First Born (27 page)

Reggie’s bald head popped up, slick with sweat. “Shut up!”

Seth screeched. It was the kind of cat noise that had inhibited man and larger predators for centuries.

Without a second glance to his back seat, Reggie clambered out of his car, not even bothering to close the door. Seth watched him bend over in the middle of the parking lot like he was trying not to puke. Then he jolted forward like a man shot with adrenaline, almost running over two women as he entered the microbrewery.

Once Reggie stepped inside the restaurant, Seth jumped down on the floor to shift. In human form again, he reached back into the trunk to retrieve Reggie’s workout clothes.

After slipping the clothes on in the back seat, he hopped out of the car to feel the undercarriage. The package was still taped there from last night’s covert op. It was a risk, but he had to know. After ripping it free, he slid into the driver’s seat clutching the package to his chest. Ten minutes later, he was traveling north on Georgia 400 wearing Reggie’s Educated Black Man t-shirt, black bandana, and workout shorts. He knew Reggie would be pissed about his Nike Air Hoops in addition to the loss of his car.

It was dusk as the steam rose up around her. From the hot tub, Lily surveyed the deciduous broadleaf and evergreen trees. She preferred this skyline to any one made of glass and metal. With her improved vision, she could see a hawk perched thirty feet up. They watched each other. After thirty seconds, it let out a call and flew away. Its cry sounded as if it were sitting next to her on the ledge of the hot tub.

There was no longer silence in her world. Everything hit her ears then bounced inside her brain like a pinball trying to find a place to land. She was practicing filtering out the barrage, but it didn’t always work.

While she soaked, Seth paced the cabin like a caged tiger. His distressed movements were hard to block out. He had arrived mid-afternoon the day before commanding that she evacuate the cabin. He explained that someone had ransacked his apartment and he was sure had been tracking him.

She understood his concerns, but she wasn’t going anywhere. There was nowhere to go. Instead, she had showed him the arsenal that she uncovered locked in the garage: a Remington 700 youth rifle, a Winchester 20 gauge shotgun, a Glock 36 handgun, and a .38 Special. She also found a camouflage field pack containing shotgun shells and three boxes of rounds for the other guns the Quinns used for hunting.

“If he comes here, I’m shooting his ass!” Lily had said.

“This isn’t a game,” Seth said.

She was far too aware that this was no game. All of her injuries healed in a matter of days. The residual scars were emotional, not physical. She remembered the crush of fear, pain, and failure that day at Mr. Liu’s house. Her anger remained coiled in her stomach like a snake raising its head at any reminders of her ordeal over the past week. She was tired of being a target.

But they were both targets now. The news organizations were speculating about the Moores, suggesting that it was such a tragic story of a good cop’s kids gone bad. Seth, in particular, made for some excellent sensationalism. The public remained divided about her. She tried to block it all out. Her main concern was the Dark Watcher and his bitch of a sidekick finding them. The police concerned her as well, but hopefully they didn’t want her dead. Their backpacks, full of supplies, waited for them at the back door so they could be ready at a moment’s notice.

The low rumble of the old sliding door interrupted her thoughts. Seth stepped out on the deck, holding a newspaper he had borrowed from the neighbor’s driveway. He extended his arm, avoiding the water.

“I realize that you’re relaxing, but I have some news.” He stood over her, frowning. She waited. “They are keeping Larry in jail along with Professor Hitomi. Your buddy Frank is MIA.”

She nodded. These were all things she knew, but couldn’t do anything about.

“Oh and we have a new status. We are considered dangerous persons of interest. Some individuals speculate that a serial killer is responsible. Others think that we are delusional drug addicts on a brother-sister killing spree.”

She knew the drug reference exacerbated his self-loathing. He had gone from blaming everyone else, their father in particular, to shouldering all the strife in their lives. According to Seth, his behavior had been the catalyst for all the trouble raining down on them. Sometimes she thought this too.

“Anything in there about Reggie?” she asked.

“Yes. They believe I stole his car. So far, no one is blaming him. Witnesses saw him pull into the parking lot alone and walk into the restaurant. There were no security cameras in the parking lot.”

“Sorry.”

“Couldn’t be helped. I’m relieved that they don’t suspect any involvement on his part.” Reggie’s red Grand Am remained in the garage. They kept the jeep combat-parked outside so they didn’t have to open and close the garage door. No one could see them from the road, but they didn’t want to take a chance by displaying a stolen vehicle in the open.

Her moment of peace destroyed, Lily climbed out of the hot tub as her stomach began its familiar grumbling. Seth stayed on the deck looking at the forest while she went inside. After drying off and changing clothes, she grabbed a can of Chef Boyardee Beefaroni out of the pantry for dinner. Looking outside, she noted that Seth had shifted. He perched over the hot tub, pawing at the bubbles with his head cocked to the side. She admired his fuzzy white fur, one dark ear and one red ear. His stunning blue eyes stood out above a pink nose.
He really is a cute kitty
.

“Bunnies are cute!” he bellowed at her.

Crap.
Her mind continued to leak information telepathically when she was unaware. “Sorry. You are a ferocious feline. Hear you roar!”

His head hung in dejection as he studied the bubbles. She knew he was ashamed of shifting into a cat. He had told her that he was going to confide in her, but then she had sprouted wings, diminishing his already tenuous self-esteem.

When her gourmet dinner began to bubble in the pot, she checked out back for Seth. He sat on his haunches watching the birds splashing in the birdbath. He sat still with his beckoning leg up. She gasped when a blue jay flew over to perch on his paw.

How was it that her brother was the Gandhi of the feline world while she was eyeing the birdbath as if it were nature’s fondue pot?

When she opened the door, she watched the birds with a salacious thrill as they took flight. Seth scowled at her for disturbing his bonding time. He emitted a funny fur ball laugh then launched into his free running—kicking off the side of a tree, landing on the deck, and leaping over the hot tub. He waited for her to turn her back so that he could shift and pull on his pants.

After dinner, they modified a well-used Chutes & Ladders board game that they found in the built-ins. Their version involved beer. Before they knew it, they were laughing together, something they hadn’t done since Peter died. She almost felt like her old self, not the stranger she had become.

The next morning her body reminded her that she wasn’t her old self and never would be. She was sitting at the kitchen counter when the news started. She took her coffee into the family room, positioning herself a foot from the TV screen.

Lieutenant Lake updated the public on the latest findings on the case. The GBI and FBI were now involved due to the nationwide manhunt for Seth and Lily Moore, and Frank Harding. She cringed when they flashed Larry’s mug shot. His eyes were two endless holes of sadness.

When Detective Simms began to speak, she plunked her coffee cup down on the end table. His blue shirt brought out his amazing eyes and accentuated his broad shoulders. Her fingertips touched the screen, increasing the force as if to feel his skin. She sensed Seth watching her from the kitchen.

The flaming warmth enveloped her again as it traveled from her head down to her toes sending waves of yearning to her center and lower. Her mouth opened in a pant while her eyes focused telescopically on the fine hairs of his eyelashes then the coarser hairs of his eyebrows and the stubble along his jaw line. An inexplicable ache pulsated through every neuron of her being.

“Lily?” Seth said, his alarm evident in the high pitch of his voice.

She meant to respond, but she was riveted. As Simms began to talk, his voice drowned everything out. His voice was like the singing of the fenghuang, haunting her with its timber. Each inflection tantalized her. Tuning into his eyes, his mouth, his fingertips as he gestured, she felt the arousal in her breasts as they pressed against the thin cotton of her sundress.

“Lily!” Seth persisted. He was like an annoying mosquito, droning in her ear.

When she turned to him, she could see his energy field in colors of green and orange. She watched his sinewy movements as he approached.

“Your eyes are changing,” he warned.

She continued to pant as she turned back to the TV. As the detective raised a strong hand to wipe the perspiration from his forehead, she lifted her own hand. Her hand stroked a soft caress from her forehead to her cheek. She continued to her chest where the crucible rested. It beat rapidly in sync with her heartbeat. As the camera drew into a close-up of his eyes, Lily’s breath caught in her throat.

Seth grabbed her upper arm, pinching hard. “Lily, stop it!”

The rage pierced her temples, tightening the cords of muscle running down the sides of her neck. She backhanded him. Seth landed on his feet with a growl.

“I can smell it on you, Seth. You big freaking liar. Don’t tell
me
what to do!”

He hesitated.

“Yeah, that’s right. I can smell the Inderal,” she spat.

Turning back to the TV screen, she was devastated to see that Caldwell was gone. He needed to know that she hadn’t hurt anyone. She wasn’t bad.
Other than bitch-slapping my brother just now.

The anger uncoiled. Seth had told her about taping the package of money to the Grand Am’s undercarriage the night before his police interview. His foresight impressed her, but not the residual Inderal scent that permeated the bills and plastic bag.

“I thought they stole your stash of Inderal,” she said.

Seth looked down. “I had some in my car that I transferred to the Grand Am’s undercarriage with the money.”

“Why?” Lily asked.

He didn’t move.

“
This
is the reason we’ve been targeted. Peter, the professor, Mona, and you! It’s about the Inderal,” she said.

“I didn’t know what to do. Who to tell. My body was out of control,” Seth said drawing closer. “And it’s gotten worse. Thanks to you.”

“Me?”

“That,” Seth said, pointing to the crucible. “Does not create balance. It’s evil. The only relief I’ve been able to get is from the Inderal. I have one syringe left because someone stole the rest when they tossed my apartment.”

She shook her head.

“Don’t judge me,” he said. “My God, look at yourself; you were going to hump the TV.”

She palmed the crucible. It sent thrills of warmth through her. “You’re evil.” He flinched as if she had struck him. “Waipoi’s dead. Mr. Liu, the only person who could help us, is most likely dead too. There’s no one left.”

“Right, Mr. Liu would have saved the day. Lily, I know you’ve had quite a beating, but get a grip. He almost killed you with that damn necklace. You call
me
evil? Where is the great Kung Fu master now? How was he supposed to teach
us
about power if he had no power himself?”

“He took care of Dad. He—”

“Are you kidding me? Dad is dead, Lily. Who was with him when he was killed?”

“No. Waipo trusted him. Dad trusted him.”

“They’re both dead you stupid, clueless girl!”

“Don’t call me stupid. You’re nothing but a weak, sniveling addict!”

Seth’s eyes widened, his fingers stretched and his hair stood up. The air inside the cabin smelled of metal, like lightning had struck.

She broke the stare as her skin prickled in a wave down her spine to her feet. Sweat dripped off her onto the floor. Her nails grew into claws.
Breathe, Lily.
She shouldn’t have looked up at him. When she did, she saw his eyes glow with challenge.

Before she knew it, Seth had shifted then crashed through the screen door. Lily tore through the foliage after him, diving off a ten-foot drop, landing in the lush green Georgia flora. He had taken the rocky route with deep ravines and cliffs.

She didn’t know who or what she was. Her body was human, but her vision was sharp and her toe nails lengthened to dig into the mud. As the itch prickled along the sides of her back, she gave in and released all the tension. Her wings unfurled.

They saw each other at the same time. Seth launched himself from a tree. They collided mid-air in a ball of fury. They wrestled, scratched, and bit. She finally stopped when she had him pinned. His rapid neck pulse beat under her clawed foot. As she glared down at him, his fear-filled eyes jerked her back to her senses.

She released him then tore through the woods, her wings catching on branches. The colors swirled around her as if the forest were pulsing. Reaching a clearing in the trees, she felt her wings retract. She plucked her torn dress from the ground and threw it over herself. As she walked forward studying the patterns in the air, her personal storm shifted from rage to overwhelming grief.

She plopped down on the cool earth. Examining her body, she noted inflamed cat engravings on her legs and back. She cried deeply for everything and everyone she had lost, including her baby brother.

The grass rustled behind her and she smelled him; his scent was like a sunny meadow.

When she summoned the courage to glance up, her heart sank from the despondent look on his face. He had found his torn shorts. Blood oozed from his head and neck. Her butterfly hair clip rested in the palm of his hand. She had never worn her hair short before. For some reason, wearing Katie’s rhinestone barrette made her feel like she was still a girl.

She pushed herself up to stand in front of him. He grabbed her in a hug, his eyes flooded.