Natalie
If I don’t save the world, my father is going to die.
“There’s nothing more I can do for him,” Henrietta says. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not over yet,” I tell her, but we both know what our options are right now. We both know that until we can find a shifter doctor who’s dealt with something like this before, we’re completely and totally screwed.
And I’m going to lose the only man who has ever loved me.
“I wish there was something I could do,” Henrietta says, wringing her hands. The dragon is tired. She probably hasn’t slept much the last few days. Who could blame her? Each day, new members of the clan get sick and she’s the only one even slightly qualified to help.
At first, we thought it was just a random virus. A few shifters got sick last week, but it’s more and more each day. Today there are half a dozen new cases. If it continues, we know exactly what’s going to happen.
The dragons are going to die.
The clan is going to perish.
“Henrietta,” I whisper. “Tell me something.” I have a theory, an idea, and it’s been bothering me for the last three weeks. The rescue from Lucky was too easy, too simple. We went in, we got our people, and then we left. As a human, I wasn’t allowed to go on the rescue mission, but I’ve heard all about it. The whole thing just seems a little too…neat. For a scientific organization that thrives on torturing shifters, Lucky wouldn’t give up its test subjects too easily.
Unless that was their plan all along.
“What is it, child?”
We’re standing on the porch to my parents’ house. My backpack is heavy and I’m dressed warmly because it’s going to get cold where I’m going. We both know this is our last chance. Clan Thunderstorm is suffering just as much as we are and their doctors are going crazy trying to keep more people from falling ill. They haven’t been able to find a cure, though, and if we don’t find something soon, dragons are going to die.
“It’s because of Lucky, isn’t it?” I ask her, lowering my voice. “We rescued eleven shifters.” It would have been twelve, but Henrietta’s son-in-law, David, gave his life to save her son, Cameron. I don’t want to bring that up right now. Not when things are still so stressful, so painful, so fresh. “They were infected with something, weren’t they?”
“I can’t say that for sure,” Henrietta says, but she doesn’t have to. Her eyes meet mine, and I know she thinks I’m onto something.
“I’m going to go meet with Peggy and Cameron,” I tell her. “And then I’m going to go.”
“Be fast,” Henrietta whispers. “And may the love of the dragons be with you.”
I give her a hug. We only just decided that I’d be going on this journey, and we aren’t telling anyone besides Henrietta’s immediate family. If the clan knew I was leaving to find the doctor who walked away so many years ago, they’d freak out. They’d either be angry or they’d jolt into a panic. Neither one of those things is what we need right now.
“I’ll do my best,” I promise her. “I won’t let you down.” I look back at the house one last time and I whisper. “Please take care of my father.”
“I’ll do everything I can.”
I nod once more, and then I leave.
This isn’t fair.
Fablestone is supposed to be a haven. It’s supposed to be the one place people like my parents can be safe. This world is tucked away from everything else, far from the watchful eyes of humans. Only, it’s not safe. It’s not a haven anymore.
I hike my backpack up. It’s heavy, but it has to be. It has to get me through the forest and to the mountains. I have to find Donald before it’s too late. He’s the only one who can help us now. He’s the only one who can save the clan, and I’m the only one who can go.
I don’t glance back at the little house I grew up in. My father is sick in bed and my mother is slowly going crazy watching over him. She’s unaffected by the virus, at least for now, but who knows how long that’s going to last? The incubation period is unknown. The length of the effects is unknown. The cure is unknown. Everything is unknown.
But maybe he’ll know.
Carefully, I make my way down the steps and head toward Peggy and Cameron’s house. Wilson, the clan leader, is sick. Cameron is acting as the head of the clan in Wilson’s time of illness. It’s a strange time for Cameron, I’m sure. He’s still in the honeymoon phase of his relationship with Peggy and he doesn’t know what’s happening.
But I do.
And it’s time to tell them what I know: what Henrietta didn’t want to have to tell them.
It’s time to share with them that rescuing Cameron’s sister, Ellie, wasn’t what we thought it was going to be.
It’s time to tell them we fell into a trap.
Cameron and Peggy live in a cute little house. Well, it’s not really little, but it is cute, and I hate feeling scared and uncomfortable as I approach it. They’re so lucky to have found each other when they did. They’re so blessed to have been able to find their true mates.
Growing up human in a world of dragon shifters, I heard all of the stories about mates. I used to ask my mother if those stories applied to me, and she’d always just smile and hug me, but she’d never say whether they were true or not. After awhile, I kind of got the message that nobody really knows.
There aren’t exactly a lot of human-shifter relationships, at least not in Fablestone.
I reach Peggy and Cameron’s front door and I take a deep breath. No more wasting time. I knock on the door and I hear giggling and laughing inside. I hate to be the one bringing the bad news to the temporary clan leader, but someone has to be the messenger, and it might as well be me.
I don’t really belong here, anyway.
“Natalie,” Peggy says, pulling open the door. She’s breathless, and I know it’s because she probably had to run and find clothing to answer the door. Her hair is a mess and her shirt is inside out, but she’s grinning.
Fuck.
I hate to do this now.
“Hey,” I say. “Can I talk to you and Cameron for a minute? It’s important.”
Suddenly, her demeanor changes.
“Of course, is everything okay?”
“Not really.”
“Come in.”
Peggy steps aside and I go into their living room. She sits down on the sofa and motions for me to do the same, but I shake my head.
“I won’t be here long.”
“What’s going on?” Cameron comes into the room. He’s wearing pajama pants, but no shirt. Like the other shifters in Fablestone, he’s completely cut. Even the older, retired dragons look fit and healthy. Fucking shifters and their incredible genetics. If I eat a cheeseburger, I’m paying for it on the treadmill for a week.
“There’s a problem in Fablestone: a sickness.”
“I know people have been sicker than usual,” Cameron says. He shrugs. “It’s just a virus. It should pass.”
“Actually,” I tell him. “Your mother and I have a different theory.”
At that, Cameron sits down, too. I have his full attention, as well as Peggy’s. I’m not used to having this much undivided attention at once. As one of the resident humans in the clan, it’s more common for people to ignore me. I take a deep breath and then I begin.
“I was uncomfortable with the idea that it was so simple to breach Lucky’s defenses. We attacked one of their buildings at the same time Clan Thuderstorm attacked another one. Each building had four employees and twelve shifters held captive. There were traps on the roofs, but that was it. Breaching it and killing the employees was simple, and then everyone returned home.”
“We were prepared,” Cameron points out. “We took our time scouting out the places, so we knew what we were getting into and we brought plenty of people with us.”
“That’s true,” I tell him. “But when we brought those captive shifters back, we started treating them for injuries. We didn’t treat them for anything else, and we let them become part of our communities.”
“They didn’t have homes to return to,” Cameron says. “So we offered them the chance to stay here with us. It was the right thing to do.”
“I don’t think that’s what she’s saying,” Peggy places a gentle hand on Cameron’s leg, and then she looks back at me. “What’s wrong, Natalie?”
“They were sick. Lucky infected them with a virus and let us capture them. Thunderstorm is sick and so are we. Each day the numbers grow, and it all started with the shifters we brought back,” I tell them.
“Fuck,” Cameron runs his hand through his hair, and I wonder what he’s thinking. Is he trying to think of a way to make this better? Is he wondering how this could all just go away?
“Your mother has done everything she can,” I tell Cameron. “But it’s not enough. She’s not a shifter doctor, Cameron. She deals with animals: not people who turn into animals. She isn’t trained in the diseases that affect shifters. She can fix up your pet cat or treat an owl or perform surgery on a puppy, but she can’t fix this. There’s only one person who can.”
“No,” Cameron looks up at me, eyes wide. He’s suddenly realized what I’m saying. “He left, Natalie. He made his choice.”
“We don’t have any other options, Cameron.”
“Um, am I missing something here?” Peggy looks confused. “Who are we talking about right now?”
“There was a clan doctor,” Cameron tells her. “Long ago. He left. Apparently, Natalie wants to go convince him to come back.”
“It’s been almost ten years, Cameron. He may be more open to the idea now.”
“What makes you think you can convince him? He has reasons for leaving, Natalie. Good reasons.”
“A child died,” I tell Peggy in explanation. “Donald blamed himself and he left the clan. He couldn’t bear the pain of facing us every day after that happened, but we need him now. The whole clan needs him.”
“What makes you think you can reach him when he hasn’t come back in all of this time?” Peggy asks. She’s being curious: not judgmental.
“Because the little boy who died was my brother,” I tell her. “And Donald fucking owes me.”