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“Fuck,” Cameron runs his hand through his hair, and I wonder what he’s thinking. Is he trying to think of a way to make this better? Is he wondering how this could all just go away?
“Your mother has done everything she can,” I tell Cameron. “But it’s not enough. She’s not a shifter doctor, Cameron. She deals with animals: not people who turn into animals. She isn’t trained in the diseases that affect shifters. She can fix up your pet cat or treat an owl or perform surgery on a puppy, but she can’t fix this. There’s only one person who can.”
“No,” Cameron looks up at me, eyes wide. He’s suddenly realized what I’m saying. “He left, Natalie. He made his choice.”
“We don’t have any other options, Cameron.”
“Um, am I missing something here?” Peggy looks confused. “Who are we talking about right now?”
“There was a clan doctor,” Cameron tells her. “Long ago. He left. Apparently, Natalie wants to go convince him to come back.”
“It’s been almost ten years, Cameron. He may be more open to the idea now.”
“What makes you think you can convince him? He has reasons for leaving, Natalie. Good reasons.”
“A child died,” I tell Peggy in explanation. “Donald blamed himself and he left the clan. He couldn’t bear the pain of facing us every day after that happened, but we need him now. The whole clan needs him.”
“What makes you think you can reach him when he hasn’t come back in all of this time?” Peggy asks. She’s being curious: not judgmental.
“Because the little boy who died was my brother,” I tell her. “And Donald fucking owes me.”
Chapter Two
Natalie
No one knows exactly where Donald went, but he writes his mother a letter once a year from Storm Dawn. It’s a town on the other side of the mountains, and it’s going to take me at least four days to get there on foot. I have to start somewhere, though, and I’m guessing someone there has seen him and can point me in the right direction. I don’t know how much time I have before people start dying. Clarification: I don’t know how much time I have before my father dies.
Luckily, Cameron offers to fly me to the edge of the mountains, thus cutting my travel time down to just an hour or so. He lands on the path that leads to Storm Dawn.
“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” He asks. “You don’t want me to come with you?”
“Thanks,” I tell him. “But you know as well as I do what Storm Dawn thinks of shifters. If someone spotted you flying around, it would be a disaster. Besides, I have to do this alone. He’s not going to talk to you, Cameron. He isn’t going to talk to anyone from the clan.”
“I don’t want to admit you’re right.”
“It’s okay,” I pat him on the shoulder, ignoring the fact that he’s nude. I’ve lived with the dragons long enough that nothing really fazes me anymore. “You should get back to the clan.”
“You sure you’ll be okay?”
“I’m fine,” I promise, but I don’t know if it’s true. A random human girl in the midst of a mountain town? I’m far away from the rest of civilization now. A lot could go wrong, but I don’t want to think about that right now.
My mission is too important for fear.
“I’ll come back for you in the morning,” he says. “In case…”
He doesn’t have to say it.
In case I can’t find Donald.
In case things don’t go as planned.
He’ll come back for me so I don’t have to spend four days walking back and missing my father’s death. At least this way, even if things go to hell, I’ll be able to say goodbye to my father one last time.
“I’ll be here at dawn,” he says, and I nod.
“Go take care of the dragons, Cameron. They need you.”
He nods one last time, leaps into the air, and shifts. Then he flies off, careful to keep low to the tree line. It’s daytime, which means he doesn’t want to be spotted by anyone who might not have his best interests in mind. Even though the forest is mostly safe, it’s got its questionable parts.
