Second Nature (61 page)

That's not fair!
Jorie silently yelled.
She knows that I don't back down from a challenge like that.
"Of course I'm afraid!" she shouted. "We're sitting around in Osgrove, a Wrasa hotspot for all I know, discussing dreams while there could be saru out there, just waiting for the forty-eight hours to end so that they can kill me!"

Saying it out loud caused every muscle in her body to tense. She had tried to ignore the threat to her life and to focus on each single moment, but now fear swept over her again.

Griffin knelt down in front of the couch, laying both hands on Jorie's knees and shaking them as if to wake her up. "And they will kill you — if we don't give them a damn good reason not to. You being a maharsi is the only reason I can think of that would make them think twice."

"Why would that stop them?" Jorie skeptically shook her head. "They seem so hell-bent on killing me that I don't think anything you say will stop them. Certainly not me having a few crazy dreams! If anything, it'll make them want me dead even more. They'd rather kill me than accept a human dream seer." Her own words once again made Jorie realize in what kind of predicament she was.

"No!" Nella's sharp voice cut through the haze of Jorie's fear. Her eyes were glowing with conviction. "Killing a maharsi is unthinkable. Dream seers are sacred. They guided our kind through a lot of difficult times and saved us from total extinction. They're special and blessed by the Great Hunter himself. No Wrasa would ever lay a hand on a dream seer."

"Yeah," Brian said. "Our people hate Nella and me for ending the line of dream seers; that should give you a good idea of how much the maharsi mean to the Wrasa."

"But what if I'm not a dream seer? What if it's all just some weird coincidence?" At this point, Jorie wasn't sure what scared her more: the thought of not being a dream seer or the fact that she might be one.

"Jorie." Griffin looked up at her from her kneeling position. Her gaze connected with Jorie's. "Even though you sometimes pretend otherwise, you are good with math, statistics, and probability. So tell me: how likely is it that a human dreams about shape-shifters all her life, writes a book about them based on the images and the assumptions that the dreams allowed her to make, and gets all of it right by mere coincidence? How likely is it that you would dream about something that happened to me as a child even though I never told you about it?"

Getting a royal flush two poker games in a row seemed more likely, Jorie had to admit to herself. She shrugged helplessly. "It doesn't sound very likely," she said. Still, it was hard for her to admit that her dreams weren't meaningless figments of her imagination. Her whole life, she had tried to ignore them, and even her shape-shifter novel was a final attempt to get rid of them. Accepting that she might be a dream seer meant that they would forever be a part of her life, that she would never be normal and fit in.

Was there no other way out for her and Griffin, no other way to save their lives?

Griffin nodded with satisfaction and finally got up. "It's so much more than mere coincidence."

"Then let's assume for a moment that you're right. Do you really think it will matter? Do you think a horde of attacking saru will stop long enough for you to convince them they shouldn't kill me because I'm a dream seer?" Jorie's shoulders slumped. "Griffin, you can't even convince your own mother." Her stomach tightened with guilt at Griffin's crestfallen expression, but Jorie knew it needed to be said.

"She can't," Nella said. She hesitated but then added, "But maybe you could. Let's try again, and if you have another dream about us, I'm willing to consider that it might be more than just some weird coincidence."

Griffin walked over to her and squeezed her mother's shoulder. It was the first time that Jorie had seen mother and daughter touch in any way. "Thank you," Griffin said. She turned to look at Jorie. "Will you try once more?"

There were no alternatives. She couldn't outrun the Wrasa or hope to beat them in a fight. Trusting Griffin — and trusting that Griffin was right — was her only hope. "All right." She settled back against the backrest of the couch and closed her eyes.

Nella's calm, soothing voice trickled through her like a clear brook, filled with refreshing spring rain that Nella told her to imagine. Warm exhaustion settled over Jorie like a blanket. She wasn't sure if she was really asleep or in some kind of trance, but she found herself back in the forest.

Again, she felt someone beside her.

Grass rustled softly when paws padded over it. Jorie wanted to turn and see who her companion was, but there was no time to linger.

Fear suddenly gripped her. Without knowing why, she knew there was something, someone behind them. Someone very dangerous. Panic urged her forward.

Side by side, she and her companion dashed through the undergrowth. The forest grew denser and denser, and with it, Jorie's fear grew.
Why am I running? Is something chasing me?

No time for much thought or for stopping to get some answers, though. She scrambled up a tree and felt her silent companion climb up into the branches next to her.

When she finally turned her head to see who it was, she met familiar cat eyes.

"Will," she murmured and reached out to touch him.

She woke before she could touch the soft, red fur. Dazed, she stared into Griffin's catlike eyes, which were looking at her expectantly.

"What did you dream?" Griffin asked, again kneeling down in front of the couch so that her eyes were almost level with Jorie's.

Jorie felt like a bully who was taking away a child's favorite toy. "It wasn't about the Wrasa," she said and touched Griffin's arm when she saw the disappointment on her face. "I was dreaming about Will — my cat," she added for Nella's benefit. "I'm worried about having to leave him and my other cats behind, and I guess that's why I dreamed about him."

"And you're sure it was just a normal dream, with no connection to us Wrasa?" Griffin asked.

"No Wrasa in sight," Jorie said. "It wasn't even a realistic dream. Will has just three paws, so climbing trees is not his favorite pastime, and I haven't climbed a tree in at least twenty years either."

Brian walked over and gave Griffin a pat on the shoulder. "Maybe some cosmic accident gave her just a tiny spark of dream-seeing potential, but it's not enough to make her a maharsi or to save her life," he said. "Accept it and move on. Maybe there's another way to convince the Saru and the council not to kill Jorie."

Griffin's teeth worried her bottom lip. Without another word, she stood. "Come on," she said. "I don't think we'll find an answer to all of our questions tonight. Maybe we could try again later. For now, let's get you back to Rhonda's."

Jorie tiredly followed her to the door.

"Go ahead and leave without me," Brian said.

"Leigh took your car," Griffin reminded, frowning. "If we leave, you'll be stranded here."

"I'll find a way to get back, and if I don't, I'll just book a room here. I want to have a word with Nella before I leave," Brian said.

Nella gave him the kind of cool, superior glance that Jorie had often seen with her own cats. "What if I don't want to have a word with you?"

"Then I'll do all the talking while you listen for a change," Brian said with determination. "We left a lot of things unsaid between us, and I let myself be chased away by your father, your stubbornness, and my own fears, but I won't let that happen a second time. I'm staying, and there's nothing you can do about it."

It took a few seconds, but finally Nella nodded. "All right. But don't think I'll let you sleep over," she said.

With a short good-bye to her parents, Griffin opened the door and stepped outside.

CHAPTER 25

D
AWN WAS BREAKING when they stepped outside. Gray half-light trickled through the nearby trees.

For once, Griffin didn't enjoy the beauty of the new day, though. With slow, tired movements, not even looking around, she opened the passenger side door for Jorie.

Jorie gripped her sleeve as she slipped past her. "I'm sorry," Jorie said quietly.

"No," Griffin said. "You've got nothing to be sorry for. I got this idea in my head about you being a dream seer, and I admit a big part of me is still clinging to that idea. But if you're not, it doesn't change anything. At least not for me. I'm still determined to protect you." She didn't want Jorie to feel guilty or be afraid that she would abandon her. Her own emotions were in enough of an uproar for both of them. All her hopes had rested on Jorie being a dream seer, and now she was disappointed, confused, and desperate. Time was running out. It didn't mean that she was about to give up, though.

There had to be another way.

Jorie's grip on Griffin's sleeve tightened as if she were holding on for dear life. Maybe she was. "Thank you," she whispered.

Bending down, Griffin lifted a hand to trail a finger along Jorie's cheek.

A familiar scent hit her nose — a scent that shouldn't even be there.

Griffin whirled around.

At the other end of the driveway, a car was blocking hers, and in front of it, Cedric Jennings stood, aiming a handgun with a silencer at them in an almost casual way. "Hello, Griffin," he said as if he were there for a casual chat. The gun in his hand and the biting scent of his hostility told her otherwise.

"Back off." Griffin growled and pushed Jorie behind her, sheltering her between her body and the rental car. Her gaze darted left and right. Were there other saru around? Had Tarquin somehow called them and told Jennings where they were? "The council gave us forty-eight hours, and they're not up yet."

The gun that was aimed at them didn't waver. "Step back and let me have the human," Jennings said.

Griffin felt nervous hands clutch at the back of her shirt, and she reached back to soothingly stroke the trembling fingers. Her gaze never moved away from Jennings. "You can't have her," she said firmly, struggling to hold back the possessive roar that was tickling up her throat. "Killing her would be a grave mistake. Listen, Tas, I know this is gonna sound crazy, but I really think that she might be a dream seer."

Nothing.

Instead of the mocking laughter or shouts of disbelief that Griffin had expected, only silence answered her. There was no reaction from Jennings at all. He didn't even blink.

"I'll say it only once more: move away from the human," Jennings said. "I don't want to kill you, but I will if you keep getting into my way." The gun moved, now pointing right between Griffin's eyes.

Staring into the muzzle of the gun made Griffin's stomach roil with fear and anger. "Didn't you hear what I said?" Her gaze darted left and right, trying to spot an escape route or a weapon she could use against Jennings. She contemplated calling for help or making a run for the cabin, but if her parents rushed out of the cabin or opened the door to let them in, Jennings would just shoot them. "She might be a dream seer. We need to protect —"

Without warning, pain exploded in her arm. Fire raced along the limb and burned through the rest of her body as the pain mingled with the growing need to shift.

Another low pop right next to them made one tire of Griffin's rental car deflate.

A roaring started in her ears, and she could barely make out Jorie's shouting next to her. The groaning of her bones and the other sounds of her impending transformation drowned out every other sound.

"Griffin! Griffin!" Jorie shook her harshly, her fingers digging into Griffin's back. "Stop! Don't shift! Stay with me!"

The haze in her mind slowly lifted when Griffin roughly shook her head. Jorie's grip on her arm anchored her, and she took a deep breath, inhaling Jorie's soothing scent. Finally, her vision cleared and the itching of her skin receded.

"Last chance to hand over the human!" Jennings shouted.

Anger roared through Griffin, threatening to jump-start the shifting process again. Blood pulsed through her muscles as they got ready to fight.

Another bullet whizzed past Griffin, only missing her by inches.

"Run!" Jorie shouted and dashed around the car, using it as a cover.

Without thought, Griffin followed her.

Side by side, they raced toward the forest that began right behind the bed-and-breakfast, Cedric Jennings close on their heels.

*  *  *

Jorie's lungs burned with the fire of exhaustion. Her legs threatened to give out any second, but the sounds of their pursuer breaking through the undergrowth behind them kept her moving.

She stumbled and began to fall.

A strong hand grabbed her. "Stay with me!" Griffin shouted and pulled her along.

Jorie couldn't. Not for much longer.

Was the man still following them? She threw a quick glance back over her shoulder. Griffin was pushing and pulling her through thick undergrowth and dense vegetation, so she couldn't see their pursuer, but she could hear him. The sounds of breaking twigs came closer and closer. Another minute and he would reach them.

Leaves flew in all directions as Jorie skidded through a pile of them. Her tired muscles wanted to collapse into the soft cushion.

Griffin wasn't slowing down, though. She looked as if she could continue at this breakneck speed for hours, despite her bleeding arm, and while it was encouraging to have a strong protector at her side, it also let Jorie know that the Wrasa following them wouldn't tire anytime soon.

Unlike me.
Her breath rasped through her lungs as she struggled up a hill. "Griffin," she wheezed. "I can't..."

"You have to," Griffin shouted back. "Just a little farther."

And then what?
Jorie knew the area better than Griffin did. She had often come here to write in the silence of the forest. There was nothing but forest for miles in the direction into which they were running. No place to hide and no one to help them anywhere. Most locals didn't go that deep into the forest, except for the occasional hiker or hunter, but now, that early in the day, they were still in bed.