“One of them had a gun?” Bart said. “Dagnabbit, Luke! You didn’t tell us they had a gun!”
“It was no big deal, Uncle Bart,” Luke said. “They only got off one shot, and they missed by a mile.”
Luke looked at Candace, and she had the distinct impression he wanted her to distract the others.
“I could only see this big, dark shadow,” she said quickly, drawing their attention back to her. “I was trying to hide, but my hands were cuffed behind my back, and…”
She was suddenly shaking, her mind back in that dark alley, the sounds of a ferocious fight ringing in her ears.
“It’s okay, Candace,” Addy said, speaking softly and wrapping one arm around her. “You’re safe, now.”
Candace looked up to see Luke watching her closely. “Then you were there,” she whispered. “I couldn’t help myself up, because of my hands, and when you saw, you cursed then went to search the man’s pockets. You found the key, got the cuffs off me, and threw them all the way down the street. Then you helped me up, gave me your coat, and took me with you to the music store.”
“Well, that’s pretty much what Luke told us,” Bart said after long moment. “The question is, who were those men, and what the hell did they want with you?”
Candace shook her head. “I can’t tell you,” she said, close to tears.
“Why not?” Bart snapped.
“Uncle Bart…” Luke began.
“You had to Shift, boy!” Bart said, “Right there in the middle of a city street. You could’ve been seen by anybody!”
“It was barely dawn. No one saw me. Even Candace. Right Candace?”
“Those men saw you!” Bart said. “Did you even check to see if they were still alive, after?”
“One was breathing hard, and the other was moaning,” Luke said. “I figure they found their way out of that alley. And they must’ve done, ’cause Candace saw a car she knew from inside the store. Isn’t that right?”
Candace nodded. “I’d seen it circle the block two or three times the night before. That’s why I was hiding in that alley in the first place.”
“There you go,” Luke said. “She saw that car again, so I asked the guy at the store to let us out the back door.”
“Did you tell him why?” Mark asked.
“I only said this car had been followin’ us. He recognized me from that gig we did at the Full Moon, so he figured it was a pushy fan givin’ me a hard time.
“Anyway, my point is, it’s not like those guys who attacked Candace can tell anybody what they saw. They were tryin’ to kidnap a woman, for Pete’s sake!”
Candace shook her head. “See what? I don’t understand.”
“You didn’t see what Luke became?” Matt asked.
Candace shook her head.
She looked at Luke again, and he shrugged.
“She should know,” Mel said. She went back to sit beside Candace and took her hand in both of hers.
“Might as well, now,” Bart said. He sounded more resigned than anything else.
“They’re Shifters,” Mel explained. “All of the Saints. Addy, too, though she’s different.”
“Shifters?” Candace asked. She had never even heard the term.
“You’d better show her, Luke,” Mark said. “Better that she find out now, while we’re all together.”
Candace stared at Luke, as though pleading for an explanation, but rather than giving her one, he only smiled. Then she couldn’t see him clearly anymore. He got blurry and then fuzzy, and then he suddenly wasn’t there at all. Instead there was a giant bear, up on his hind legs, his deep gold eyes watching her intently, though she could have sworn the beast was smiling.
“Dear God…”
She looked around the room, and everyone else seemed to be taking this “Shift” in stride. At least until Addy jumped up.
“Watch your head, Luke! Don’t break the light fixture!”
Then, much to Candace’s surprise, the bear dropped to all fours and came to her. He rested his muzzle on her lap. Candace reached a trembling hand out and touched his furry face.
“All the boys like to be scratched behind the ears when they shift,” Mel said with a smile in her voice, as she reached out to do just that.
“Oh. Okay.”
She mimicked Mel’s motion on the bear’s other ear, and soon the bear was grunting his pleasure.
Everyone laughed, then suddenly the bear was gone, and Luke knelt before her.
Candace took a very deep breath. “I…I didn’t know anybody could do that.”
She looked at first Mel than Addy.
“All of you except Mel have golden eyes.”
“That’s true,” Addy said. “That’s how you can tell a Shifter.”
“I think I should be scared or something, but for some reason, I’m not. I don’t know what to say,”
“Maybe you should start by telling us why you were in that alley in need of rescuin’,” Bart said, his voice now gentle, as though he had changed his mind about her, because she wasn’t scared of them.
Candace looked up and felt tears threaten.