“For the record,” he said, drawing me from my thoughts. “I don’t think the shifters are involved, but we still need to talk.” He glanced over at where Nathan and the boys were still semi lined up, confused looks on their faces, and I could see the questions dancing in his eyes as he looked back at us.
Carol got a guilty look and headed for the car, as did Deva. So I followed them, wondering how typical it was for Deva to be able to command a bunch of unruly people to obey her.
"I agree. They don’t seem to know anything, but someone does," I said as I slid into the passenger seat of Deva's car. I automatically reached for the seatbelt with what should be my bum arm, but just as I’d thought when I got out of the car, it didn’t hurt any more. I silently rejoiced at having full functionality of both my arms once more.
"I'm not going to be able to stop you from looking into this, am I?" Daniel's voice sounded amused and exasperated at the same time.
I shook my head.
He was staring at me in a strange way. “You haven’t changed one bit.”
“How do you know?” I asked, truly curious.
He finally looked away. “I’m a shifter. I notice more than you think.”
I stiffened. Daniel was a shifter? So many things that hadn’t made sense clicked into place. “So shifters notice specific things about everyone?”
“Not everyone,” he said softly, then turned off his engine and started to climb out. “You ladies be careful out there. Not that you will.”
“I’ll do whatever I have to in order to get my brother back.” The words left my mouth before I could think, but I didn’t regret them. I meant them with every fiber of my being.
He shook his head and headed toward the guys.
No doubt he thought I was crazy. He may as well learn that I did my own thing, or at least that's who I was remembering to be, who I was before Rick. Before I was manipulated into being someone I wasn’t. Before I had to turn my personality down so I didn't overshadow my husband. The toad.
A vindictive part of me hoped he stayed like that forever.
I pushed the thought aside as I pictured Daniel sprouting hair and roaring at the moon. Or was it howling? Right now, I cared a little less about the old toad than the shifter thing.
My heart hammered as I closed my door. “I have a lot of questions.”
“About shifters or Daniel?” Deva asked, a smile in her voice.
Daniel glanced back toward us.
Darn it. Had he heard her? “About shifters, of course.”
Deva turned on the engine and pulled away. “Shoot.”
But before I started in on a subject I was sure was going to be complicated, I couldn’t help but ask, “Could we drive with the windows down?”
Deva nodded and smiled. “You always did love the windows down.”
“But somehow I forgot,” I said softly. “I forgot a lot about who I was and what I liked.”
“You’re remembering though. And soon you’ll not just remember who you were, but you’ll find out who you are now. It takes some time, but you will. It was like that with me for a while after my divorce.” Deva didn’t wait for a response, she just unrolled the windows.
Cool, crisp autumn air rushed in around us, and I closed my eyes. So much had changed, but I was happy to know not everything had. I still felt free like this. And maybe for the first time in a long time, it wasn’t just the wind that made me feel free; it was the sense that I was finding the life I was always meant to find. Of that I was certain.
I didn’t even care that it’d taken me forty-two years. I was just glad I wasn’t wasting anymore time being unhappy. Because no one was guaranteed a tomorrow.
Even with the bumpy road, that was the best drive I’d had in years.
11
Daniel
I’d always thought she was human.
