Page 34

Chapter 34

War of the Worlds

VANESSA

O ne moment I’m waving at a room filled with cheering fans, the next I’m flung to the ground, Keenan landing on top of me. I stare up at him blankly. “What?”

BOOM! An earsplitting sound rips through the building.

Keenan wraps his arm around my head and tucks me into his body, protecting me as the world around us falls to pieces. I flinch as debris lands next to us.

Then we’re hit, Keenan taking the brunt as something heavy falls on top of him and darkness engulfs us. He doesn’t make a sound, tucking me closer into his body.

There’s screaming all around us, but it sounds tinny, like it’s coming from far away. My ears are ringing. I try to lift my hand, to touch my ear, but I’m trapped. I can’t move at all!

Panic starts to overwhelm me, but Keenan presses a kiss to my temple. “You’re okay, but we have to stay still.”

I nod against him, not liking the strain I hear in his voice. Was he injured? He’s hardier than any human I’ve met, but he can still get hurt. His missing ear is proof of that.

“Don’t worry about me,” his voice sounds like it’s coming from far away.

“What about everyone else?” I whisper.

The screams are growing louder, more people joining the cacophony of noise.

“I need to get you out of here,” Keenan mutters, but he’s talking to himself.

“We need to see if the others are okay.” I twist my neck to see, but it’s all black. “Can we move now?”

“I think so.” He moves over top of me, placing his hands on the floor on either side of me and then pushing as though doing a pushup. “Go,” he grunts, and I realize he’s lifting whatever landed on us.

I stare around, then crawl toward daylight. When I’m free, I twist to look at Keenan who’s holding up what looks like a section of wall. He stands, shoving it away.

I look around in confusion, trying to make sense of what happened. There’s dust and debris everywhere. Did the building collapse? Then I catch sight of Spoon who’s laying crumpled on his side unmoving.

“Spoon!” I crawl toward him, reaching for his shoulder.

Keenan captures my fingers. “Don’t touch him yet.”

His brows are wrinkled as he moves around Spoon, examining him. He presses his fingers to Spoon’s neck. “He’s alive.” A groan slips from Spoon’s lips and he rolls onto his back.

There are no visible injuries. “Spoon, it’s Vanessa. Are you hurt?”

He groans, then blinks, dust catching in his eyelashes as they open. “I’m fine. Where’s Gerald?”

I peek over the edge of the stage at the front row, but gasp in shock when I find the chairs crushed under debris. When I look up, I see a gaping hole in the ceiling. Our friends were in those chairs!

“Spooner!” A harried looking Gerald rushes onto the stage and grabs Spoon, gripping him around the neck. “Thank god you’re okay.”

“I’ve never been happier to see your old face.” Spoon grips Gerald by the ears and kisses him.

“You two need to get out of here,” Keenan says, his gaze on the audience.

I turn into his shoulder with a cry. “There’s blood everywhere, Keenan!”

He crushes me against him, then says to Spoon. “Take her and get out of here. The building may collapse.”

“I’m not leaving without you.” I yank my arm from Spoon’s grip.

Keenan pushes me toward Spoon. “I don’t have time to argue. I have to get to Zach and Rachel and the others. I need you safe while I do that.”

“I can help,” I say quickly.

He lets out a growl, then says, “Fine, but stay close. If I give you an order, you do it. We don’t know who the attackers are or how many.”

“Attackers?” I ask faintly, then nod. “Let’s go.”

He takes my hand and leads me off the stage, helping me over a section of wall. “Zach!” I shout, searching the crowd. “Rachel!” People are rushing from the theatre, some helping others, while a few are crouched over the injured, some of them screaming in pain.

“Vanessa, Keenan, over here!” We hurry toward Zach, coughing as smoke and dust fill our lungs.

I drop to the floor next to Zach, a cry escaping my lips.

“I don’t know what to do.” He looks at me brokenly, lifting a small red fox. Her head lolls and her tongue hangs out. Her eyes are open, glassy.

“Oh Rachel.” Tears gather in my eyes.

“Give her to me.” Keenan takes her from Zach and lifts her to his good ear. “Her heart is beating.” He checks her mouth. “She’s not breathing.”

He places her on the ground and tilts her head, pushing her snout up. He wraps his big hand around it and leans over, breathing into the tunnel created by his fist.

I place my hand on her chest, feeling her heart. It’s fluttering weakly. “Come on, Rachel,” I plead. “Come back to us.”

Keenan breathes for her three more times, her chest rising and falling against my hand with each breath, then her eyelids flutter closed, then open again.

“Rachel!” Zach shouts, tears streaming down his face. “Don’t you die.”

Keenan sits back, breathing heavily.

Rachel gazes up at us in confusion.

As gently as possible, I pick her up and hold her to my chest. “You’re going to be okay.” I hand her to Zach, who takes her, cradling her. “You should take her out of here.”

Keenan helps Zach stand and points toward the nearest exit. “Take her to a vet who’s worked with shifters before.”

Zach leaves with Rachel and we look around at the chaos. Relief hits me hard as paramedics rush through the door. I look up at Keenan. “What happened?”

“A bomb. It was ASHRA,” he says grimly, pulling me into his side. “Lennox is in my head. He says they’ve already claimed responsibility in a video message uploaded to social media.”

I stare around at the carnage, tears filling my eyes. “What kind of a message can they possibly hope to send by hurting so many innocent people?”

“Look at them,” Keenan says, holding me tight.

I do as he says, though it’s hard. Many of the people left in the theatre are too injured to leave. Some are unconscious, maybe dead. Others have been maimed. Then I realize what he’s talking about. At least a dozen shifters are in the mix, some injured, some not.

“The urge to shift during extreme events is strong,” Keenan explains. “It’s a protective instinct.”

“Why didn’t you shift?”

“Because I’m older and more practiced than most.” He takes my hand, pulling me with him. “It’s time to leave. I think the professionals have it under control.”

As we make our way out, climbing over rubble to reach the exit, an agonized yowl catches my attention. “Keenan, there’s someone under here.”

He lifts the ceiling beam I point at and tosses it aside. I drop to my knees next to an injured lynx. It looks at me blearily, then hisses, trying to back away. “I won’t hurt you.” I reach for it, allowing it to sniff me, before pulling it out of the rubble and holding it to my chest. Looking around, I say, “We need to find someplace safe.”

Keenan wraps his arm around my shoulders, leading me while I cradle our new kitty friend. Once we’ve made it outside, I spot an ambulance. “Over there.” I point.

“They aren’t going to know what to do with her,” he says, “but let’s lay her down and see if we can get her to shift to human.”

“How do you know she’s a she?” I ask as we hurry toward the ambulance.

“Sweetheart, you’re holding the mayor of Los Angeles in your arms.”

“Oh!” I look down at her in surprise and she blinks at me.

As we approach the ambulance a man comes around the side, holding his hand out. “Sorry, I only take injured humans.”

“You’ll take this shifter or you’ll lose your job,” I snap, channeling my best Erin Brockovich character. “This is the mayor and she needs immediate attention and your discretion.” I don’t know what the mayor’s deal is, but she kept her shifter heritage a secret for a reason and I’m not about to out her.

“Lavinia Rose?” he asks in surprise.

Without answering, Keenan yanks open the back door to the ambulance and lifts me inside before climbing in behind me. The paramedic joins us as I lay the mayor on the stretcher.

He stares at her with awe. “Is she really – ?”

The whirring sound I’ve come to recognize as a shifter about to shift fills the back of the ambulance and with a pop, the mayor turns into a human. A naked human.

She pushes herself up, staring at us with confusion. “What happened? I was mid-shift when everything went black. When I came around you two were standing over me.”

“ASHRA bombed the theatre,” Keenan says grimly.

The paramedic gasps. “We were told it was a mass casualty event, but a bomb…”

“Oh my god,” I whisper, the truth of what happened finally sinking in. “All those people.”

“I have to get inside.” The paramedic grabs a bag and leaves.

“How bad is it in there?” Lavinia asks, reaching for a sheet and wrapping it around her shoulders.

“Bad,” Keenan replies. “We need to get you out of here in case there’s another bomb.”

She shakes her head, then groans, her fingers going to her temple. “I need to stay.” She slides off the stretcher. When she wobbles, I steady her.

“I don’t think you’re in any condition to go out there, mayor,” I say gently. “You’re injured and wearing a bedsheet.”

“Eventually someone will put two and two together,” Keenan adds, glancing out the front window of the ambulance. “You’ve kept your shifter heritage quiet for a reason. If that paramedic doesn’t out you, running around in this mess half naked certainly will.”

She sits heavily on the stretcher, her shoulders bowing. “Of course, you’re right. I’m not thinking.” She lets out an annoyed growl. “It was so stupid of me to shift into my lynx, but the instinct was too strong to ignore.”

“It probably saved your life.” Keenan scans the crowd gathering outside the ambulance. “You should get out of here before you’re exposed.”

“I need a phone.”

Keenan hands her his phone. “Here.”

She opens his messenger app and taps out a message. Without looking up, she says, “How do you know this was an ASHRA attack? So far, they haven’t done much more than set fire to a warehouse in New York.”

“So you know about that.” He crosses his arms over his chest. “My brother is the lead detective on the New York case. There was also a dead shifter in that warehouse and anti-shifter messages painted on the walls. ASHRA has been escalating for months. They claimed responsibility for this bombing seconds after detonation.”

Lavinia’s face pales. “They’re really declaring war on shifters?”

“It would seem so.” Their gazes meet and an understanding seems to pass between them.

A loud banging on the back of the ambulance startles us from further conversation.

“They’re here for me.” Lavinia stands, the sheet wrapped tightly around her. “Vanessa, you need to get out of here too. If there are more members of ASHRA out there, you and Keenan could be targets.”

Keenan pushes the back door of the ambulance open enough for Lavinia to slip out into the arms of her security detail. “We’re right behind you.” We watch as they whisk her into a waiting vehicle. Keenan turns to me. “You ready to get out of here?”

I’m about to give him an emphatic yes when what feels like a giant fist squeezes my chest. I can’t find the breath to answer. I cough, bringing my hand up to rub my chest, trying to ease the pain, but it gets worse.

I gasp, trying to drag air into my lungs. I look at Keenan for answers. He stares back, his face crumpling with horror.

What’s happening to me?

Spots swarm my vision and I reach for him. The last thing I feel as my legs collapse are his arms closing around me, his voice calling to me. “Vanessa!”