A fresh wave rolled in, getting my paws wet. I shook off the cold, shooting forward before I remembered to check if I still had wings. A gust of wind ruffled my hair, bringing new scents—I could smell a little better in this form, but not as well as Knox and the others could even in their human forms.
My body moved and stretched, unfurling as if for the first time. I wasn't sure how I was doing it, but I could manipulate my wings—yep, still there—stretching them far out on either side.
With both wings deployed, the next gust of air lifted me off my feet. I gave an experimental flap. My paws didn't lift any higher than a few inches, but the force propelled me forward, my claws skimming over the sand instead of digging into it.
I skidded to a stop—moving forward had been easier than stopping moving forward—and turned around, racing back towards where the others waited. The head-on wind had lifted me to a hover, but the tailwind propelled me a half foot in the air and forward at a speed much faster than what I could've managed on only four legs. I came to another sliding halt, coughing on the sand I kicked up.
I really needed to get a hold of this whole stopping thing.
When the dust and sand settled, I spotted Knox's face, eyes wide and unguarded. Beside him, Faust's mouth hung open. But the twins weren't looking at me. They were looking at Angus. He was a puppy again.
"He shifts when Jazz shifts?" Diesel asked.
I took his tone to mean that wasn't a normal thing. Knox dropped a comforting hand at the back of my neck, likely sensing my sudden distress.
"Most shifters can't shift until they are older. Generally around puberty, though some earlier, some younger."
"I've never seen a baby shift," Faust said.
"Yesterday, we'd never seen wolves with wings," Jagger added. "Imagine what we'll see tomorrow."
"Can you do that hover thing again?" Huntley asked me while looking at Angus.
I obliged, flapping my wings. Without the wind, I had to flap harder and couldn't manage more than a few inches of distance from the sand, but that was enough to make Angus's wings begin to flap, though the puppy was still clearly asleep. He floated out of Diesel's arms for a second, until Diesel held him sturdy again.
"Could they be linked?" Huntley asked. "Since the baby is so defenseless, maybe he's bonded with his father. It would be interesting to see what he does when someone isn't holding him, but that is too dangerous of a thing to try today." He didn't look to Knox to confirm.
When it came to things that were dangerous, the five of them generally agreed.
After a bit more practice, everyone but Knox shifted and then the fun really started. Turned out I could run faster than any of them when I brought my wings into it. Jagger, who had previously been the fastest among them, growled, but the sound came from somewhere behind me. Far, far behind me.
I finally stopped to show him mercy, and Jagger limped over to Huntley, who licked his muzzle consolingly.
I couldn't smell or hear as well as they could, but I could run faster, and for my first conscious day as a wolf, that was pretty good.
***
After an afternoon on the beach, I was tired all over again, but I hated the idea of being cooped up in the room knowing everyone else was together working on the investigation—especially now that the Jazz-related problems were winding down.
I spent most of that time holding Angus and staring at his face for longer than I'd ever stared at anything in one sitting.
"Do you have the report from the Columbian police?" Huntley asked Faust.
Faust ruffled through a stack of papers to his right but must not have found what he was looking for because he jumped up, saying he would go get it from the evidence room. Things would've been easier if they'd just move all the evidence into the operations room, but I figured they had a reason for not doing that.
After Faust left the room, Diesel stood, his steps bringing him within a few feet of me. I peered up, curious, but sensed I should wait and let Diesel come to what he wanted to say rather than have me yank it from him. "I thought about your gift. Your power." He rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a small brown satchel smaller than my hand. The items inside clinked together. "You were using single items, and I didn't know if that was the extent of your ability or if something like these would be useful."
He dropped the satchel in my palm, and I adjusted Angus so I could open it, pouring the contents into my hand. There were seven marbles in total, all glass with green, blue, and silver swirls.
My lips curled, ideas coming faster than I could remember them. Marbles were small enough to hold all at once, but if I concentrated, I could transform each one separately. I'd done similar things with bits of paper.
I cupped the marbles, letting them roll out of my hands and onto the floor while making it look like I was unleashing a swarm of praying mantises toward where the others sat.
Huntley shuddered and got to his feet, stepping back from the insect army. "Thanks, Diesel, that's terrifying."
"You're afraid of a praying mantis?" I asked, shocked.
Huntley glowered. "No, I'm not afraid. They're just creepy. They bite off their mate's heads, you know," he offered like it was all the proof that was needed.
Jagger chuckled, stooping over to pick up the marbles and protect his partner. "I thought you liked it when I bite," he teased over his shoulder while depositing the marbles back in my hands.
Smirking, I closed my hands over the marbles again, laying my two palms flat when I was finished.
Diesel sucked in a sharp breath.
I'd recreated the pack. A tiny version of us each. They stood still like statues—it was too difficult to make a human mirage move realistically. There were just too many factors to try to account for them all. Animals and insects were easier because they had more predictable physical responses.
Faust returned with a cardboard box. He took one look at my hands and said, "I'm taller than Knox."
Knox growled.
Faust set the box in his arms on the table. "This is everything from Pierce's death. Columbian reports—the translations are on the back. Any security footage is going to be on the flash drives in the envelope at the bottom." He dropped the box, his eyebrows rounded in dubious curiosity like he wanted to know why Huntley had asked for the evidence but didn't think it would come to anything.
Huntley ignored his doubt and tore the lid open. He found the report he was looking for and leaned back, flipping the first page to read the translation on the back.
The others went back to their tasks, and I resumed staring at Angus while he slept, but less than a minute later, Huntley quickly stood. "I knew it."
Jagger glanced over, not nearly as excited as his twin. "What did you know?"
"After the fire, the police took statements from everyone they knew had stepped foot on that street."
I assumed Knox and the others had not been included in that list even though they'd been on that street.
"But none of the eye witness reports had any usable information," Knox said.
"They still don't, except for this." Huntley emphasized with his finger against the paper. "This guy, Donald Seafer, he was driving by at the time of the fire."
"So?"