Page 40 of Raven

He watched me for a long moment, and I didn’t know what I felt coming off him. Mostly, it was always confusion with him. Wouldn’t be good if the alpha was so easy to read, right? “Is she okay?”

“She says she’s Society?”

“Yes. I mean, she has to be, right? To go to classes?”

His lip twitched, and I couldn’t read him, and not that I wanted to, but ... I moved closer. He didn't move back. “Please. Do you know something?”

“I looked for her record in the archives. Tia is an unusual name, and panthers aren’t so big in numbers. I found two panthers by the name of Tia. One was deceased about five years ago, and the other dropped off the radar about eighteen months back. She has a brother, several actually. One girl in a family of nine children.”

“She’s here to study because where she lives doesn’t offer the level she needs.”

“Well, if it is the same Tia, be careful, Raven. From what I could find on her, her family is protective of their single tabby. They don’t seem like the kind family that would let their only female far off the lead.”

"You think she might be here hiding?"

HIs nostrils flared as he inhaled. "Speculation is never advisable, but caution doesn't do anyone any harm."

EIGHTEEN

That eerie feeling clawed through my gut again, its silent howl echoing through my bones like a fucking hyena. I didn't know what it wanted, and when I reached inside, all I got was darkness, nothing. I inhaled sharply, trying to calm myself.

When I was a child and I got this feeling, that feeling that something was wrong, or something had been forgotten—a feeling I couldn't shake—I'd pace, get up. Every part of my being would be restless, and my mother would tell me it was all okay, and I'd believed her, but then we'd move and I'd realise that was it. I was feeling her fear, her panic and her desire to move us again.

But, older now, I searched for her, my power unfurled, golden threads seeking out my mother. Her emotions buzzed in my senses, fear, apprehension, but nothing out of the ordinary in our fucked up world.

"You good, Raven?" she asked, her eyes scanning the darkness.

I nodded, forcing out a breath. "The bike won't be there. We can just go home."

"Not a chance in hell. We're getting that bike." I felt her resolve. There was no arguing with her.

We'd been standing at the bus stop for an eternity, the rain a constant companion. It wasn't heavy, but it was annoying. Slowly soaking us through our clothes. "They might have cancelled the bus." This was a service for Others, though the word service was laughable. There was no service. The bus timetable said it should have arrived twenty minutes ago. The buses came every hour and ten. I have no idea why the time was so random like that, but it just seemed to be their way.

The bus finally crawled into view—a metal coffin on wheels.

My mother put a hand up in front of me, despite me being twice her height. I'm not sure what she'd protect me from, but I let her. Mother instinct, probably. The bus pulled to a stop and the doors rattled open. The driver, a middle-aged man with a pot belly and dull eyes, made a show of caressing his weapon. Yeah, we got it. It was loaded with silver. He rested the gun on the cash tray, right at my mother, and my panther braced himself, ready to protect her.

"Two seats. Five each. You make sure you sit at the back," he spat out at us.

My mother didn't say a thing. There was a time and a place, and this wasn't it. She took out a ten-pound note, lay it on the tray, and stepped back. No need to set off the itchy trigger finger. But I could already feel the familiar heat of silver snaking around me as we boarded, threatening to strangle my cat.

The heat silver gives off isn't a nice, friendly warmth. It's hot, burning, reaching out and rendering everything about me that was shifter, dormant. It made me want to get off the bus, an inner need to back away.

The driver took my mother's money, pocketed it, and had the bus moving before we even got the chance to move towards our seats. He didn't drive gently, either. Causing my mother and I to sway and almost lose our footing. We couldn't grab the bars to steady ourselves; the metal they were made from wasintertwined with silver, iron, and any other kind of metal that worked against an Other. Oh, they had all our kryptonites in things to make sure they were safe.

This was because humans knew. They knew we were stronger than them, better than them.

We made our way to the back. Several of the seats were filled, and none of the fellow passengers looked up at us.

The guard, conductor, whatever you wanted to call him, walked up and down the bus. He too was armed. He didn't have the gun in his holster, but rather in his hand, letting us all know he was ready if needed.

It wasn't our plan to anger the humans. We had enough of their shit already. But it didn't stop me sitting there grinding my teeth, fury bubbling just under the surface. I didn't look at the humans. They'd see it in my eyes—the contempt, the want to tell them all to get lost. One day ... one day the tables would turn. Humans thought their numbers made them invincible, but they had no idea what they were really fighting. We could have been allies, we could have lived side by side in peace, but they created this inequality out of fear. I hoped that when the tables did turn, I'd be around to see it.

When we finally got off the bus, it dropped us a few blocks back from where the cafe I took Tia to. We had to walk it, which was fine, but it was dark and the curfew was going to be on us soon. We had to hurry.

I didn't expect the bike to be there and it was no surprise when the cafe came into view and where I'd parked my bike, was now filled with a large SUV. "See, it's not there," I said, stopping.

But my mother kept on walking.

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