The Heir of the Shifters

I finally awoke as my head slammed hard into a window. “Son of a…”

Before I could finish, hands were grabbing me and pulling down against the seat. “Lynn, get down!”

A glass window shattered the instant I was covered by something heavy. “What, did I wake up in a war zone?”

“Pretty much. Keep your head down.” I shifted uncomfortably with Laborc’s voice so close to my ear, and realized he must be what was covering me. “I’m sorry, Lynn. I don’t want you to get hurt; they’re shooting at us.”

My brow creased as I tried to look around. “Where are we? Who’s shooting at us?”

Laborc shifted some to give me more room and making it where I could finally see. Someone was crouched on the floorboard behind the passenger’s seat, while someone else was on the seat next to them. I couldn’t tell who they were and only hoped that one was Jacoby. Turning, I looked up into worried-filled green eyes. “What happened?”

Laborc shook his head. “We didn’t have as smooth an escape as we wished. There are two cars with, I’m assuming, Hunters chasing us.” I shifted my weight and slid to the floor as another gunshot went off. Cringing away from the sound, I stared into the frightened blue eyes of a young girl. I ignored her for the moment and turned to look back up at Laborc.

“Where’s Claire?”

“I’m driving, Lynn. They must be better drivers than I; I can’t seem to lose them.”

“This coming from the teenager who just had to have race car driving lessons?”

She chuckled a bit, before stating slightly sad; “I know. Who would have thunk it?”

Shaking my head, I turned back to the young girl. “What is your name?” She looked around wildly as Claire yelled; ‘hold on!’ and another shot went off. I tried to brace myself, but failed as Claire flung the car down a side street. Righting myself, I noticed a trail of blood trickling down the backside of the driver’s seat and realized my left temple was split open. It must have happened when my head hit the window.

I shook my head; it didn’t matter right now. Instead I focused on the girl; she was shivering. Reaching out, I gently took her hand in mine and asked again what her name was. “Michella.”

I smiled slightly at her. “Michella, can you do me a favor? There’s a short, metal bar by your right foot, can you hand it to me?” She looked from side to side, till she noticed the crow bar. She pointed at it. “Yes, that. Can you reach it?” She nodded, then struggled slightly as she tried to bring it out from under the seat. After a few tries, she finally got it and handed it to me.

“Laborc?” Laborc turned away from staring out the back window and looked down at Lynn. She was holding a small, black crowbar out to him. “Can you hit the lead car?”

Laborc smiled, he never thought of throwing something out the window at their pursuers. Shifting, he took the crowbar from her, then turned and threw it as hard as he could out the back window at the nearest car. It hit solid on the driver’s side windshield, shattering it. The impact caused the driver to slam on his brakes. This in return caused the second car to over adjust in an attempt not to hit the first and instead hit a pole. Turning back to Lynn, he said: “Thank you.” She smiled before she fell unconscious once again.

Claire quickly turned again, hoping to gain more distance from the Hunters. Her heart was still racing and she couldn’t believe how terrified she was. John’s hand holding hers was the only thing keeping her grounded and focused. She took her eyes off the road to look into the rearview mirror. Laborc was bending down, checking on Lynn and the girl. Turning back to the road, she heard John ask: “How are they?”

“Michella is ok. I think Lynn suffered a concussion when her head hit the window. She may need a couple stitches. Jacoby…Jacoby’s in the same shape he was when we got him in the car.”

John squeezed Claire’s hand reassuringly. “You can slow down now, Claire. We don’t want to get pulled over.” She nodded and slowed, hoping they were safe now.

A different kind of movement awoke me next. As my eyes slowly opened, I realized I was being carried down a long hall. “Where are we?” I asked groggily as I tried to pull myself up.

“Easy, Lynn. You’ve suffered a concussion and need stitches. We’re at a hospital.”

“Where are Claire and John?”

Laborc’s voice lowered. “Not here. Not now.”

My back stiffened, had something happened to them when I passed out? “Are they at least ok?”

“Yes. Michella is here with us as well. …Jake’s at your house.” Jake? My brow creased, who was he talking about? It took me a few moments to realize he meant Jacoby. Laborc must not want anyone to even hear his name, lest they put two and two together. I smiled as I finally pulled myself upright; if Jacoby was at the house and not in the hospital with us, then surely he was ok.

As I wrapped my arms around Laborc’s neck to keep me upright, I felt a wetness seeping from between his shoulders. Peering over his shoulder, I realized it was blood. “You’re bleeding.” He didn’t stop, even as I struggled in his grip to get him to put me down. “Put me down.”

He stopped but didn’t put me on the ground. “Lynn stop, you’re hurt…”

“I don’t care, put me down!” Grinding his teeth, he finally set me on the ground, but didn’t look pleased. “Turn around and let me see.”

He sighed. “I’m fine. You on the other hand need stitches.” I glared at him till he finally relented and turned around.

Four long claw marks cut across his skin. They started, or ended, halfway across his back at his collar bone and stopped at his left hip. They were also bleeding heavily. “What happened to you?”

“Don’t worry about it. We need to get you check out.”

I snorted. “This small head wound of mine is nothing compared to what I used to get while boxing. You on the other hand, have lost a lot of blood.” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I’m a Shifter, Lynn. My wounds will heal themselves, yours won’t.” He began walking again without another word. If I didn’t know better, I’d say I upset him for not caring about my injury.

I started slightly when a small hand grabbed onto mine. I’d forgotten about Michella. Looking down at her, she stared up at me worriedly. “Is he mad at me?”

“No, hon. He’s mad at me.”

“Are we safe here? I don’t want to be caged again.”

“If I can at all help it, you’ll never be caged again.”

Her eyes filled with hope. “You promise?”

I nodded. “I promise.” She smiled at me, but didn’t release my hand. Gently gripping hers, I led her down the hall in the direction Laborc had gone.