“Is his father still alive?” asked Glenn.
“Yeah, but he’s not well because of the three months he spent down south looking for Kevin before his mother finally called me.”
“Look, sit down…tell us the whole story. Did you find Kevin and is that why Panther wants you dead?” asked Glenn.
Hesitating for a moment, Smokey considered his options; then realized he needed the help of his friends if he was ever going to succeed in reuniting Kevin with his family. Reluctantly, he headed back to his chair. When they were all seated, he began. “Kevin is the only unicorn in existence. Other than me and his parents, no one knows about him…not even the fuckin’ High Council…and it better stay that way,” he growled.
“Nothing will go beyond this room,” promised Glenn, holding up his right hand.
“Me too,” Ghost said, copying Glenn.
Satisfied with his friends’ pledges, Smokey began. “Kevin’s parents are two different species of shifters, so they never thought they’d have any kids. It was a shock when Kevin’s mom got pregnant. According to Kevin, they both thought he’d be a horse shifter like his mom because when he started to shift different parts of his body…”
“His legs and arms shifted into the fore and hind legs of a horse,” Glenn said.
“Bingo! Then he finally shifted completely and that’s when his parents realized he was a horse with a horn on his forehead…a unicorn. Kevin told me they moved around a lot because his parents were scared shitless someone would find out about him and tell the High Council. Eventually, they ended up living near my family.”
“A fuckin’ isolated place,” Glenn murmured.
“Yeah…” Smokey looked down, his thoughts reverting to his childhood. Shaking off the memories, he continued. “The day Kevin and his parents knocked on our door, my whole world changed. We became thick as thieves. It wasn’t until I left for college that we went our different ways.”
“What did Kevin do when you left?” Ghost asked.
“He stayed home. We both knew it was impossible for Kevin to leave the isolation of his home. The risk was too great of someone discovering what he was.”
“You said his mother said he was gone…do you think it got too much for him? That maybe it was too confining, but he didn’t want to tell his parents?” asked Glenn.
Shaking his head, Smokey growled, “Kevin wouldn’t worry his parents like that. Besides, he was happy the last time I spoke to him. No, I’ve been over it a thousand times. Someone kidnapped him or Kevin is hiding for some reason.”
“Which do you think it is?” asked Ghost.
“Initially? Kidnapping. I was sure it was a random kidnapping…a crime of opportunity. But then she told me how long he’d been missing without them ever receiving a ransom demand and that’s when the second possibility rose to the top.”
“Those six months when you disappeared…you were tracking Kevin?” asked Glenn.
“Yeah.”
“But obviously you didn’t find him,” Glenn said.
“Nope…nada…not a fuckin’ trace.”
Ghost gave a low whistle. “Shit, man…you’re the best tracker I know.”
“A lot of fuckin’ good it is. For six fuckin’ months, I followed one false trail after another…all of them were dead ends. I’m not any closer to finding him than I was when I started.”
“Where does Xavier Lee fit into all of this?”
“Several of the people I made contact with told me a man named ‘Panther’ was also searching for a rare shifter but they didn’t know why.”
“Hmm…” Glenn thought for a moment before saying, “He was following the same leads you were. How well can you trust your contacts? Would they double-cross you?”
Smokey snorted. “You should know the answer to that question.”
“Yeah…depends on who’s paying them more.”
“Considering how often Panther got to my contacts first, I would say he had a bigger wallet.”
“Right,” Ghost agreed, “but why does he want you dead? If you’re always eatin’ his exhaust, what the fuck difference would it make if you’re alive?”
