Winter Halo (Outcast 2)

“I am a war survivor, remember. There aren’t many things that could or would disturb me.” Even so, he crossed his arms and turned around.

I stripped, changed to the appropriate shape, then put on the tunic. As before, my breasts tested the strength of the seams. I really needed to get more clothes.

“Right, let’s do this.” I lightly plucked the soft material away from my belly in a vague attempt to cool the sweat still dotting my body after the shift.

Jonas grabbed the scanner from the backpack, then hit a button. Blue light swept me, running my length several times to store all measurements—even my iris details. Once it had beeped to indicate completion, I held out my right hand, the underside of my wrist facing upward. His fingers wrapped around mine, his grip light and warm as he held me steady. I tried to ignore the flick of desire it caused and watched as he pressed the scanner against my skin. This time there was no sting of an RFID chip being inserted under my flesh. Instead, there was an odd, warm tingle as the information on my existing chip was altered.

When the scanner beeped to indicate it was done, Jonas released my hand and stepped back. “Nuri has sent a new tunic, but said there will be more clothing in the apartment by the time you get there. Here are the address and security details, as well as the details of the new ID.”

He handed me a piece of paper and a tunic in the softest pink. I scanned the note quickly, then tore it up. The ghosts chased the pieces as they fluttered away on the breeze.

“You can now turn around again while I resume my regular shape.”

“Seriously, have you ever seen a shifter shift? It’s not pretty—”

“I have, but I’d still like you to turn around.”

“You can’t have been in many camps during the war,” he commented, turning. “Because nakedness was commonplace.”

“I’m aware of that. But being naked in front of someone I’m—” I cut the rest of the sentence off. It might be stupid to refuse to admit to the attraction, given the pheromones that often stung the air whenever we got too close, but by voicing it, I gave it power. Made it something we had to confront rather than ignore.

He didn’t say anything, even though there was something in his expression that said he was well aware of how I’d intended to finish that sentence. He turned around. I repeated the shifting process, then redressed in my combat gear. Once that was done, I leaned against the wall and sucked in air.

“You okay?” Jonas asked.

“Yeah. It’s just that multishifting in such a short time period always takes it out of me.”

“A problem all shifters face,” he said.

“It is not something we ever do lightly, no matter what human history might have you believe.”

Which was an echo of a statement I’d made and one that had a somewhat bitter smile twisting my lips. The shifters had come out relatively sparkly under the prewar human version of history compared to the hatchet job the shifters had done on us after the war.

I folded the two tunics up and placed them near the door; they’d be safe enough there until I got back. The vamps and Sal’s partners were the only ones likely to come out at night, and two nondescript tunics weren’t going to help them much.

“I don’t know what your plans are this evening, Ranger, but I’m heading back to Carleen.”

“Then so am I.” He dropped the scanner back into the pack, then slung it over his shoulder. “Do you hope to find that stranger again? Because it’s unlikely he’d risk a second meeting so soon after being discovered.”

“He could be a she, remember.” I made my way across City Road and headed for the park.

Jonas shook his head. “The scent track I followed from the false rift site had male overtones, not female.”

I glanced at him. “But we’re talking about people who now share DNA and can shift form.”

“Which does not mean they can alter their basic physiology. They can’t become male if they are female—you can’t, can you?”

“No.” Though Rhea only knows our creators had certainly tried to make that happen. The in-tube death rate of the lure program had been high enough, but that rate became one hundred percent every time they tried to create a multisex body shifter. “But just because I can’t doesn’t mean that rule will hold when two males and a female were fused by a rift.”

“I think it does, if only because, psychologically, they’ll identify as one or the other.” He shrugged. “How did your meeting with Kendra go?”

“It was interesting.” I dug the trail bread out of my pocket and offered him a piece as we moved into the park. “She claimed the place was haunted.”

He shook his head. “By ghosts? Or something else?”

“She said ghosts. I believe it might be someone using a sun shield.” I broke off a bit of the bread and munched on it.

“That’s a rare talent—”