Haley

Ten seconds.

She nodded at Andy and shook her head just enough to settle her hair back into position.

Breathe in.

Why the hell had this musclebound oaf gone and chosen her show to hijack? Her eyes were getting better at seeing past the lights now, not something she normally bothered to do, and Haley had been able to make out at least three other shapes back in the shadows, hovering intimidatingly around her people.

Breathe out.

Her shoulders slumped as she exhaled, then straightened once more. His message better be a good one. She wasn’t happy about it, but he hadn’t been violent about forcing her to do his will. A small frown creased her face, but she erased it almost immediately. There had been no mention of violence at all, she realized. Maximus had simply sat down, and told her how it was going to be. Who was he, that he could so confidently state that? And who was she, giving in so easily?!

As she launched into her “Welcome back” spiel once the red light came on, Haley found her mind drifting. She’d done enough interviews and the like to be able to do this part in her sleep.

He’d mentioned genocide against his people. Who would be killing off the shifters? Who could do such a thing? Haley didn’t know a lot about shifters and their powers, or abilities, or whatever. But she knew they were extremely strong compared to humans, fast, and could supposedly heal instantly, like superheroes in the cartoons. It would certainly take some serious firepower to take them down.

Without thinking about it, her mind clicked back to the present, turning to Maximus.

“So, Maximus. It sounds like this message you’d like to deliver is pretty serious. Can you elaborate on it a little more for our viewers out there?”

“I think, Haley…” he said in that deep baritone of his, her name just rolling off his tongue so smoothly it sent a chill down her spine. “I think it would be easier if I were to just deliver it. That way there would be no miscommunication, and no needless buildup.”

Haley marveled at his transformation. For someone who seemed to know very little about technology—who didn’t know what a mic was?—he certainly seemed at home in front of the cameras as a spokesperson.

Who was he? What did he do for a living? She wanted to know more, to get a better idea of the man behind it all.

What? No you don’t. This asshole just took over your show and is threatening your people, even if he’s not being violent about it. Let him speak, get him out of there, call the police, and be done with it!

“If you think that would be easiest,” she found herself saying, turning fully to look at him, to watch as he spoke.

He was dressed plainly, if not slovenly. The dark gray shirt he wore had a V-neck to it, though it wasn’t collared. It was, however, clean and unwrinkled, something she often couldn’t say about Glenn’s attire. He had black pants on. They weren’t jeans, but seemed more in line with work pants, or even something she’d expect to see a military person wearing.

Her eyes traveled up his thick forearms, trying her best not to pause on the curved arc of his massive bicep, emphasized by the tightness of the shirt around his arm. She could see a hint of a tattoo sticking out from underneath it, and wondered what it could be about. There was black ink, but she couldn’t see enough to make out the shape of it.

“Thank you,” he said, glancing over at her.

Not for the first time Haley found herself looking deep into his soulful brown eyes, wondering what secrets they held, what pain they were concealing. It was obvious that he had a past, something that he didn’t talk about much. She could see it in the way he carried himself, the wariness he’d shown during the first countdown to live on air. He was alert, ready to fight, and yet ultra-determined to deliver this message of his.

His jaw was moving now as he spoke into the cameras. Thick and slightly square, it was covered in a dark shade of black stubble that, although obviously freshly shaved, never went away completely. Her eyes traveled upward, to his head. He had short hair, a simple, plain brown like his eyes, though like them, there was nothing plain about him. A red mark was vaguely visible through his hairline, traveling from the top of his head down along the side above his temple and back toward his neck. Obviously something horrific had happened to him, though she wasn’t sure what.

He was handsome, Haley decided. Bodybuilders had never really been her thing before, but there was something different about Maximus. She doubted his muscles were from working out. They were a combination of genetics, and just hard work. His hands clasped in front of him weren’t ripped and torn, but showed the effects of hard work and a life outdoors, as evidenced by the slight bronzed tint to his skin.

In any other situation, she probably would have found him fascinating to have on her show.

“The message I bring today is one that many of you will not want to hear. If I am honest with you, it is not one that I wish to tell you. There is nothing I would rather be doing than heading home, leaving the lovely Haley Salvannah here with her show. I regret that I had to effectively hijack it from her, but it was necessary. She will likely never forgive me, but if that is the price I have to pay, then so be it.”

She frowned. Why did he give a rat’s behind if she detested him?

“For some time now, there has been a human group dedicated to studying shifters. That should come as no surprise to you. We are, after all, quite different. While I may look like one of you right now, as you are all aware I possess, among other things, the ability to change into a bear. It is only natural that you would want to study that. Humans are far more naturally curious than we shifters are. None of us blame you for that, though we do prefer our privacy.”

Despite her best efforts to remain aloof, Haley found herself becoming drawn in by his words. Whatever Maximus may have been, he was an excellent speaker. The speech was clearly rehearsed, but he was doing a spectacular job of punching it up with emotion.

Which would be easy to do if he’s telling the truth about a genocide of his people. That would get anyone emotional. Still, try to remain objective about it all. You don’t know that he’s telling the truth.

Despite the fact that her inner critic was normally right, something about that statement rang false with her. True, she didn’t know he was being truthful. And yet…somehow, she did know that. She couldn’t describe it. But she knew he wasn’t lying.

He continued after taking a breath, and she found herself listening along raptly.

“Recently, however, this group funded by your government has taken things to another level. They came to an incorrect conclusion about us, and despite all the evidence to the contrary, have decided to act against us. This group was originally named the Bothwell-Ingrim Institute of Theoretical Anthropological Studies. That’s a mouthful, so we’ve just shortened it to the Institute. Doesn’t sound overly imposing, I know. But they have wormed their way into your government, formed friends and allies at all levels, until they control access to much of your military, among other things. They grew so powerful that they actually eradicated the nearby shifter settlement of Kronum. It’s gone. It no longer exists. Most of the shifters were given the option to either serve or be killed. Others chose to resist, and they have disappeared.”

Haley’s jaw fell open at the mention of an entire shifter territory being eliminated by this Institute.

“In addition to this atrocity, they engineered a war between my homeland of Cadia and the second-biggest shifter stronghold of Fenris. This war killed thousands of shifters, all because the Institute wishes to see us made extinct. They do not want shifters to exist on this planet.”

His anger was showing through now, and Haley saw his hands curl into fists, knuckles turning white and popping as he squeezed. She couldn’t imagine seeing thousands of her people killed like that, knowing that they had been manipulated into fighting in the first place. It was horrific to think about. She knew that terrible things happened overseas, but this…this struck home. This was happening on her country’s soil. Not some foreign land, but here. It was her home that was doing it.

Paper crinkled in her hands as she felt an answering surge of anger. How dare her government do something like this? How dare they!

“Myself and my brothers have been battling the Institute as best we can. But they are too strong for the five of us. They are too large. We have had to fight our own kind, simply to try and weaken their influence. But we do not wish to kill you. So if we are to stop this, if this madness is to end, then we need your help to make it so. Tell your government to make this stop. Make it end. Disband the Institute. Remove their funding, and arrest their leader, G. Reashallow!”

Maximus’s voice was a thunderous roar by the end of his statement, and her desk cracked as he slammed a fist down into it, splitting the pressed-wood furniture.

Silence rang out through the studio as Maximus looked down, saw the damage he had done, and tried to compose himself. Haley, for her part, simply stared slack-jawed at the mountain of a man next to her. If there had been a shred of doubt in her before, it was gone now.

“You’re serious, aren’t you?” she breathed, forgetting that she was live.

“Deadly,” he replied.

“How…” she was at a loss for words.

“I was a…guest,” he said, practically spitting the word, “of the Institute. Kept in a jail cell, beaten daily.” He smiled coldly. “A shifter can take a lot of damage, considering how fast we heal. But what nobody ever mentions is that we still feel all the pain.”

Haley’s hand flew to her mouth. He was talking about torture. They had tortured him!

Above her, the red light died, and Andy came forward.

“We’ve been cut off,” he said, talking to the huge shifter as much as he was to her. “Someone at the network itself cut the feed to us. There’s nothing I can do.” He looked helplessly at her, as if Haley could save them all.

“That’s okay,” Maximus said, heaving a sigh. “I was able to get the message out. You are positive it was seen by your viewers?”

Andy nodded. “Positive. For whatever good it will do you,” he added softly.

“It will have to be enough,” Maximus ground out, trying to sound positive, though she could sense he didn’t completely believe it.

He was losing hope. Haley felt terrible for him. She wanted to do something, to make him feel like perhaps his efforts hadn’t been completely in vain. But what? What could she do?

“This was our last chance,” he said, looking back and forth between the two of them. “Thank you for letting me do this peacefully. I do regret that we had to use you like this, and that you will likely be censured for it. But I would do it again if I had to. I hope you can at least understand, even if you hate me for it.”

“I don’t hate you for it,” Haley said before she could stop herself. “We may lose our jobs, yes, but that’s nothing compared to your entire race being killed off. I can accept having nothing until I can find another job, if it helps you survive.”

Maximus looked at her strangely. “You are an incredible woman, Haley Salvannah.” He smiled. “If I make it out of this, perhaps I can do something to help alleviate that.”

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

For the first time, a genuine smile seemed to cross his face. “I know a few dragons,” he replied, tossing her a wink.

What? Dragons? What did that have to do with anything? Maximus must have seen the confusion written on her face, so he took pity on her.

“What do dragons value the most?” he asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Treasure,” he explained, sounding almost exasperated that he’d had to explain everything to her.

Unfortunately, that happened a lot with Haley. She wasn’t the best at picking up on things like that.

“Ohhhhh,” she said, feeling embarrassed, but understanding now that he was offering her wealth as a thank you. “Well, I mean, I certainly wouldn’t say no. But first we need to get the word out about this.”

He nodded. “Is there anything more you can do?”

“Not really,” she admitted. “Now all we can do is hope it goes viral.”

Maximus frowned. “We want it to get sick?”

“What? No, not like an infection. I mean in the electronic world. Going viral means it spreads across the internet. That the world as a whole sees it, and reacts to it. The power of going viral is immense. The government won’t be able to censor it or hide it if that happens.”

“I see.”

It was obvious he didn’t truly understand, but he was willing to take her word for it. Another massive figure ran up from backstage.

“Maximus, we need to go. Now. We’ve already overstayed our welcome.”

“I’m coming, Gavin. Take the others and go. I’ll be right behind you.” His eyes were riveted on her as he spoke.

The other figure, dressed the exact same as Maximus—was this one of his brothers, perhaps?—opened his mouth to protest, but Maximus shook his head. “I said I’ll be fine.”

Without another word, Gavin retreated, shouting out some other names as well.

“Are the police coming?” she asked, looking around.

“Or the Institute,” he said unhappily. “Someone must have tipped them off to what was happening here.”

“It wasn’t us,” she said immediately.

“I know it wasn’t you,” he reassured her. “But now things are going to get complicated. Do you have a pen?”

She blinked. “Of course.” She pushed the pen in front of her across the broken table to him. Maximus picked it up, and one of the pieces of paper from in front of her. He quickly scribbled something on it, and pushed it all back to her. “If the Institute gives you trouble, call this number.”

Haley picked it up, memorizing it. Just in case.

“I need to go now.”

“Right,” she said lamely.

They stood, facing each other, perhaps a foot or two between them. Haley looked up into his face, seeing the stern look and the cold, calculating set to his eyes. This was a man who was prepared to do whatever it took.

“I’ll see you around, Haley Salvannah,” he said softly, reaching out and taking one of her hands delicately, holding it between his thick fingers.

“I…” She wasn’t sure what to say. Her eyes traveled down her arm to his hand.

Why was he touching her like this? What did it all mean? And why was her skin tingling wherever he touched it? There were so many questions, and exactly zero answers.

“I hope so,” she said at last.

Perhaps if she saw him again, she could find out just who he was, and what all of this had meant. There was more going on than just his message, she knew that. After all, why choose her show? She only broadcast locally. Any of the national stations would have given them a far larger reach. He’d come to her specifically, and though she didn’t know why, Haley decided she wanted to find out.

“Goodbye,” he said, leaning in, and before she could do anything, kissing her softly on the cheek.

Then he reluctantly dropped her hand and fled. Haley watched his back as he disappeared into the dark beyond the set, heading straight for the stairs that would take him down and out into the city beyond.