Andrew

Andrew’s eyes riveted on the human as his fist slowly tightened around the phone. The metal casing resisted for a moment, but he steadily applied more pressure like a vise until it snapped and shattered in his hand.

“You had better leave before I do something very, very bad,” he said quietly.

The earlier confidence the human had shown evaporated in a heartbeat, his eyes going wide as the bear shifters took a step closer at their boss’s words. Without waiting any longer the man raced for the doors, pushing his way outside. Andrew watched him run down the stairs and across the street, not slowing until he was lost from sight. Then he opened his hand, letting the pieces of broken phone fall to the ground.

“They took Karri,” Gray said, stepping up next to him. It wasn’t a question.

“Yes. I resign, they give her back.”

“That simple is it?”

“That simple,” he said, both of them knowing it likely wasn’t nearly that simple at all.

At this point, Al had been humiliated publicly. Just getting what he wanted out of Andrew wasn’t going to be enough. They were going to try and kill him, he was positive of it. Al wasn’t the type to just forgive like that. They would be ready to betray him immediately that was for sure.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to find them,” Andrew said. “Then I’m going to kill them.”

Gray looked around at the others, getting nods from them. “Then we’re coming with you.”

“No,” Andrew said, holding up a hand to forestall the coming arguments. “I’m going in from a direction they likely won’t expect. A direction from which I cannot bring you.”

The bear shifter looked unhappy, but they both knew that he couldn’t truly accompany Andrew in on that sort of insertion.

“What I need you to do is call anyone in the city that you trust. If anyone,” he added. “Get them here, get them sobered up, and tell them there might be a fight. We don’t know, can’t promise one, but there’s definitely a chance. I absolutely do not want to involve any of you if I can avoid it, because you’ll all face repercussions for it.”

Gray snorted. “Why do you think we’re out here in the first place? For being model students?”

Andrew grinned. “Don’t tell me you weren’t a straight-A student in school, Gray! Say it isn’t so!”

The bear shifter laughed. “School?” he joked, as if he’d never heard of it.

Giving his friend a tight-lipped smile, he left the lobby to return to his office. Once there he pulled up a stack of papers from one of the file folders and began to go through them. Most he discarded immediately. Some he had to compare to the oversized map of Cloud Lake on the rear wall of his office.

Twenty minutes later he had a stack of seven papers left.

“What are you doing?” Gray asked from the doorway.

Andrew smiled. “My father always taught me to do the unexpected, and to make sure you know as much information as possible. That, he said, was the key to winning any fight. Knowing more than your enemy.” He paused thoughtfully. “That and hitting harder than them.”

Gray laughed.

“So, I took that to heart in a lot of ways. One of the first things I started to do post-war was develop friendships with the humans who work at the city hall. After a bit of cajoling and fancy language, I convinced them to send me these,” he said, waving the papers around.

“I see.” Gray shook his head. “Well, not really. But this is where you explain your dastardly plan, so I’m just sort of relying on that.”

Despite the circumstances Andrew found himself smiling too. Gray was good at that, helping him stay focused and yet not wallow in his own despair at how badly he’d screwed up. In this case, how he’d royally messed up Karri’s life.

“These,” he said, “are nice little summaries of all the houses and properties purchased in the city by shifters in the past two years. The ones I hold in my hand are all the nice properties, the ones people bought in the richer parts of town.”

Gray smiled. “I didn’t realize you were collecting those.”

“Ideally nobody did. I didn’t want to ever use them, but now that I have to, I’m glad I did it.”

“You narrowed it down then?” Gray asked.

“Yes. These are the nice ones,” he waved his hand. “These are the not-so-nice places. I’m down to seven. Now it’s a simple matter of comparing them to the map, and seeing which ones would have the sun shining at the front of the house in the evening.”

Gray stepped into the room. “Here, give me a couple.”

He handed three sheets over to the bear shifter, and together they located the houses on the map, finding their orientations. In the end, they were left with two.

“What do you do now?”

Andrew shrugged, memorizing the two houses from the bird’s eye perspective that the map gave him. He was going to need that point of view anyway.

“I go to one. If she’s there, I get her. If not, then, well…I go to the next and get her there,” he said. “Simple really. Anyone gets in my way, I kill them.”

“We’ll hold down the fort,” Gray said, stepping aside as Andrew headed for the roof.

“Thank you,” he said, holding his friend’s eyes for a moment before departing.

As he ascended to the roof, Andrew laid out everything he needed to do. First was rescue Karri. Nothing else mattered until he’d done that, but he wanted a plan. After that, he would have to go and talk to her father, somehow convincing him to accept Karri back into the fold. That wouldn’t be easy. In fact, it would be impossible.

No. Not impossible. I’ll just have to give him something he wants in exchange.

It pained him to know what he was going to have to offer her father, but he had no choice. Not if he wanted to try and fix Karri’s life.

Once on the roof he shifted quickly into his gryphon form, backing away from the edge so that he could build up some running speed.

I’m sorry Karri. Please forgive me.

***

He located the first house, circling high above it once before he wheeled over and swooped down upon it like his wild relatives, screaming down out of the heavens at an impossibly high speed.

At the last moment he snapped his wings out wide, slowing himself down. Then he shifted, landing at the front of the house, his feet sinking three-quarters of a foot into the grass as he rose. His nose tested the air and he stiffened at the results. There were multiple scents that he recognized.

“Myles,” he whispered, sniffing again. “Karri.”

She was here. And not long ago either. Looking around he waited to see if Myles would show himself, but there was no sign of the enemy gryphon shifter. Not wasting any more time, Andrew dashed up to the front door. It was locked, but he forced it in easily enough.

“Karri!” he bellowed, his voice filling the room.

“Coming!” He heard her voice, muffled by a wall.

No, a door, he thought, locating the source of her voice.

“Let’s go,” he said when he didn’t hear footsteps.

“One second,” she said hastily. “I’m coming.”

He frowned. Each second they waited was another second that Myles and his cronies could close in around them.

“KARRI!” he roared, just as the door opened to the sound of running water.

“I’m coming!” she snapped. “It’s not my fault you decided to come rescue me while I was in the bathroom.”

He paused, unsure of what to say.

“Are we going now?’ she asked, taking his hand and pulling him in the direction of the door.

“Right. Yes. Come on,” he said, dashing from the house. “Climb on.”

He didn’t wait for a response before calling upon his animal once more. He was going to be tired and have a hell of a headache after all this shifting, but it couldn’t be avoided. He needed to get them out of there as fast as possible.

In moments they were soaring through the air, her hands dug deep into the bone-colored feathers on his neck. He could hear her hair whipping out behind her, unsecured and flying free in an abnormal manner for her. Karri preferred to keep her hair in a bun, or if necessary, a ponytail. She rarely wore it down.

He descended to the embassy slowly this time, circling it in a downward spiral. The longer lead time gave him a chance to notice what appeared to be a film crew of some sort. They were oriented toward the vacant office building across the street. All of their focus was that way. Andrew wondered if Gray had seen what was going on. He made a mental note to ask.

His paws clattered down on the flat roof section, his wings pumping wildly to bring him to a stop that wouldn’t jolt Karri too much. She slid from his back with much more ease and grace than the first time they’d arrived here like this. With an effort he bade his beast farewell and resumed his human form.

“I’m not sure I could ever get bored of watching that happen,” she said with a smile as he shook his shoulders.

“Are you okay?” he asked, ignoring her words. He’d not had a chance to ask that before.

“Just a bump,” she said, gently feeling the little knot on her forehead. “That’s all though. They were rather gentle, to be honest with you. I expected a lot worse.”

“So did I,” he agreed while examining the lump on her head. “So did I.”

Karri waved him away, indicating she was fine. “Thank you for coming for me,” she said as he pulled back slightly.

“I hope you didn’t have any doubts that I would.” He looked away, ashamed. “It should never have happened. I’m sorry. I should never have left you.”

He wasn’t sure what to expect from her, but the gentle touch of her hand on his face was not at the top of the list. He started in surprise, but she didn’t pull her hand back. Eventually he turned his head to be able to look at her once more, trying to understand what was going on.

“You didn’t leave me,” she told him. “I pushed you away. In fact, I’m fairly positive I stated the exact phrase ‘leave me alone.’ I also told you that everything that happened was your fault.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but she covered the opening with the palm of her hand, holding a finger to her lips and shaking her head, indicating he should just shut up and listen.

He did as he was told.

“I need to apologize for that. That was rude, and really lacking any shred of truth. Oh, I’m sure you could make coincidences and all that bullshit, but when it boils down to it, it’s not anyone’s fault but Al’s and my father’s. We cannot take the blame for their actions and decisions.”

Andrew fell silent as he considered her—very calm and rational—words. There was a good deal of truth in them, even if he still felt largely responsible for what had happened to her. If only he’d been able to control himself, he wouldn’t have made a move on her while he was still dealing with Al. Or perhaps he should have just resigned his position like they asked, before it had become an issue to begin with. Then there would have never been a reason to involve Karri in anything.

If you weren’t out doing your rounds as part of your position, then you never would have come upon Al and Karri, and you would never have met her again the next day either. Good has come of what you’re doing.

“Stop it.”

He blinked at the sharp words. “What?”

“I can see the self-recrimination in your eyes,” she said, her words filled with disapproval. “I told you not to blame yourself, and I meant it. So stop it, or you’re going to make me mad.”

“Don’t want that,” he mumbled, caught unprepared by her reaction.

“No, no you don’t,” she said with a smile, tossing him a wink on top of it to help tease his lips upward in a grin of his own.

“Note to self,” he muttered as they headed inside at last. “Do not piss Karri off.”

“Abide by that one simple rule, and we’ll get along just fine,” she joked. “Oh, and another important rule.”

He slowed, glancing over at her carefully. “And that is…?”

“Keep me fed.”

Andrew couldn’t help it, he laughed, feeling some of the tension he hadn’t been aware of bleed off even as he did.

“Thank you,” he told her once he’d gotten himself back under control.

“You’re welcome. Don’t think you’re out of the fire just yet, though. We have some things to discuss once everything is settled down. Things you’ve not told me,” she said, looking at him hard.

“I…” The protest died on his lips as he realized what it was she had to be talking about. There was only one thing that he’d avoided talking to her about. Something that he hadn’t been positive she was ready to hear. “I never lied to you,” he said firmly, wanting her to know that much at least.

“I know,” she said with a little smile. “I’m not mad. I’m just…unsure. I need to hear more from you. No holds barred, okay? Don’t keep anything from me that I need to hear, just because I might not be ready to hear it. I need to know everything I’ve gotten myself into to make a decision.”

He nodded. “I can do that.” There was a long pause as he worked up the courage to ask his next question. “Does that mean you’re open to the idea that maybe this can work after all?”

Andrew tried his hardest not to let his hopes rise even as he asked the question, but it was an impossible task. His heart didn’t answer to his brain; it lived by its own set of rules, and it felt hope. It wanted to hope.

“I…don’t know,” she said, the sound of truth ringing clear in her words. “I need to know the answers to some questions before I make that sort of decision. You know?”

He nodded. “I do. I’m an open book to you, Karri. You can ask me whatever you want, and I will answer you to the best of my knowledge.”

“Good. That’s all I can ask for.”

By that point they’d cleared the stairs and were walking along the second floor of the embassy/motel. Andrew had intended for them to go to his room, where they could talk in private, she could wash up if necessary, even change into the jogging clothes that were still in his room. Whatever she needed, he wanted to give it to her while they talked. They never got the chance. The sound of shattering glass from the lobby reached their ears.

They looked at each other, both thinking the same thought.

“I knew it was too easy,” he muttered aloud as they began to run toward the sound. “There is just no way I should have been able to waltz in like that and take you. We’re missing something here, Karri. Al is an arrogant dick, but he’s not a complete moron. His political backers are even less so. They’re planning something. I’m just too blind to see it.”

She jogged alongside him, able to keep up because he kept himself to a slow enough pace for her. “I don’t know what to say.”

They arrived at the second-floor landing, and he came to a halt as the situation below registered in his eyes.

“Stay here,” he said, and without waiting for a response he threw himself over the railing and leapt to the ground below.