When the tape finished, I braced for Hayley's outraged protests. Instead, she was quiet for at least a half kilometer. Then she said, "Okay. So what are our other options?"
"We run."
"Run where? We'd need a goal, right? We can't just run forever."
"There's that guy they mentioned in the car. Lucas Cortez. We could go to Portland, find him, and see if he'd help."
"But his dad is CEO of another Cabal. One that's at least as powerful as the Nasts. I'm getting the impression these Cabals aren't exactly charitable organizations."
"Agreed. It's a possibility, though. Or we can find the Project Genesis group, tell them, and run with them."
"And then what?" She sighed and shook her head. "That's really what it comes down to, doesn't it? And then what. Calvin's right. We can't run forever. We don't want to. I want my mom and my dad and my sister back. And, yes, I want some kind of normal life back. I know that makes me sound like exactly what you'd expect--a spoiled cheerleader--but it's what I want."
"Me too."
She looked at me, surprised.
I shrugged. "I know that 'totally normal' is out of the question. I don't think we ever had that anyway. But I want my parents and I want a life. Plus, we have medical issues--Annie's reversion, Corey's headaches, and possibly more we haven't found out yet."
"Then this really is our only option."
"It seems so."
When we reached the park, I started getting anxious again, thinking about Daniel. Would he be here? How badly was he hurt? Had Rafe made it? Soon my hands started itching, my muscles bunching, my nails thickening.
"You know, that could get really inconvenient," Hayley said as I rubbed my hands and tried to refocus.
"Tell me about it," I muttered.
"Do you know what causes it?"
"Stress. Fear. Anger. Right now, it's door number one."
My arms started throbbing. I rubbed them. Hayley noticed and sighed.
"Okay, change of subject. Let's--" She stopped. "Um, explain to me why we don't want you changing into a big cat?"
"What?"
She gestured at my pulsing arms. "Why not let you change? You can move faster as a cougar. You can see in the dark better. You can sniff them out better."
I stopped rubbing my arms. "You're right."
"Don't sound so shocked." When I protested, she cut me off. "In the van, did you really think I was taking a nap? I was faking it so they'd relax and maybe we could escape."
"Oh."
"Yeah, oh." She rolled her eyes. "Go on and do your shape-shifting thing."
As usual, I passed out to shift. When I got to my feet, I was still groggy enough that I let out a yowling squawk when a voice behind me said, "Wow."
I twisted to see Rafe there.
He crouched to eye level. "I didn't mean to startle you. I thought I heard voices earlier, so I jogged over and Hayley said you were in here. She made me wait until she could be sure you weren't naked anymore."
I chuffed.
"Yeah, I was disappointed, too."