Chapter Fifty-Two--Should We Run?

Chapter Fifty-Two--Should We Run?
I talked a good game sometimes. But, as I sat on the couch struggling to find the words to portray my new life in a clean nutshell, I failed.

For once, Lola gave me patience as I sorted through my thoughts. Her brooding told me well enough that she sensed we were on the brink of something big. I’d almost chickened out. I tried to find a way to keep her in my life, and in the dark. Pathetic. Another lie to add to mountain that had become our relationship. I had to wipe the slate clean. Start my new existence with freshness, and honesty. Or what was the point?

Though the Cobanes had no choice but to give me space, their presence was stained inkblots on the pristine white and pine décor just outside the door. Never seen, never heard. But my new skills provided me with a virtual map of all of my clan’s presence.

“As you’ve noticed, something is different about me,” I murmured.

“So what? You’ve been hurt bad twice in so many weeks. The real question is, what are we still doing here? I had several chances to get away from Syber.”

That was all talk. Even if she’d had the shot to escape, we were in the middle of nowhere, and she wasn’t capable of the magnitude of survival skills. I wasn’t the only one who talked big.

“But they had you, and I wasn’t leaving you behind. If our roles were switched out, you’d never do it.”

“I get that, honey.” We clasped hands, like children caught in a raging storm over the ocean, our only savior a beat up life raft. “There’s reasons I have to stay here.”

“Because of Kalvyn? Has he brainwashed you?”

I choked on bitter laughter. “Do I seem the type who can be brainwashed? I’m a little too hardheaded for that.”

She smirked. “Too true. Then what is it? Why all the smoke and mirrors? Just come out and say it. You’re pregnant!”

“What?”

“Well, you’ve been having wild monkey sex with that black haired god. It’s conceivable.” She waggled her eyebrows. Humor. What a defense mechanism.

“Umm, no.”

“Then speak, clearly. I’ve had enough of the evasive shit. I want to scream until I’m blue in the face, because nobody tells me anything. Like I can’t handle it.”

Oh, God. I sighed. “You trust me, don’t you, Lola?”

“Of course I do. If I didn’t, I’d have beat the shit out of you for disappearing on me, twice.”
            A low growl from the kitchen. “Kalvyn, stay out of this,” I mumbled under my breath.

Lola cocked her head. “What?”

“Nothing. Anyway, will you take my word that there’s some really bad stuff going down, and I need you to keep calm and an open mind while I explain?”

“I just said I could handle it. I’m not a China doll.”

“All right, let’s start at a strange point, but this is something I’ve been burning to tell you.” I took a deep breath, and then another. “You remember when I got hit by the boat and got a concussion?” I said.

She snorted. “Like I could forget.”

“The woman on that boat was my mom.”

She jumped to her feet. “What? Did you talk to her, did she talk to you?”

“No, well, sort of.” I blew my bangs out of my face to delay. “She didn’t know who I was. And she didn’t want to.”

At her sides, her fists shook. “How do you know?”

“They talked while they thought I was a goner. She mentioned wanting to get back into seclusion, before anyone recognized her. The way she talked about us, with scorn, destroyed all of my illusions. Forced me to realize she knew damn well she was leaving us and didn’t particularly care. That isn’t a woman I want to know.”

She lowered herself to the couch arm. “Can’t blame you there. But what’s she doing here then? If she doesn’t want to be recognized, why be so close to Harbor?”

“That brings me to the tricky part. You see, she’s hunting what she thinks are monsters.”

“Urg. Did she lose her mind?”

“Some of it anyway. Mom and her friends are hunting a particular type of jaguar.”

She laughed, handing going to her throat. “There are not jaguars in the mountains.”

Oh, crap. “Honey, do you remember the day we escaped the bear?”

Lola looked away, out the window at the stunning landscape. She didn’t respond for a long time. “I wasn’t sure. I did research on Syber’s computer when he thought I was just surfing the net. Jaguars don’t hang with cougars. I also looked up stress inductions hallucinations.”

“And we both had the same hallucination?”

“The strength of suggestion is a powerful thing, Kat.”

“I’m sorry, honey. I hate to tell you this, but jaguars really were there that day.”

“You can’t say that! You don’t know.”

“I do.”

She glared at me. “How?”

“I am one now.” The crushing blow fell from my lips before I’d thought them through.

She blinked. “Are one what?”

“A jaguar,” I whispered. “A shifter.”

“A shifter. Right. Next you’re going to tell me ghosts and ghouls exist.” She waggled her fingers in front of my face.

“I asked you to keep an open mind,” I replied.

Her hand shook as she ran her palm over her hair. “You’re mom is hunting monsters.”

“Yes. She’s going after shifters.”

“And how did you become one?”

“I was bitten. That’s where I’ve been the last few weeks. Recovering, changing.”

“The jaguars outside of Syber’s cabin,” she babbled. “They weren’t nightmares, were they?”

I shook my head. Syber and I were going to have another talk.

“He’s…he is a cat,” she enunciated carefully.

“He is?”

“You think I had a crush on a cat. Well, before he kidnapped me and kept hostage in his cabin.” She tittered. “Go figure. Here, I thought I’d met this really cool, nice guy, who liked me. Wasn’t about my tits, or how good I look. We had shit in common. Apparently not.” She covered her face in her hands. “I explained away the garbage I’d been seeing. The teeth too sharp to be human, then gone in a blink of an eye. The aggression, unusual grace. The damned noises he makes when he was angry or scared. I tried to tell myself it was steroids, or experimental drugs. People do that, you know.” She scuffed her sneakers on the floor. “And you’re one of them now. He did it, didn’t he? Syber bit you.”

“What? No.” I pulled her off the couch arm, closer to me. “All of the Colbane’s aren’t what they seem, Lola. What I’ve become was a mistake.”

“One that never have happened if we never came here!”

No argument there.