Page 19 of Birds of a Feather

“He what?” She reached for the back of her neck, pushing the sweat-drenched hair away. After rubbing her palm across her skin, she felt it. A small bump. And cleverly placed where her hair would hide it.

Anger ripped through her body, more powerful than what she’d felt in her cell yesterday. She wanted her life back. She was so sick of hiding. Of wondering if Dr. Grimm was lurking around every corner. She flapped her wings in the direction of the shrew shifter, sending a powerful gust of wind his way. He fell backward, stumbling onto his ass.

Small twigs cut into the soles of Gabby’s feet as she stomped toward him. He would pay for what he stole from her. If it weren’t for him, Dr. Grimm wouldn’t have turned her into whatever she now was. Dr. Grimm had not only fucked with her but he’d fucked with her family as well. Her dad struggled to stay human and could hardly talk. She could barely carry on a conversation herself. And Phin… Look what visiting her and herdad did to Phin each time. Her brother was barely holding it together. All this heartbreak and pain was caused by them.

The man crab-crawled, trying to increase the distance between them, but Gabby was too fast. She picked him up by the neck. Heat seared her skin, the anger burning her up from the inside. It buzzed in her chest and heated her face. “Why?” She squeezed, tightening her grip.

The man clawed at her fingers, but she could barely feel it. Fear filled his green eyes as he struggled to breathe, but she couldn’t let go. His neck felt so delicate and fragile under her fingers. How easy it would be to snap it like a twig and end this, freeing Gabby from fear forever. True, he wasn’t Dr. Grimm, but the shrew was a part of it. She wanted her life back, but more than that, she wanted someone to pay for what was done to her and the others. She didn’t care who was punished, as long as someone was. She gritted her teeth, feeling the pressure mount in her jaw as her hate rose like waves of a typhoon.

A soft, clammy hand touched the back of her arm. “Gabby?” She turned to see tears streaking down Lyla’s face. Gabby crumpled, her knees giving out, letting go of the man, who fell to the ground with a hollow thud. He sputtered for breath, rubbing the red skin of his neck as Lyla wrapped her arms around Gabby. Gabby nuzzled into her neck, smelling her sweet and comforting scent. Her waves of anger broke against the shelter of Lyla’s compassion and warmth. Gabby wanted this nightmare to end, but at what cost? She’d almost sold her soul to finish it.

“It’s okay.” Lyla stoked Gabby’s hair as Gabby’s tears soaked her neck. Gabby couldn’t hold them in anymore. The floodgates of her grief sprang open as she grieved for the life she’d lost. She would never be the same after this.

“Furry United Coalition!” someone shouted as a group converged in on them. “Put your hands where we can see them!”

They all did as they were told, though the agents only pointed their guns at the man in khakis. He looked up at the women as he was being cuffed. “He has my sister.”

14

“Anson, the shrew shifter, is cooperating. His scent is the same as the intruder I was tracking earlier. I lost the trail on the side of the street, so we assumed he parked his vehicle there and snuck onto campus,” Agent Stone assured Gabby as the evening nurse, Mya, took her vitals. She looked to the agents, noting the tension between Agent Stone and his partner, Agent Sparks. The ASS agent seemed wound up tighter than the red curls framing her face. Her hazel eyes shifted to Agent Stone’s face briefly before she tapped her stiletto toe on the floor impatiently. There was something they weren’t telling her, and Agent Sparks didn’t seem to agree with Agent Stone keeping that information to himself. Her red lips formed a thin line, as if keeping them tightly together was the only way to stay quiet.

“But?” Gabby raised an eyebrow at them, daring them to tell her what she already assumed. Dr. Grimm was lost to the wind, or whatever that expression was. Hiding the truth from Gabby would do nothing to protect her. She would bet money that Agent Sparks understood that.

The agents exchanged looks, engaging in some sort of silent argument. Eventually Agent Stone rolled his eyes, giving in.

“The lab where Anson said they took you is already empty,” Agent Sparks confessed as she brushed a coil of curly red hair out of her face.

“You didn’t”—Gabby swallowed and focused on her next words—“find his sister?” Gabby remembered the look of desperation on the shrew’s—Anson’s—face before the agents came to the rescue. The mix-and-match bird flock was a group of ASS agents scouting the nearby area for the women or anything suspicious. An eagle shifter—ASS Agent Lee—was able to spot the pair and the man moving in on their position. Agent Lee called in for backup. Then the ground agents came in.

Without Lyla being there, Gabby shuddered to think what she would have done to Anson. Anger and hate had blinded her. Some would think she had every right to take out what Dr. Grimm did to her on Anson. But could she really hate a brother who was just doing what he needed to? He was just like Phin. Phin did everything he could to find Gabby last year.

She shuddered to think how Sandy and Dr. Grimm could have used her brother if they’d gotten to him before Agents Stone and Sparks had. The roles could have been reversed, and Phin could have ended up a henchman of Sandy and Dr. Grimm, forced to carry out their will with the hopes of getting his sister back. Maybe the fact that he was so young helped. Perhaps he didn’t appear useful to the evil scientists. Whatever the reason, Gabby thanked her lucky stars that they didn’t try to use Phin like that.

“No,” Agent Stone said softly, bringing Gabby out of her thoughts “But we’re going to keep looking.”

After asking her to reach out with any helpful information she could recall in the coming days, the agents wished Gabby well and headed out.

While Dr. Grimm was still on the loose, Gabby didn’t feel the fear like she did before. It was in one part because FUC knewabout him now. They were actively looking for him. But there was another reason: whatever the doctor did to her, she was much stronger than before. She’d knocked Anson back with just the flap of her new wings. Let the doctor find her now. She’d tear him from limb to limb.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Lyla leaned against the door to Gabby’s hospital room. Her trusty IV bag rolled up next to her.

Gabby stifled a giggle. A miniature tuxedo jacket wrapped around the dextrose drip bag, complete with a white undershirt and matching black bowtie. Lyla turned to look, a pink blush matching her hair creeping up her cheeks. “Well, I know he wasn’t invited to the party, but if I go, he has to go as well. Char was helping me with a tux fitting.”

“I like,” Gabby said, causing Lyla’s face to light up with a wide grin.

Only Lyla would think of dressing up her IV bag for the party, and Gabby loved her for that. They might be stuck in the hospital for longer than they originally would have been, but they were going to make the best of each moment. Especially since it was the day before Huggie’s big shindig, and both Lyla and Gabby were medically cleared to attend.

“So… what had you looking so pensive a moment ago?” Lyla asked, stepping into the room—IV pole in tow—and taking a seat on the bed next to Lyla.

“Phin,” Gabby admitted. “What if Sandy…” Talking was getting easier as long as she kept her emotions at bay. She took a deep breath, centering herself, finding her words. “How awful if they…” Gabby gulped. Lyla watched her with round hazel eyes, patiently letting her finish the thought. “Used Phin. Like Dr. Grimm… with Anson.”

Pain filled Lyla’s eyes. Gabby had learned that Lyla had many brothers and sisters, so the thought would be effortless for her to empathize with. It very easily could have been either one of theirsiblings in Anson’s place. And it was easy to imagine what they wouldn’t have done to get the evil doctor to release their loved one… Gabby shuddered at the thought.

She scratched at the bandage on the back of her neck. The adhesive pulled her hair when she turned her head. While she was glad to be rid of the tracking device, she couldn’t wait to remove the bandage. She winced after touching the still-tender incision.

Lyla pulled Gabby’s hand away from the wound. “Leave it.”

Gabby crossed her arms across her chest. It was hard to not scratch it. Restless energy bubbled up in her. She was scheduled to visit with her family later. While the agents had notified them of her new changes, Gabby wasn’t sure how it would go. They’d been through so much already.

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