Otherkin by Berry Nina

Author:Berry, Nina [Berry, Nina]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp
Published: 2012-07-30T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18

A week passed in a blur of shifting, classes, workouts, meals, and avoiding Caleb. I met Raynard, the burly fifty-ish caretaker who came every other day to do the laundry, mend things, and grumble under his breath. We weren’t exactly introduced. He grunted at me when I said hello as we filed past him hosing down the cave floor one morning. It was hard to picture that schlubby figure getting romantic with anyone, let alone the elegant, alien Morfael.

Morfael’s decision to teach us to use the weapons the Tribunal used against us lead to lessons in gunfire. It made sense to teach the shifters modern warfare, but I had to watch and listen to Caleb when he made us put on gloves and shoot the silver gun we found in Lazar’s BMW. Having him so close made me ache all over. Maybe that’s why I fared the worst on the shooting range, although I also hated the noise and smell of the gun. Even with the gloves on, the silver burned my hands. I couldn’t wait to shift after that to heal my itchy red skin.

The others didn’t have the same level of sensitivity. After some initial fumbling, Arnaldo turned out to be a deadeye and got a little obsessed. During free time he got the key to the gun locker from Morfael and coaxed Siku to throw rocks and bottles so he could shatter them like a skeet shooter. Raynard groused but replenished our supply of bullets two days later with dozens of boxes.

Every morning I woke expecting to find Caleb gone. But he was still there at the end of the week, participating in all the physical exercises, making us rebuild the motorcycle, then teaching us how to drive it. Part of me wished he’d just go away already. I’d never get over him practically living with him like this. In spite of everything, I still couldn’t take my eyes off him whenever he was around. A couple of times as I sat on the bike, his hand brushed mine, showing me how to brake or accelerate. I concentrated so much on keeping my face blank that I kept stalling out the motor. But he persisted until I could at least get the bike going and stop it without falling off.

I found several books on runes in the library, but none of them had a symbol in them like the dark sun on Morfael’s door. I tried to get a good look at his staff, to see if the same rune was carved there. But it never seemed to leave Morfael’s hand. His bony fingers covered up too much to see anything in detail.

November paid special attention to the lesson in which Caleb showed us how locks worked. She became the first to pick a padlock. She did it so well that Caleb challenged her in rapid succession to open the lock on the front door, a briefcase, and the BMW’s trunk. After some initial fumbling, she managed all three.

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