Shadow Bloodlines (Shadow Bloodlines #1) (10 page)

“Stop it.” I tossed my crumpled napkin at her. “We are in this together, remember?”

“He eats so much we’ll have to get money again soon.”

“Maybe we can get my dad to give us some.” He owed eighteen years of child support, right? So a few thousand dollars should be easy.

“Your food looks different than mine.” Amar raised his chin as though trying to see into my Styrofoam container. “What is it?”

“Stuffed French toast. Would you like a piece?” I pushed up from the table and gave him a slice. My fingers brushed his hand accidently and my face heated. “I-I was going to get you one like mine, but I didn’t know if you’d even like cream cheese. My mom doesn’t… didn’t.”

“Delicious,” he said between mouthfuls.

His voice sent shivers through me. Jacqui looked from Amar to me and shook her head. Could Jacqui tell I was debating Amar’s feelings toward me? Probably.

We waited for Amar to finish and Jacqui sipped on a water bottle. “What are you going to do if we can’t find your dad? I mean your mom couldn’t…”

“Couldn’t what? Get him to be a dad and husband? No, I guess not. She was only human.” I picked at a hole in the table, then tried to soften my words. “Maybe he left to protect us. But it didn’t work. Mom’s gone, and I’m running. If he had trained me, then maybe I could have defended myself, or at least escaped, and we wouldn’t be here.”

She placed a hand over mine. “Look. I was raised a shifter and a human. Yet, even I had problems going up against those things. My dad never told me about them either, just the run of the mill chameleon stuff, like concealment and making someone believe they are seeing what you want them to.”

We both looked down at her hand on mine, then burst out laughing. “Well, not on you. I wouldn’t do that to my best friend.”

“If you did, I’d have to ink you.”

We were still laughing when Amar walked up from the woods, a look of impatience on his face with an armful of soda cans. “I’ve got an idea.”

“You’re going to join the litterbug society?” Jacqui asked sweetly.

I rolled my eyes at her, then faced Amar. “What do you have in mind?”

“Target practice.” He set the cans along up at varied heights in tree branches, a fallen log, and a large rock. “Now. Focus your ability and try to hit one of them. Or all of them, you’ve got the capability to do so.”

My mouth dried. I had no idea how I yanked on my power before. How could I do so now?” But with him watching me so expectantly, I didn’t have the ability to say no, I can’t do this.

“Okay.” I took a breath and focused on a beer can nestled in the knot of an oak tree. Sweat trickled down my neck making me itchy, but I kept my glare on the can. It didn’t budge.

“Try imaging it as Ms. Moor.” Jacqui clicked her tongue. “Or Betty who broke your favorite pair of sunglasses last year.”

This had to be easy for both of them. They’d had training and at least one parent who was a shifter that stuck by them. Still, I squared my shoulders and focused on another can. This one a diet with a dent in the side. Shouldn’t be too difficult, I’d done my phantom limbs before at Jacqui’s house. I narrowed my eyes, imagining the can flipping over. A pounding formed across my skull, but I still didn’t stop.

“Are you all right?” Amar asked, touching my elbow. An electric current raced through me and a gasped, blinking.

“Yes, why?”

“Cause none of the cans moved, and your face was turning purple.” Jacqui’s eyebrows were knitted together in concern.

I let out a huff. “Let me try again.” It couldn’t be that hard to use a gift I’d been born with, right.

“And give yourself an aneurysm?” She frowned. “No way.”

“We can try again later.” Amar patted my shoulder and collected the empty cans.

Jacqui and I helped and we threw the trash in an overflowing receptecial as bees circled around.

“Ready?” She looped her arm in mine. “Don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it. Took me years to figure out how to be able to blend into the background.”

“Thanks, but that’s not encouraging.”

She chuckled. “Guess not, but I know you can do it.”

I wish I had as much faith as she did.

After some finagling, including using her chameleon powers to help disguise Amar’s wings, we piled into the car.

My mind drifted to Ms. Moor and her goons. We weren’t safe, even though we joked as if we were. Soon, one way or another, the Blood Spirits would find us. It was only a matter of time. I wished Jacqui wasn’t involved in it; I didn’t need someone else close to me getting hurt. Those blood spirits wouldn’t have let her live, from what Amar told me. With the death of my mom, I was barely holding on. I wouldn’t even get to say goodbye or kiss her forehead at her funeral. Emptiness settled in my chest as if something was lodged there, and I couldn’t take a deep enough breath.

Yet I’d rather Jacqui be with me than some human—who’d probably still be in shock that there were such beings as shifters. Hell, I was one and I still had a hard time grasping it.

***

I was rummaging through the bag for some gum when excitement skittered over my skin. With a jerk, I glanced up. We were surrounded by the ocean and driving on the freeway. The water was blue-green, like pressed jewels. And clear. Even the water in California had never been this clear. Every reststop, Amar or Jacqui would give me a shooting lessen in a remote area. None of the cans or waterbottles ever moved and I’ll I got for my troubles was a headache and eyestrain.

A sign we passed read ‘All-American Road Florida Keys’, along with a picture of the sun with the ocean on both sides of it, and a black road driving off into the sunset. Florida Scenic Highway was stamped over the image.

I rolled the window down more and inhaled. The ocean, with its freshness, salt, and baked sand, filled me. I closed my eyes briefly and pushed aside the nagging thoughts of Amar, Ms. Moor, Mom’s death… everything.

When a chuckle sounded behind me, I turned my head to see Amar studying the view outside the front window.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

He glanced at me before answering. “Very.”

Stop it, Beth. He isn’t talking about you.
After another five mile marker, there was a sign with a man dragging a really large fish behind him. Over the sign was written ‘Fishing is fine along the overseas highway in the Florida Keys’. Too bad we weren’t here for pleasure.

“Maybe when we find your old man, he’ll be able to teach you about your gifts and how to use them.” Jacqui handed me back the bag of potato chips, which now only held crumbs. “I don’t know the first thing about octopi, except they love the ocean, and swimming, of course.”

Right. That is if we found him. The freeway stretched over the ocean for miles. I remembered seeing it for the first time when my mom watched the old 90s movie, True Lies. It looked gorgeous in that movie, but seeing it in person was all 4D. The sea wind blew through my open window and ruffled my hair. I wanted to roll it all the way down, but Jacqui would probably say something about it tangling her hair or getting in her face so she couldn’t see to drive.

The bridge stretched out before us for miles. I was glad Jacqui was driving, so I could look over the patches of ocean. Another sign said seven miles over the ocean. I fidgeted in my seat, wanting to dive into the salty water, to bask in the warmth of the sun while I swam lazy laps.

Despite Amar and Jacqui trying to teach me, I had not been able to summon the phantom arms at will. I feared I’d have an aversion to aluminum cans if they continued to insist we practice every rest stop. Once again, I’d have been better off if my dad had stayed with me and Mom. Together, maybe we could have destroyed or at least delayed Ms. Moor, and helped my mom escape.

A sob tore through me. Mom might be alive now if it hadn’t been for him and him being a damn shifter. I needed him to show me everything he knew, then we’d leave.

The ocean surrounded us.

Behind me, Amar made a sound between a choke and a grunt.

“What now?” Jacqui asked not even bothering to look into the rearview mirror at him.

“There is nowhere to land.” He waved his hand out. “If this bridge collapses, it’s miles from land. I don’t know if I could carry you both that far.”

“It won’t collapse.” She rolled her eyes. “This has been here for years and the coast guard would send help.”

“Why are you two constantly bickering?” I frowned back at Amar, and he lowered his eyes as if embarrassed.

“It’s our shifters.” Jacqui ran a hand through her blond hair.

I glanced at her to Amar and back again. My best friend was totally boy-crazy and should be all over hot exotic Amar, yet she wasn’t. I didn’t understand. “Sorry, don’t follow you.”

“I’m a Raccoon and Chameleon shifter—he’s a hawk—my kind are food sources.”

“Oh.” I leaned back in my seat, still not quite understanding. Maybe it was because they were both raised knowing they were shifters and I wasn’t? Guess that’s why I got along with both of them, despite preconceived prejudices.

“So where in the Keys should we start looking?” Jacqui asked.

I pulled out my phone and did a search. “I don’t know. Wherever the farthest island is.” I scrolled through the map.

“What makes you think he’ll be there? Why not another island, or even the mainland?” Amar’s wings rustled.

“Because if I lived here, that’s where I’d go.” The satellite map on my cell showed a large island with a military base and some type of warehouse. Then I found it. A small island with beachfront property and houses sprinkled around the shore and inland. ‘Sunset Key’.

My hands shook as we drove off the Fort Myers-Key West Ferry to Sunset Key. We drove around the island, which was only a few miles long. It was filled with tons of homes and a community tennis court, spiraling out from the coast to the inside.

Across the ocean, behind us, stood stark white buildings crammed together, like a giant monopoly board with buildings stuck on every available space. I wondered if the sun and saltwater had bleached them that white. On the mainland, in the midst of all those hotels, and buildings rose a bright orange building. We didn’t have time to sightsee, but I made a mental note to check out the building when I wasn’t trying to find my dad, and running for my life.

I wanted to feel fresh air on my face, so I eased the window down an inch and lifted my face until I felt the ocean breeze kiss my face.

“What now?” Jacqui glimpsed over her shoulder at me with an arched eyebrow.

“Just drive.” I adjusted my seatbelt. Maybe something would click or my octopus warning system would alert me that we were close. “Any ideas, Amar?”

“Roll down the windows.” After Jacqui gave him a glare in the rearview mirror, he added, “We’re driving slower, it won’t mess up your hair.”

“Do you think you could scent him?” I twisted in my seat to look back at him. He already had both back windows down and was leaning toward the one behind Jacqui.

“Maybe. If he was bleeding, perhaps. I haven’t used my wolf spirit totem in a long time and, being stuck in the gargoyle form… I’m a little rusty at best.” He shrugged and his black wings went up with his shoulders. “I do smell something weird and tangy that burns my throat and nose.”

“It does that to me too, it’s Chlorine.” I shifted the seatbelt as it was cutting into my neck.

When he looked at me like I said I eat puppies for breakfast, I let out a laugh. “It’s a chemical they add to the pool water to kill off bacteria… tiny germs or like bugs I guess you could think of it, that you can’t see. Chlorine has to be constantly added and the ph balance checked regularly.”

“And you can smell it?”

“Well, yes.” I turned back to Jacqui. “Can’t everyone? Can you smell it?”

“No.” She bit her lip. “Maybe your spirit totem is some type of dog… that’s why you and Amar get along so well.”

At her words, my cheeks heated. Part of me wanted to get along with Amar more, but he had made it clear I was a duty. As soon as I could defend myself, and the threat of Ms. Moor and the Blood Spirits was gone or at least lessened, he would leave. Not wanting to get more emotional than I already was, I twisted to my window.

As Jacqueline drove, I gaped. Glimpses of the beach showed white sands so bright it seemed to glare as if made from snow. And the water was blue green, like pressed sapphire and turquoise. I could stay here forever. Maybe. If we put an end to Ms. Moor and her creatures.

I could train with my dad. Live with him? I didn’t even know him. He was a stranger from an old photograph. It would be awkward at best, but we’d make it work. I could get a job on the mainland. Maybe even live on a boat! With the waves rocking me to sleep each night, and the seagulls waking me every morning sounded enticing.

“Okay, I’ve made three circles now. Anything?” Her voice was a mixture of hopefulness and weariness.

“No,” I whispered and my stomach clenched. Even though the island was only a few miles around, it was crammed with homes and swimming pools. I couldn’t see the pools behind the houses, but I smelled the chlorine mingled in the air, and the kids splashing. They had the ocean feet away, yet swam in chemicals.

How was I to find him in this maze? “Guess I’ll walk up to every door and ask if my dad is there.”

“What does he look like?” Amar asked.

“Here.” I unhooked my cell phone charging on Jacqui’s cigarette lighter, and powered it on. Damn. Fifty messages and phone calls from my mom’s phone and unknown numbers. Nausea raced up my throat and I bit it back down. Ms. Moor and those goons would pay for what they did to my mom. Hopefully, I would have a few weeks to train with my dad before meeting them again. Maybe I could even get him to fight with us. That is if he wasn’t the coward my mind had portrayed him to be all these years.

I didn’t even bother to read or listen to the messages but hit select all and delete. Ms. Moor had killed my mom and let one of those shadow blood creatures impersonate her. I wasn’t about to talk to it again or read messages while it pretended to be my mom. Again my heart clenched; my mom was gone.

I scrolled through my photos. Years ago Jacqui had bugged me to show her a photo of my dad. My mom had hidden it. When we asked to see it, Mom had gotten defensive. Jacqui added a lie that it was for a school project.

When my mom poked her head in the fridge for something, Jacqui told me to take a picture of it before my mom conveniently shredded it.

I took a picture on my cellphone and, for some reason, never deleted it. My finger would hover over the button, but I couldn’t make myself erase him. What if Jacqui was right? And my mom destroyed the only picture I had of my dad?

Now I was glad I had kept the photo.

“Here.” I handed the phone to Amar. My dad had eyes like mine except his were grey around the pupils where mine were gold. His hair was a reddish brown, probably grey by now, and a smile that made you smile back, even from the photo. No wonder Mom had been enamored with him when they first met, or so she had told me.

“I've got an idea.” I motioned to a dead-end road that was lined with shorn grass and palm trees, but no houses. “Amar, do you mind staying in the car? I mean your wings… ”

He huffed but nodded.

“You can keep my phone. It’s got a game section.” I climbed out of the car and leaned my head through the open window. “Just don’t hit ‘buy’.”

“What are we gonna do?” Jacqui rose out of the car, then clicked her door closed. She followed me back to the main path where palm trees and houses waited. Here, on this dead-end road wasn’t much but dirt and grass. They must be planning to build more houses here.

“Well, we can’t pass ourselves off as Jehovah Witnesses—no bibles or dresses.”

She let out a snort as she hiked up the path to the main road with me. “I don’t think we’re docile enough either.”

“I know you can create an illusion that would make us look legit, but we can’t trust you being able to touch someone before they slam the door in our faces or call the cops for solicitation.”

“So what do you have in mind?”

I stomped to the first door and motioned for her to follow. “Here goes.” I knocked and waited.

From inside, a baby crying resonated. Maybe this was the wrong house. But, maybe my dad had remarried. Mom never said anything about him sending divorce papers, though.

“Yes?” A woman with a wailing baby on one hip and a toddler tugging on her pants answered.

“Y-yes, um I’m looking for Jack Bender? Do you know if he lives around here?” Lame. Gosh, I should have started out with something better.

“Sorry, never heard of anyone by that name.” And with that, she closed the door and the clack of the lock sliding into place sounded. Did we look that bad that she had to bolt the door?

“That went well.”

“Let’s see you do better.” I waved her on. Jacqueline never had a problem with strangers. Everyone seemed to love her. Me, I was cursed with tongue ties and awkwardness. Sometimes, my shyness froze the words in my brain before they could even form.

At the next house, she rang the doorbell. This time, a guy our age answered.

Figured.

His skin was tan and toned. No shirt required as he was dressed in blue swim trunks. His sun-bleached blond hair hung over his eyes and I expected him to say “Dude” any moment.

“Hi! I’m Jacqueline and this is Beth.”

He grinned looking from her to me and back again. “Nice to meet you, I’m Coby.” He leaned against the doorframe. “You two selling something?”

“Gosh, no.” She flipped her blond hair over a shoulder. Well, at least she flirted a whole hell of a lot better than me. I’d be red and sweating by now. In fact, I felt my cheeks heat. She put a hand on her hip. “We’re here looking for my friend’s deadbeat dad.”

“Jacqui!” I hissed. Great there went our cover. If Ms. Moor got here, she’d know what we’re up to. Now not only were we in danger, but they would know we were looking for my dad and believed he was here.

Coby looked at me from head to foot, and I got the impression he was sizing me up. Like, how difficult was I as a teen if my dad left us? I squeezed my hands into fists.

“What’s his name?”

“Jack Bender.” She took a step forward and when he didn’t move, she ran a fingertip down his muscled chest. “If we find him, I can give them some quality time and maybe you can show me where I could skinny dip.” She gave him a smile and a wink. “Can you believe we came all this way and I forgot my bikini?”

Red crept up his neck. “Uh…sure. How about we check the phone book?”

I wanted to argue that my dad wouldn’t be listed. Why would he? If I were him and hiding from smoke creatures and abandoned my wife and child, I’d be unlisted.

“Sure.” Jacqui twirled a lock of her hair. “Lead the way.”

The floor was dark wood, with multicolored rugs were thrown about. It looked like the owner never wanted to walk on bare floors for longer than a few seconds. Carpet would be easier. No, I shook my head. Sand and carpet equaled disaster.

We strolled past brown wicker furniture with flowered cushions. A contrast to the multiple rugs. Was his mom colorblind? The walls were bare but had tons of windows. Guess you didn’t need photos or paintings when you had a view of the ocean in the distance.

“Jacqui,” I whispered when I got close enough to her to grab her elbow, “what if this guy is a serial killer or something.”

“Would you stop worrying? He looks harmless and yummy.”

I crossed my arms over my chest while she leaned next to him as he flipped through the phone book on the kitchen’s glass table top. This was a bad idea. What if this guy worked with Ms. Moor? He could stall us and lead them straight here.

Sweat trickled down my back even though a sea breeze swept through the open windows and the ceiling fan making a clinking sound.

“No Bender listed at all.” He slid the book over to her. “But there’s a corner store down the block, maybe the owner knows him. You got a picture?” He tilted his head as he looked at me, and it made me nervous.

“Um… sure.” I took a step backward toward the door. “I left my cell in the car. Come on, Jacqueline.”

She sighed and took a skipping step closer to Coby. “I’ll be outside in a bit, okay?”

Right. Whatever. I wasn’t going to waste the rest of the day while she tried to get a total stranger to make out with her. I jogged to the car and skidded to a stop.

Flashing lights from a police car parked behind us was not a good thing. Sweat trickled down my back. Could this day get any worse?