New To Beven

Chapter 9

A cold lump settled in my gut as nausea gripped hard. Nate maneuvered me out of the infirmary while my breaths grew short. Why hadn't I warned the settlement that I'd spotted the beast from my bird suit? I should have told Ric, even if at the time I was disbelieving of my own eyes. But I had just shifted into animal form. No one else besides Leigh, who was questionable sanity wise, had professed seeing the beast. If I had said the same, they would have doubted my sanity, until now.

"I'd seen it," I whispered, again and again. Nate paused, turned to face me.

Brows crowded as I met his gaze. "In bird form, Nate, I'd seen the beast. If I had said something..."

Fuinneamh! George had looked so mangled. I wasn't a doctor, simply a mechanic. Among the torn flesh and blood, no way could I know the severity. I hoped they could fix him, bring him back to new condition. My eyes clenched shut. If only they could fix Dan. Mixed emotions scattered my brain.

The beast, the blight. And I tinkered on machines. Useless.

"Steph!" Nate's voice broke through, even muffled as it was, like he'd covered his mouth with cotton.

My head jerked toward his face. His eyes had grown into saucers as he nodded, directing my gaze. I pivoted, and groaned. As if the stress level wasn't high enough.

There stood the next confrontation between Ric and Leigh.

"—my cloak!" Leigh practically screeched, how un-leaderlike.

I shifted internal gears, trying to gauge if this problem could take advantage of my skills.

"We have to track it!" Leigh continued. "Follow it back to its lair!"

Ric had his hands out, pressing down on the air, placating. "We shouldn't overreact. We must consider the situation."

"Overreact!" came another screech. I winced. "Consider? While you're considering, the beast is getting away. I'm not gonna let it into my territory again. In my cougar form, I can scent its movements, follow in stealth, over any terrain."

Yeah, so could a bird.

"And leave this settlement more defenseless? Those cloaks are unpredictable. You are not correctly assessing the problem."

"Assess!"

She'd become quite the echo. Hands on hips, her pacing grew more restless, eyes darting to Ric's office dome. How close she could be to getting her cloak by force.

Ruby stepped forward. "We have to do something. Allow me to do recon."

Leigh froze. "You can't."

"I'm head of my Guard. I've had my training." Ruby shot a look, thick with meaning at Leigh.

And she wasn't certifiable.

"If that beast gets you..." Leigh shook her head, but her eyes shone, sincere worry for Ruby.

"What if we could monitor it in another form?" sprung a voice at my side. "A safe distance, from above."

My head whipped ninety degrees, focusing sharp on my baby brother, and I leaned away.

"The drones never once detected it," Leigh snapped, and nearly spat in disgust. How dare she compare my bird skills with some mindless RC camera! "The animal's biology masks its heat. Cold-blooded killer."

"Stephanie Lee took bird form earlier today, and spotted the creature," professed Nate. "There's no reason to suspect you couldn't as well."

Ric's eyes squinted, and not against the glaring, afternoon sun.