Trajectory

“No, my son wouldn’t do something so foul.” She squirmed around and tried to sit up. Chloe could see her head pop up every once in a while over the back seat.

“You don’t know what my baby brother would have done, Zazie, you don’t know how much dark magic she put into him. He was her dark slave until she died. Once she was gone, he was gone. I don’t really know where.”

“No,” Zazie screamed and wiggled harder.

“Yes,” Ash said and didn’t say another word about it. Chloe was trapped until they got to a stopping point, so she had to grin and bear it.

“So you birthed my sworn enemy, Z, way to go. Now let’s get to my main goal in life, and that’s showing the world that shifters are real. Once you’re exposed, humans will either kill you or love you. I don’t care. I know that my mother’s death was ruled an animal attack and my father got off completely free. He ate her heart,” Ash yelled again, swerving a little in the anger he was feeling.

“What good will it do showing the world shifters exist now?”

“They can’t hide, Chloe. The humans will come up with tests. They’ll want to know if their kids are being taught by a shifter, if they’re sharing a meal with one. They will find a way to expose them all and then no shifters will be able to get away with what my father did, ever.”

“Is that why you shot at me, shot Layla?”

“I shot at you because you were motivated to shift by fear. I thought Brent would be the first to start spreading the word through Woodland Creek. Once everyone here knew, the world would know soon after, but no. He just happened to be a wizard, sort of, and not tell anyone. Next time it will be much more public. There won’t be any way to hide.”

“Why did you kill Layla then, if you’re just trying to expose shifters?” she asked.

“Simple, I missed.”

“But you hit her,” Chloe said. Frustrated tears ran down her cheeks.

“I know, but since I was aiming around her, I missed.”

“You hit her right in the heart, Ash, how was that not intentional?” Chloe didn’t buy it and in the back of her mind she wondered if he had taken Layla’s body for some sick reason. Maybe he wanted to see what made shifters tick. It was possible, he’d done nothing but prove he was insane. They continued on past the university toward a small cluster of apartment buildings and stand-alone rentals. He pulled into the driveway of one and hit the garage button. It opened and he drove the car inside.

“Why are we at Layla’s place?” Layla rented the house during the school year so she was just right down the road from the college. She stayed with her mom when she wasn’t in school, so they gave her really cheap rent in the off time to just come and make sure the house stayed clean.

“Because I killed her and no one will think to look for you here.” He was so matter-of-fact with his answers. It bothered Chloe that he was right, no one was going to look for them there.

“So what do you intend to do?”

“Let’s just say it involves your little family of shifters and a very public affair.”

“You asshole, why would you involve my parents?”

“Really, because I want to. It’s not about being mean to you, it just kind of worked out that way.”

He was making her angry now with his dumb replies. Of course it was about her. Her parents had never done anything to be targeted by his strange mission. “I think you are doing it to hurt me, Ash. I’ve never been anything but nice to you.”

“It’s not personal, Chloe, you’re a dirty shifter bitch just like my dad

was a dirty shifter jackass and I’m just bringing a little justice to the world.”

He pulled a gun out and held it to Zazie’s head as they walked inside the house. Layla’s house hadn’t been touched since their last day there right after exams. It was still empty, and the chairs were up on the table where she’d cleaned them right before leaving.

“I will kill her if you try anything, Chloe. You understand. Don’t shift, don’t scream, don’t do anything.”

She didn’t want Zazie to get hurt and she knew she couldn’t shift. It would have been a really good time for Zazie to get her magic back. She raised her eyebrows at her and waited for him to tie them to chairs. He made sure to bind the ropes around them tightly. She was scared and she felt a shift coming on, but she fought it. Since he killed Layla, there was no doubt he’d kill Zazie. She could tell he didn’t like her at all and was probably just looking for a reason.

He sat down across from them and held the gun on Zazie. What was he going to do, sit there forever? There was no way he could carry out his master plan while he was holding them hostage. It dawned on her, he didn’t have a plan. She’d taken him by surprise and while he’d planned to have Zazie, a shifter wasn’t something he’d counted on. It was possible she could use it to her advantage if she could just think of something.

Brent pulled into the police station parking lot and raced inside. He tried not to yell because he knew they’d more than likely put him in handcuffs if he came in all excitable. He walked up to the administrative assistant and smiled.

“I need to speak to the chief, please. It’s kind of an emergency.”

“Brent, what the hell is it now?” He was standing there behind him listening. Well, that had been easier than he thought it’d be.