We were at a disadvantage. Our best warriors were here, but they wouldn’t be able to shift in front of all these tourists. We’d worked diligently to keep our special abilities a secret. But now I felt as though we were walking around with big signs taped to our backs saying, Caution: We shift at will.
Even though I couldn’t shift yet. Soon, though. Very soon.
Connor called my name, and I realized it was my turn to shoot. I moved over to stand beside him. He pointed toward a solid ball. “That should be an easy shot.”
I nodded jerkily.
He put his hand on the small of my back. “Relax.”
“I know it’s totally irrational, because I have no evidence for it, but I can’t shake the feeling that there’s trouble coming,” I whispered.
“We’ll handle it.”
I had this déjà vu moment from last summer when I’d been assigned my first group of campers to lead out into the wilderness. I’d been so worried that I’d do something to get one of them hurt. Connor was going with me. “If something happens, we’ll handle it,” he’d said. So calm. He never doubted his ability to take care of any situation.
With a nod, I bent over to line up my shot.
I knew the second Rafe walked into the room. I didn’t know how I knew. I wasn’t facing the door. It was just an awareness that shimmered through me. I glanced back over my shoulder to see him sauntering toward us.
“So who’s winning?” he asked.
“No one yet,” Brittany said, right before she made introductions.
I was acutely aware of Rafe studying Dallas—he didn’t trust him either. So that made all of us.
“Play already, will you?” Brittany prodded. I bent back over and aligned my cue stick.
“You’re not lined up right to make that shot,” Rafe said quietly, and before I could react, he was behind me, his arms coming around me. Everything within me went still. I wondered if he’d felt this same awakening when I’d been holding him on the bike last night.
I heard a low rumble. Anyone else might have mistaken the sound for someone clearing his throat, but I recognized it immediately as a warning growl coming from Connor. Completely ignoring him, Rafe adjusted my position slightly.
“You want to tap it low,” he said.
I nodded, feeling an acute sense of loss when he moved away. I smacked the white ball and watched as it knocked the solid-colored ball into a corner pocket.
“That might be cheating,” Dallas said.
“I’ll buy you a plate of buffalo wings to make up for it,” Rafe said.
“Sounds fair.”
Connor and I won the game fairly easily, which made me think that Dallas didn’t even try. Perhaps he really was using the occasion to just observe us. When we were finished playing, we returned to the booth, where Lucas and Kayla were waiting for us. Introductions were made. As we took our seats in the horseshoe shape, Dallas ended up being hemmed in on both sides.
He didn’t seem to realize the danger he was in, because he glanced around, smiled, and asked, “So are you the werewolves I’ve been hearing about?”
SEVEN
Everyone at our table went eerily still, the way a predator does in the wild right before leaping for its victim. Even my heart felt as though it had stopped.
Dallas released an uncomfortable laugh. “Just kidding. I’ve been hearing these crazy rumors about things that go on in this area. Then tonight, here are all these new faces. Thought maybe you had to hide away during certain phases of the moon or something.”
“We were at a family reunion,” Lucas said with a deadly calm that sent a shiver racing up my spine. I never wanted to be on his bad side. “Where’d you hear these rumors?”
“Around. Here and there. It’s insane, right? I mean the idea that someone could actually shift into another form.” Dallas held out his hands and studied them as though he’d never seen them before. “I mean, how could that even happen? How could a body change so drastically?”
Very slowly he looked around the table as though we had the answer. We did, but we sure weren’t going to share it.
“There are all kinds of crazy stories about things happening in the wilderness,” Brittany explained gently, and I wondered if she liked him. I’d never seen her show that much interest in a guy. How weird it would be to love a Static. Could it even happen?
My thoughts were drifting away from the problem at hand. Who was this guy, and what did he really want?
“Werewolves, vampires, ghosts,” Brittany continued. “People are always telling scary stories around campfires. But that’s all they are. Stories.”
Dallas laughed again, only this time it was laced with relief. “Yeah, I know that. Should have seen your faces, though. You looked at me like I was serious. It would be cool, though, don’t you think? If the ability to change our shape really existed?”
“I’d want to be a horse,” I said, hoping to take the subject even further away from the truth.
“Horses have to work too hard,” Connor said, taking my hand and squeezing it. “A dog. Sleep all day.”
“A cat,” Brittany said. “Only I’m allergic to them. Would I be allergic to myself?”
Dallas gave a more relaxed laugh. “Okay, I get it already. I shouldn’t listen to campfire tales.” He winked at Brittany. “So how about another game of pool?”
Once he and Brittany were back in the pool room, those of us left at the table looked uncomfortably at each other.
“What was that all about?” Kayla finally asked.
Lucas slowly shook his head. “I’m not sure. Rafe, keep an eye on him, especially while he’s with Brittany.”
My gaze jumped over to Rafe so I could judge his reaction. As usual, he didn’t give anything away. Neither did he look at me. He just gave Lucas a nod and slid out of the booth.
“Do you think he’s dangerous?” I asked.
Lucas shook his head. “If he is, we can handle him.”
When we left an hour later, the consensus was that Dallas was just a tourist drawn in by the myths of the forest. We’d seen it before—which was the reason that the people from Bio-Chrome had sneaked by us. We’d thought they were harmless, too.
Rafe was going to keep an eye on Dallas, but the rest of us headed for bed. We were scheduled for an early start the following day.