Demonic Vampires (Supernatural Shifter Academy #3) - G. Bailey Page 0,17
I remember when I pointed that out, that was the first time I saw you smile.” As if to drive her point home, she nods down at me. “Do you still have that pendant I gave you?”
I can’t help but break out in a smile. “Of course,” I reply. “The cord broke, but I keep it in my shoe.”
“Hence the name,” Mollie says, nodding her approval. “It’s all starting to make sense.” She glances around at the others. “You keep handsome company too, I see.” I can feel the colour rising in my cheeks at that, and she laughs. “I’m just teasing you. Come on, we should get out of this park. People are starting to give you weird looks. What the hell happened to you guys, anyway?”
“It’s a long story,” I reply before turning to the others. “Guys, this is one of my foster parents. Mollie.”
“Pleasure,” she says, extending her hand to each of my friends in turn as they introduce themselves. “Are you all shifters, too?”
“Yes,” answers Landon. “We had a bit of a near-miss back in Boston. The Academy has the whole city on watch.”
Mollie sighs as she beckons toward the path, and we follow in a cluster, like a group of baby ducklings trailing behind their mother. “I’m not surprised,” she admits as we walk, putting her hands in her pockets. “I heard about what happened at the convention centre. Bad business, and it’s not going to stop any time soon.”
“Speaking of which,” I say, “how on earth do you know about… well, any of this?”
“It’s a long story,” Mollie echoes my earlier words. “The truth is, I’ve known about shifters since I was a little girl. My parents were on the committee managing human-shifter relations in the U.K. That was before I realised just how corrupt the organisation was.”
“So you… what, keep tabs on us?” asks Hunter, sounding incredulous as we come to a stop beside the main road.
Mollie chuckles. “Hardly. Although I’ve spent enough time sheltering shifters on the run that I have a decent network of contacts.”
“Is that why you took me in?” I breathe, staring up at her.
She turns to me, fondness in her eyes. “When I found out they were using innocent children to create hybrids, my heart went out to you. A little girl experimented on as a baby, with no parents to speak of and no understanding of the world she lived in…” She shakes her head sadly. “I thought I could keep you safe. I just wasn’t expecting the humans to take you away from me.”
“So they reassigned you, is that it?” asks Silas.
“They knew I sympathised with the shifter community, yes,” replies Mollie. “When they caught wind of the fact that I was fostering you, Millie, they were fit to be tied. I think they wanted you kept in the dark as long as possible, so that you would be malleable, susceptible to their propaganda.”
“Why didn’t you tell me any of this when I was living with you?” I ask.
“I wanted to,” admits Mollie. “God knows I wanted to. I planned on it, too, once your powers started to manifest. Looking back, I could have saved you a lot of grief if I had come clean earlier.” She sighs. “At any rate, when I found out they were dragging you kids to the U.S. for some bullshit peace talks, I had a bad feeling. I texted you from a burner phone. I had hoped you would at least be able to keep yourself safe…”
“Well, none of us has died so far,” Landon observes dryly.
We continue to weave our way east, towards the centre of the city. The sun is warming me up a little, although my muscles are still fatigued; I end up having to lean on Landon for support as we go, and I’m not oblivious to the curious glance Mollie gives me when she sees the physical affection.
“So, tell me,” she says as we turn onto a quiet street, “just how do you kids know each other?”
“We’re friends,” Xander supplies. “Well, at least Ruby, Hazel, and I are. As for the others…”
“We were the original test subjects,” Silas explains quietly. “For the hybrid experiment.”
“Then you haven’t had an easy go of it,” Mollie observes. “For whatever it’s worth, you are all welcome to stay at my flat as long as you need to. I can’t promise I can keep you safe, but I’ve done a decent job with the other shifters who have passed through.”