Shifters (Shifters series Book 1) (16 page)

Chapter 26

Follow the Map to a Telephone Pole

–TANNER–

Ryland is only half joking. That lady is seriously messed up. Evidently, she wasn
’
t going to help at all until Kai promised to pay her. She totally knew who we were, and she wasn
’
t going to help! And she
’
s one of us! She
did
escape with us and our family when chaos erupted on our home planet. Wow! That sounds weird when I say it out loud. But all she cares about is keeping the money rolling in on her little black market alien-healing scheme.

Anyway, Ryland just had to have more donuts. I get why Solé wants them since this is like the second time in her life she’s ever had any, but Ryland is totally developing some bad eating habits.

So now Ryland has assumed her normal position in the front passenger seat next to her boyfriend, Kai. I wish they would just admit it already. I can tell they’re really into each other. It
’
s so obvious.

Why wouldn
’
t she like him anyway? He
’
s mature and strong and always seems to know what to do. A natural leader. And lately, I
’
ve really noticed how perfect my sister is. I mean, I always knew she was pretty, but I really didn
’
t get what the big deal was. Something’s changed. I don
’
t know if it
’
s the world or just me.

I used to get so mad at Frederick and Chucky for staring at her like she was a scoop of their favorite ice cream or something. It was funny that, before our little adventure, they couldn
’
t put two coherent words together when she was around. If it wasn
’
t for the fact that we bathed together as kids and sneaked into each others beds to hold hands while we slept, I probably would be the same way. She is pretty. Kai would be crazy not to see that.

Now I
’
m sharing a seat with Kyle and Solé. This is awkward. The two of them couldn
’
t be any closer. She has her head resting on his shoulder while he brushes his cheek over the top of her head, gently kissing her forehead. Solé is so totally into him.

Solé said something about my girlfriend a couple of days ago. I wonder what that meant? Am I going to have one? Maybe it
’
s Alice? That would be awesome. I hope we can get back to them soon. I miss Chucky and Frederick and Melinda too. I hope they
’
re safe.

This is so unfair. Talk about a fifth wheel.

I can
’
t stand it anymore and blurt out, “What now?”

That breaks everyone out of their googly-eyed stares and back to reality.

“What
’
s the paper say, Kyle?” Kai says, looking at us through the rearview mirror.

Kyle starts flipping the paper over, looking at both sides.

I speak up, “We need someone with some skills, like computer stuff and equipment.”

I see Kai
’
s eyes looking at me in the mirror. Kyle tilts his head, looking kind of annoyed. Solé has a curious smile on her face.

Ryland turns around looking at me and says, “What are you planning?”

“I have some skills,” Kyle says.

“I know,” I say to Kyle. “We need to find some things and some people. You have the patch right?”

Kyle reaches in his pocket, pulls out a thumb drive, and holds it up.

“Is that the only copy?” I ask.

Solé squirms in her seat reaching a finger into the pocket of her skinny jeans and produces another thumb drive. Did I mention that Solé looks amazing in her skinny jeans and form-fitted t-shirt?

“Good. Keep them separate for now,” I tell them as they both put them back where they found them. I can
’
t help but watch Solé stuff the thumb drive back into her pocket.

She’s amazing. What am I doing staring at her? I take a small gulp and look back up. I hope nobody noticed that. I look at my sister who
’
s giving me her what-she-believes-to-be cute raised eyebrow stare.

Busted! I
’
m so embarrassed. I can
’
t help it though. Seriously, what’s wrong with me?

“Kyle,” I say, hoping my sister will keep her mouth shut. “How did you know how to find the nurse?”

“There
’
s these little icons next to the locations. Her
’
s had a hospital cross next to it. I assumed it was for medical needs,” he explains.

“Is there anything with a network . . .
or WiFi
. . . or a computer?” I ask, noticing my sister has a cat-that-ate-the-canary
look on her face.

“This one has a telephone pole type thing by it,” Kyle points out.

“That
’
s the one,” I say. “Get us there.”

Kyle hands the paper to Ryland; then, she turns back around in her seat and begins navigating for Kai.

We pull into a town named Newton Square. After taking some side roads, we turn onto a street called Mary Jane Lane. At the end of the street, we take a left on Dudie Drive. I
’
m not kidding. Those are the streets. Google it if you don
’
t believe me. We pull up in front of a house set way back off of the street, almost completely hidden in the trees.

“This is it,” Ryland says, sounding completely unsure of herself.

Kyle turns into the driveway and slowly gets closer to the house. We’re all staring at it like it must be haunted. Just then, the door opens, and two identical figures walk out. I can
’
t really see them except for the outlines projected from the porch light behind them.

They start coming faster, and Kai throws the car in reverse, quickly backing up. In an instant, the car stops, and there’s a red-headed kid standing next to the car, holding the keys in his hand.

A voice comes from the opposite side of the car, saying, “You
’
re not going anywhere.”

It
’
s the same kid—wait—the kid with the keys is still there, holding the keys up as if taunting us to play a game of keep away.

We all start looking back and forth at the two identical figures. They’re tall and slender, maybe about fifteen years old with semi-long red hair and bright green and yellow eyes glowing in the moonlight.

“Marcus sent a message,” the one without the keys tells us. “
Come in.
” We all get out of the car and start to follow them inside. “I
’
m Jaydin, and this is my brother Jaylon. They call us the Js.”

As we are walking toward the door, I freeze, seeing the most amazing figure backlit in the doorway.

“Oh, that
’s our little sister, Devon. Don’
t pay attention to her. Nobody ever does,” Jaydin says.

The closer I get, the more amazing she is. I see her eyes as she looks right at mine. Bright green with copper flashes. I am mesmerized. She quickly looks down like she is totally unsure of herself. Her slender frame is the epitome of the perfect feminine form. Her hair is long, thick, and red. I don
’
t just mean red. It’s red like a glowing summer sunset with rays of every color imaginable.

But that
’
s not the best thing. Her skin is like a masterful work of art. She’s covered in the most amazing freckles. I can see a true work of art in each and every beautiful shape covering her perfect face. What in the world does he mean nobody ever pays attention to her? She’s truly the most amazing girl I’ve ever seen.

“
Devon,
” I say quietly, absolutely loving the feel of her name on my tongue.

At that, she turns away and rushes up the stairs like she
’
s used to nobody wanting her around. She gives me a quick glance as she disappears around the corner. I just stand there, staring at where she was, wishing she would reappear.

–RYLAND–

So, Tanner is staring completely dumbfounded after yet another girl. I don
’
t even get it this time. Alice is pretty and tall. Solé is willowy and muted like a nymph or something. They
’
re both beautiful and unique in interesting ways. This new girl just looks like a plain redheaded girl.

He
’
s been girl crazy lately, but this is getting ridiculous. If he
’
s going to get all moony-eyed and obsessed with a girl, it should at least be someone beautiful and fascinating and way out of his league.

“Earth to Tanner,” I say. “Anybody home?”

Tanner snaps his head back around. “Huh?”

Kyle rolls his eyes in what I think might be a little bit of an exaggeration. “Your plan is the reason we
’
re here. So, why are we here?”

“Marcus said something—”

“—about you needing some—”

“—tech for a project—”

“—that has to do with the Keepers.” The Js say with a shudder.

I’m starting to believe they are one entity that somehow managed to grab two bodies before joining us in the world. Maybe that
’
s some sort of mutant Shifter thing, too.

“Yeah,” Tanner says hesitantly. “Yeah, sort of. I have an idea.”

They lead us up into the house. Their dining room looks nothing like the one at our house. It
’
s full of telephones, monitors, and I
’
m not even sure what else. The whole thing must be using up more power than our entire town.

“Whoa,” Kyle says quietly. “How did no one ever find you?”

The boys grin from ear to ear, the smiles stretching awkwardly across both faces. “We
’
ve been keeping the signals jammed in this area for years. Your game, it
’
s just a game here.”

I stare at them in awe, but also in anger. “You mean you have a way to hide us from the Keepers, but you haven
’
t shared it?”

Kai looks at them with pure loathing in his eyes.

“We
’
re working on it,” one of the Js says.

“
We haven
’
t quite figured out how to project the signal far enough or pass along remote blockers,” the other J adds.

Tanner turns away from the conversation like it no longer holds any interest to him whatsoever. What’s wrong with him? Didn
’
t he need them? I follow his gaze and see the mousy redhead sneaking her way into the kitchen.

Tanner wanders out of the room after her. You’ve got to be kidding me. I roll my eyes and turn back to the twins. “So, how close are you exactly?”

The boys shrug. “The coding works—”

“—but we
’
re having issues—”

“—amplifying the signal.”

“We thought we might—”

“—piggyback off the Keepers directly . . .” both boys trail off, dejected.

“I have an idea.” Kyle asks. “Would you mind if I took a try at it?”

The boys’ eyes shift back and forth between each other and Kyle. “Aren
’
t you like—”

“—one of them?” they ask.

“No,” Kai says. “He
’
s a convert. He
’
s one of us now.”

He says this deadpan, without even looking at Kyle, but Kyle smiles shyly. I know it
’
s been difficult for him to be so unaccepted by the person who’s clearly the leader of our group.

Solé beams with pride and kisses Kyle on the cheek, making him blush a deep red. “Of course, he is. He always was, really. He just didn
’
t know it yet.”

The Js look at Solé like she’s some sort of freak—which I suppose she is. “Okay,” they say simultaneously and lead Kyle toward their program.

I pull Kai to the side. “Look, we need Tanner to take care of whatever he needs to. Even if this place is safe from the Keepers, we can
’
t stay here indefinitely. We need to get moving.”

Kai nods. “Where is he?”

“He followed that girl,” I answer, annoyed.

“What girl?” Kai asks, completely confused.

“Their sister, Devon or whatever,” I say, not sure where he was ten minutes ago.

“Who?” Kai furrows his brow.

“
Never mind,
” I say, shaking my head. “I
’
ll try to—”

I’m interrupted when a tall redheaded man and a tall blond Victoria
’
s Secret model walk in. I mean, she isn
’
t one really. She just looks like one. Her body is perfect, and her eyes are this deep violet-blue. She is so beautiful; I watch Kai
’
s mouth drop and feel my stomach tighten.

The man is clearly the twin
’
s father. He
’
s tall and lanky with freckles and bright red hair. He smiles down at us. “Welcome,” he says. “My wife and I are happy to meet you. The boys have been so excited.”

“Thank you for having us,” I answer because Kai is clearly tongue-tied.

“All our children are so wonderfully talented with tech—both from our world and this one,” she says in a voice that would make a grown man fall to his knees.

“Does that have to do with their Apts?” I ask, curious.

“I have an Apt which allows me to . . . better understand the way machines function than your average user, yes,” the man answers. “My sons have inherited that gift.”

“And your daughter?” I ask, wondering if her Apt might be helpful.

“Sadly, no,” her mother says. “She has . . . an altered version of mine.”

“What is your Apt?” I ask, thinking there’s no possible way it’s fair this woman gets any extra gifts.

“I have the ability to attract others, manipulate them if I choose,” she says sweetly.

My stomach curdles like sour milk. This woman does not seem right to me. “How is hers altered?”

The father shrugs. “
Devon, I
’
m afraid, does the opposite. She is able to ghost—to hide from people in plain sight. No one notices her.”

Kai finally wakes up at that. “That
’
s pretty incredible,” he says. “That would be useful.”

The mother looks down at him pityingly, and he stops. “If she could control it, yes. Instead, it isolates her. She
’
s a dull, weak child.”