Page 82 of Psycho Shifters

Zed understood what I wasn’t saying, that I needed his complete secrecy. Between the politics of ABOs, the oligarchy, the fae war, and the servants, people had different agendas in the shifter realm. You couldn’t trust anyone.

“I need a map of the shifter realm,” I said quietly.

If I was ever going to get to Lucinda, or kill Dick before Lucinda came back, I needed to figure out where I was in the damn realm. I knew the names of towns and mountains and could probably figure it out if I searched hard enough.

“How soon?”

“As soon as possible.”

My voice trailed off as Zed looked at me with worry. He squinted, like he wanted to tell me I couldn’t leave the compound. Something in my eyes must have conveyed my desperation.

He nodded. “Follow me.”

A few minutes later, Zed unlocked a heavy metal door hidden behind a stairwell on the bottom floor of the compound.

The door opened with a loud creak, and we walked into a wall of spiderwebs.

Clearly, training for war had changed me, because I didn’t even flinch when dead flies fell from the broken web like rain.

“Sometimes the chef sends me down here for an old recipe, or an engineer needs a schematic to fix the plumbing,” Zed explained as he flicked a switch and a dusty candelabra lit with firelight.

I wasn’t surprised. When I’d been a servant for the tavern, the local bakers and chefs had given me access to old storage units and food safes that other shifters didn’t know about.

My mouth fell open as I looked around.

The room was narrow and long, with a low ceiling. Wood shelves held hundreds of heavy, bound books, which were piled atop one another in every direction.

Zed clicked his tongue and placed his fingers along numbers carved into the wooden bookshelves. There was some type of organizational system that he understood.

“Here’s a book on maps. It should have what you need.” He handed me a thick, leather-bound book.

I flipped through it quickly and saw that it was filled with hundreds of maps. Some even seemed to depict different realms.

My gut plummeted with disappointment.

I had hoped he would just hand me a scroll of the shifter realm that I could easily use. I was going to have to do some research, which would take time I didn’t have.

For some reason, even at school, no one had access to full maps of the realm. The exact schematics were all very hush-hush.

“Thanks, Zed, I really appreciate it,” I said sincerely as he locked up the room, and I followed him out into the hallway. “Aran and I were going to have dinner together today, if you want to join?”

“Are you sure?” Zed looked down at me with surprise.

“Of course. It’s nice to have friends around.”

“Then I’ll see you tonight.” A massive grin split his face. The heavy exhaustion in his eyes seemed lighter as he looked down at me.

Reaching forward, I gave his scrawny frame a quick hug. Tentatively, he wrapped his long arms around me, and we just stood there hugging.

“Okay, see you later.” I pulled away and hurried back to my room with my new book.

Zed had relaxed into the hug. All my practice was paying off. I was definitely getting good at hugging. I couldn’t wait to tell Aran.

Tiptoeing back into the alpha room, I was relieved to find that no one else was in it. All the other alphas were at lunch.

My stomach was still cramping with pain from the run, and just the thought of food made me sick. I was also still shivering with cold because of my trip to the stables, and I eagerly huddled under my blankets.

I threw more blankets over my head and let a small crack of light from the window illuminate the book.