Page 52 of Glow

“You’re still planning to come with me out to the forest?” Quinn asked as he refilled his coffee.

“Yes, unless you’ve changed your mind. I think it’s the safest alternative,” Dan replied. “I feel twitchy. If I put off shifting much longer, I’ll get headaches and feel sick.”

“I checked my mail and phone messages,” Quinn said. “Nothing from any of our contacts, so I think we just play it safe.” He slid a police whistle on a lanyard across the table. “Please, wear this. Don’t go too far afield, and stay where I can hear you if you blow this whistle.”

“Thank you.” Dan appreciated the thoughtfulness and realized that the lanyard had a clasp to accommodate getting over Wally’s larger-than-human head.

“I’m hoping you won’t need it,” Quinn answered over a mouthful of toast. “But since you’ll want to be out of sight from my location, this way we both know you can reach me if you need me.” He tapped the multi-use belt he wore. “I’ll have my gun, just in case.”

Quinn retrieved their packed lunches and water bottles from the fridge, and they got into his truck. Since there was no news from Liam or the sheriff, Dan and Quinn headed to the park ranger office at his usual time. Dan kept an eye out as they drove but didn’t see any signs of danger.

“No early birds today,” Quinn noted with a glance at the empty parking lot. “Sometimes we get people who are in a hurry to reserve a camping spot or get a trail update beyond what’s already online. We’ll have to see if that picks up later in the day.”

He pulled up a trail map on his phone. “I do a different main trail route each day, checking for damage, downed branches, overflowing trash, dirty picnic areas, and messy privies. Not glamorous, but keeps things nice for the visitors.”

“This is where I’ll be today.” Quinn showed the map to Dan. “The signs call it the ‘sweetheart’ route because it’s got some lovely views and people often go there to propose. Follow the signs, and you’ll find me along that trail.”

Dan intended to stay reasonably close but out of sight, avoiding any hikers or campers while still protected by Quinn’s presence. “That’s easy to remember. I only need a couple of hours in my other skin to get rid of the jitters, so after that I can keep you company, or at least help empty the trash.”

“Fine with me,” Quinn replied, and Dan could tell his partner was relieved just to be able to keep an eye out for danger together.

Dan took advantage of the station’s bathroom to change out of his clothing, leaving it neatly folded in Quinn’s office. He slipped out the back, keeping to the bushes until he was out of sight of the building.

It’s pretty here, Wally said. All the big trees and the good pine smell in the air.

The trees are very old, Dan told him. Protected, and so are the animals.

Are there others nearby like us? Wally asked.

Cryptids? I’ve heard stories about some here in the Adirondacks, Dan told him. I don’t know whether they’re shifters or not, but people talk about some large, hairy creatures like our buddy Boone, and there’s supposed to be a sea monster in Lake George. Campers say they’ve seen little stick people who threw rocks at them and a couple of other odd things. I’m afraid that most of them are just made up for the tourists.

Or they’ve faded with time, Wally replied, sounding pensive. It is sad to be the last of your kind.

Dan hadn’t given much thought to whether there were other Wally-type cryptids out there somewhere. His grandfather had learned the lore from his father, who hadn’t elaborated much beyond the basics, and everything Dan had found in books or online had been pure fiction.

You know, I’m not going to marry a woman and have children, Dan said. I love Quinn as my mate. Can you skip to another related bloodline?

I have lived a very long time, Wally replied. They have been good years, and I have enjoyed my human hosts. The world is much different now. I am ready to fade away. Do not feel sorry or guilty. It is the way of all things.

Wally fell quiet, and Dan tried to put the conversation out of his mind while they enjoyed the forest, although he suspected it would come up again. Maybe he and Quinn could come up with something after things calmed down. Dan shook his head and focused on the birds and their songs, and the sound of the wind in the pines to distract himself.

He surprised a deer, which startled and bolted away. A pair of foxes gave him a measured look and then went back to their hunt, unimpressed. Wally’s sharper hearing picked up the skitter of porcupines and rabbits in the underbrush as well as squirrels, chipmunks, and other small creatures on the ground and in the branches overhead.

The woods teemed with wildlife, but today the birds and squirrels seemed even more noticeable than usual, which made him suspect they were some of Madden’s security recruits. A few of the larger animals gave him a once-over that seemed more human than animal, and he wondered if they were local shifters.

Their presence reassured Dan, suggesting that nothing was amiss. He could feel a faint magical buzz near the ranger station, and he guessed that was due to some of the supernatural protections Amy and others had worked to keep Quinn and visitors safe and force the bounty hunter and wurm away from more public places.

After the constant tension of the past days, Dan let himself relax into the woodland sounds and the sense of safety. He hadn’t realized how tight his shoulders and neck had been until he shifted, feeling the muscles strain. His cryptid wasn’t really built for running, but he did a couple of short sprints just to loosen up, then stretched and twisted. Cryptid calisthenics. He chuckled. Maybe we could do a DVD series.

Wally remained quiet, and Dan figured that his other half was dealing with the stress in his own way. Dan felt the physical impact of too long between shifts, but he had never thought to ask how it felt for Wally, and he decided to have that conversation after they finished their ramble.

Usually, Dan gave himself over completely to Wally when he took his cryptid form. Letting go of his human thoughts was part of the release he got from shifting, something that made him feel free of the normal worries of daily life.

Now, he didn’t dare zone out completely, one more thing he resented about the bounty hunter. But as the time passed and Dan didn’t see the wurm, hikers, or Harrison, he relaxed a little more.

The landscape was rarely flat since the mountains had been formed by a bubble of rising magma beneath old rock millions of years ago. That made for jagged outcroppings and cliffs, some covered with moss and trees, and others remaining bare rock. Now and again, Dan glimpsed deep shadows that marked caves or clefts.

The rugged terrain was beautiful, but it also provided plenty of potential hiding places. Dan saw a man emerge from the shadows seconds before a rifle shot seared his shoulder, and he yelped with pain.