Page 27 of Cast in Shadow
She blinked at me a few times. “Good, I guess, but what are we doing? We can’t be sure they won’t come after us, right? So, what are we waiting for? And what did my grandma mean by ‘fresh start’?”
“We’re taking you somewhere you’ll both be safe but getting in means leaving everything about your past behind.”
“Getting in where?”
“Salus,” I said, with just a sliver of hesitation. “Have you heard of it?”
She shook her head.
Good. It was probably better that way anyway.
“Salus is a pack that takes in shifters from all over the world. All breeds. Like a safe haven for good people who are in trouble and looking to start over.”
She let out a disbelieving laugh. “Sounds like a fairy tale. Are you sure they take all shifters? Even female alphas?”
“Yes. Salus was actually started by a female alpha—a tiger—and now it’s run by a council of six members who are all voted in. The leadership changes every other year, and no leader can hold a seat on the council for more than two cycles in a row. It gives everyone a chance to hold a leadership role, if they want it, and ensures no one person holds undue influence.”
Naomi’s lips dropped into a frown. “And if I don’t want to be a leader?”
I bit back a smile. The girl was running scared, I got that, but when she finally had the chance to settle in and get more familiar with her true nature, she would want it. There was no doubt in my mind.
“There’s no pressure. If you don’t want a leadership position, you don’t have to take one. Everyoneisexpected to pull their weight, but they’ll explain it all to you when we get there.”
“And Nana will be with me?” She eyed the open door behind her.
The girl looked so worried. So scared. The truth might not be what she wanted to hear, but it would be the kindest thing.
“I’ve secured a place for you, but Bridget will have to go through a vetting process before they decide whether or not she can stay.” I gave her the most reassuring look I could offer,resting my hand on her shoulder. “She’s a good person. That gives her a damn good chance.”
She nodded, then glanced toward the door. “Are you two friends? Did she tell you about me?”
“I didn’t know what they were doing to you,” Bridget said, closing the cabin door behind her and moving to pull her into a hug. “I almost went looking for you so many times. I’m so sorry I didn’t.”
The girl buried her face in her grandmother’s neck, and from the tremble in her shoulders, it was clear she was trying to hold back tears.
I used their long overdue reunion to arrange a few things. My priorities were tied, which I never liked. I needed to get them to Salus, which meant I needed my Jeep. But I also needed to get a team out to find Echo, or whatever was left of them.
11
“I would feel a lot better if you’d let me go with you,” Nguyen said, squaring his shoulders.
We were standing between my Jeep and a white Land Rover with blacked out windows in a multi-level parking garage on the south side of Brynworth. Parking structures were a great place for a vehicle swap because there was just enough traffic coming and going to make it easy to tell if someone was tailing us.
“I need you to go with Shay and the others to track Echo’s last location.” I pinched the bridge of my nose, but it did nothing to help the sick feeling I got thinking about them. “If there’s anyone left alive, do whatever you can to help them.” I looked up at him, trying not to betray the fact that my gut already knew the truth. Lowering my voice, I added, “Between you and me, don’t get your hopes up. And don’t let Shay get hers up either.”
I glanced over at the youngest member of Lexa. I’d taken Shayla under my wing when she was barely thirteen, homeless and starving. I’d seen her digging through the hotel’s trash onceor twice, but the first time we spoke was the same night I’d learned my top-notch AI system didn’t work so well with a rearranged face and gore smeared all over me.
I hadn’t wanted to risk healing myself out in the open because it was a hell of an energy drain, and I was already weak. Shay, bless her heart, had found me slumped in front of the door and had pounded on it until someone finally answered.
In the years since, she’d become like a daughter to me, or the closest thing I would ever have to a daughter, and Nguyen had been there to watch the whole relationship unfold. He knew better than anyone else how much she meant to me.
“On second thought, don’t even let her get out of the Rover.”
He shook his head. “I don’t like leaving you to do this without backup.”
I reached up and patted his big shoulder. “I had to pull in a favor just to get the okay to bring Bridget in. If I show up with you too, they won’t even let us through the gate.”
The scowl on his face told me two things: one, he wasn’t going to fight me on this (thank goodness), and two, he didn’t like being on the outside when it came to Salus.
