Shifting Fates by Nadia Simonenko, Aubrey Rose Read Free Book Online

Claus.
    I tiptoe to the stove where I left the pack of rations and pull out the small ragdoll with red hair. Kit should love it, even if one eye is a bit torn off, dangling by a loose thread. I think that maybe I should fix it but I don’t know where Lily keeps her sewing stuff. Oh well. They’ll have fun fixing it together. I wrap the doll in a piece of colored cloth and tiptoe back to the cot.
    Kit’s paws are twitching, and I hope that her dreams end better than mine do. Slowly, trying not to disturb her, I tuck the wrapped doll at the bottom of the cot so she will see it when she wakes up.
    The other presents I have hidden in a bag next to my cot. For the past two months, I’ve been on the lookout when I go topside for food. Sometimes I scavenge through dumpsters to see if there’s anything that the other shifters have missed. I try not to tread into territory I know is dangerous. There are monsters living in the Laz, and they’re not all animals.
    I heard of a human gang living in a brownstone in Washington Heights who would shoot any animal that came down their street. Just snipe them from the window. I don’t ever go out in animal form anymore, even though it would be faster.
    Still, I’ve found some treasures apart from the old bags of beans and rice. That’s what’s normally left in the emptied out apartments. But sometimes I get lucky.
    For Logan, I have a little box filled with tools that I’ve found over the past months. Two screwdrivers and some screws; a pipe wrench; plenty of wiring from a computer I found shattered in the middle of the street. Someone had thrown it out of a window. I put the toolbox at the foot of his bed where he lies sleeping.
    For Lily, I really wasn’t sure. She keeps the tunnel clean for us, and does most of the cooking with Logan, but I didn’t think she’d appreciate a new scrubpad or whatever. Instead, I snuck downtown to the east side where the rows of boutiques used to tempt rich ladies into overspending. A brick through a window, and I was inside. I picked out a beautiful light green dress for her and some fancy underwear: two bras and a handful of silk panties with price tags on them that boggle my mind.
    Now, I put the wrapped package of clothes on her bed and worry that I made the wrong choice. She’ll love it no matter what—Lily, sweet Lily, always wanting to please—but I hope that I have better taste in clothing than I think I do.
    At Nim’s bed, I pause for a moment and watch him. He’s almost a man now, and not for the first time I wonder if we’re destined to be mates.
    I don’t think he loves me, not truly. And I certainly don’t love him. But the kids need someone to look after them, and if I ever were to get caught...
    Not now, though. Maybe not ever. Nim turns in his sleep, the blanket falling off of his shoulder to expose his bare chest. His body is strong and able. He is a born fighter. I worry that he will go out looking for fights if he doesn’t have someone to come back to. I don’t want to lose him. I worry what it will take to keep him.
    He’s so tall that his feet hang off the edge of the cot. I put the small square package next to his bed instead, so that he won’t knock it off. Not that it would break or anything—it’s just a book.
    I check the clock. There’s plenty of time before the kids will wake. I put on my shoes and pull on a jacket. Slipping out of the tunnel, I close the door behind me. I walk quickly up the tunnel, trying not to step in the puddles as I go. I don’t have the lantern, and the tunnel is black as night until I’m around the bend.
    The far side of the tunnel opens up into a subway stop, and I pull myself up on the train platform. All of the subway stops have been boarded up, but here there is one board loose and I’m able to squeeze through without breaking it. The last thing I want is to attract attention to the tunnels we’re hiding in. Likely as not, it doesn’t matter. Likely as not, they already