Fang Chronicles: Ivan Read online

  I stared back at him with the same intensity. “If you mean will they hurt you, no. They won’t touch you as long as you don’t interfere. That is if they find me.”

  His lips twitched. “So if they do find you, I’m supposed to stand by and let them take you?”

  I didn’t blink. “Yes.”

  He shook his head. “So I just forget what you did for me? I don’t think so. It don’t work that way.”

  For his sake, I needed to change his mind. “Yes, it does work that way. There is nothing you can do if they find me. You can’t stop them. If you try, you will get hurt. Besides, they won’t harm me either. I took off under difficult circumstances and they consider me a child. They want to control me and it’s not happening. I’ll only run away again if they take me back. It’s not your problem.”

  “It don’t work that way,” he said again as he rose and headed to the bathroom.

  I heard the shower turn on and smiled because it would be nice if he smelled better. Then dread filled me. It wouldn’t be nice if he got hurt.

  I had to leave.

  Chapter Five

  Talya

  Feeling watched, my eyes popped open and I sat up. Rondy reclined in the chair across from me, his eyes on mine. I can’t believe I fell asleep again when I should have left. I didn’t take my eyes from Rondy because obviously something was up.

  “I saw you in the alley,” he said as he sat taller in the chair. “It didn’t register at first, but I have a clearer picture in my head now. What are you?”

  Any semblance to a kid was gone. Rondy gazed at me with something that wasn’t quite fear. Yes, a touch of fear was there, but curiosity trumped it. This wasn’t good and it placed his life in more danger. There were humans who knew about beastkind, but they were usually connected by family ties. Some people high up in the government knew, but even that was tightly controlled. I wanted to growl. Rondy had no idea that his intense look challenged me, at least the animal side. I did the last thing I should have because it went against my cat instinct. I closed my eyes and eased back on the couch. I lifted my arm and put it over my eyes, blocking out more of the light streaming into the room through the window.

  “You don’t want to know,” I replied wearily.

  “It’s too late for that.” There wasn’t even a small touch of youthfulness in his voice.

  Out of nowhere, I smelled fear coming off him. It wasn’t strong and the scent of soap helped keep it down. Much better than unwashed human body that’s for sure. But fear. He helped me. Fed me. Gave me a place to safely sleep. And now he was afraid.

  I opened my eyes and turned my head so I could see him. “I can change into a mountain lion at will. I can take down five grown men and kill them because they’re only human. I’m your worst nightmare.”

  His fear actually lessened, which stunned me.

  “So I wasn’t hallucinating?” He leaned a little forward in the chair, excitement showing on his face.

  “I like your answer better. Why didn’t I think of it? Yes, you were hallucinating.” I added a grumble and Rondy smiled.

  “Can the people looking for you do the same thing? Change into lions?”

  My half-smile disappeared. “Talking about anyone but me is off limits. If you breathe a word of this, you’re as good as dead.” I pulled a touch of alpha into my eyes that I usually kept hidden. “Humans are expendable.”

  This should have scared him, but his grin didn’t go away.

  “I’m down with that. Can you show me?”

  He had to be kidding me. The kid’s balls were twice the size of a grown man, maybe two men. I gave an exaggerated sigh. Shifting would help me heal. I had wondered if I could do it in the bathroom, but knew the smell of cat in the small apartment would be impossible to hide. Think wet dog, but sweeter smelling.

  My grin came back. “I can shift, but it’ll cost you.”

  His eyebrows went up and for a minute he mulled over what he had to offer.

  I cut his thinking process short. “Tell me about the guys trying to kill you.”

  Now his smile faltered, but he lifted his chin a tad higher. “I do some side work for Sheck and sometimes I need to cross into Teo’s territory. They were waiting for me and it’s the price you pay.”

  “They would kill you?” I was stunned. This sounded more like the world I came from. I’d seen the news and played around on the Internet. I knew humans killed, but Rondy was young.

  “I might have survived, but, yeah, they don’t let members of Sheck’s gang leave on two legs.”

  “So you’re a member of this Sheck guy’s gang?”

  For the first time since he spilled the beans about remembering what happened the night before, he turned away and didn’t look at me as he spoke. “Not completely. Another year and I will be. My brother was a member and Teo killed him. To the Riots, Teo’s gang, I’m a member because of my brother. Sheck wants me waiting a year, so for now, I just do odds and ends for him.”

  I should have guarded my words a little better, but I didn’t. “Because you’re a kid.”

  His gaze snapped back to mine. “Just like you’re a kid.”

  He had me there. I was four years older than him, but with beastkind I was a child until twenty-one. And neither one of us was a child. We’d been through too much. “I’m sorry about your brother,” was all I could think to say.

  “He was one bad motherfucker. I’m gonna kill Teo for what he did to my brother.”

  I understood revenge. “Good.”

  He gave me a chin nod. “Now it’s your turn. I wanna see.”

  Shifting was a type of magic older than time. It required little concentration because it was as natural as breathing. Beastkind children first shifted at about two weeks old. I grabbed the side of the couch, leaning heavily on it. Removing my clothes was essential. It didn’t bother me because nudity was a fact of life with beastkind. Rondy was human, though. “You got a problem with a little flesh? Because I can’t do it with my clothes on.”

  Of all the things to bother him, my words had his face turning red. “I’ll turn my back.” His voice squeaked just a tad.

  “Where’s the fun in that? You’ll miss the change. I’ll turn my back and then you only need to see my bare ass.”

  I turned before he answered and pulled my shirt over my head. I unwrapped the bandage from my leg and awkwardly pulled my pants down and off my legs. Before Rondy had too much time to stare at my ass, I merged into my cat form.

  “Holy shit,” he said as he flew up and over the back of the chair. Even my cat thought it was comical and my slight growls were actually chuckles.

  The bad part of this was that he couldn’t hear my thoughts and I had no way of communicating. I twitched my tail when he continued to back up. I didn’t figure he expected me to be twice the size of a normal mountain lion. My leg felt better after the shift, but it was still damaged. On two good legs, I leapt over the chair Rondy vacated, landed a little hard on my back leg, but was now next to him. His hands were crossed high up on his chest and he stood frozen. I rubbed my body against his side and made a purring noise.

  A nervous giggle escaped him, and when I continued my slow rub, one of his hands finally came down and smoothed across my back. A minute later, he curled his hand slightly and his fingers dug in a bit. It felt good.

  “I could never tell anyone because no one would believe this.” Excitement replaced the fear scent he’d released. “Can you understand me?”

  I looked up at him and let out a low growl.

  His gaze ran over my fur-covered form. “Your back leg is swollen. It must be hard to get around with only two good legs.”

  Another low growl left my throat. I’d been compensating with three legs for so many years, it seemed natural. Now, with my injury, I felt the loss of my front paw again. I hobbled over to my clothes and snatched them up in my jaws. It felt good to be in beast form, but I couldn’t speak with Rondy this way and the two of us needed to communicate.<
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  He waited for me to limp back into the room after I went into the bathroom, shifted, and redressed. Exhaustion rolled over me again and I hated it. It was a fight not to give into sleep, but I kept my eyes on Rondy. He walked over and took the chair across from me. I sat on the couch and lifted my leg gingerly hoping to ease some of the pain.

  “You need lots of protein,” he said.

  “Yes, it helps me heal.”

  “I’ll talk to Sheck about it.”

  That wouldn’t work. “No, Rondy, you won’t talk to anyone about this. Even if you don’t tell him what I can do, he’ll wonder what’s up. The people looking for me will be sending out feelers. I need to leave here, but I need at least another day to heal.”

  “You’re safe here. And where will you go?” He actually looked hurt.

  In only hours, Rondy was a friend. I guess sometimes it happened that way. I helped him and he helped me. “I don’t know. I’m not from your United States, but I know it’s big and I need to get lost.”

  “That explains the accent you have. I think this apartment is the safest place you could be right now.”

  If I could trust him, he might be right. “What about your mother?”

  “If she comes back, she’ll be on the down side of her high and sleep for days. We can figure it out if that happens.”

  He made it sound easy and even with my cat brain screaming, “Run,” the human, tired side just wanted rest. “Okay… for now.”

  Chapter Six

  Talya

  We settled into a routine over the next week—eat, sleep, and talk for hours. Rondy had to make a run to the FB, but other than the hour he was gone, we were together. His television had died over a year ago, but I didn’t mind. Talking to Rondy was eye opening. Humans were so similar to the human side of beastkind. He opened my eyes to his world. He was also fascinated with my beast form.

  “Does it hurt when you change into a lion?” he asked as he rolled toward me. We were lying on his mom’s bed talking. We’d fallen asleep that way three times; it just seemed natural.

  “No.” I smiled with a flash of human teeth.

  “Then what does it feel like?”

  I thought about it for a moment. “It’s like I carry this power inside of me all the time. It’s an energy that wants to explode and when I shift, that’s what happens. It feels natural and very, very good.”

  I watched him think about what I told him. “So if you bit me, could I turn furry?”

  I laughed. I’d seen old werewolf movies with my clan and we loved them. To a human, the ability to shift to animal had to be incomprehensible. I couldn’t tell him about vampires and the fact that they could change a human into another bloodsucker.

  “No, silly, we’re born this way.”

  The idiot grabbed his crotch. “Damn, cat lady, that ruins my plan and now I can’t ask you to bite me.”

  I covered my eyes groaning and we both laughed until our sides hurt. This was what it was like to be young without a care in the world. I enjoyed the feeling and pushed away thoughts of leaving. It hurt to think about it.

  It was funny because I found myself following Rondy with my eyes as he moved around the small apartment. I wouldn’t even realize I was doing it until he’d smile and wink. He was skinny, but still a good looking kid. He would make some girl happy if he ever decided gang life wasn’t for him. Rondy was special. The only time he completely closed down was when I mentioned his mother. I learned my lesson after asking if she usually stayed away this long.

  His smile disappeared. “My mom’s a whore and always has been. She cares more about drugs than she cares about me. I was born addicted to that shit. Even pregnant, the drugs came first. The state took me away after I was born, but returned me to her when I was two. They never bothered taking my brother away. I don’t know why she even wanted me except she got more government aid. She gets food stamps, but my brother and I never benefitted. There’s always someone willing to cash them for her. She’s my mother only because she gave birth to me.”

  He stopped talking, walked away, and closed himself in the bathroom. The shower turned on and he stayed in there for over an hour, long after I knew the water was cold. Rondy still loved his mother and it made me sad. I never knew mine and wasn’t sure which was worse. Having a bad one and loving her or not knowing if your mother was good or bad.

  The biggest problem we had during the week was my restlessness. I’d never been cooped up like this before and it wasn’t easy. By the end of the week, our food was mostly gone and we needed to do something about it. My cat also wanted to hunt.

  We were lying on Rondy’s mom’s bed again and kickin’ it, as Rondy liked to say. I knew every crack in the ceiling; it felt comfortable lying next to him talking about life. “I found a park before I saw you in that alley. Do you think we could go there tonight?”

  “The park is probably in Teo’s territory. I know another one we can visit that would be safer.”

  I lowered my voice to a scary level. “But I want a nice juicy Riot… I mean rat.”

  Rondy laughed because I no longer scared him. He really got into scratching my cat hide when I shifted, and earlier today, I rolled so he could access my belly. Not something I’d ever allowed anyone to do. Rondy was different, though. Nothing he did challenged me. He accepted me for who and what I was.

  I’d known for many years that I had alpha tendencies. My “blood” cat clan would have killed me if they discovered it. I think it was one of the reasons I wanted Dmitri so desperately. The pull of dominance made me crave the strongest man and no one was stronger than a vampire, except maybe another vampire. During the past week I’d put a lot of thought into the actions that led me to run from my pack. Some I even talked to Rondy about. I didn’t mention vampires, bears, or wolves and just let the kid think all beastkind were cats. During the reminiscing, I realized how wrong and stubborn I’d been. I had no idea how I let myself fall so far from the warmth of my adopted clan, who had never done anything to hurt me. Treat me like a child, yes, but hurt, never. Shame weighed me down, and I knew I could never face them again. With that realization came such a feeling of regret and if it wasn’t for Rondy I don’t know what I’d do. He was the lifeline that gave me hope for the future.

  My leg was mostly healed, and if I didn’t get out of the compression of apartment walls, I would scream.

  Rondy snapped me out of my daydreams. “Would you really eat a rat?”

  I laughed. “Yes, or something bigger.” I gave a pretend growl, which had him joining me in silly giggles.

  I really liked this kid.

  “I’ll take you to the park tonight, but if you reinjure your leg, it’s not my fault.”

  I wasn’t in the least worried. “Deal.”

  We managed to sleep before we left. Rondy said if I wanted to shift we had to go when the park was gang free. It was two in the morning before he said we could leave. Just being outside and smelling the different odors, some pleasant, some not, was a boost to my sanity. My leg felt stiff, but much better than it had. I planned to take it easy, but nothing would keep me from shifting and giving chase if prey crossed my path.

  Rondy seemed nervous as his eyes jumped from one dark corner to the next. I used all my senses, which were more heightened than his. Small noises magnified, but nothing appeared out of the ordinary. I knew that Rondy’s upbringing wasn’t quite as violent as mine, but being aware kept him alive. It was another thing I liked about the kid.

  Twenty minutes later we reached a park much larger than the one I’d passed before finding Rondy. Dense trees with leaves fluttering in the light breeze were beautiful and the odors of damp soil were the best thing I’d smelled in days. We entered the tree line with me following until Rondy stopped at a small cleared area. His body was stiff as his eyes scanned the area.

  “You can do your thing,” he whispered.

  He was acting weird. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

  “Huh?
” He took his eyes off the trees for a split second, but turned back before I answered.

  “You’re acting strange. Is there a danger I need to know about?” I allowed my impatience to come through in my tone.

  Rondy turned his entire body my way. “I haven’t been in touch with Sheck and he may not be real happy with me. It’s late, but you never know who’s around.”

  “No one’s around or I would smell them.” I didn’t want Rondy having problems with his gang. “How much trouble?”

  He shrugged. His cocky attitude came back. “Nothing I can’t handle.”

  “Right.” I stopped wasting time and lifted my shirt over my head. Rondy turned his back. I thought that was funny because he wasn’t past the shyness at seeing me in various stages of undress. I decided not to laugh and put him in a worse mood. My shoes came off next, followed by everything else I wore. I shifted and immediately put my nose to the ground.

  “Stay in the trees and be quiet,” Rondy admonished.

  I gave a low growl because he dared to treat me like a young cub without a brain. I heard a scurrying noise and forgot all about Rondy. I leapt over a fallen log finding my back leg had enough strength to take the impact when I landed on all three paws. I was off—muscles stretching while pulling clean air deep into my lungs. I knew by the sound that I chased a small rodent. The noise suddenly stopped, I shifted my weight to my back legs and sat while using my front paw to swipe leaves and sticks aside. A small gray mouse took off; making it about six inches before my paw came down and held it in place until I had it in my mouth. The crunch of small bones was pure pleasure. Not much of a chase, but I heard more scurrying and set off again.

  After swallowing my second small prize, my ears twitched at the sound of voices. Rondy’s I recognized, but not the others. No one sounded happy and it pissed me off that my hunting was interrupted. It pissed off my cat more. I wasn’t shifting to human to check on Rondy; one, I didn’t want to take the time, and two, my cat could cause more damage if it was needed. The voices were close enough to the tree line that I would be able to stay hidden unless he needed me.