Page 32 of Raven

Storming to the door, I grabbed the handle and was about to yank it open, but I paused. If I pulled this off, the door would break and then we’d be in trouble with the landlord, because these rooms, as small and pathetic as they were, were hard to get.

"Fine." I stepped back. "Have it your way," I said, as if talking to my mother. "You won’t keep me in here."

I went to my room, grabbed a bag, and tossed in a pair of jogging pants and a T-shirt. I slung it over my shoulder and, instead of heading to the locked door, I went to the balcony. The key was still in that door. I flung it open, climbed ontothe railing, and lowered myself so I was hanging. From there, it was an easy drop down to the railing of the balcony below us. I landed there, easing myself down. Oh, the perks of being a cat. It was easy enough for me to slink down, to walk along the edge and not fall. It took no effort to keep my balance. I lowered to the next level, and down until I was at ground level.

No one was around at this early hour, and the air was cool, crisp, fresh. The old day washing away. I kept myself close to the wall and took myself around the back to where the sheds were. I stopped there, taking off my jeans and hoodie and stuffing them into a corner. Too bulky to take with me. That was why I had the small bag and the thinner clothes. I stayed in the shed among the bins, naked as I crouched down. I shifted, letting my panther take control. I stretched for a second, but didn’t allow myself much time. I needed to get out.

Slipping out from behind the shed, I raced up the hill to where the trees were. I had to be careful; there were so many areas we could run, and so many where we weren’t allowed. Most of the areas around where I lived were like that, but I knew the way. I slipped through the human streets, using their alleys. Being pure black, I could slink in the shadows, run along the edges of their awareness. I let my shields down just enough so I could sense them. Humans emitted such strange emotions; it was thick with them, deep and cold. I could almost tell by their emotions what species a person was, and it was handy as I made my way through the dark.

The university was a good run from my house, spread out over several blocks in the middle of the town centre. The student accommodations were blocks in the middle, hidden away behind the shops and lecture buildings, just near the train station. That was how I got to where Tia was. The station was close to her room. I could slink along the side, near the tracks. No trains ran at this time of night, and then I nipped through the hedges.

The snag was the main road, which was used frequently. It was the main road in and out of town, or at least, it led to it. I had to keep myself in the shadows of the bushes and trees and watch to make sure nothing was coming at all. I'd only need one human to spot me, and they’d call it in. Then there’d be a full-scale manhunt for the cat they'd seen darting across the road. And yes, they'd do that. They'd search and scour until they found me.

And if it wasn’t them, it was the sweepers, human-run pest control as they called themselves. They patrolled the streets, looking for any others who were out after curfew, and this was way past any reasonable time we were allowed to be out. When I was sure the road was clear, I dashed across it, bounding across the middle, pushing full out, sucking in air to propel me forward. I made it to the other side.

There were industrial bins there, held in a semi-shed. It had at least two brick walls. The rest was a gate, and it stank like rot and old meat, and all the other shit humans threw out. For me, that smell was much worse than any human would be able to pick up. Even as my panther, I had to keep my mouth closed and try not to breathe it in so much. But I slipped in behind the bin, pushed my panther back, willed him. He wasn't willing to go; he hadn't fed, and we'd shifted. "We'll hunt," I promised him. I pushed Tia into my head. That was what we had to do first. Make sure she was okay, and then we could shift and hunt. He relented because the sight of her had him pushing again because he too wanted to make sure she was okay. He could protect her better than I could, but not like this, not out here. We'd walk in as a panther, and the humans would shoot on sight if I walked the corridors.

So, I dropped the bag, shifted, and changed.

I had no shoes, but that was okay. I just needed to check on her, just see her.

Her room was on the second floor, third window along. Maybe in a normal life, I would have thrown something at her window to get her attention. And, if they were normal roommates, they wouldn't have minded. In fact, they’d have probably been delighted, but we were shifters, and they were human and the last thing they were going to do was help us.

Luckily, this was my university too, and while I didn’t go into the accommodations, I knew my way around. They didn’t lock the main doors to each department because there were often students working late on their papers or whatever they had to do. I could slip into the one nearest to Tia’s place and then use the corridors. The trick was not being seen on the CCTV, which was watched and monitored in the security office. I wasn’t sure how much they watched it or if it was one of those things with lax control.

I was going to take my chance, though. How much more trouble could I get into? I was about to make my move toward the doors of the arts department—the one closest—when a car pulled up.

There was a car park not far from where the main entrance was. I slipped back, putting myself around the corner and into the shadows again. I crouched low, daring to lean out a little. I knew it was Tia before I even looked. Whether it was me, my emotions, or something else, it didn’t matter. She got out of the car, pulled a hood over her head, and hurried along the path. She seemed to be clutching her arm around herself.

I whistled low, keeping the sound as even as possible. The humans wouldn’t pick up the sound, but she would. She picked it up on my second try. I didn’t want to come out of the shadows and be seen. Lights had come on in some of the rooms.

“Tia,” I whispered. I whistled again.

She frowned, looked in my direction. I had to come out a little so she could spot me, and she did.

My heart raced and my panther pushed at me, wanting to go to her. She was okay. But ...

She pulled her jacket tighter around her, and seemed to cocoon herself in it. I slinked around the wall, and instead of going into her building, she ducked and rushed to me. “What are you doing here? If you had been caught, if you?—”

“I don’t careabout me. I’m fine.” I took her hand, pulled her with me, and kept going until we were out of sight and out of the way of anyone who might look and see us. “Are you okay? Did they ...?”

But she backed away from me, and I felt her. I felt pain and anguish. I felt something dark and ugly inside, and my panther raged. He roared. My panther gave a low growl in my throat as I struggled to contain him. She was alive, and she was here. We could fix the rest. “Tia?” I urged gently.

She shook her head and moved back. I didn’t go to her. I didn’t need to be able to feel her emotions to know she wanted a little distance.

“They hurt you.”

She lifted her head then, allowing the hood of her jacket to fall back. She had a cut across her face, on her cheek. She had another mark on her throat. It was dark and purple. Like someone had had their hands around her neck.

She lifted her eyes to meet mine, and we said nothing. I had a million questions in my head, none of which I could say or ask. How do you ask a woman if she's been raped? How do you say that and not sound like an arsehole? But it was what I wanted to know. Had they touched her? How had they hurt her? I balled my fists to my side. “I’m sorry,” I said, but it felt so pathetic and useless. How did my sorry fix anything of what she had probably gone through?

Her eyes welled as she watched me and she swallowed, and I had to shut out what she was feeling, because it was pulling me down. It made me want to go to her, to take all of that away. “I have to go back to my room,” she said. “I have an early class tomorrow.”

I didn’t know what to say. I had a ton of things I wanted to say, but right at that moment, none of it sounded right.

“They didn’t hurt me, by the way. I’m okay. They …” She paused. “They’re idiots. They tried to, of course, played the hard men that they were, but I ran off. After the police took you away … it doesn’t matter.” She heaved a breath. “I thought you were dead, maybe. I thought that they …” She bit her lip.

But I was frowning because she had fresh wounds. I mean, I was glad they hadn't hurt her, thrilled about it, but someone had. “Then who did that?” I asked.

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