Page 25 of Shadow of Death

Suddenly the darkness in me was in a frenzy. Was it her or something I was doing? I forced it down, trying to keep its power contained.

I saw her jerk out of the corner of my eye. It was a slight movement, but it was enough. Had she been trying to control whatever was inside of me? Had I stopped her? If I had, could this power inside me be used against her?

“Don’t do that again,” I said, forcing my voice to be calm even as my pulse was racing. My hands might’ve trembled if I weren’t gripping the deck railing. “I don’t like you poking around inside of me. That wasn’t part of the bargain.”

I thought she might lash out, that she might strike me down right there. But she didn’t move. She just stared at me, her eyes boring into me. I turned and held her gaze, refusing to back down or show her an ounce of hesitance.

You’re stronger than I thought,she finally said. She seemed to withdraw slightly, as if reconsidering something.

I said nothing, just kept my eyes on her.

Perhaps I underestimated you,she continued.But don’t get too confident. Your life is mine, whether you want to see it or not.

As suddenly as she had appeared, she was gone, leaving me alone on the deck, barely able to breathe. We’d had words before, but this had felt different, more significant.

For the second time, I’d seen cracks. She hadn’t known anything about the creature staring at me in the woods, which left open other possibilities. If it did exist, was it a possible ally?

She didn’t know how my ankle had healed. Had I done it myself? Had the wolf in the woods? Was the wolf connected to the man? There were more questions than ever spiraling in mymind, but one thing had become clear: Death wasn’t as powerful as I’d feared.

I was settled in a chair under a thick blanket by the fireplace when the satellite phone rang. Charging it was a struggle on the road, so Kicks only turned it on for an hour every night in case there was a pack emergency.

And it was ringing.

Kicks was on it right away. “Yeah?”

I was immediately ready to vomit because I heard the person on the other side asking for me. The voice sounded vaguely familiar but I couldn’t place it. It couldn’t be about Charlie, because it wasn’t someone from our pack.

“She’s here.” He held the phone out to me. “It’s Fifo, the guide from the California pack.”

My lungs inflated again. It wasn’t about Charlie.

The guide had said he was going to do some digging around, try to figure out why some people survived and some didn’t. Maybe he’d found something. I didn’t care about my lineage, where I’d come from, if I had some shifter blood in me. All I cared about now was what was coming. Still, he’d thought he was doing me a favor.

“Hey, Fifo,” I said, more worried about how quickly I could get him off the phone. I wanted to be able to call Charlie and check in. Hopefully the boat would have electricity we could use.

“I’ve been trying to reach you but haven’t been able to get through.” Fifo spoke as if the world was still going along like it had for decades. As if we were all sitting around with cell phones and having trouble getting in touch was an anomaly.

“We’re traveling, so we’re only leaving it on for short periods. Is everything all right?” I wasn’t burning through the battery for this. He needed to get to the point, and fast.

“I’ve been gathering as much information as I could on you, and your background. I think I have some answers.”

“That’s great.” I held the phone away from me, checking the charge.

It’s okay,Kicks mouthed.

Eighty percent. I guessed Fifo could talk for a few more minutes. But if he kept going, I was going to accidentally lose the connection.

“It looks as if your line goes back to a particular line of shifters many, many years ago,” Fifo said, seeming more interested than me.

Kicks moved closer, as if he didn’t want to miss a word. Everyone seemed more interested than me. You’d think it wastheirheritage.

“So somewhere in my family, a shifter like you or Kicks slept with someone in my family? That’s very interesting. I really appreciate you calling, but—”

“No,” Fifo said. “Your linepredateswhat we are. Our type of shifters branched off the line in your ancestry. I believe that is why you not only survived Death Day but were able to take on the powers of Jaysa, and in an extreme manner.”

Kicks was hanging on every word, while I still couldn’t figure out what was so interesting. Maybe if I’d been told about this before I knew there were shifters, I’d be more interested. But I had…what? A speck of shifter blood? Who cared?

“You’re a descendant of the original line,” Kicks said softly.

---