Luca
The next day passed at an agonizing pace. Every so often Luca would glance down at his phone to confirm the exchange between himself and Van was real. That she was actually going to meet him to discuss freeing Brantley.
His family watched him with questions in their eyes, but only Sophia was brave enough to seek him out.
"What was last night about?" she asked at breakfast that morning.
"Hailey was showing a new trainee around. You know how they like to do."
Sophia's jaw tightened and she nodded. "You mean show how their soldiers what good, tame little panthers we are."
"Yep." The lie soured on his tongue. Van was nothing like that, but it wouldn't do to tell them the truth. Not yet.
When the sun darkened to amber and turned the sky to pink champagne, he slipped out of the house and stripped out of his clothes on the edge of the property. With practiced movements, he rolled them up and tied a string around them before shifting into his panther form. It wasn't the grotesque shift sequence movies always showed. There was no breaking of bones or twisting of spines. It was more like he traded places with his panther. One minute a man, the next a feline.
As always, he dug his front claws into the earth and lifted his hindquarters in a long, lazy stretch. His mouth dropped open in a yawn, and he let the animal enjoy its freedom before prompting him to pick up the clothes in his mouth and run through the woods. If he was caught in this form off pack lands, he would be locked up, but luckily, the meeting location he'd chosen was the closest thing to neutral territory that existed between the shifters and the Slayers.
The woods were unusually quiet this evening. Almost as if the nocturnal creatures were debating whether or not it was worth leaving cozy beds and burrows for chilly nighttime adventures. The air burned his sensitive nose, and the faint taste of metal sat on the back of his throat. All signs that they were in for a decent snow storm soon.
If Luca could smile in this form, he would. There were few things he loved more than a snow day, and he spent as much time outside as possible, shifting between man and beast depending on his needs. Brantley would toddle after him, throwing snow in the air or down Luca's shirt whenever he was possessed by mischief. They would run and play until his brother's cheeks burned bright against the world's white canvas, and more often than not, Brantley fell asleep on Luca's back before they made it home.
I promise, Brantley. You'll be home before the first flake falls. It felt empty, making that promise with no one to hold him accountable, but for the first time since Brantley was taken, he believed it could be done. He found the hope he'd abandoned.
And it was all because of her.
Van leaned against the wrought iron fence, her delicate nose scrunched in distaste as she looked around. Luca chuffed- the panther equivalent of a laugh and considered making her wait a few more moments by herself. Especially, in light of the previous evening's conversation, but he didn't want to waste a moment.
After pulling on his clothes, he walked toward Van, making sure to make enough noise that she didn't feel like he was sneaking up on her. Her bright green eyes lit up when they landed on him, but the light faded after a few seconds. Almost as if she'd intentionally snuffed it out.
"Really? A cemetery?" she said with all her usual sass.
"Best place for zombies."
Her shoulders went rigid. "Are you serious?"
"Yes, and no. There's no zombies around here. I would smell them." He leaned against the fence and crossed his arms over his chest. Even his heavy coat couldn't block the wind's icy bite, and he wished he could speak to humans in his animal form. It would be a hell of a lot warmer.
"So why here?"
"Cemeteries are sacred places. Vampires can't come here, and Slayers refuse to shed blood on holy ground. Plus, it's right on the edge of pack lands so I can retreat quickly if needed."
"You'd abandon me here if we were caught?"
"What?" He jerked upright. "No, I'd never. I just meant it would be easy for me to slip away so you wouldn't be caught with me. Not that the Slayers ever bother with this place. It's a shifter cemetery."
"Oh," she said, looking at the graves with more interest now. She ran her hands over a marble tombstone and spoke without looking at him. "How did you get here? I didn't see or hear a car."
"Through the woods."
"As a panther or as a man?"
"Does it bother you if I say a panther?"
"Do you want it to bother me?"
"Of course not, but I can't help but think you've taken all of this in stride far better than most."
The redheaded girl was quiet for a few moments, and when she looked at him, her eyes were shining wetly in the moonlight. "My mother was always really open about possibilities in the world. She taught me to be like that too. Of course, it might be a little different if I found out about you before the vampire, but..."
He grinned. "I think I would've liked your mom."
"Oh, you would've. She was the funniest person I knew and so understanding. I got suspended in sixth grade for hitting a boy on the playground. Gave him a black eye. I was sure she was going to yell at me, but she sat me down and asked why I did it. Not once did she raise her voice?"
Luca tilted his head. "Why did you hit the boy?"
"He called my friend Gertie a cow and then tried to look up her skirt. Mama told me she would've hit him too but she wanted me to be better than her. Told me to find an adult next time and report it."
Almost as if they shared the same thought, they both settled onto a nearby bench. When she shivered, he shifted closer to her, and she didn't move away. He openly watched her, tracing her profile with his eyes, memorizing every freckle and curve of her face. She watched the world in front of her with just as much interest but from the soft curve of her lips, she was aware of his scrutiny.
"When my brother was born, I thought it was the end of everything. He was taking her from me, but really, he just completed us. And now I've lost them both."
"I really am sorry, Van," he said, looping his arm over her shoulder to draw her in. It was shelter he offered her. From the cold and from her heartbreak.
"Thank you. I think you're the first person I've really talked about them too. It's like as long as I didn't say anything in past tense, they would still be here."
"Why me?"
She wiped wetness from her cheeks. "Because you're kind, and I think you know a little something about loss."
Luca nodded. He did, and it wasn't just Brantley. Living under the Holy Asylum's thumb brought grief to everyone in his community.
"But Luca, there's a difference between you and me. I can't bring my family back, but we can damn sure save Brantley."