13.

Cameron

W hen we left Fablestone , I didn't really expect we'd walk into a nightmare situation like this one. I wrongly assumed we'd end up in a place where the dragons were in the midst of fighting. As warriors, I thought we could help. We're good at fighting. We're not as good at tracking people down.

It seems, however, that Thunderstorm is good at just that.

"We have a lot of video footage to get through," Darrin says. "Let's get started."

So, we do. Together, we each take a screen. We begin going through footage from the previous days. Each of us takes a camera with a different angle, and we search. We're silent as we look. There's a room attached to this one with a couple of bunk beds and a small kitchen. After a while, the humans go to sleep. The shifters keep looking.

Finally, we find what we need.

"Here we go," I say, alerting the others. "Here. Look."

My heart starts to race, so I silently remind myself to stay quiet. Calm. If I panic, I'm going to find that I'm stuck in my human form. Oh, I don't want to be stuck.

"What is it?" Darrin is beside me quickly. The rest of the shifters join, and together we watch as someone sneaks through Thunderstorm, and makes their way to the cameras. One by one, the cameras go dark as this person sprays them with paint. It's an old-school move. If this person wasn't obviously the villain of this story, I wouldn't be upset. I'd be impressed.

"Who is that?" I ask. Darrin stiffens. He knows them.

“It can’t be,” Meredith says.

“Who?”

"Angela Cross.” Darrin seems unhappy. The other shifters tense, too.

"Angela?"

"Are you sure?" Erin asks. She turns to Darrin. She places her hand on his shoulder, which doesn’t seem to calm him the way it should. I’m trying to read the room, to get a gauge on how each of these shifters interacts with the others. Darrin and Erin? Not a pair. Darrin and Angela, however? Maybe. He’s upset enough that maybe they’re just close friends, but I instantly get the feeling that their connection is deeper.

Is she his mate?

"Look at the arm." Darrin rewinds one of the tapes. "I gave her that scar in the third grade," he says. "We got in a fight over who was the better climber. It's her."

"How could she do something like this to her own clan?" Meredith’s voice is quiet. “It’s unlike her. Really, Darrin, there must be an explanation.”

"I don't know why she did," he says. "But I'm going to find out."

We go through the rest of the footage. We don't find anything else that gives us a clear clue as to what we're supposed to expect moving forward, but we have most of what we need. At the very least, we have a starting point.

“She’s not around anymore, obviously,” Darrin says, “but we’re going to start by going through her house. There must be a clue: something we can use to find Ryker.”

“We can begin tonight,” Erin offers.

“In the morning, you can start your hunt,” Darrin says. “We need our rest. I need...I need space.”

“We’ll be here to help,” I say. My clan echoes words of appreciation and affirmation. Together, we’ll do whatever it takes to help Darrin’s clan.

"Thank you," Darrin says. "We can't thank you enough, really."

"We'll stay as long as you need," I say.

"I want you to guard Thunderstorm," he says. "If anyone returns, keep them safe. If anything strange happens, send one of the dragons for me.”

"Where are you going?" I ask.

He shoves his shoulders back. "I'm going to find the person who betrayed us," he says. "I'm going to find Angela."

“You said we were going to start in the morning,” Meredith says.

“Everyone else can, but I get a head start. This is personal. I’m going tonight, and I’m going alone. You all get some rest. Start your own search in the morning. I just...I think I know where she might be.”

Then he leaves, storming up the steps. The rest of us stay where we are, confused. Somehow, we all know better than to follow an angry shapeshifter.

"Um," Erin says, "Why don't we find y'all a place to sleep?"