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  Emergent

  The Shapeshifter Chronicles, Book 3

  Natasha Brown

  Future Impressions

  Contents

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Research Notes

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Also by Natasha Brown

  Glossary

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2014 Natasha Brown

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, and events are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to real persons, places, or events is coincidental.

  www.theshapeshifterchronicles.com

  I would like to thank my fans for being patient and my family, who supported me over the last nine months while I focused on writing this book in my free time. I would not have been able to write a story centered around true love if it weren’t for my husband and children.

  Research Notes

  If you would like to see some of the the research that was involved with the creation of Emergent, please take a look in the glossary section at the back of the book.

  *Fictional liberties taken when writing this fantasy world.

  Chapter 1

  Ana stared at the cream-colored wall through the murky light and felt every second pass like pebbles dropped onto her back. The mattress beneath her was hard and uncomfortable. It caused her to toss and turn all night long. Or maybe it was the memories of yesterday that kept her up. How could she even think to dream at night when Chance, the person her heart beat for, was gone? Had left. Dreams were for people with hope.

  Ana readjusted under the sheets for the millionth time that morning, turned over to see that Lifen, her new mentor, wasn’t in the neighboring bed. She hadn’t heard her leave, but Ana supposed that wasn’t very surprising, especially for a woman who was both a shapeshifter and a healer. Stealth clearly wasn’t an issue for Lifen, considering she’d been checking in on Ana over the last four months without her knowledge.

  “Are you awake, Ana?”

  A beam of light poured into the room and Ana looked over at the sliding glass door that led to their hotel balcony. Lifen peered at her from between the thick curtains. Her long black hair was twisted into a bun on top of her head and she blinked her narrow, dark eyes in Ana’s direction.

  “Yeah.” Ana’s dry throat made her voice scratchy.

  “You did not sleep, did you? I hoped you would get some rest…”

  Ana shook her head, pulled out the overstuffed pillow she was lying on and pressed it against her face to muffle her weeping. Tears soaked into the fabric and cooled her swollen eyes. She thought she had cried herself dry, but the pain wouldn’t go away.

  “Maybe if you talk about it, it will make you feel better.” Lifen’s fingers touched her shoulder. The torrential emotion dwindled away so she could breathe again.

  Ana threw the pillow aside and rubbed her temples. When Lifen joined her on the edge of the bed, she rested her hand on Ana’s back. The skin under her nightshirt tingled and the heaviness she had just experienced lifted momentarily.

  “I keep seeing Balam’s death.” Nothing could stop Ana’s tears from pouring out again as the words formed at her lips and hung in the air. She could still envision Markus, Chance’s cousin, poised on top of the man who’d taught them both so much over the last two months, and the last moments of his life. Balam, Chance’s great-grandfather, had lived through the Spanish invasion, only to die a senseless death at the hands of a boy suffering from the shifter sickness.

  Ana brushed away her tears and held her palms to her eyes. She wished the sickness didn’t exist. It was the root of their problems. Too many had died because of it, and now Chance was infected, poisoned with the voices of unbalanced shifters.

  “Are you sure Chance has the sickness?” Ana whispered, feeling foolish for asking the question. She avoided Lifen’s eyes as she awaited the answer.

  “You said Chance killed the boy who was stalking you, correct? That boy, Markus, had the sickness and ended the lives of many other shifters. If Chance was beside him as the energy wave was released, then he could not have avoided it. He is infected.”

  Ana nodded and her cheek quivered while she recalled the darkness that crept into his handsome face moments after the death of his cousin. His penetrating gaze had moved over her body with violent hunger and his icy stare had chilled her heart. The softness behind the excited gleam in his eyes was gone. Just that lurid glare remained, and then he had vanished.

  What if he was just upset about Balam’s death and that’s why he left? In her heart she knew the truth. His protective nature would never allow him to abandon her unless it was in her best interest. And being around her would be too great a temptation for a shifter who couldn’t control his hunger for power.

  Now that her abilities were awakened, she would be too enticing. Without their knowledge, when Chance saved her life so many months ago, he’d planted a seed of power within her, awakening both the ability to shapeshift and to heal. She’d only discovered that fact yesterday when she’d shifted into a horse on her way to help Chance.

  “When I said I’d go with you, you promised to teach me how to save him so I can cure him of the sickness, but I still don’t understand why we have to leave here.” Ana sat up and her voice rose with every word. Her lip trembled as she thought about leaving Mexico and the last place she saw Chance.

  “Calm yourself,” Lifen said through pursed lips, but then her face softened and she continued. “I must return home to Canada to my other students—it isn’t safe for me to leave them alone. I have already been away from them too long. There I can teach you what you need to know about healing. Sadly, you are not able to help Chance yet, since you truly just came into your powers yesterday. It is not something a beginner can do. It will take practice and time, but I sense so much potential in you. I see you becoming truly great.”

  “But what about Chance? It feels wrong abandoning him here. I can’t leave him. I won’t. What if he comes back looking for me?” Ana’s throat tightened again.

  Lifen adjusted on the bed to face her. “What if he does? He killed the power-hungry shifter. You tell me Chance was a kindhearted person. But even the most peaceful shifter would be poisoned by the voices and memories from just one unbalanced shapeshifter. If he comes back for you, he will not be the same person you grew to love. It would be safer if you remained hidden from him.”

  Ana stood up and brushed past Lifen. She stomped over to her bag and pulled out a set of clothes. A bra dangled from her hand as she pointed at Lifen. “Well, what about you then? If I’m not ready, why can’t you help him?”

  Lifen rose gracefully from the edge of the bed and pulled open the drapes, letting in the morning light. “When trying to free the mind of a shifter who’s been imprinted with another’s personality and memories, that shifter must be willing to let
the healer in. It is not as simple as healing a wound or soothing an achy belly. It involves the psyche and removing foreign energy. You must be careful because many things can go wrong. Chance does not know me. He will naturally be distrustful, which will make it a challenge. If he resists me, then I cannot help him, because it will only cause harm.”

  “But what if he wants to be healed? I know he would, if I could just find him and talk to him.” Ana’s throat tightened again and she took a deep breath, trying to force her airway open. She was desperate for the opportunity to put things right. Her fear of leaving the area without at least trying to find him and help him was overwhelming.

  It was all because of his instinct to protect her. Although she’d threatened never to forgive Chance if he sacrificed himself for her again, it wasn’t anger that poisoned her heart, it was guilt. If it weren’t for her, he may not have been forced to make a choice that put his life in danger again. Maybe she could have done something differently. When she ran into the jungle to find Chance, she’d intended to help him, but in the end she’d been his downfall.

  Lifen waited in silence as Ana remained trapped in her tortured thoughts. Finally, her mentor spoke. “Even though I do not think this will yield the result you seek, I will help you track him so you may try to convince him. But I do not wish to see you hurt. I did not wait patiently by only to lose you now.”

  “Oh, thank you, Lifen! He wouldn’t hurt me, I’m sure of it. He’ll listen to me and you’ll be able to help him so we can all go back to your place together. It’ll work out, I know it will.” But she didn’t know it. Ana’s confidence went only as far as her words.

  Lifen gave Ana a sympathetic smile. Ana wasn’t the only one who knew her words were empty. “Alright, young one. We must collect our things so that we may revisit the last place you saw him. The longer we take, the harder it will be to catch his scent.”

  Ana darted around the room and crammed her things into her travel backpack. It was hard for her not to fold everything neatly and do a proper job of it, but she didn’t care if her clothes got wrinkled. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was finding Chance as quickly as possible.

  “What about your stuff?” Ana asked Lifen after she accounted for all of her things.

  Lifen tucked a stray hair into her bun and slipped an elegant silk purse over her shoulder. “I have all of my belongings on me. Shifters must learn to travel light.” She paused, glanced at Ana with her lips upturned. “You may be going a little lighter than I recommend, Ana.”

  Ana frowned and looked down. She only had on her sleeping shirt and underwear. “Right.”

  Lifen wandered gracefully to the door, her pale blue sarong curled out behind her as she moved. Ana unzipped her bag and pulled out a pair of jean shorts and a fresh T-shirt. She shoved her jammies back into her pack and pulled her hair into a ponytail. She hadn’t even seen herself in a mirror yet, but it would have to do.

  Morning light poured in through the open door and Ana rushed to catch up to her mentor. While they wandered through the hotel hallway, Ana thought of something and cursed under her breath. She wasn’t sure which would be more challenging—catching up with Chance, or telling her mom she wasn’t coming home just yet.

  Chapter 2

  “Mom? Are you there?” Silence met Ana’s ears while she pressed the phone against her head.

  “I’m here, I’m just speechless. I don’t know what to say to you. Clearly you’re choosing to do whatever you want now that you’re an adult. I don’t know why you’re even checking with me anymore.”

  “Mom, c’mon, don’t be that way. You should know what it’s like when life has its own plans for you. Things change.” Ana couldn’t help but start tearing up again. Her mom was going to get a front row seat to the waterworks show.

  “Ana—are you crying? Is everything alright?” Her mother’s bitter tone turned to concern.

  She couldn’t respond without breaking down entirely and she didn’t want to do that. She couldn’t tell her mom what was really happening because she didn’t really know herself. Ana had no idea if Chance was going home or had contacted his parents. She knew nothing. It was best to pretend everything was fine with him, right? Confused and unsure of herself, she went with that choice, hoping it was the best route for now.

  “Baby, I can tell you’re upset. It’s just that Eva and I miss you. It’s been almost two months since I saw your shining green eyes. Ever since your heart healed, you haven’t looked back and I admire that in you, but I just worry that you’re not thinking things through.”

  Ana breathed out slowly and prepared to speak. “I know you worry about me, Mom. I’ll be okay. I’m just wrapping up here and then I want to head up north.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “Just Alberta, Canada—not far from home. Heard there are some really remote, beautiful places to visit and get away. Maybe I can stop by on the way up.” Ana looked at Lifen sitting next to her in the taxi car. She winced, hoping she wasn’t pushing her mentor by suggesting another delay. She was, after all, insisting they search for Chance. The strained expression on Lifen’s face made Ana stare out the window. “I don’t want to regret my life. I need to see the world before I settle for the daily grind of working and paying bills.”

  “What about money? Do you have any left? Can you even afford to go off like a gypsy?”

  Melissa’s voice rose higher and higher with every word spoken. Ana didn’t have the energy to try to smooth things out. She would have to later. “I still have money. And if I need any more then I can just get a job or something. Listen, I really didn’t mean for this to turn into a fight.” The connection started getting scratchy and Ana simply didn’t have the strength to continue with the conversation. “Hey Mom? You’re cutting out—why don’t I check in with you in the next couple of days and let you know where I’m at, ‘kay?”

  “Okay baby, but this discussion isn’t over yet. Love you and travel safe, you hear me?”

  “Of course, Mom. Love you.”

  “Love you too, baby.”

  Ana ended the call and held the phone in her hand for a minute before slipping it into her backpack. The call hadn’t gone as horribly as she’d thought it would, but it left her feeling even emptier than before. Her old life was a distant memory. For a brief period over the summer everything had been perfect. Her heart had no longer prevented her from doing the things she wanted to do. They’d been safe and in love.

  “Making plans?” Lifen’s voice snapped her back to the present.

  Ana sighed and threw her hands in the air. “She’s my mom. It was hard enough leaving to come here with Chance. I know you need to get back soon—I’m sorry, but convincing her to let me go to Canada is a hard sell if I don’t work it a little.”

  Lifen sat quietly next to her and didn’t respond.

  Ana was on edge and she knew it. She was snapping at her mentor and she barely knew her. It probably wasn’t a good idea getting too irritable with her. “Sorry. I just—”

  “I am trying to remember back to my youth, which was a very long time ago. I am confident I never treated my teachers in this way, but do not worry, I surround myself with younglings. I am familiar with emotional outbursts.”

  The taxi driver spoke over his shoulder, letting them know they were getting close. Ana stared out her window and recognized the area. They were approaching Ek Balam’s entrance, the place in Mexico where Chance and Ana had begun their search for his great-grandfather.

  “You don’t want to go by Sanchia’s house?” Ana said, “I could ask her if Chance has been there. I know how to get to the creek leaving from her home.”

  Lifen pulled some cash out from her pouch and handed it up to the driver, who pulled into the ruins’ parking lot. “I know my way around the area very well, Ana. I have been keeping an eye on you without your knowledge.”

  She guessed Lifen was right.

  When the car stopped, Ana thanked the driver and they got out. There w
ere only a few other vehicles in the lot. Memories flooded her thoughts, and she recalled coming here with Chance on their quest to find Balam. She relived his hopelessness, his hand clutching hers, and his sad hazel eyes. Ana would give anything to smell his spicy scent today and feel him rushing up behind her in their playful game.

  “Ana?” Lifen held her hand out to her as she waited in the shade of a Ceiba tree. Its massive spiky trunk rose high above the jungle and its dense, green foliage was shaped like a leafy umbrella.

  Right. Time to find him. They both wanted to do this quickly. Granted, for different reasons, but it was a shared cause.

  She jogged to catch up with Lifen and followed her to the edge of the lot. Her teacher looped her decorative pouch from her shoulder and handed it to Ana.

  “It is best that I take my travel form, and the form that best suits tracking. Will you carry my belongings for me?”

  Ana nodded and slipped it around her neck. “Are you sure you want to shift right here?”

  Lifen gave a polite nod and led Ana into the trees and off the road. They wound through some narrow saplings and her mentor’s lithe body moved ahead like a shadow touching the earth. She disappeared behind a tree. A moment later, a scruffy dog darted out with her ice-blue sarong in its mouth. The creature jogged up to Ana, yipped, and dropped the cloth at her feet.

  Ana leaned down and picked it up. She couldn’t help but give the canine a scratch along its spine, and she felt its muscles twitch and contract at her touch. She had to admit, she liked Lifen most when she was a dog.

  “Okay, lead on—just don’t lose me out here.”

  Lifen barked and wagged her tail. Her shaggy form trotted away. Ana adjusted the strap of her backpack and set off after her. She was used to trekking through the jungle with Balam and Chance, so she had no issue keeping up with her mentor. However, she had no idea where she was.