Chapter 16
Audrey woke with a start and snatched her phone from the coffee table. She took a moment to rub her eyes and orient herself. She didn’t take mid-day naps often and it had thrown her off. What time was it, anyway?
Her phone was still ringing and she saw Kara’s name on the screen.
“Hello?” she answered, yawning.
“Audrey.”
“Hey.”
“Have you heard anything from Kenny?”
“No,” Audrey said. “I don’t expect to.”
“Okay. Well, you should know.” Kara stopped to take a breath. “We’re taking a vote. I’m sorry, but you’ve given me no choice. You put me in a really bad position, and this whole thing is a mess. It’s not like you did it in a way that would ensure our secrecy. We have no way to make sure he’ll keep quiet, and it sounds like he might not. So, in that case—”
“Wait, what are you talking about? What are you voting on? Whether or not to go after Kenny?”
“Umm, not exactly. I mean, if he says anything, yeah, we’ll take him out for sure. But we can’t just kill him because he might say something. He hasn’t committed any crimes yet. But you, on the other hand, have. You shifted in front of someone. Someone who is not proving to be trustworthy with our secret.”
“So that means…” Audrey said, her throat suddenly going dry.
“We’re voting on whether or not you deserve our most absolute punishment.”
“You’re voting on whether or not you’re going to kill me.”
There was a long pause. Then Kara said, “Yes.”
Audrey sat up, her heart racing. “But Kara, there has to be something you can do, I mean—”
“Audrey. I already did way more than I should have. Do you have any idea what it took for me to convince them to give you a chance? To make sure Kenny really wouldn’t say anything like you claimed? Then when we went there and he acted like that… What are we supposed to think? You were sure he wouldn’t say anything, but he’s claiming he has no reason not to talk. He’s a loose canon and you caused this situation. If he talks, we’ll deal with him then. But the situation remains. You broke our law and with someone who now might threaten the entire tiger shifter race. There has to be consequences for that. If Kenny was totally agreeable, they might have been okay with it and given you an extreme warning and some sort of punishment that didn’t involve death. But since he’s not, I really have no choice. I can’t let you get away something that major. I just can’t.”
“No, no, I understand, I just…” The room started to spin. Audrey let the phone fall from her hand and hit the ground. She gripped the edge of the couch as Kara’s words sunk in.
She was right. She’d broken the most important law they had. The consequence for it was always death. There was no exception. And even still, Kara had found a way to make an exception for her. But Kenny blew it. Kenny and his stupid anger at her for nothing. Now her life was in danger. There was no way the pack wouldn’t vote to kill her. No way. This was it. She was done.
For several moments, she sat on the couch, her knuckles white, her breathing heavy. Her head was still spinning and her ears ringing. She picked up her phone in her shaking hand. Kara had ended the call many minutes ago. She dialed Kenny as the tears started tripping down her face.
He didn’t answer. Of course. But she left a voice message. As soon as she started talking, she could hear the hysteria in her voice. “Kenny. I need you—you need to—you have to tell them, please. You have to tell them you won’t tell because they’re going to kill me. They’re going to kill me for shifting in front of you because you said you won’t keep the secret.” She had to pause to let out a few sobs. “Please, Kenny. Please tell them you won’t tell. Please. I don’t know when they’re going to do it, when they’ll come for me, but they’re voting right now, and there’s no way. I screwed up. They’re going to kill me. Please.”
She pressed end and set the phone back down, then let the sobs break out fully over her. She pulled her knees up and hugged them, rocking back and forth on the couch. She had to run, didn’t she? That was her only chance. She had to run and find a way to hide and keep running from them. Forever if she had to. There was nothing else to do unless she wanted to be killed.
Someone knocked hard on her door many minutes later. Her head snapped up and her sobs halted. They were here. They were here to kill her. She’d wasted too much time sitting there crying like an idiot, and now they’d take her out while she was all puffy eyed and emotional. She stood and walked slowly to the door.
It wasn’t too late. She could turn and run. She didn’t even need to take anything. Just go out back and shift and take off. Never stop running. Find some place safe. Hope to stay alive. Alone.
“Audrey?”
Her head snapped back toward the door. It couldn’t be. It wasn’t Kara’s voice or the voice of someone in her pack. It was Kenny. He’d come.
She went back to the door and opened it a crack. She blinked out at him.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
No one else was out there. She stepped out to make sure, then opened the door to let him in.
“No,” she said, locking the door behind her. “I have to get out of here. I have to run. It’s my only chance.”
“They’re really going to kill you?” The look in his eyes was completely different than how he’d looked earlier. Now he was deeply concerned, borderline panicked looking.
“Yes! Because of what you said.” She shook her head at him and a sudden wave of rage broke over her. “How could you do that! How could you be so stubborn and angry and refuse like that? Do you know what you’ve done! They’re going to kill me!”
“Audrey, stop. I know, okay. I know.” He reached out and put his hands on her arms. “I’m sorry. God, I’m so sorry, I had no idea.”
“You had no idea! What did you think would happen?! I told you they’d kill me. But you thought they’d just say, ‘Oh okay, no problem, tell whoever you want’? This is serious, Kenny! They might be on their way here right now to kill me!”
“No. No, I’m not going to let that happen.”
“Well, I don’t see how you’re going to stop them. There’ll be at least six of them. Probably more. They might bring the whole pack. They might bring other packs, too. Fifty of them could show up at my door for all I know. You think you’re going to take out fifty tigers?!”
“Yes. No. No, I mean. I’ll tell them. I’ll tell them I won’t tell.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think it will matter now. It’s too late.”
“It can’t be. If I’m the whole reason, then I’ll tell them. I won’t say anything to anyone ever. I swear.”
“I think it’s too late.”
“It can’t be. Let’s go and talk to them. We’ll go right now and I’ll tell them. I’ll—I’ll—make a blood oath or something. Whatever they want.”
Audrey blinked at him for a moment, her head still spinning with panic and now this sudden change in him. Where was the anger? Where was all the unforgiveness?
“What?” she said.
“We’ll go right now.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the door.
She dug her feet in and refused to move. “I need to go. I have to run from here before they come.”
“No, we’re going to go see them. I’ll tell them I won’t tell. I’ll make it okay. I promise.”
He tugged harder and she fell forward, into him. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed until her head nuzzled into his broad chest. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”
At first, she stiffened at his closeness and the way he was holding her too tight, not letting her move. It felt wrong and in her state of falling apart, it sent her into a wave of anxiety. But then she realized this was Kenny. Kenny holding her close, here, ready to do whatever he needed to do for her. She still felt uncomfortable, but she let him hold her for a minute.
“I told you this would happen. I told you they would kill me.”
“I know you did. But I didn’t think you meant actually kill you. I thought you were exaggerating. I’m sorry.”
“Let’s go,” she said.
He released her and took her hand again. They dashed out to his car and got in. He slammed on the gas as soon as they were in the car.