“Don’t know what?” Drake’s voice sharpens. “I was told that you lost it. That you shifted out of nowhere. That you went berserk and killed an innocent bystander before shifting back and taking several people hostage in the vaccination center. You’re holed up in there right now, trying to avoid prosecution for what you did.”
My blood runs cold. No wonder it took some convincing before he believed it was me.
“That’s bullshit,” I growl, trying to keep my voice down.
“Which part?” Drake asks. “Because there’s footage of you in your dragon form. I saw it with my own eyes. I thought you had finally reached your breaking point. That I put too much pressure on you and that you snapped. You need to turn yourself in and stop this.”
“That isn’t it at all,” I tell him, forcing myself to stay calm. To think. “Drake, listen to me. This male, Kaine, and eight other males showed up at the clinic. They attacked Wren and me in the parking lot. They grabbed Sally from inside. I shifted to protect Wren and Sally. It shouldn’t have happened; I shouldn’t have done it, but I did. The only person who died was one of the offenders. When I shifted back, they took us hostage anyway. It isn’t me. The anti-vaxxers are trying to get access to the pharmaceutical storage. They wanted to make a statement to the media about the vaccinations being poison. I think they wantto destroy the vaccinations and make a big show of it. They’re saying that the Mainland is using the vaccinations to control us somehow.”
I quickly run through what happened. Filling him in on the rest of the information.
“This is bad,” he sighs. “Seriously fucking bad.”
“You’re telling me.”
“I think they’re trying to bury what is actually going on. They don’t want the general public to hear what these males have to say, because it’s too close to home,” Drake tells me.
“My thinking exactly. I take it the media isn’t being sent as per their demands?” I ask.
“Nope. On the contrary, they’re putting up barricades to keep them away. The choppers are there to hunt you, but also to keep the media at a distance.”
My hands clench into fists. The chains bite into my wrists.
“This is the Mainland’s doing,” Drake continues. “They don’t want seeds planted in the general population’s minds.”
“That’s it exactly.” I glance at Wren and Sally, who are watching me with wide eyes. “I’m about to be made the scapegoat so that this can all be buried.”
I hate the idea. Hate it with every fiber of my being.
“It’s looking that way,” Drake says.
“And the anti-vaxxers?”
“I’m pretty sure it will be ‘shoot to kill.’ In fact, they might want all of you dead. No witnesses that way.”
This keeps getting better and better.
I scrub a hand over my face and sigh.
“What are you going to do?” Drake asks.
“I don’t know. Every idea I have is worse than the last. Once I figure it out, I’ll let you know.”
“Do that,” Drake says. “I’ll try to see what I can do, but I can’t make any promises. The Council is in an uproar. Vector wantsyour head on a spike. Reed is trying to buy you time, but…” He trails off. “This is a volatile situation. I’m not sure what I can do to help you. Maybe if you get me evidence…video footage…I might be able to do something.”
“We’ll come up with a plan,” I tell him. “I’ll be in touch soon.”
“I’ll be waiting. Be careful, Grim. And whatever you do, don’t shift again. That was seriously reckless.”
“I know, and I won’t.”
He doesn’t know how close it came to being a total fucking disaster.
The line goes dead.
I lower the phone, staring at it for a moment before handing it back to Wren.
“What is it?” Wren asks. Both women are looking at me strangely. “Why are you being made a scapegoat?”
