Consular times, p.16
Consular Times, page 16
“Please forgive the moving boxes,” Mina said as she led me to the dining room table. “My sister just arrived with the moving truck yesterday. We unloaded it, so she could return it, but we’re still deciding where everything goes.”
I waved her concerns away. “Don’t worry about it at all. I just stopped by to see how Noah is doing.”
Mina smiled. “Oh, he’s doing just fine. He and Rex are playing in the backyard right now.”
“Rex?”
“Rex is the German Shepherd I mentioned.” Mina frowned. “At least, I think I mentioned him. I’m sorry. I’m still getting over being a bit frazzled from worry over Noah. Doc said he’ll be fine, but it hasn’t really sunk in yet, you know?”
“Of course,” I replied, adding a few nods. “It will take a little time before you accept the new normal, but I imagine seeing him turn into a wolf will help a bit.”
Mina laughed. “Oh, yes, I’m sure. He hasn’t shifted yet, and Buddy said he may not for quite a while yet. Apparently, while born shifters can shift from birth, turned shifters at Noah’s age sometimes don’t have their first shift until after puberty.”
“Wow. Did not know that.”
The arrival of a young boy and a German Shepherd running in from the backyard interrupted whatever else I might have said. The second Rex got a sniff of me, he let out a heart-wrenching whine and rolled onto his back, exposing his throat.
Wow… so that’s what it’s like to have animals afraid of you. I needed to remember to mention it to Karleen.
“Hey,” Noah said. “What’s wrong, Rex? Come on, boy!”
The German Shepherd let out another whine as he glanced toward his charge, but he didn’t move otherwise.
“He’s reacting to the presence of a stronger predator, Noah,” Mina said.
Noah turned to us, his face scrunched up in a frowning question. “Huh? Where?”
“Me,” I said.
Noah transferred his confusion to me. “No, you’re not. You’re Mister Wyatt, our friend. You’re not a predator.”
“Well, no… not a predator like children normally have to fear, but I’m not human, Noah. And Rex is responding to that.”
Noah’s expression settled into an almost-argumentative hardness. “I don’t believe you. You’ve never done or said anything that scared me or my mom.”
“Being strong and potentially dangerous does not mean I make you or your mom afraid, Noah. In fact, I don’t ever want you or your mom to be afraid of me. But there is a long list of people who should be afraid of me, because I’m one of the most dangerous creatures walking the earth right now.”
“Prove it,” Noah demanded.
Mina frowned and entered the conversation. “Noah Vickers, you do not speak like that to grown-ups, especially not our friends.”
“If he really wants to see, I’m happy to shift, but I’d hate to leave scraps of fabric all over your living room.”
Mina turned to me, her eyes twinkling now. “I’ve heard about you shifting, Wyatt. Something about how much you shed in the Oval Office?”
“Hey, the ladies warned President Williams,” I replied, holding up my hands in a ‘not my fault’ gesture, “but she still wanted to see me shift.”
“Well, since Noah is so insistent on the matter, he can clean up the fabric scraps. It seems only fair. Isn’t that right, Noah?”
The poor boy no longer seemed as enthused about the idea, now that work was attached to it, but he nodded his acceptance.
“Okay,” I said. “You two might want to step back a few feet.”
They did, and I looked all around me to be sure I wouldn’t hit anything breakable, then touched the part of my mind that was no longer human. My clothes exploded in a shower of fabric as I flowed into the form of a massive thousand-pound Smilodon, and poor Rex flipped out. He was on his feet and hauling tail down the hall before I completed the shift.
Noah stared at me, wide-eyed and grinning. Of course, my shoulders and his shoulders were pretty much equal with each other, so he didn’t have to strain his neck to look me in the eye anymore.
“Can I pet you?” he asked, his voice full of wonder.
I bobbed my massive head in a nod, and he almost danced over and ran his hand down my back from my head almost to my hips.
“Oh, wow. It doesn’t feel anything like I thought it would,” he said as he continued to run his hand down my spine.
Just then, we heard a door open from the direction of the garage, and Mina’s eyes shot wide as a woman’s voice reached our ears. “Mina, what’s up with Rex? He tore out of the garage like his tail was on fire. I hope he doesn’t run far.”
About that time, a woman who bore a striking resemblance to Mina entered the living room. Her eyes locked on me as they shot wide, and the color drained from her complexion. Her jaw dropped right before she screamed, which ended abruptly as her eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed to the floor.
Ah, well… at least the carpet in the living room was thick.
20
Aside from the agents assigned to Mina, no one took much notice of a Smilodon trotting along the sidewalks of town. Mina was kind enough to tie the laces of my mostly intact but still unwearable shoes together and hang them over my neck before slipping my phone and wallet and such inside them, and I headed to the general store for a new set of clothes.
Most stores and public buildings around town had push-button-operated doors, and the rare human who visited town tended to applaud us for our welcoming stance on people who needed wheelchairs. Yes, those waist-high push plates were good for those people, but they were especially handy when you were in animal form and didn’t have opposable thumbs.
Hank watched me pad into the store, and he just shook his head and sighed as he made his way over to the men’s clothing section. We went through the dance where he held up shirts for me to nod or shake my head until we arrived at the one I’d just shredded, and then, we did the same for pants. Fortunately, he knew what type of undies and socks I preferred, and which pair of shoes I needed was rather obvious.
He collected the tags from everything before leaving me and the stack of clothes.
I left the shoes in the trash can of the changing room and headed to the counter, human once more and dressed. My bank card changed hands, and Hank thanked me for doing business with him while he directed a somewhat reproachful expression my way.
Yeah… I knew I went through more clothes than the average shifter, but what was I supposed to do? Flash a kid? Not cool… not cool at all.
Just as I reached the doors of Hank’s shop, my phone sounded off. I retrieved it from my new hip pocket and saw it was Lyssa calling. I thumbed the control to accept the call.
“Hey, Sweetheart,” I said as I left the store and frowned at seeing another set of blacked-out SUVs sitting in front of the town’s admin building.
“If you can, you should head over to the admin building,” she said.
Not surprised, and I asked, “Does it have anything to do with the blacked-out SUVs in front?”
“Oh, good. You’re close. Yes, it does.”
“Alrighty. I’ll see you shortly. Bye for now.” I ended the call and returned the phone to my pocket as I headed that way at a slow amble.
Lyssa hadn’t used any of our distress code words in the call, and she hadn’t sounded under duress, but a little extra time to look things over wasn’t a bad idea. As I approached the vehicles, I noticed both of them sported little Canadian flags on each corner of the hood and diplomatic plates.
Well, shit… I had a bad feeling about this.
A couple of individuals in suits and sunglasses stood near the doors of the admin building, and they moved as if to stop me from entering. I should have been nicer about it, but these people had ruined my good mood from visiting Noah.
“Neighbors, about the worst thing you can do is try to stop me from entering this building. This is my town, and you’re the guests.”
One of the worthy souls said, “We’ll need to see identification.”
“You don’t have the authority to demand anything from me, especially in my own town. Now, step aside.”
The agents shared a look. The one who demanded my ID seemed like he wanted to force the issue, but the other agent shook his head. They stepped aside. As I walked past them, I tapped my nose and pointed at the one who exhibited a glimmer of intelligence.
* * *
I soon found Lyssa entertaining a couple suits in the admin building’s conference room. Lyssa stood as I entered, and they were quick to follow suit.
“Lady and gentleman,” Lyssa said, as she gestured to me, “allow me to introduce Wyatt Magnusson, Alpha of Precious and Godwin County, Consul of the Shifters of North America.”
The woman stepped around the table and extended her hand, and I noticed the gentleman carried a folio.
“Alpha Wyatt, it is a pleasure. I am Charlotte McCabe, and I have been sent by the Canadian government to establish a consulate here to better handle our relationship with the Shifter Nation. At your leisure, I am prepared to present my credentials.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Ms. McCabe,” I replied. The sad fact was that I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to laugh or cry. We had just solved this same problem with our own government. Who was going to show up next? The Mexicans? I fought the urge to snort a laugh, since the Mexicans were the only country in North America left. It wasn’t like the continent had a lot of countries.
“Please, let’s sit and discuss the issue, and we can even hop on a conference call if such ends up being needed. We’ve danced this dance before.”
“Oh? How so?” Charlotte asked.
Everyone returned to their seats as I moved to mine, then answered. “Our own government tried to establish a consulate here, too, and I have to say I wasn’t any more a fan of that idea than I am of another government moving in. First off, have you spoken with the US State Department before embarking on this particular quest?”
The two guests shared a look before Charlotte said, “I myself have not, as that would be above my pay grade.”
“Okay. We’ll put a pin in that for the moment. The next point… are the shifters in Canada not Canadian citizens? I can’t speak for you guys, but as far as I know, all the shifters in the United States consider themselves American citizens, which was part of the reason the idea of establishing a consulate here just seemed… well… damn stupid. Not to mention that we’re trying to keep the fact that we’re not human out of the public eye. Having a Canadian consulate suddenly appear in what to most looks like a backwater town in rural Washington would draw more than a few eyes, I’d think.”
Our two guests once again shared a look, and I guessed I was living up to the international stereotype of the brash and possibly rude American. Ah, well. I had claws and they didn’t, too.
Charlotte opened her mouth to speak and closed it again, then glanced at her associate once more before turning back to me. “I’m not certain that anyone ever thought to ask whether the Canadian shifters consider themselves our citizens.”
“Does your military have designated shifter units?” I asked.
Another shared look. Then, Charlotte answered, “I… I don’t really know. That was never mentioned in any of my briefings before they hustled me on a plane to Seattle.”
Lovely. Well, I didn’t want to offend our neighbors to the north any more than I already had, so I decided to phone a friend, as they say.
“Okay. Gimme a second, folks.” I picked up my phone and dialed Mina. When she answered, I said, “Hi, Mina. Hate to bother you while you’re still settling in, but would you mind heading over to the admin building conference room? I have a bit of a situation here that I’m fairly certain should not be solved with teeth and claws.”
I fought to keep from grinning when the guy on Charlotte’s left went pale.
Mina responded at once, “Yes, of course, Wyatt. I’ll be right there.”
I ended the call and returned my focus to our guests.
“So, we talked the US Government out of establishing a consulate here,” I explained. “They did however leave a liaison. That’s who I just called. She’ll be able to help us navigate these treacherous waters with skill and aplomb. If need be, we can hop on a conference call to D.C. and speak with someone there as well. I’m extremely good at the teeth and claws part, but I’m still learning diplomacy. It’s not as simple.”
Charlotte’s associate looked like he wanted to run screaming from the room, and he earned some respect for still sitting there with a calm veneer. His heart rate put the lie to that outward demeanor, but he put in a good effort.
“Alpha Wyatt,” Lyssa said, swatting my wrist that was closest to her, “stop scaring the poor souls. They probably just found shifters are real mere hours ago.”
I felt like asking what her point was, but I figured I had terrorized them enough. Regardless of how entertaining I found it, it was probably unwise to scare foreign envoys to the point they needed a change of clothes.
“Right. I’ll just step outside and wait for Mina. The people you left out front seemed to be of the mind that they controlled who entered this building.”
I stood and headed back outside, just in time to find Mina approaching. I saw her car parked down the street, and she had changed into professional attire.
“Hi,” I said as I stepped between the two agents. “How’s your sister? I’m guessing she was your sister, anyway.”
Mina chuckled. “Yes, she was my sister, and she’s doing fine. I hadn’t had the chance to have ‘The Talk’ with her yet, and you saw to that far better than I ever could have… at least until Noah has his first shift.”
I turned to escort Mina into the building, and the fellow who accosted me looked like he wanted to be hardheaded about the matter. Yes, I wanted to be a gracious and respectful host, but this was going a bit far. Maybe he just didn’t like shifters. Either way, I decided a little education was in order.
I partially shifted my hand and extended a claw that I then used to scratch my head, all while maintaining eye contact with the guy’s sunglasses. Both he and his associate took more than a few steps back, and their complexions suggested they might need to rotate off-duty long enough to get new undies. They didn’t smell like it, but I made my point. I shifted my hand back to human and used it to open the door for Mina, and we left them on the sidewalk to contemplate the nature of their lives.
As soon as the door closed behind us, Mina looked to me and said, “You’re certainly in a mood today.”
“They tried to demand that I present them with identification when I arrived. If this were Canadian soil, I would have no problem with that, but uh oh… it isn’t. Not unless there’s been a war that America lost in the last hour or so we haven’t heard about.”
“Yes, Wyatt, but they’re security. Specifically, dignitary protection services. They’re trained to control any building one of their people visits.”
I snorted. “Yeah, that works fairly well with humans, but the grade school down the street is full of kids who could clean their clocks. The first-graders and the ones in Kindergarten might even work up a sweat. It’s just absurd to act like that when they’re surrounded by real predators.”
The conversation delivered us to the conference room, and I gestured for Mina to enter first. Lyssa and the envoys stood as Mina entered, and I said, “Charlotte McCabe, allow me to present Mina Vickers, United States Liaison to the Shifter Nation of North America.”
Charlotte approached us and shook Mina’s hand. “Madame Attorney General—”
“Forgive me,” Mina said, “but I resigned as Attorney General. Please, call me Mina.”
Charlotte’s expression suggested her mind locked for a moment. Yeah. I felt that way when I met the president. She could join the club. “Yes, well, thank you, Mina. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Likewise,” Mina replied. “So, if you’ll pardon me for diving right into the mix, what has Wyatt called me here to defuse?”
Lyssa smirked, and I said, “They want their own consulate with us, too, and I find the idea just as ludicrous as Uncle Sam setting up shop here. A government doesn’t establish a consulate with its own people, and they already have an embassy and several consulates with the United States. So, I’m not sure where we go from here.”
Mina pursed her lips and shot me a quick glance. I shrugged and gave her an insouciant smile, one I learned from my imp of a sister.
“Yes… well… why don’t we sit and discuss this?” Mina said. “First, has your government contacted the State Department regarding your intention to establish a consulate here in Precious? Second—and I’m sure Wyatt has raised this point—are the Canadian shifters citizens of your country?”
We all assumed our seats, and Mina interlaced her fingers as she rested her forearms on the table.
Over the next several minutes, Mina and Charlotte discussed the situation, and I have to admit to feeling a little bit like I didn’t belong. I mean… I didn’t contribute to the discussion, and I didn’t have any specific expertise they needed. More than once, I thought about trying to leave, but I didn’t want to offend anyone or make them think I didn’t care about the matter.
To be clear, I didn’t care about it past the point that they no longer wanted to establish a consulate, but at the same time, we’d need them—all the allies we could get, really—sooner or later. The last thing I wanted to do was be so memorable in a bad way that they didn’t give us the time of day when we needed to rally the world against the Fae invasion.
I fought the urge to sigh. Diplomacy stuff was not fun. Not fun at all.
The impact of Lyssa’s foot against my ankle pulled me out of my thoughts, and I turned to her. “You thumped?”
She gave me an exasperated look. “Charlotte asked you a question.”
I turned to the woman in question and gave her my best attentive expression. “Apologies. My mind wandered for a moment.”
Whether she believed that or not, she didn’t react. “I asked if you were opposed to the idea of us establishing a liaison mission, much as Ms. Vickers has done, in lieu of a full consulate.”
