“?’Sup,” I replied to the teenager.
Phillip pointed to the couple in the big, round chair that were cuddled close. “You’ve met my sister, Rose, and the guy next to her is Draco, our leader of sorts. He’s the original.” Draco gave me a subtle nod hello, and Rose waved.
“Good to see you again, and not all furry.” She giggled and then Lilith took over the introductions.
“This hunk of burning love next to me is my husband, Leon; he’s got super-strength and speed. Good for running to the store for tampons.” She was teasing him, and he just rolled his eyes. Obvious love between them, but I bet she kept him on his toes.
“And this is our tech guy. All the cool gadgets we need, Charles can make us.” The man she pointed to was handsome and had a positive vibe, as if he’d never lose his cool, no matter what came his way. I looked around at everyone, taking them in. Everyone was dressed casually, just hanging out. It looked very laid-back.
I felt a restlessness underneath my skin start to spread.
Crap.
There wasn’t time to warn them before an animal decided they were needed right now.
“Holy shit!” AJ shrieked and jumped from his chair about three feet away from me. Draco was up and so was Leon in an instant, ready to fight off the animal that stood before them. I looked down and saw my wolf paws.
“Aw, she’s so beautiful!” Lilith complimented me and looked at Phillip once before reaching her hand out for me to sniff.
“Darling. Seriously?” Leon growled, and she shushed him.
“It’s still her in there, from one animal to another. I bet this creature felt it was needed to sniff us out and get the lowdown. Wolves are pack animals. They sense shit like that.” Lilith peered into my eyes, and I saw her spirit behind those brown depths. She was right—it was why the wolf wanted to come out, to feel out the group and approve of them or warn me of danger.
One by one I looked into the eyes of each person. All besides Lilith and Phillip were holding their breath, waiting to see what I would do.
My wolf instincts seemed satisfied, and I looked around for somewhere to go so I wouldn’t just transform into my human form and be naked in front of everyone. Phillip nodded toward the door.
“There’s some clothes for you next to the open room to the outside the door.” I looked to the door and hopped off the couch. I dressed quickly in the computer room and made my way back to the couch to see if I was still welcomed in this place.
“Sorry, sometimes an animal instinct takes over. I’m still in control, but they always do it for a reason,” I said, seeing everyone’s posture relax. Draco sat back down but looked at me as if he was trying to figure me out.
“Your powers are from Diana, goddess of the hunt and the moon. She could control and talk to animals. All gods could change into them, but with her, it was different. They were like one. I’ve only seen this power once in my lifetime—a woman from Seahill’s original native tribe. She died in battle while fighting off the first set of explorers that tried to take over the area. Tiponi was her name, means—”
“Child of importance,” I interrupted, familiar with the story that he was telling. We were told the legend of Tiponi growing up on the reservation. She saved our tribe. They said she had the spirit of the wild within her, and that’s how she was able to overcome the intruders.
Draco nodded, and I felt like a vital piece of my history just clicked into place.
“For you to have those powers, you are most likely related to her.”
Chapter Eleven
Echo
I just stared at him with a blank look on my face. I was descended from Tiponi? Wow. That was unexpected. But I was confused as to how he would know that.
“What’s your power again?” I watched him smirk a little, and that smirk reminded me of Asher’s dumb smirk. Men and their smirks, I grumbled to myself.
“I’m immortal.” Well, that answers that question.
“Nice,” I commented. It was the only thing I had to say. So much was going on in my head, my world was changing too fast for me to catch up.
“It has its moments.” Draco wrapped his arms around Rose, and she blushed. Oh boy.
A silence settled over the group, everyone digesting the information at hand: I could change into animals and was apparently descended from a tribal hero.
“Well, this crew just keeps getting more interesting every day.” Rose broke the silence, and I felt grateful. Being around a close-knit group like this was odd for me. Of course, I was around other officers at work, but I worked alone most of the time. I was better that way, and I got the job done. So, I reported in when I needed to, did my job, and people left me to it.
“So, aside from your power, tell us about you.” AJ piped up, having recovered from his initial shock at my shifting. Although I’m sure most knew my story already, if they had done any digging on me.
“Okay. Grew up on the reservation outside of Seahill. My parents were murdered when I turned sixteen; that same night, I got my powers. Moved to Seahill when I could, did the required training to become a cop, and had been bringing criminals to justice ever since. My powers come in handy with my job. I live alone, like being alone, and I have a healthy appetite.” Which reminded me about the takeout box I’d carried in and had set on the small table in front of me. Still being hungry, I grabbed the box and was surprised to see chicken strips, and fries. I didn’t care what these people thought of me, so I just chowed down in front of them.
“I like her.” Lilith bumped my shoulder, and I gave her a teeny smile.
“I think it’d be great to have a detective in the group. Might help us figure out who the bad guy is. She can be all detective-y on this shit.” AJ relaxed back in his chair and gave me a smile, one more suited for a girl he thought was cute than a police detective. I quirked a brow at him, and a pink blush coated his cheeks.
“That would be nice. This waiting game sucks.” Mina agreed with her brother, also looking bored. Interesting siblings.
“You don’t know anything about who you’re looking for?” I’d take a bite on their hook; the mystery appealed to the side of me that liked to solve puzzles.
“Only thing we have to go on is that when we first fought Emanuel, a bright light saved him. Other than that, everything we had was with Emanuel, and he’s dead. New foe, new everything,” Phillip answered, but then Draco spoke shortly after he was done.
“But, I get why they outed us now.”
Rose looked at him with a sad face, and everyone kinda looked toward the floor.
“Explain?” I was confused.
“We heard baddies talking about how they set the school on fire to out us, and we didn’t know why. It’s clear now that for every person who thinks we are heroes, there is someone who things we are abominations. It’s been a little…rough, trying to help people lately.” Rose grimaced, and Draco wrapped his arms around her, shielding her from whatever memory she was reliving.
“Rose had rocks thrown at her the other day by adults calling her a demon,” Lilith whispered in my ear. I looked at Rose and saw her try to give me a nice smile that said it was okay, but something like that was not okay, not at all.
“I had a woman that was gifted almost die last night from an attack. First suspect is a power hater.”
“Oh, that’s awful,” Rose commented, and everyone nodded. Lisa’s ex was away for work but would be back tomorrow. Once he returned, I’d take him in for questioning and figure out if he tried to murder Lisa, and any possible connection he might have to the killer that took the lives of my parents and the others twelve years ago.
“Yeah. Things are getting intense. But we’ll keep it under control,” I told them, and they nodded. I realized they were agreeing with the “we” part, but I had been talking about Seahill P.D. when I said we, not the Hero Society.