“Obviously, I am not.” He waves his hands in front of his body, showing me the difference.
“But you were Mappy?” He rolls his eyes. “Or you’re Mappy sometimes?”
“I’m Carter. Mappy is… well, Mappy is Mappy.”
“That doesn’t really answer my—”
“Do not think that just because Mappy has grown fond of you, I feel those same affections. You are nothing to me. A means to an end is all.”
“Alright.” Carter seems a lot more aware of Mappy than Mappy does of Carter. Unless Mappy is just playing dumb?
Carter scribbles something down in a notebook. There are piles of them around this room, and there were even more in the room we walked through. What is this guy doing that requires so many notes?
“If there is a traumatic enough event, it is theoretically possible for the host to control both forms, becoming a true shifter,” he mumbles to himself as he writes.
“A traumatic event?”
He waves a hand in my direction. “Nothing for you to worry about. You’ll be asleep the entire time.” He spins so quickly I barely register what he’s doing until the needle is in my neck.
“No!” I yell, trying to scramble off the table. I make it four steps before I fall face-first onto the floor.
Chapter nine
Ghostlight Railway
Mappy
Rubbing my eyes, I try to figure out what happened. I was with Miguel. And we found the missing street signs—all of them—in my backyard, for some reason. My head starts to hurt. Given the trees surrounding me, I’m not there anymore.Where am I?
There’s rushing water and train tracks, so I’m in the woods right outside of town, but why? I have to do a double take when I notice something on the tracks. It’s not ananimal, and as I get closer, my heart rate picks up.
There’s duct tape over Miguel’s mouth. Not that he needs it, because he’s passed out.Please, let him just be passed out.Rope is wrapped around him, tying him to the tracks. Looking at the sky for some clue of the time, I figure my best bet is to just get him off the tracks as fast as possible.
As I get closer, I can see the rise and fall of his chest, so at least I know he’s alive. He doesn’t respond when I rip the duct tape from his face. Whatever knocked him out really did a good job. The knots are tied so tightly, I can’t get them undone. In my panic, I’m afraid I’m just making things worse.
The gravel under the rails starts to vibrate.No. No. No.I haven’t made any progress, and a train is coming.
Miguel’s eyes slowly blink open. “Mappy?” He tries to move, becoming more confused when he can’t. “Mappy, where am I? What happened?Carter!”
“Not sure how I feel about you yelling another man’s name while I’m the one saving you.” I try to joke, but there are tears in my eyes as the vibrations get stronger. The train blows its horn, announcing its arrival. We’ve got only moments now. “This is not how I pictured this happening.” Closing my eyes, I bring my lips to his, wrapping a wing around his body and using my claw to slice through the rope. As soon as it’s broken, I roll Miguel on top of me, off the tracks, and the train whirs by, gravel pelting us, but at least we’re alive.
He lifts his head and watches the train roll into town before breaking into a crazed laugh. Threading his fingers through my hair, he pulls me into another kiss. The adrenaline makes the kiss wild, both of us grasping the other, so thankful that we made it. He tugs my head back, exposing my neck as he kisses down to my collarbone. His teeth graze the spot where my neck meets my shoulder as his fingers gently run along the edge of my wing. The duelingsensations are almost too much, my eyes rolling back with pleasure.
He roughly tugs my hair, dropping his forehead onto mine. “Stay with me, Mappy. You stay here with me, okay?”
“There’s nowhere else I want to be, Miguel.”
He nods. “I know.” Whatever moment we were having is gone. He doesn’t move off me, just lies there stroking my hair in thought. There’s something he’s not telling me.
“Is this about Carter?” His eyes meet mine, and I can’t figure out what I see in them. Fear? Hurt? Betrayal?
“You know about him?”
“I know you yelled his name when you were about to die, so he must be someone pretty important to you.”
He laughs, pushing back to sit up. When he moves to get off me, I grab onto his hips, keeping him in place. Whatever it is, I know I’ll feel better handling it with him close. He’d asked about my previousrelationships, and I guess I should’ve asked him about his, too. I just didn’t care. As long as he was with me, that was all that mattered.
“The name Carter really means nothing to you?” he asks me.
