I waited only long enough for my legs to start working again, then I spun and ran. The haunting cackles of the three old women followed me out through the tunnels.
34
DECISION
A couple nights later, my friends, new and old, gathered in the living room of my apartment. Heidi sat criss-cross on my threadbare couch, hugging the sloth to her and cooing over it. She turned briefly away from it to take a bite of the slice of pepperoni pizza she’d magicked to hover just beside her head. The brilliantly colored macaw behind her side-stepped closer and opened his beak, his dark tongue reaching as he stretched his neck to get a bite of the pizza.
Heidi giggled and reached back to scratch his head with one finger.
I shot him a stern look and let out a couple of squawks. I’m pretty sure parrots are lactose intolerant.
He ruffled his feathers and glared at me, grumbling and growling. Yeah, well, if you’d been trapped in animal form for the last decade, I’d let you eat some.
I shot him a flat look and squawked again. We tried that earlier, remember? You’re not the one who has to clean up your droppings.
The bird huffed but shuffled back to his place behind Heidi and began to munch gently on one of the twin buns she’d piled her black hair into.
Will slumped beside her, his white lab coat splayed out on the sofa. He finished the bite of pizza he was chewing, then addressed Peter. “So you found the zebra’s family?”
Peter and I sat on kitchen chairs we’d pulled around in front of the sofa. Flashing lights from the neon signs outside my front window glared through the curtains. I glanced over. It was reassuring to know we had around-the-clock police protection—except for Ludolf’s cute little comment about owning the police department. I sighed—I didn’t feel safe anywhere anymore.
Peter nodded at Will, taking a moment to swallow his bite. “Yep, though his wife seemed alarmed at finding room for him in their apartment.” He grinned. “Their kids were thrilled, though. Thanks for your work curing his ear infection.”
Will rolled his eyes. “That so-called vet they were employing at the sanctuary was a hack.” He gestured around the room with the hand holding his slice of pizza. “All these animals—sorry, shifters—were in poor health.”
A black panther who sat beside him rested her enormous head on the arm of the sofa, her gold eyes following the food intently.
I grinned to myself—Will was about to lose that pizza if he wasn’t careful.
Peter nodded. “The veterinarian’s being prosecuted for knowing these were shifters and telling no one. Or, at least he will be, once we lift the hush order over the case.”
I chewed a bite and mulled it over. Peter had hand chosen a select few cops to know about the sanctuary case, with Bon and McCray’s approval. He’d even managed to keep it out of the press, though I doubted we’d be able to keep Madeline L’Orange off the trail for long.
With my animal translation skills, we’d been able to send most of the shifters back to their families or friends, even locating quite a few of the missing activist leaders. Many had immediately gone into hiding with their families, thanks to the police. We had no idea how Ludolf would retaliate, and I had no doubt he’d caught wind of this already. Like he’d said—he had contacts everywhere.
In the meantime, there were a couple dozen shifters whose families we either couldn’t locate or whose speech skills were so rusty, I couldn’t understand what they were saying. Since I’d been seeing Peter, I’d barely been spending any time at my apartment, so I’d volunteered it as a safe haven until we figured out what to do with the remaining shifters.
Heidi, eager to get out of her parents’ house, had volunteered to stay here and look after them all. She’d set out a half dozen bowls of water, magicked newspapers all over the floor, and even referred to half of them as her fur babies. Every time I reminded her she couldn’t keep them, she got teary-eyed, so I’d dropped it. But I knew they were all in good hands, though I didn’t love putting Heidi at risk. Who knew if Ludolf would try to take them all out or hide them again?
A small monkey scampered up Daisy’s back and perched on her head. She flattened her ears and growled. This is so humiliating.
I smirked and leaned forward around Peter to address her. The monkey groomed her, miming picking fleas out of her head. Aw. He likes you because your fur is full of bugs for him to eat.
She shot me a side-eyed look and bared her teeth. Then he must love you.
I smirked, but my smile quickly faded. I was still pretty shaken up from my confrontation with Ludolf the other night. I gingerly touched the still tender blisters on my arm. It must’ve shown on my face, because Peter slid an arm around me. “The police are doing their best to keep everyone safe.”
I glanced toward the front window again. I’d spotted Neo and his goons lurking outside the night before. I knew he was watching me. I turned back to Peter and my friends. “Look, we have to take Ludolf down.”
Will gasped. “Wha—? I hadn’t thought of that! What a brilliant idea!”
I shot him a flat look.
He rolled his eyes, and the panther edged closer to his pizza. “If we could figure out a cure for even one of these fools, the trapped shifter could testify against Ludolf.”
Peter nodded. “Right now, it’s just Jolene and Daisy’s words that these animals are actually trapped shifters.”
“Aw, guys, look!” Heidi beamed down at the sloth, who’d
