Shift (The Neturu Chronicles) (76 page)

               
“Yeah right!” Kayla shouts.  “You beat the crap out of me today.”

               
“What?” both Jackson and Damien yell at
once.
 
They struggle against their restraints.

               
“Now, I’m
really
going to kill you,” Damien snaps.

               
William rolls his eyes.  “She deserved it. Whatever I do to you two will
be punishment enough for her right now, so I won’t hurt her physically.”

               
“Don’t hurt them,” Kayla pleads.  “I’ll do anything you want.  Just
don’t hurt them.”

               
William snaps his fingers. “I know!  I won’t physically hurt you guys, but
I can emotionally tear you apart.  You’re both in love with the same girl. 
What would it take to make your blood boil?  I think I know.  Kayla,
my dear, I’m going to let you out of those restraints.”

               
“Shift into something and kill him,” Jackson growls.

               
“She actually could.” William laughs.  “She hasn’t had her dose of Kiej
concentrate yet.  Though if you try anything I will have Patrick shoot
you, with a real bullet.  So are you going to behave if I let you out of
your restraints?”

               
Kayla nods.  “Are we leaving then?”

               
“Oh, no, no, no, I have something much better in mind.  You want them both
to live, right?” William inquires with a smirk.

               
“Yes,” Kayla says slowly.

               
“And you will do anything I ask, correct?”

               
She nods apprehensively.  “Yeah, why?”

               
With a strut to his step, William comes over and undoes her restraints. 
“Stand up, my dear.”  Kayla obeys, and he grabs her hand.  William
pulls her in front of Damien and Jackson and steps behind Kayla.  Looking
at the guys, William asks, “Do you like her outfit?  It’s my shirt. 
I think the color looks good on her, but you know what? I like it more when she
doesn’t have it on.  Kayla, take it off.”

               
“What?  Why?” she snaps.

               
“Do it or one of them dies,” William declares.  Kayla quickly pulls the
shirt off.  “She has a gorgeous body, doesn’t she guys?”

               
“Keep your hands off of her,” Jackson seethes.

               
William strokes his hand down Kayla’s face. “You will do anything, right?” he
whispers.

               
“Yes,” Kayla whimpers.  She knows this is going to be bad.

               
“And what would be a harsh punishment for you two?  I think watching her
lose her virginity would do it.”

               
Both guys start struggling against their restraints.  “I will kill you!”
Damien yells.

               
“Please, don’t do this,” Kayla whines.  “I’ll do it, but not in front of
them.”

               
“Oh, no, I am past the point of being a gentleman.  You’re going to
conceive my baby…right now.  Turn around, my dear.”  William chirps
in her ear.

               
Kayla looks at Jackson and then Damien.  Damien stares straight at her.
 “Don’t do it.  We don’t care what happens to us.  You can’t do
this to yourself.”

               
She turns toward William.  “You won’t hurt them then?  You give me
your word?”

               
“I swear on my own life.  You and I will get on that plane and leave,”
William states.  He reaches over and starts to pull her bra strap
down.  “Just give me what I want.”

               
“Okay,” Kayla whispers with tears running down her face.

               
“KAYLA!  NO!” Jackson shouts.  “Shift, you can shift into anything!”

               
William narrows his eyes at him.  “Don’t tell her that. There is nothing
on this planet that she could shift into that these darts wouldn’t work on.”

               
“Get out of here, Kayla.  Do what you need to!  Leave us here. 
We will die for you,” Damien cries out.  “Just don’t do this!”

               
A thought runs through Kayla’s mind.  “I can turn into anything I want,
right?” she yells at Damien.

               
“Yes, do what you need to get out of here!”

               
Kayla takes a step back.  “I’m not leaving without you.”

               
“Don’t be stupid, Kayla,” William growls.  “I will put a bullet in your
head.”

               
“I would like to see you try,” Kayla whispers.  With that, she closes her
eyes.  It takes a massive amount of energy, but she shifts.  When
Kayla opens her eyes again, her head is hitting the ceiling of the hanger.

               
Everyone stops and stares at her. William shakes his head in disbelief. 
“This is impossible.”

               
Kayla emits a thunderous roar.  “Eat him!” Damien screams.

               
“Shoot her!” William shouts at Patrick.

               
“She’s a dragon!” Patrick yells.  “Are you crazy?”

               
“Shoot her now!” William snaps.

               
Patrick shakes his head as he points and shoots at Kayla.  The dart
bounces off her hard scales.  Kayla laughs and it comes out as another
roar.  Patrick drops his gun and sprints for the doorway.  Kayla
swings her tail at him, and he flies into the wall.

               
Shots erupt from behind her. She turns to see William shooting real bullets at
her, but these can’t penetrate her scales either.  “I will kill you!”
William says.  “Shift back right now.”  He points the gun at
Jackson.  “If you don’t, I’ll shoot him, I promise you that.”

               
Anger courses through her, and she roars at the top of her lungs.  All the
windows in the building shatter.  William pales and backs up.  Kayla
leans over, bringing her dragon face close to his. 

“Kill him!” Damien and
Jackson yell at the same time.

               
“Don’t listen to them, Kayla,” William interjects.  “You don’t have it in
you to kill anyone.  You’re just a little girl in the end.  Could you
live with yourself, knowing you killed another person?”  Kayla stares at
him without blinking.  William smiles. “I know you better than you
think.  You’re weak and need a strong man to take care of you. You’re just
a weak little girl who couldn’t save the guy she loves.”  William lifts
the gun and shoots.  Kayla opens her mouth and bites down.  She can
feel him break in between her jaws.  Once she knows he’s dead, she spits
him out and starts gagging.

               
Shifting back to herself, Kayla vomits on the floor.  Taking in deep
breaths, she tries to collect herself.  She hears, “KAYLA!  You need
to untie me.  Jackson’s hurt!”

               
Her attention snaps to Jackson.  He is slumped over in his chair with
blood seeping out of his stomach.  Kayla runs over to Damien and
frantically unties his binds.  He pushes her out of the way, and together
they get Jackson out of his chair and onto the floor.  Damien rips the IV
out of Jackson’s arm.  “Jackson!” he shouts.  “Stay with us!”

               
Jackson moans and gasps. “It hurts.  It hurts so much.”    

               
“Shift,” Kayla squeals.  “I did it and I healed myself.”

               
“Not with a gun wound,” Damien whispers, looking at Kayla.  “I’m going to
go get help from the ship.  You need to stay here with him and apply
pressure to the wound.”  Kayla nods as Damien jumps up and runs out of the
building.

               
Kayla puts her hand on the wound and presses down.  Jackson’s scream
ricochets off the walls.  “I’m sorry!  I’m sorry!” Kayla cries,
pulling her hand away.

               
“NO!” Jackson gasps.  “You need to keep your hand there.  I’m losing
blood.”

               
“You’re going to be okay,” Kayla whimpers.  “We’re getting help.”

               
He looks at her and gives a weak smile.  “I’m just happy that we found
you.  That’s all that matters.”

               
“None of it is going to matter if you die,” Kayla exclaims.  “So…I don’t
know.  STAY AWAKE!”

               
“I will for you,” he whispers, stroking his fingers down her face.  “I
have to ask, did you mean it?”

               
She is about to answer him, but Damien returns.  “Help should be here any
minute,” Damien says.  He looks at Kayla.  “Are you all right?”

               
“Yeah,” she replies softly.  “Although, I feel a little woozy.”  A
wave of dizziness hits her.  “Okay, really woozy.”  With that, Kayla
crumbles to the ground next to Jackson.

               
The next thing she knows, Kayla is lying in a bed, her eyelids flickering
open.  Her head is cloudy and she feels groggy.  The room isn’t
familiar to her.  It is completely metallic.  Kayla bolts
upright.  “Oh no!  Help,” she yells.  “Please, not again!”

               
“Calm down, Kayla,” a soothing voice says.  Kayla spins around.  Her
mom is standing in the room, a soft smile lighting her face.  “Hey, baby
girl, how are you feeling?”

               
“I don’t know,” Kayla replies, grabbing her head.  “Dizzy and tired.”

               
Her mom sits on the edge of the bed.  She wraps her arms around Kayla and
pulls her in for a hug.  “You shifted into a dragon, honey.  You
expelled enough energy to knock you out for three days.”

               
“Three days?” Kayla whispers, shaking her head in grogginess. 

               
“Yeah, we’re on one of our ships.  Our doctors have been monitoring
you.  With everything that William was pumping into you, we wanted to make
sure there weren’t going to be side effects.”

               
Kayla nods. “I’m okay then?”

               
“Yeah, perfectly healthy,” her mom replies.  “You aren’t hurt at all.”

               
When the word hurt pings in Kayla’s head, she frantically turns to her
mom.  “Jackson!  Jackson was hurt!  I have to see him!”

               
“He’s fine, honey,” her mom reassures her.  “Jackson is healing
fast.  You can see him in a little while.”

               
“Where’s Damien?  Is he all right?”

               
An odd look passes over her mom’s face.  “He wasn’t hurt at all.”

               
“Where is he?  I need to see him,” Kayla urges.  “I need to see both
of them.”

               
Her mom diverts her eyes from Kayla. “You can see Jackson, but Damien…well,
he’s gone, sweetie.”

               
“What? What do you mean gone?”

               
“Damien left.  He made sure you were going to be okay, and then he
disappeared.”

               
Kayla’s chest tightens, making it impossible to breathe.  “He’s gone…”

               
“Yeah.”

               
“Give me a phone.  I need to call him.”

               
Her mom pats her on the knee.  “I don’t know if that is what Damien wants. 
He didn’t say much after you were rescued.  Your father and I have been
sitting with you for the last few days.”

               
“No, I have to call him.  Get me a phone, please!”

               
With a nod, her mom grabs her purse.  Reaching into it, she pulls out
Kayla’s cell phone.  “Here.  Do you want me to give you a minute?”

               
“Yes, please,” Kayla whispers.  Her mom kisses Kayla on the forehead and
then leaves.  When the door shuts, Kayla dials Damien’s number.

               
It rings and rings and rings.  Finally, his voice mail picks up. 
“You have reached Damien Blakely.  I’m probably missing your call for some
awesome reason.  So leave a message, and I’ll give you a call back as soon
as I can.”

               
After the beep, Kayla quickly spits out, “Damien, its Kayla, please call
me!  I don’t know why you aren’t here.  Please, I miss you and need
to know you’re okay.  Call me when you get this.  I need to talk to
you.  Better yet, please, just come back.  I have to see you. 
Please, just—” She starts to cry.  “I need you.  Please, call me or
come back.  Please.” She drops the phone, drops her face in her hands, and
weeps.

               
A little while later, her mom returns with a tray of food.  “You need to
eat, sweetie.”

               
“I don’t want to.  I want to get ahold of Damien.  Can we ask his
dad?”

               
“No, we aren’t in a position to do that.”

               
Kayla throws her hands up.  “I’m still technically Damien’s girlfriend,
unless he left a break-up note.”

               
“There’s no note, nothing.  He just left, and no one has heard from
him.  Please, let’s deal with that later.  You need to eat.”

               
Kayla crosses her arms in protest. “I’m not going to eat.”

               
“Kayla, you haven’t eaten in days.  You’re going to get sick.” Her mom
sighs.