Autumn's War (The Spirit Shifters Book 4) (16 page)

The military guy checked the digital thermometer and nodded.

The woman was dragged off to the camouflaged truck. She screamed and struggled, but they ignored her protests and threw her in the back of the vehicle.

“Time to get in there, guys,” said Autumn to the shifters, and she flicked the safety off her weapon.

The animals growled beside her.

She paused and then said, “Now.”

Autumn ran forward, her weapon out held. She was by no means a good shot, but the bodies of the huge animals gave her cover, as did the numerous trees lining both sides of the street. The military saw them coming. They stared in amazement at first, but then remembered themselves.

The man ran for cover, diving beneath the truck his wife had been thrown into. More soldiers appeared from the house on the other side of the street, hauling out some other people with them as they came. A couple of frightened teenagers cowered at the sight of the men with guns, and the massive animals.

The bird dropped from the sky like a stone, disorienting the soldiers. One dropped his weapon. Another fired a couple of shots into the sky, but they went wide. The distraction allowed for Tocho, Romero, and the others to close the gap. Autumn, Marcus, and David followed close behind.

Tocho disarmed the first soldier, the huge, white tiger running down the man and easily bringing him down. The two wolves, Sahale and Romero, took on the next man, while Dyani dive-bombed the soldiers from the sky, and Hakan chased another man down the street. Several of them managed to get shots off, but the overwhelming sight of the huge creatures put the military men off their game, and no one was hurt. Several of the soldiers ran off, while the tiger and wolves pinned down those who remained.

The fight was over quickly. They’d clearly not been prepared for any kind of organized attack, as loosely organized as the group of shifters had been.

Drapes twitched in the windows of the neighboring houses. She could hear the quiet sobbing of the man who had hidden beneath the truck.

“It’s okay,” she called out. “We’re here to help you. We’re not your enemies.”

The man rolled back out from under the truck. “Please, you have to help my wife. She’s twelve weeks pregnant. It’s our first baby. I can’t have anything happen to her or the baby. And she’s not a shifter. I don’t know why they thought she was.”

“Because she’s pregnant,” Autumn said. “She’s running at a higher temperature than normal. All pregnant women do.”

Damn. She had tried to warn Vivian of this, hadn’t she? Yet guilt speared through her. She was responsible for this in a way. She’d given them the information about shifters running at a higher temperature and now they were going from house to house, weeding people out simply by their basal body temperature.

She ran to the back of the truck, tried to open the door, but it was locked. “Where are the keys?” she demanded of the man who Tocho had pinned down.

“Maguire had them!” he said. “He ran off.”

“Damn it.” She thought for a moment and then lifted her gun to level with the lock.

“I wouldn’t,” said David. “It might ricochet back at you, or else puncture right through and injure the people inside. What looks good in the movies doesn’t always work in real life.”

Autumn gave a growl of frustration.

Just as she was trying to figure out another way, possibly hunt down the man who had run off, she noticed Marcus standing stock still. His eyes were narrowed, his face taut with concentration. His whole body began to tremble, a vibration working its way through every muscle. A metallic clank and screech made her twist her head back to the truck. The metal of the back door began to buckle, the corners crinkling.

“Is he doing that?” David said, the same wonder in his voice that she was experiencing.

“Yeah, I think so.”

“I’d get out of the way, if I were you,” David said, already pulling her backward.

It all seemed to happen at once. The door didn’t just drop from its hinges; it flew as if someone had exploded a bomb behind it. The door landed on the road about ten yards away, the clang reverberating around the street. The other door hung from one side. The people inside clutched at one another, staring out in fear. They numbered about twelve in total, ranging from a small child to an elderly man.

What the hell were the military planning on doing with these people?

A little girl coughed into her hand and cried for her mommy.

She’s sick.

“Jesus, these idiots. They’re just rounding up everyone who has a higher than normal temperature. Of course this kid isn’t a shifter. Her parents must be beside themselves.”

“They threatened to shoot her if they followed,” one of the men said, getting to his feet to emerge from the inside of the truck. “That’s how they stopped her parents chasing after us.”

“They’re barbarians,” a woman called out.

“Are any of you actual shifters?” she asked. A man and a woman both lifted their hands. “Good,” said Autumn. “You can help us fight. Why didn’t you shift when the soldiers were rounding you up?”

“I didn’t want to get my family in trouble,” the man said.

“And my family don’t even know what I am—my husband, my kids. I didn’t want to frighten them.”

“They’ll be more frightened
for
you now, than they ever would be frightened
of
you as a shifter. Shifters are out in the open now. Non-shifters will just have to learn to accept us.”

“No, they won’t,” the shifter man said. “Not if the government gets its way.”

“I don’t think it’s the whole government. I think it’s just one branch. If we can bring them down, and show Congress that the people won’t stand for this segregation, then we will win.”

The new group nodded.

“We’re with you,” one of them called out.

Autumn smiled.

Chapter Twenty-one

MIA HATED THAT Marcus had left with Autumn, separating them again when she’d only just got her brother back, but she had to trust Autumn. At least she hadn’t asked Mia to part from Peter. Having his solid, dependable form at her side made her feel safer than anything else in the world.

Their group took I-294 to skirt around the outskirts of the city. They’d seen no signs of the military so far, but Chicago was a big city, and just because they hadn’t come across them yet, didn’t mean they weren’t around.

Mia hoped they would be able to achieve Autumn’s plans. While they’d been out in the sticks, the number of shifters and supporters in the convoy seemed massive. Now they’d divided up, their numbers felt pitiful compared to the size of the city. She understood Autumn believed the citizens would unite with them once they saw the shifters fighting on their side, but if things went the other way, they would be completely outnumbered.

It was too late to question Autumn’s plans now.

Peter glanced across at her as he drove. She wasn’t even sure whose vehicle they were in now; they seemed to have switched between cars every time they’d stopped.

“You okay?” he asked.

She nodded. “Nervous, that’s all.”

He smiled. “Me, too. We’ll be all right.”

Ahead, a number of cars were at a standstill, blocking the road. A couple had skewed at angles, several of the vehicle doors wide open. There didn’t appear to be any signs of people or the military, but that didn’t mean they were alone.

Peter started to slow the car, those following behind slowing with him. He was able to maneuver around a gap in the outside lane, but was forced to crawl past, Mia rubber-necking out of the window. A large symbol had been spray-painted onto the side of one of the cars—a zigzag line and the initials T&C.

“What does that mean?” Mia wondered out loud.

“What?”

“The graffiti. It looks like someone has claimed the accident as their own.”

“Nah,” said Peter. “It’s probably just kids messing around.”

She sat back in the seat, and they left the accident behind. Within a few minutes, they turned onto I-290 to head deeper into the city. Autumn had told them to find a suburb with signs of military activity. She took a deep breath. The idea they were actively seeking armed men and women, and challenging them, was enough to frighten her down to her core.

On the side of a tall apartment building was another of the zigzag tags. “Look,” she said, pointing out of the window. “There’s that sign again.”

“It’s only graffiti, Mia.”

“I know, but I haven’t seen it in the city before. Have you? You don’t live far from here.”

He shook his head. “No, I haven’t. But things have changed.”

A helicopter thrummed somewhere above the city. They craned their necks to peer out of the windshield, trying to catch sight of it.

“Is it military?” she asked.

“No, I think it’s a news chopper.”

Numerous cars were parked alongside the street. “Why haven’t more people made a run for it?” she wondered. “You’d think they would have gotten out of the city.”

“I’m not sure. Maybe they figure they’ll be safe inside their homes, or that this crisis simply won’t affect them. I guess others are worried that if they run, they’ll come back to find their houses taken over by monsters, or something.”

Mia rolled her eyes. “Yeah, cause shifters don’t have their own homes.”

Over the hum of the car engine came a couple of loud, sharp pops.

Mia stiffened. “Was that what I think?”

Peter pulled over the car, the others followed. “Yeah, gunfire. I think we found our spot.” He stared at her. “Are you sure I can’t convince you to stay here?”

“No way.”

He gave a deep sigh, but didn’t argue further. Together, they swung open their car doors and climbed out.

They gathered together on the sidewalk, the group of shifters Autumn had allocated to their team, and the couple of humans. More shots sounded and someone screamed.

“Stay behind the shifters,” Peter told Mia. “Whatever else happens, I’ll be protecting you first.”

His words caused a warmth to swell in her stomach and settle in her heart.

All around her, the shifters began to yank off clothing, dumping their shirts and jeans into the vehicles they’d just vacated. Bones began to break, and Mia took a couple of steps back, instinctively wanting to put distance between herself and the growling, howling, roaring shifters. She remembered the first time she’d witnessed Peter shift, how they’d been in the confined space of a janitor’s closet, how disbelieving and terrified she’d been. Though she knew differently now, she wasn’t surprised that the general public’s first instinct was to be frightened.

With his shift complete, Peter in mountain lion form padded up to her and nudged his sleek golden head against her arm. Unable to help herself, she smiled and placed her hand on top of his head, running her fingers through the soft, sleek fur. He regarded her with his amber eyes lined in coal black, and a low purr rattled in his chest with every intake of breath.

She lowered her face—not far, as he was so tall—and placed her lips close to the top of his head, near his ear. “I’ll stay safe. I promise. But so do you, too.”

A yell came. They’d been spotted. Pale, frightened faces peeped out of windows at them, slamming down blinds as soon as they looked their way. The pounding of feet running on the sidewalk headed toward them. Soldiers rounded the corner, guns already lifted.

Mia’s heart leaped in her chest and fluttered like bird’s wing against her rib cage. She reminded herself why she was here—for the people. She was the one who would convince the people the shifters were on their side.

She ducked down behind a parked car, hating she was hiding but remembering her promise to Peter. In the face of armed men and shifters, she was defenseless.

Oh, God, Peter. Please be safe.

Shots went off. She peeped out. One of the wolves had taken out a soldier and held the man’s throat between its powerful jaws. A couple of soldiers had someone, who appeared to be a civilian, held by each arm. Peter went for them, sneaking up from behind, and then jumping the man on the right. The other soldier swung his gun around, shooting off a couple of shots. Mia screamed, but Peter ducked away, unharmed. The man they’d been holding broke free and ran toward Mia. She stood up for only a moment, to wave him down and drag him in to hide behind the car.

“What the hell?” the man exclaimed.

“It’s okay. The shifters are helping.”

“Are you kidding? It looks like a war out there.”

“You’re free, aren’t you? What did they want with you anyway?”

“They’re going house to house, taking people’s temperatures. Rumor is that these creatures are hotter than regular people.”

Mia remembered the times she’d spent in bed with Peter, how much hotter his skin felt against her own. “That’s right. So are you a shifter then?”

He sniffed. “Nah, I just picked up a cold over the weekend. Damn kids must have given it to me. They’re always picking up some bug or another.” His face drained of color. “Oh God, the kids. Would they take them, too?”

“I have no idea.”

More shots came, followed by a yelp of pain. Mia jumped to her feet. One of the wolves had been shot. Another wolf took the shooter down, wrestling the gun from their grip with his teeth. She needed to get that gun.

“Wait here,” she hissed at the man.

She darted out from behind the car and ran forward. The soldiers had a van and a couple of other vehicles. Were they rounding people up and putting them in the back of the van? She noticed Peter, his paw on a man in camouflage gear’s chest, snapping at his face. He saw her, and his eyes narrowed and he snarled. She knew he was telling her to get back, but she needed to help.

The injured wolf lay pawing at the road, blood smearing the ground beneath. She snatched the gun from the asphalt and crouched beside the wolf, the gun held in one hand.

“You’ll be okay,” she told the wolf. “It’s only a leg wound. You’ll heal.”

The wolf whined in response.

Another soldier came from around the corner. She pointed the weapon at him, and he reached for his own.

“Don’t even think about it,” she yelled. She nodded toward the truck. “What’s in there?”

The man’s eyes darted around the scene before him, and he dropped his weapon, clearly outnumbered. He raised his hands in surrender. “More of you freaks,” he yelled back.

She jerked her head again. “Open the doors.”

Peter walked to her side, then one of the other shifters, and another. She found herself flanked by the biggest, most beautiful animals she’d ever seen. Holding the gun, she felt strong, powerful.

The soldier went to the back doors, fumbled and jangled with a set of keys, and then managed to get the doors open. People cowered inside—young, old, men, and women. They’d been terrified by the gunfire, and the snarls and roars of animals, the screams of injured men. They lifted their hands at the sudden light, all crushed to the back of the vehicle.

“It’s okay,” Mia told them. “We’re here to set you free. We’re not your enemies.”

“How do we know that?” one of the men inside called out.

“We’re letting you go, aren’t we? Do you really think these soldiers are your friends?”

A mutter went up around the group, and one by one, they began to shuffle forward.

“We need to go street to street, house to house,” she told Peter and the others. “Call people out to walk with us, take back the city.”

“Not everyone will come,” the man who’d first spoken up from inside the vehicle said. “People are scared. They don’t want to be taken away from their families.”

“If there are enough of us, the military will have to give in. People won’t need to be frightened of their families being taken away. They can’t arrest an entire city.”

With the truck empty of its captives, the shifters dragged, shoved, and rounded the soldiers into the back. Autumn snatched the set of keys from the soldier who still held them, and slammed the doors shut behind them. She fumbled to find the right key, and then locked the truck.

Is this going on all over Chicago?
Was this how the military thought they were dealing with a problem? This wasn’t dealing with a problem, this was creating one.

Filled with a sudden sense of urgency, she ran up to the nearest house and banged on the door. “Hey, if anyone is in there, come and join us! We won’t force you, or take away the people you love. Just walk with us. Make your voice heard.”

She didn’t get any sense of movement from inside, so she ran back down the path and skipped over the front lawns to get to the house next door. She repeated the motion, banging on the door and calling out their cause. A number of the people who’d been locked in the truck began to copy her, going from house to house. The shifters stayed where they were, prowling up and down the street, unable to give an understandable voice to their mission.

Gradually, people began to open their doors, cautiously stepping out onto the street.

“You’re going to stop the military?” one woman, who had a small girl at her side, asked her.

Mia nodded. “We’re going to try. But we can’t do it alone.”

They began to amass more people, the group swelling larger and larger as they moved in toward the center of the city. Mia hoped Autumn’s group, together with Chogan’s group and the others, were having as much success.

The little girl approached Peter. She glanced back at her mother with a wide smile beaming across her face. “Look, Mommy. A big kitty cat.”

The girl’s mom reached out and grabbed her, yanking her back. “No, Abby, darling. That’s not a cat.”

Mia smiled. “It’s okay. He kind of is.” She crouched to the little girl’s level. “He’s just a big old cat, really.”

“Can I pet him?”

Mia glanced over at Peter. She remembered how she’d run her own fingers through his fur only an hour ago, in wonder at the miracle creature that he was. “Well, he’s not a pet. You’ve got to think of them like people, just in a different form.”

But Peter padded over. The girl’s mother clutched her daughter tightly.

Mia laughed. “It’s okay. He’s the last person who would hurt a child.”

The woman’s grip relaxed slightly, and Peter lowered his head and padded a couple more steps closer. He stood almost twice the height of the child, but he butted his head lightly against the little girl’s shoulder, the rumble of a purr emanating from deep in his chest.

Mia laughed again. “I guess that means he doesn’t mind if you stroke him.”

The mother’s eyes darted anxiously between the massive mountain lion before them, Mia, and her daughter, but she didn’t stop her daughter this time when she reached out. Mia repressed a smile as she understood why. The mother was as desperate as her child to touch the soft, warm fur of the magnificent animal. The girl placed a hand on top of Peter’s head, and he nudged her gently, just as a house cat would. The girl giggled—a wonderful sound—and she scratched him behind the ear.