Free Timeless Moon by C. T. Adams, Cathy Clamp

Yusef had written, handing it back between the split seats. "Do you recognize this address?"
    Ellen took the key and nodded as she read, her short dark hair bobbing in the sunlight just at the edge of Josette's peripheral vision. "Oh, sure. This is old Widow Hunt's place. You mean you're the one who bought her husband's Firebird convertible? It's been sitting in her garage since I was born, waiting for the new owner to show up. My cousin goes over every fall to drive it around town a few times to keep the battery charged and then drains the oil for winter." Her laugh was a fluttering screech, the high-pitched sound of a raptor, and she covered her mouth, reeking embarrassment.
    Josette saw an opening between the semi and the delivery truck in front of it and pressed down on the accelerator hard to squeeze into the space before slowing. The black SUV started to move into the lane to catch up when a highway patrol car pulled into the median. She was relieved when the SUV backed down its speed and pulled in behind the semi.
    "You don't have to be embarrassed about your laugh, Ellen. All Sazi birds make that same sound, or something like it." She did glance down then, just a quick flick of her eyes when fear boiled up out of the girl's pores. "You haven't had your first change yet, have you?"
    "Huh-uh. And if my dad has any say about it, I won't, either." Her voice and scent said she truly believed that.
    "He doesn't have any say about it. If you're meant to turn, you will. Do you have others in your family who turn that can help you through it the first time?"
    Again she shook her head. "Gramma was the only one on Mom's side, and Daddy doesn't talk about his family, so I don't know. But Mom said I got it from both sides. I left because I was afraid what he'd do if I did change. I was already weird to him because of the dreams that come true, and he hates shifters — hates and fears them, the way people used to hate women healers in Salem. Even mentioning his or Mom's family makes him insane. I just know he's going to use me as some sort of guinea pig for that stuff he's been cooking up with his freaky friends out in the desert. I've heard him talking, like they can cure me, or something."
    Josette sighed as she darted the rental between another pair of trucks and slowed to make sure there was no room for their tail to fit. So, there was another group trying to fix them. It wasn't the first time. "There's no cure for what we are, Ellen —even though sometimes I wish there was. We are Sazi. It's nothing to be ashamed of. But if you truly feel you and your mother are in danger, I'll give you a phone number to call. A woman named Ang e lique is the leader of all the birds in the world. She can help you. If you leave—"
    "I did leave. But then I saw what he'd do to Mom if he found out I wasn't coming back, so … I have to go back. I can't leave her to —" She grimaced and pressed both her hands to her temples, as if staving off another vision. "Please. I don't want to talk about what might happen."
    A wave of pain flashed through Josette, and tension churned her stomach. Talking about bad visions only made them worse; sometimes they triggered a new, darker image just through the speaking of it. "I understand. More than you can know, I understand."
    The overhead sign that zipped past revealed the next exit was for one of the main business streets. With careful maneuvering, she managed to make it into the right lane without the SUV noticing, so when she exited along with a flow of other vehicles, their pursuers were caught flat-footed. She ignored the squealing tires and horn honks as the SUV cut through traffic, and across the median … as the chase car gave up all pretense of hiding their intent. Josette concentrated instead on moving into the downtown where she might be able to lose them.
    That one decision apparently made them more bold and the few horn honks became many as the SUV began to force vehicles off the road in order