[Other #2] Bloodborn by Karen Kincy

Author:Karen Kincy
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Tags: Urban, Young Adult, Werewolves, Paranormal, Contemporary, Fantasy, Shapeshifters, Fiction
ISBN: 9781370217328
Publisher: Karen Kincy
Published: 2017-02-13T00:00:00+00:00

eleven

Whatever Isabella and Jessie do with their stolen money, I don’t know. Me and Randall stop at the next drive-through along the highway—Bigfoot’s Big Burgers, with a giant smiling Sasquatch on the sign, looking about as dumb as a trained bear. Wow, this sure is a backwoods town; back around Seattle, those political correctness people would be all over that sign in less than a heartbeat. “Blatant racism,” they’d say, which is a little stupid. As far as I know, Sasquatches don’t even come in different colors.

Randall lets me order two Bigfoot burgers and a Cactus Cat shake without even a nasty comment. Fatigue creases his eyes.

“Tired?” I say, as we start driving again.

Randall steers one-handed, a half-eaten Bigfoot burger in his grip. “I was wrong. You aren’t a moron. You’re a genius.”

“You must be tired. Even your sarcasm sucks.”

He gives me a sideways glare, but doesn’t say anything more.

“This is a damn good shake,” I say, smug now that he’s not talking. “Cactus Cat shake.” I stare at the cartoon on the side of the cup, a yowling bobcat with spikes for fur. “I’ve never seen a real Cactus Cat, come to think of it.”

“Cause they’ve been extinct for about a hundred years. Just like unicorns.”

“Oh.”

You know, I don’t even know how many Others got hunted to zero.

Once we cross the state line into Idaho, we make camp in a meadow ringed by ponderosa pines. Thank God I don’t have to sleep in the same tent as Randall. Instead, I get a blanket and a spot under the stars. Most in the pack have shapeshifted for sleeping, cozy in their wolf pelts.

The thinning moon, almost a perfect oval, peeks over the mountains in the west. Her power feels stronger, now that I’m closer to the sky. I clench fistfuls of the blanket, my muscles taut, and warily watch the moon. Her glow crests over the peaks, then pours into the meadow, filling it slowly with moonlight.

I glance at the wolves. One of them flicks an ear. Another stretches and yawns, tongue curling, then goes back to sleep.

A shiver skitters down my spine. The night grows brighter and brighter, like someone’s turning up the dimmer for a light. Icy tingles cross my exposed skin. I roll over and tug the blanket tight over my head, like I’m a little kid hiding from a monster—if I can’t see it, it can’t see me.

Only I’m the monster.

A pang shoots through my gut. I curl and hug myself. My nails—claws?—dig into my arms. God dammit. No Lycanthrox here to help me; now I’m really fucked. You know that stuff doesn’t work, right? If Randall can be believed.

Got to get out of the light. I crawl into the shadows of the trees, wrapping the blanket around me like a cloak. The tug of the moon wanes, and I can breathe a little easier. I realize I’m shaking, cold sweat dotting my skin.

Ahead, I hear whispers.

“Yes, but I didn’t expect this would be such a burden.

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