Reno stepped forward. “I know a guy who can hack any system. I’ll see if he knows a way to access hotel databases. If they’re staying in human ones, they’ll be using their aliases, and those names are in a central database since it’s public record.”
Austin nodded. “I’ll relay the message to the Council. Breed hotels, motels, and apartments are on alert and have orders to notify us when Shifters check in.”
Denver strolled through the front door as cool as a breeze, wearing his tattered jeans and a clean white shirt. He’d laid out his clothes on the front porch so he’d have something to change into after his shift.
“’Sup?” he asked. “I could really use some hush puppies right about now.” He rubbed his hand in a circle around his stomach and headed toward the kitchen. “I have to tend bar in an hour.” Denver paused at the small table near the hall and scooped up a handful of jelly beans, letting them slide into his mouth. After a few chews, his brows knitted and he faced the room. “What the train wreck is going on in here? Did someone die?”
Chapter 15
The next morning, the pack was still reeling from the previous night’s events and April’s transformation. The pack didn’t know what to make of April’s near-death experience. My mom postponed her meetings and went into cleaning mode. Maddox finally convinced her to work a jigsaw puzzle with him as a diversion. Denver came home from work at dawn and said he was too discombobulated to sleep, so after breakfast, he decided there was no better way to initiate April into the Breed world than for her to show off her flashing technique—something every Mage could do.
Supposedly.
I had a nice spot on the hood of Wheeler’s Camaro to watch all the action as April experimented with her newfound Mage energy.
“Maybe you need to jump,” I suggested, sipping more cocoa from a tall thermos.
Earlier that morning, April had recounted her version of Charlie’s gift. After the attack, she said there was no pain—only the fear of dying without being able to tell Reno one last time that she loved him. She said she cried and told Charlie that she didn’t want to die. It was then that Charlie had placed his lips to her ear and offered her immortality. She had the chance to deny him—to stop the transference of his Mage light—but she willingly accepted. April’s pulse was weak from the rapid blood loss, and she wasn’t afforded the time to weigh his offer. The instinct to survive had emerged.
Reno was uncharacteristically quiet all morning, just going about his normal routine with a befuddled expression.
April kicked up a clump of dirt with her black boot. “I suck at this!”
Denver turned around to face me, wrinkles appearing in his forehead from his arched brow. “You got that right,” he muttered. “She can barely walk straight without knocking shit over. I’d be scared to see the damage she could do while racing around like a bee on speed.”
I kicked at him playfully, and he snatched my ankle.
Footsteps approached from behind, and Maizy appeared in a pink bathrobe. She held out a plate covered with a paper towel. “Denny, you need to eat something before you go to bed. I made sausages.”
“Mmm,” he growled, cupping her cheeks and kissing the corner of her mouth. “That’s not what I’m hungry for, Peanut.”
“Cut it out. I need to get dressed and do some work.”
“Your computer can wait.”
While they sucked face, I slid off the car and approached April. Her oversized beige sweater hung past her fingertips, and she kept tugging at the ends of the sleeves as if trying to make them longer.
“You should practice in tighter clothes. Maybe the sweater isn’t aerodynamic.”
She brushed her hair back with a sweep of her arm and inadvertently left behind a static charge, causing several hairs to magically float. “I can’t do this, Lexi. I’m not cut out to be a Mage. I don’t know what the heck I’m doing, and… and Reno’s not going to love me anymore.”
Her lip quivered, and I set my drink down to give her a hug. “Aww, he loves you no matter what. Even if you electrocute him during sex.”
I chuckled when she groaned at my bad humor. “Imagine my surprise when I found out Austin had a tail. It was shocking, but it didn’t take long for me to accept it when I realized it didn’t change what he meant to me.”
She stepped back and wiped a rogue tear. “After we found out that Maizy was a Potential, I searched my entire body for the same birthmark. I’ve always wanted to stay a human, but if given the choice, I’d want to be a Shifter. Then I’d be a real part of the family and not a defenseless human that everyone has to protect.”
“You’re always going to be part of this family, no matter what your Breed is. And now you’re not so defenseless. What you are is amazing. Think about it, April. Rogues don’t have a clue that Maddox and Naya are cats living in a pack of wolves, and that gives us an element of surprise. And with a Mage? We’re like a pack of superheroes.” I considered April’s determination to prove herself to the pack. “We just need time to get used to it. Don’t feel like you have to rush into learning everything. Give yourself time to breathe and get used to your new skin.”