Chapter 9

"Where are we going next?"Holly tried to keep a light inflection in her voice, even though she wasn't feeling it. She'd been following Kyle all over Eugene for the last two days and had yet to figure out exactly what his process for this article would be. Her feet hurt, and she was starting to think she should've just gone home.

Of course, if she had, that meant she would've been leaving Pierce and everyone else like him vulnerable to Kyle. The guy could be an absolute pest, but he'd proven himself within Newman Media Group to be driven and determined. If he thought there were shifters out there, he was going to find them. Holly just had to hope the other shifters didn't find out about them first.

Kyle walked slowly through the Whiteaker neighborhood, his head swiveling and his eyes alight. "Anywhere and everywhere," he replied quietly.

"That seems a bit more random than I would've imagined," she mumbled.

He let out a superior laugh. "Holly, honey, you're an excellent writer. You know how to immerse someone in a whole new world. But it's my job to find that world in the first place so you can write about it. A subject like this is going to be the kind that hides in plain sight, one that's everywhere, yet no one talks about it. We need to talk to everyone from the humble grocery store clerk to the mayor."

That was going to take a hell of a long time. Not that Holly wanted to point him in the right direction and expose the shifter community, but if they got down to the nitty-gritty, she might be able to figure out a way to stop him and put this whole thing to bed. "You don't really think they're just mingling with regular society, do you? I mean, you mentioned you thought a lot of people at that club might be involved. What was it called? Selma's?"

"Selene's," he corrected. Kyle waited to continue until someone had passed them on the sidewalk. "And yes, I think it's a virtual hotbed. I also think it's a quick way to get caught. We have no idea what these people are really like, Holly. They probably look just like you and me on the outside, but I wouldn't trust them. For all I know, they eat people like us for breakfast."

Maybe people like you. Two days was too long to be playing dumb, especially to someone like Kyle. He had no idea she was only there to keep an eye on him and try to deter him from this article. So far, she felt like she was doing a good job of it. He thought she was really in on it, ready to share her byline with the great Kyle Freeman. The problem is that it meant she had to spend an awful lot of time with him. "Even if you find them, how will you get proof of who they are?"

"What they are," he corrected. "They're definitely not human."

She suppressed her bear and her anger at that response. "Anyway," she continued through gritted teeth, "how are you going to get proof? You can't just walk up to someone and ask them to, you know…"

"Change before my very eyes?" He turned to her, taking her by the arms. "Holly, all I have to do is find out who and where they are and then track down their routine. I'll worry about the proof afterwards. Video, probably."

"No one will believe that's real, considering how easy it is to manipulate video these days with AI," she pointed out. "Just think about all those viral clips that go around."

He let out an impatient sigh. "Fine. Then I'll just capture one. Whatever it takes, Holly."

A shiver of dread rippled through her, and her bear recoiled at Kyle's words. Capture? That was exactly what every shifter she knew feared the most. Humans had a tendency to trap anything they didn't understand, as long as they didn't kill it first. It wasn't likely that a singular journalist could actually achieve this, but the very idea of it filled her with apprehension.

"The locals know something," Kyle reasoned as he stopped and opened the door to a little place called First Light Café. "Eventually, we're going to talk to the right one."

"Good morning!" a woman behind the counter called. "Have a seat anywhere, and I'll come get your order in a minute."

It was a cozy place, and Holly was happy to sink into a padded chair. Plenty of indirect light came in through the front windows, giving the café a comfortable glow. She picked up the menu on the table and glanced it over, pleased and surprised that everything looked so healthy. "Oh, look. A loaded breakfast potato. That sounds so good."

"Uh-huh." Kyle had a menu as well, but he was furtively looking over the top of it at the other patrons. He looked like he belonged on some cheesy spy show and needed only a trench coat and a fedora to complete the scene.

"All right, folks. Sorry, that took me a minute. I was just finishing up a batch of pumpkin walnut muffins. What can I get for you?" The woman who'd greeted them took a pen from behind her ear and held it expectantly over her ordering pad, watching them with soft brown eyes.

"Well, Tiffany," Kyle said after he'd glanced at her nametag, "I think I'll take the avocado toast."

Tiffany sighed. "That normally comes on sprouted bread, as it says on the menu, but we keep getting shorted by our supplier. I do have twelve-grain or whole wheat."

"Twelve-grain is fine," he said hurriedly, not really caring about the food at all, "and an unsweetened tea."

"And for you, dear?" Tiffany turned to Holly.

She was a shifter. Holly could tell right away, but the longer Tiffany stood there at their table, Holly knew for sure. An animal lived inside her, but it wasn't dangerously lurking as Kyle imagined. "The loaded breakfast potato sounds good. And you mentioned the pumpkin muffins, so I think I'll have one of those, too."

"Is it all right if that comes out about five minutes after your potato? I've just about got them done."

A warm, fresh, homemade pumpkin muffin. Holly would wait hours for that. "Sure. And some coffee."

"Great choices. Can I get you guys anything else?"

Holly shook her head, but Kyle had other ideas. "Actually, yes, although nothing that's on the menu. I was wondering if there have been any strange occurrences in the area."

A strand of Tiffany's dark blonde hair had fallen loose from her bun, and she tucked it behind her ear. "Strange occurrences? I'm not sure what you mean."

"Oh, you know, anything a bit…different. The kind of news that traditional outlets wouldn't publish. We're reporters specializing in the paranormal," Kyle explained, raising his eyebrows and cocking his head as though that should enchant this woman into telling him everything he wanted to know.

"Paranormal investigators? You mean, like, ghost hunting?" Tiffany asked. "I don't think I know anything about that."

"No, not just ghosts." Kyle was trying to get her to come around and say it instead of throwing it out there himself. "Anything that's not about regular humans, if you know what I mean. The kind of stories all the locals know but no one else talks about."

"I think I do," Tiffany said with a smile. "We have tons of stories around here about Sasquatch."

Kyle shook his head. "No, not Bigfoot."

"He prefers to be called Sasquatch," Tiffany replied. "It's more respectful. He's got quite the following around here, and I even know someone who's quite an expert in the field."

Holly clenched her teeth, holding back a laugh.

"No," Kyle said, more forcefully now. "Not ridiculous things like that. I'm looking for real stories."

Holly caught the woman's eye. "Sorry," she mouthed, knowing that Kyle was taking up her time.

The corner of Tiffany's mouth ticked up slightly. "Oh, the Sasquatch is definitely real. I'm sure some of the sightings are just excited campers who hear a deer in the woods and want it to be something more, but I know people who've actually seen him. Right up close and personal."

She was playing with him! It was getting harder to hold herself together now, knowing that this woman was purposely derailing Kyle's line of questioning instead of just saying no.

"Never mind," Kyle finally grumbled.

"I'll have your food right out," Tiffany promised.

Once she finally felt like she could speak without laughing, Holly leaned forward. "Do you find that people actually just open up and tell you things? Strangers in a café just confessing their weird experiences?"

"Yes, actually." His voice was hard. Tiffany dropped off their drinks, and then he continued. "Usually, when something like this is going on, someone knows about it, and they're just waiting for the right person to come along and listen to them. If it's not this woman, it's someone else."

"Hopefully."

"Think about it, Holly," Kyle insisted. "If people are into Bigfoot around here?—"

"Sasquatch," she corrected.

He glared at her. "Anyway, if they believe in that, then what we're looking for can't be too much of a stretch."

"Maybe not." She'd have to continue to play along for now. Their encounter with Tiffany reminded her of just how closely most people of their kind guarded their secret. A few young guys from the club had messed up, but everyone else would make up for it. Kyle would never find proof. If she babysat him for just a little longer, she could return to her regular life.

Their food arrived, and it was just as delicious as Holly had imagined. The textures and flavors put her in absolute heaven. She quickly made mental notes about the experience, and of course, she'd be leaving Kyle out of the picture if she did end up writing about it.

As they returned to the car a while later, Holly looked around. She only knew a handful of people in Eugene, and they were the ones who worked at Newman headquarters. Then there was Pierce. What were the chances she might run into him? What would she say if she did?

"You know, maybe the Bigfoot thing isn't so far off," Kyle speculated as they got in his sedan.

"Hm?"

"What are the chances that people are seeing a monster in the woods and then attributing it to a legendary creature that they're familiar with? A large man with fur all over his body doesn't sound so far off from a shifter, really. Hell, I saw those guys turn into wolves, but there's always a chance that these people can do some other sort of shapeshifting."

"Lions, tigers, and bears?" she asked, unable to resist.

He hit the brakes a little too hard at a stop sign. "I thought you were in on this."

She'd gone too far, and she'd have to fix that before he realized the very subject he wanted to study was right under his nose. "I am. I'm sorry. I just use humor when I get a little scared, and the idea of these things wandering around has gotten me a little worried." Maybe that was swiveling too far back in the other direction, but it played to his lack of sensibility perfectly.

His jaw and his eyes hardened. "Don't worry about that, Holly. I'm going to keep you safe. I'm going to keep all of humanity safe from these beasts."

He couldn't see her smirk as she turned to look out the window. She caught sight of a man walking into the bank and, for a moment, thought it was Pierce, but when he turned his head, she saw that it wasn't. He'd looked so sad when he'd come to say goodbye to her, and she'd felt so guilty. She still did because she hadn't been honest with him. He'd been sweet enough to see her one last time before she left town, but she hadn't left at all. Several times in those short few minutes they'd been together, she'd almost told him about Kyle's project. She'd even convinced herself that he might be able to help her. But Holly wanted to protect him and all the other shifters in the area from Kyle, and she couldn't do that if Pierce were right there with her.

No, she probably wouldn't see him again. She'd been able to extend her stay at the little Airbnb, and unless she set fire to it, Pierce was a thing of her past. It was for the best, she knew, but her bear roiled inside her every time they turned a corner. It longed for him.

Holly knew she'd just have to get used to that feeling, no matter how awful it was.