Page 10 of Awakened By the Guardian

Just as she was thinking about coffee, her phone buzzed again, right in her hand. Startled, she nearly dropped it as she fumbled to answer.

“Yeah?”

“Margaret! Thank God! Are you all right?”

It was Jesse, the corporate pilot and her direct supervisor. He was also the guy who had tried repeatedly to kiss her at the Basilica. The situation felt even more gross when she looked at Gary and thought about how much she wanted to kiss him.

She rubbed her eyes and tried to shift into a more professional mindset. “I’m fine.” She glanced at Gary, who was still unconscious. But Jesse couldn’t possibly know what had happened.

“You’re feeling okay, right? No fever? No…I don’t know. Weird stuff?”

Weird stuff? Did her friend turning into a bear count? “Um, no. I’m fine. Why?”

“The Detroit Flu. It’s gotten worse. Half the city’s inside with a fever. There’s a quarantine.”

Margaret frowned. A quarantine? She hadn’t heard that. “I’m sorry. I haven’t had any coff⁠—”

“The city is on lockdown. National Guard surrounding us. No one in or out. Everyone is supposed to stay inside.”

Wait, what? “You’re kidding.”

“No. People are going crazy all over the place. There was a shooting in a grocery store, another in a park. Weird shit everywhere.”

Margaret blinked. “From the Flu?”

“From the hallucinations. The shooters say they’re shooting at wolves or something.”

Wolves? In Detroit? That was crazy. But then, certain areas here were always a hair’s breadth away from violence and⁠—

“You’re supposed to call the cops if you have a high fever, seizures, unexpected body hair or strange disfigurations. Disfigurations. What the fuck does that even mean?”

Um… Margaret’s gaze landed on Gary. The Detroit Flu. Was that what had happened?

“I’m okay,” Jesse continued, though he seemed hyper. But why wouldn’t he be? They were trapped in a city on lockdown with people who turned into bears and hallucinated about wolves. Maybe the wolves weren’t hallucinations! Was that even possible?

Jesse was still talking. “We were out of the city during the last outbreak, but this is nuts. Are you sure you’re fine?”

Margaret looked again at Gary. “Yes, I’m fine. But you⁠—”

“Today’s flight is cancelled. God, I wish we’d flown straight to California.”

“No, it’s good we came back,” she found herself saying. If she hadn’t returned, Gary would have gone through last night alone.

“Look, do you have a safe place to stay? My condo has security, and I’ve got a spare bedroom.”

Next to her, Gary stirred. His breath hitched and his upper body twitched. He was probably waking from the noise of her talking, and she had a sudden vision of him metamorphosing right in front of her. “Thanks, Jesse, but⁠—”

“Since we’re not working, we could hang out. I mean, I wanted to show you this great beach in California, but since we’re stuck here you could come over. I’ll put on some burgers and I’ve got margarita mix….”

Was he serious? “I thought you said it was dangerous out.”

“It is. That’s why you need to be with me.” Jesse’s tone dropped. “I’ve got a Glock. I can protect you.”

Yeah, she’d just bet he would—from everyone but himself. “Um, thanks Jesse, but I think I’ll just stay here.”

“Well, okay. You want to stay in. Maybe I could come over there.”

She sighed. The guy just didn’t get the message. “No, Jesse. I’m sorry.”