Page 65 of Shifter Marked and Claimed

“You need to go to the police. They’ll protect you. They’ll—”

“Chloe, we can’t.”

“Why not?”

“We have no family. They’d send Zoe away because I’m not in a position to be a fit guardian.”

“I’ll talk to my parents.”

“Yeah. Talk to them. Tell them what’s going on. Get them to call the cops back. Tell them what I said. They need to find Joey.”

“Will you come back if my parents say you can stay here?”

I looked at Zoe.

“We’ll think about it,” I answered.

“Okay. I have your number now. Don’t go quiet again.”

“I won’t.”

Zoe watched me closely as I hung up.

“How much of that did you hear?”

“Just your side. What did she say? Will she go to the cops for us?”

“I think so. Jessica wasn’t the first one. Nicki’s dead, too.”

Zoe made a pained sound, and her eyes started to water. I quickly got up and hugged her.

“It’ll be okay. Her parents are home. She’s going to see if we can stay with them permanently. I said we’ll think about it. But we won’t go back if the police don’t catch Joey, okay?”

She nodded and hugged me in return.

We worked together to finish the pancakes and sat down to a quiet breakfast. I kept my phone close by, but it remained silent. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting. A text saying they caught Joey within thirty minutes? Yeah, that wasn’t realistic.

“What distractions do we have lined up for today?” I asked as I took our plates to the sink.

“School assignments, treadmill, Ashlyn’s notes. The usual.”

Zoe went to the living room and grabbed her laptop. Seeing her settling in and not even looking at the windows, I turned my back on her and started filling the sink. Boring didn’t begin to describe our days here. But at least, we were safe.

When I finished washing, I joined her and tried to focus on my math homework.

The idea that we might have somewhere to go that wasn’t in Uttira appealed to me. But did I want to go back to ignorance?

The Council had been clear. If we chose to leave, our time here would be erased from our memories. We’d go back to the “real” world with no knowledge of all the creatures that existed. And there were so many creatures in the world. Even if the police caught Joey and put him behind bars, there were a lot of other monsters out there, according to Ashlyn’s creature books. Zoe and I knew how to deal with an incubus now. But, what if we ran into one in the real world after our minds were wiped? We’d be helpless again.

I just wasn’t sure which was better in this case. Ignorance or knowledge?

“That’s the third time you’ve sighed,” Zoe said. “Sounds like someone needs a run.”

I groaned since that was what I always told her when she got too sigh-y.

“Fine.” I set my laptop aside. “But I’m not running until I sweat.”

“So, a minute?”

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