Page 30 of A Lion's Heart
CHAPTER 8
Nisa paused just before touching the control panel that would open the door leading above ground.
“How is it that you know what I’m going to do and where I am?”
She spoke quietly without turning to face him.
“And why do I feel you when you’re near as if you are a part of me?”
Decan didn’t want to answer either of those questions. Partly because he wasn’t totally sure himself and also because he might be afraid of the answer.
“It is unlike anything that I’ve ever experienced before and as hard as I try to go back and recall any anomaly related to being a shifter that would possibly explain how this is possible when we’ve only known each other such a short time, I cannot come up with any.”
She didn’t have an answer and she didn’t like that. She wouldn’t like not knowing something. The sound in her voice was almost sad. Decan did not like that.
“Let’s go,” he said simply and reached around her to disengage the locks on the door.
As the wall pulled back providing a seamless opening Nisa slipped through first and Decan followed. As with all the doors leading above ground, they stepped out into a forested area with trees instantly surrounding them. The climate above ground had changed significantly in the years the Shadows had been underground. This led to a decrease in the human population in more than sixty-five percent of the once occupied areas. Big cities had dwindled to look like ghost towns, vegetation growing through concrete walkways, trees sprouting and maturing through abandoned buildings. Deserts were filled with dwellings created amidst sandstorms. Vehicles now possessed larger tires able to navigate the many different terrains that had evolved and to move at speeds greater than the shifters that the humans chased on a daily basis.
Managing to ensure that each of their doorways were protected from sight and scent had been a huge feat for the Shadows, but as the above ground world had changed, so had the underground one they’d created. Their technology had advanced significantly under their private and unsanctioned lifestyle. They’d been able to not only amplify their own transportation systems, but create new weapons and protections against the elements and the humans. It was a new world, Decan thought, as his booted feet trampled over old branches and debris. A world that the Shadows deserved to live in openly.
He walked only a couple of steps ahead of Nisa affording her the only amount of privacy he could. The chuffing sound of her cat signaled she’d shifted and seconds later Decan shed his clothes and did the same. She brushed past him in a slow motion that signaled she was open to him walking with her.
Decan would guess this wasn’t what a human would call a normal sight—a white lion and an exquisite yellowish brown jaguar. They moved at an even pace, large paws pressing into the earth while mature trees provided a canopy of protection. It was well past midnight and all was dark. Where there used to be sounds of night creatures echoing throughout forested areas at this time, now there were sounds of the unknown. Not just wildlife, but whatever else lurked in an atmosphere that had been cloaked in mysterious weather anomalies and increased solar activity.
Moonlight broke through the thicket of trees creating dramatic slashes of light through the total darkness. Nisa’s coat looked golden whenever she walked through the light, fading into the darkness mysteriously as she moved past it. She was a glorious creature to look upon, the strength in her legs and flanks apparent. The pride and fierceness set in the way she held her head high and stared straight ahead as if there were nothing out there that could frighten or conquer her, was astounding. And entrancing.
Decan could not stop watching her. Of course his cat was keeping all its senses on alert because he knew that danger could appear at any second. Still, he never took his eyes off her. She wanted to run long and hard, to cover miles and miles of territory in an attempt to exhaust herself of all her worries. It was what she’d become accustomed to doing. Decan could admit that the act in itself was helpful. If she weren’t who she was and the world weren’t what it was now, then there would be no concern.
He knew this terrain. There was a creek toward the south. Coming up close to her he made a grunting sound and then took the lead, running through the maze of trees at a speed that allowed his mind partial freedom. She followed close behind, not willing to let him have too much of a lead. They ran far and fast until his paws touched the cool water first. He shifted and submerged himself beneath what he knew in the light of day would be a clear spring beneath an eighteen foot waterfall. At night the place was dark and shadowy, the atmosphere a thick humid haze.
Decan loved to swim. He enjoyed the feeling of weightlessness and being surrounded by the powerful element. When he finally came up for air, lifting his hands to drag them down his face, his eyes opened to see her not five feet in front of him. She’d shifted as well and had also submerged herself in the water. Now she was upright with everything from her shoulders down under water, her head tilted back, arms raised, hands squeezing water from her hair. She looked exotic, like a vision from some surreal dream, as water rolled off her arms, dripping from her elbows and spotting her face. Her lips parted as she sucked in air, eyes opened to mere slits, and as if summoned, luminescent moonlight rested over her, casting her dark hue in an ethereal glow.
He was speechless. Breathless. Motionless. For endless moments as even the lion inside him remained still. In awe.
“You stare a lot,” she said without turning to him.
“You’re something to stare at,” he replied.
“I’m sure you’ve seen plenty both above and underground,” she continued and then lay back on the water to float.
“Not like you,” he told her truthfully as he closed some of the space between them.
There was a need to be close to her, all the time that Decan didn’t feel like fighting at the moment.
“You’ve seen the world. Both worlds and you chose to come back underground. Why?”
“I have something to do there,” he admitted.
She didn’t break her stride and Decan stayed close, treading water.
“I do too,” she told him.
“But you like coming above ground,” he said extending his arm so that he could touch her fingers with his own.
She did not pull away at the contact.
“I feel like I belong here,” she told him. “You could say I’m the child that wants exactly what her parents tell her she can’t have.”
