenever I get my hopes up that they’ll choke on it, it doesn’t work.”
“You just admitted to attempted murder,” Sandra points out.
“Hey, if you got chewed on by the jerks as often as I do, you’d understand my pain.”
“They’re endangered species, though, right?” she says. “Wait, hey, if they’re living that means you can turn into them—” she stops, realizing what she just said to me a bit too late.
“Maybe,” I say quietly.
“Wait,” Rocco says, holding up a hand to stop us.
“What? I mean, I wasn’t planning on changing here—” I start out.
“Quiet,” he says. We both fall quiet as he lets out a curse, grabbing Sandra’s hand before she can protest. “I can sense him from this close. We need to go!” He pulls her and I grab her other hand as we race through a shadow and into the light. There, in the middle of the field we step out into, a wolf and a falcon are fighting. It takes a second for me to realize what I’m seeing. When I do, I shift, taking on the form of a cheetah. I race across the field, shifting at the last second into a lion to tackle the wolf. It’s a flurry of snarls and roars, with fangs ripping through flesh on both sides. I’m not even conscious of the damage done to me, I just know that I have to stop him. I feel myself lifted and thrown, and I twist to see what’s going on.
The wolf shifts as he finds himself grabbed by Sandra. Badmoon is larger than she is, even if she wasn’t still wearing the illusion. “Don’t you dare touch my brother!” Sandra yells, punching the wolf shifter in the gut.
“Mom,” I shift back to my human form, feeling the sting of my wounds healing rapidly. I limp a bit before gaining my balance and running to the fallen falcon. “Mom!” I say, pulling her into my arms. The falcon stares at me for a moment before jerking a few times. It’s like she’s forgotten how to shift, I realize as her body changes slowly in my arms.
“Lance?” she says, staring up at me in shock.
“Mom,” I say, hugging her tightly. “Rocco! Take her somewhere safe!”
“Got it,” he says, appearing at our side. “Ma’am, I hope you don’t mind, but—” he scoops her out of my arms. “Are you coming, Lance?” he asks. “We’ll come back as soon as—”
“No,” I say, getting to my feet. “I’m not leaving Sandra. Get her somewhere safe, Rocco, and then come back for both of us.”
“Got it.” He leaves, carrying my mother, and I turn to head into the brawl. I watch as the two duke it out. He’s so much faster than she is, I realize with frustration. Not only is he hitting her some twenty times for every glancing blow she gets in, but it also sounds like rocks cracking whenever he hits her—which terrifies me. I shift, turning into a bear and letting out a roar of rage before rushing into the fight and grabbing Badmoon.
He slams his knee into my gut, following it up with an elbow to the face that breaks my muzzle. I shift again, instinctively, and he stops, staring at me long enough for Sandra to take advantage of it. Her fist slams into his cheek. It’s deceptive looking—the illusion hand is tiny, but the indent to his face is massive. He goes flying, hitting the ground, hard.
He shakes it off, spitting out a little bit of blood. “Tell me,” he says, “is that your fall-back form?”
I look at him in confusion, not sure what he’s talking about. I’m not even sure what form I’m in right now. I look down, seeing a familiar small paw—oh. I’m a coyote again. “TELL ME!” he roars.
“He doesn’t have to tell you anything,” Sandra snarls, her hands clenching.
“Shut up,” Badmoon snaps. “I’m talking to the boy.”
She rushes forward and he twists, kicking her so hard that it sends her flying back. “Ouch,” he says, rubbing his leg before grabbing me by the throat, “beating on her is painful.” I need to shift, I think as he lifts me in my coyote form. “Is THIS your final form?” he demands, shaking me. I hear myself whimper before shifting back and grabbing his wrist with both hands.
“What… if… it is?” I gasp out.
He lets out a searing curse, throwing me away. “You will NEVER be the Coyote!” he yells. He looks at Sandra, who’s getting to her feet. She’s so angry that I can literally smell the rage in the air, and my nose is still full of blood from when it got broken.
“Next time,” he says, pointing at me. He shifts and races away before Sandra can start the fight up again.
I fall onto my back, staring at the cloudy gray sky and panting. What was he talking about, final form? I—I start shaking uncontrollably as soon as the adrenaline wears off, and to my horror, I see my largest forms in my mind. My blue whale, my killer whale, my polar bear—
Tears start streaming down my cheeks and mixing with the blood from my nose. This is so pathetic. I never even get to USE half of those, you know? Not many ocean front properties in Missouri. But I still… I look up as I’m picked up like a child. “You’re okay,” Sandra says to me. “I’m here.”
I nod, wiping at the tears and blood angrily. “I’m fine,” I say, pulling out of her hold and getting to my feet. “I’m going to be fine… but… I have to say some more goodbyes.”
“Rocco,” Sandra says, tapping on her com-bracelet. “How do you use this stupid thing, anyway?”
“I heard you,” Rocco says over our com-bracelets. “I’m opening a shadow to your… think it’d be your right,” he says. We turn, looking blankly. “Okay, make it your left.” We turn, seeing him halfway out of a tree.
“That is extremely weird,” Sandra says as we take Rocco’s hand and enter the Shadowlands. I gasp and almost choke before pulling my mask on.
“Where’s my mom?” I ask.
“She gagged as much as you did in here, so I took her to the campus. She’s with the Liberty family right now.”
I breathe out a sigh of relief. “Then let’s go. There’s no chance he’ll get to her, there.” If he had trouble against Sandra and me, there’s no WAY he’d be able to get through an entire family of tanks.
“But Lance…” Rocco says, a worried expression on his face, “she shifted back to her falcon form as soon as we stepped outside again. I… I’m not sure, but…”
“You think she’s gone… feral, or something?” I ask.
“I don’t know,” he says. “Would that be something that could happen? Like… a shifter would prefer their animal form?”
“Yeah, I think it could,” I admit quietly. We step into the light, and I stop at the sight of Jack lounging on his board outside of the apartment building’s security system. “Is there something wrong?” I ask as he hops off the board.
“Turn the illusion off, kid,” he says to Sandra after looking me over. “Is your nose still broken?” he asks as he walks right past me. “I’m just going to look you over and see if we need to call Aubrey out,” he explains as Sandra glares at him.
“I’m fine,” she says, not touching her com-bracelet.
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” he says.
“But… I don’t want to,” she says, pouting.
“Look at me,” he says, standing right in front of her. He pulls up his shirt, showing the swirling metal that covers his skin. “I can pull my pants down and show you my butt, too, if you haven’t gotten the picture.”
She gags. “Do NOT metal-moon me!” she says, covering her eyes with her hands. “You’d probably blind me!”
“Do you really think a bit of rock is going to matter to me?” he demands. “Now turn the illusion off, or I’ll really do it.”
“That’s got to be the worst threat in the world,” she mutters, tapping on her com-bracelet with a reluctant look towards me.
“I prefer the rocky version,” I tell her honestly. “It was really weird seeing a tiny fist leave a massive impact on Badmoon.”
