Free Saving Autumn by Marissa Farrar Page B

equally impressed by his home, though she wanted to tell herself she wasn’t the sort of person who cared about such materialistic things.
    She gave a shrug, trying to appear nonchalant, when she was excited about the possibility of being alone with him for any length of time. “Your place sounds fine.”
    They turned their attention back to Toby.
    Peter reached down to the boy’s desk and scribbled something on a piece of scrap paper. “These are my cell and home phone numbers. If anything changes—if you feel threatened—call me right away and say you need to talk about the dog or something.”
    Toby smirked. “The dog?”
    “Anything like that. Just don’t mention the real reason you need to see me.”
    “Okay.”
    “And stay off the DoD intranet. You’re going to get caught eventually.”
    “Yes, sir,” the boy said, accompanied by a roll of his eyes.
    The adults left the room, leaving Toby still sitting at his computer. Peter led the way, heading down the narrow hallway and past the living room and kitchen. They paused beside the front door.
    Dana chewed her lower lip. “Do we need to be worried?”
    Peter shook his head. “Not as long as Toby stays off the government intranet and keeps quiet about what he is. I know others are calling for shifters to stand up and reveal what they are, but as long as Toby keeps his head down, he should be fine.”
    “We won’t even let him leave the apartment,” said his father.
    The parents exchanged a glance, one that read, ‘Well, we can try.’
    Mia and Peter headed back to ground level and climbed into Peter’s waiting car, which, thankfully, hadn’t been towed. Mia hugged herself with happiness at being in the presence of this incredible man. She caught herself staring at the flecks of white at the temples of his dark hair, his strong profile with its straight nose and full mouth. She’d never imagined someone as successful as him would pay any attention to someone like her. He was a man, not a boy.
    She enjoyed being alone with him again, encased together within the metal shell of the vehicle. The faint hint of his aftershave, something musky and masculine, fed her senses. She thought of the confrontation they’d had in the government building after he’d gotten them out of the small room where they’d been held. He’d been in the form of a mountain lion then, but when he’d shifted back, he’d risen to standing completely naked. Her mind danced deliciously on the memory of his long, lean back, his curved, hard buttocks.
    Suddenly, she found herself even more aware of his presence beside her, the heat from his skin pressing against her like something tangible. She forced her mind away from the memory of his nakedness, her cheeks already burning. She stared out of the passenger window until the color died down, and then her curious mind spoke up. “Can I ask you something?”
    He glanced at her quickly before refocusing on the road. “Sure.”
    “Do you know what type of animal Toby shifts into? I mean, you’re both shifters, right? Can you sense that sort of thing about each other?”
    “It depends on the person and the spirit attached to them.” He paused for a minute, his smooth brow creasing. “The animal spirits we shift into all exist on different levels, so we don’t always see the other spirit, though sometimes we can catch traces of them, like an aura the spirit leaves behind. Does that make sense?”
    She shook her head. “Sorry, not really. This is all still completely mind-blowing for me.”
    He appeared to think again. “Think of our existence as a skyscraper. Our world, the one we live and breathe on, is the ground floor. Everything on this level is real to us. We can see and touch almost everything around us.”
    She nodded cautiously, trying to follow where he was going with the analogy. “ Ooo … kay.”
    “Then above us are all the spirit levels of existence. We don’t know they’re there unless something happens to take