She thought about the look on Mac's face as she struggled to free herself from the changeling's grip, right before it injected her with a sedative. She felt for the thin metal band of her Omni, which should have been on one of her now-bound wrists. Not there. The creature had removed it, just as it had removed Julie Wheeler's Omni. As soon as she got out of this situation, she would be getting a permanent Omni implant.
Would Mac find her? Not likely, without an active Omni signal to track her. She imagined the thin silver band of her Omni, now undoubtedly somewhere on the Glide, either on the platform or on the street.
A hard lump formed in her throat at the thought of not seeing Mac again. If she had gotten off her high horse earlier and forgiven him, she would not be in this predicament. He had lied to her, but she knew it to be an irrational response to his own fear of being different, his failure to embrace his bull nature. She loved him, and it was her job to make him feel safe enough to be himself.
Tears pricked her eyes, hot and impotent. Mac would mourn her and their baby. Her mouth twisted as sobs threatened to escape. She rubbed at her eyes awkwardly with the knuckles of one bound hand. Her heart thudded in her chest, and she felt short of breath.
"You're hyperventilating," she whispered into the dark. Freaking out would do her no good. She needed a plan. She needed to corral her crazed thoughts and come up with a plan.
She sniffed the air and detected the noxious scent of the changeling. It was definitely nearby. Perhaps it was even behind the wheel of the car. The car lurched, and she thought about counting the turns to retrace her route when she got free and got to the cops. She would need to lead them back to wherever the car stopped, and she escaped.
No sooner than she began to count turns than the car came to an abrupt stop and the car door slammed. She heard footsteps, light and quick, rustling through dry leaves. When the trunk of the car began to creak open, Diana worked hard to tamp down her panic. Her eyes darted around her in the dark, seeking even a sliver of light, but there was none. Shit.
"I'm from the South Side of Chicago," she told herself, ignoring for the moment that her street smarts were probably no match against a vicious underground creature that lived to service its master without question.
She wanted to burst into tears as the changeling struggled with the latch of the trunk. Would this confrontation never end? She curled her fingers into claws with her palms facing outward, mentally going through the motions she would use to sink her thumbs into the inner corners of the creature's eye, to gouge them out and hopefully maim or at least slow the changeling down. She braced herself for the likelihood that the changeling might look like Mac, or Bubba.
Her internal pep talk ended when the creature finally wrenched open the trunk of the car. She was blinded by a harsh white light which blocked out everything for long moments. While she could not see the creature in any detail, she could make out the outline of its humanoid form, and she could definitely smell it. She shrieked and scrambled to leverage herself out of the trunk, ignoring the numbness and weakness of her limbs, and aiming her hands at what should have been its face. She felt a thrill when her momentum carried her out of the car, knocking back the changeling. She and it thudded to the ground, her fall broken by the noxious heap below her.
She realized with triumph that the changeling was now struggling below her, its talons thrashing at her, but pinned to the ground. Somehow, her legs straddled its hips, pinning it. Sulfuric fumes brought prickly tears to eyes, but through the haze, she saw something that made her mouth drop open and her eyes widen to the size of dinner plates.
Julie?
It only took a moment for Diana to realize it wasn’t really Julie, but the changeling assuming Julie’s appearance.
Caught off guard, she hesitated instead of assuming an attack stance. She found herself on her back, dragged along the ground by her bound wrists, her face looking up at the starry sky. She twisted her body and kicked her legs to slow down the creature, which only succeeded in the rope digging painfully into her wrists.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Diana's ass bumped along the hard-packed dirt road, and she wondered where they were. Was the changeling taking her to where it had held Julie Wheeler? Thoughts of escape skittered around in her head. How could she get away? They'd had drones searching the area where Julie had been found, but as far as Diana knew, nothing had been found. She could not count on being rescued. If she somehow escaped and ran into traffic, she could not count on shifter physiology to save her from injury. Not to mention the tiny life now nestled in her womb--there would be no hope for the baby if Diana were seriously injured.
The only solution that came to mind seemed impossible for her to achieve. She had to kill the changeling.
The creature dragged Diana up steps, then paused and let her go. Diana could see nothing around her that would make the creature stop. There was darkness all around her, but the ground no longer felt like a dirt road beneath her. When she looked up, the stars had disappeared. She heard the unmistakable sound of a doorknob rattling, a door swinging open, without any structure in sight.
Vibrating with adrenaline, Diana rolled away from the creature and soundlessly rose to her feet, holding her breath and leaning against a wall for support. She watched as the creature looked into a structure that wasn't there, head jerking with unnatural movements as it took in the interior.
Chapter 44
Mac had to admit that there were advantages to having a wolf for a friend. Wolves were excellent trackers, both on the ground and while using technology. At the moment, Bubba sat in the passenger seat of Mac's truck, hunched over his Omni, watching a red dot that signified Diana's movements creep along the glowing screen.
According to Bubba, they were no more than three minutes behind Diana and the changeling. Going by how quickly the red dot crawled along the map, Diana was in a vehicle.
Diana would not be happy about the state-of-the-art tracking device in the bull's head charm necklace Mac had won for her at the fair, but he'd worry about that later. The fact that she had been wearing it when she was kidnapped gave him hope that things would work out for them in the end.
"Turn right here," said Bubba.
Mac blinked and looked around. The road was barely more than a narrow gravel path. There was no way to turn at all, there being nothing more than a shallow ditch on either side of the road. He cast a dubious side eye at Bubba.
"Not used to going off-road?" said Bubba, right before Mac swerved the truck sharply off-road. Bubba lurched and bounced against the inside of the passenger door.
"You were saying?" Mac said grumpily.
Mac had caught up with Bubba after exiting the Glide platform and hoofing it back to his truck. Somehow, his friend had known where to find him. Or perhaps he had come to pick Diana up? He'd let that last snarly thought roll right out of his head. No time to be jealous.
Mac made eye contact with the other man, nodded his head at the truck, and barked, "Get in." Bubba scrambled into the passenger side and slammed the door just as Mac crowded behind the wheel of the truck. The two men stared at each other, Mac looking crazed and Bubba looking puzzled.
"She's gone. You took her."
Bubba's face twisted into a mask of confusion. "Excuse me?"
"Never mind. I need your help."
Mac pulled out of the spot in front of Diana's house. With a voice command, he had engaged the tracker, then sent it to Bubba's Omni, which trilled when the data was received.
"Where are we going?" said Bubba, looking at the screen. "Besides south, that is."
"Look, just keep your eyes on the little red dot, okay?"
They drove in silence for a few minutes, then Bubba spoke.
"Backup?"
"No," said Mac, thinking of the extremely illegal tracker he'd placed on Diana, as well as the coming confrontation with the changeling, a creature that did not officially exist. It would be better if the humans did not know about this previously unknow
n species, human-shifter relations being what they were.
"No police. What about the Lopez boys?"
Bubba frowned. "Last I heard, they were still in Perdition. But they were supposed to be back tomorrow..."
Mac turned his attention back to the road as Bubba called the Lopez boys. Mac steered over ruts and dips in the road, pleased at how well the truck took the off-road conditions. Some distance ahead, a weak light appeared, muffled by the gloom of the evening. The light grew in clarity as they drew near it but never seemed to get any brighter. Mac held his breath as he grew closer, and realized it was a car with the trunk popped open. The light he'd seen had been the dome light of the trunk. He slowed the truck to a stop and left it running as he and Bubba stepped out of the truck to investigate.
Part of him knew she was nowhere near the car, just as he'd known she wasn't at home earlier. But Mac thought she must be close. They hadn't been far behind her while they followed her with the assistance of the tracker.
Bubba turned to look at Mac and said one word, "coconuts," before he shifted, not bothering to pause to shake off his clothes. The wolf had caught the scent of Diana's coconut oil and took off without looking back. Mac tore after him, shifting as he ran down a barely distinguishable path. There had to be a house or something similar at the end of the path.
An unease settled over Mac as he followed Bubba into a clearing, where the wolf abruptly halted, whining and made a chuffing noise that sounded like a sneeze. Bubba looked up at Mac, head cocked to one side. The path led to nowhere. He couldn't smell Diana, nor hear her, but he knew somehow she was there. He could sense it.
He stood there, senses on piqued, but nothing apparently there to trigger him. It was full dark now. He stood there, confused.
"She's here," Mac said, looking around. His beast was fully unleashed and was agitated by the feeling that he was failing to protect her.
Bubba paced around, tail swishing with agitation, sniffing the air. Mac began to pace as well, unsure of what to do next.
The answer came to him when in his pacing, he walked face first right into something hard. He shook off the confusion, looked at Bubba, who began sniffing along the ground near where Mac had run into the unseen object. Mac waved his hands blindly, wondering whether he'd touched anything at all when his hand came into contact with a wall. His fingers came into contact with what felt like old, dry wood. He pawed at it like a mime testing the confines of an invisible box. There was something there, and it was hidden from view by some kind of invisible barrier. Or maybe a spell.
He didn't have time to puzzle over this, as he knew Diana was on borrowed time. Without thinking, he stepped back and began to heave himself into the wall with his shoulder. Nothing happened at first, but then he felt the wall begin to give way in a burst of unseen splinters and musty wood. He had no idea how big the structure was, but he did know that Diana had to be inside. His pent-up emotions came to the surface as the walls gave way. Bubba joined him, scratching at the ground urgently with his front paws. Mac began to pound at the wall with his massive fists, his nostrils filled with dust, then the wall completely collapsed. A pile of splintered wood appeared. Somehow, the spell had been broken.
The heap of wood shifted as the dust settled. It went still, then started again. Bubba jumped on the heap and began to claw at it with his paws, sniffing and whining. Mac stooped down and clear away the debris, desperately flinging it out of the way to uncover the figures struggling with each other.
Chapter 45
Of course, that's why the drones haven't been able to find this place...
Diana sidled up to the changeling, holding her breath and moving as quietly as she could. One step produced a squeak in the floorboards, causing it to turn its head at her. She only caught a glimpse of the swirling green eyeshine before she pounced, leaping onto its back, and wedging her bound wrists into the hollow of its neck. Her face flattened with determination when the changeling realized what was happened and began to thrash around.
Diana held on for dear life as the creature tried to throw her off. They crashed through the open doorway and landed with Diana flat on her back, gritting her teeth as she continued to put pressure on the changeling's throat and wondered how long she'd have to keep it up to finally subdue it. She recalled reading somewhere that it can take five minutes or more to strangle a person to death. How long would it take to kill this creature? Could she hold on that long?
There was no question but that she had to try. She kept the pressure on what she could only guess was the creature's trachea. It thrashed, but otherwise made no sounds at all, and she hoped this meant she had cut off its air supply. It began to shift back into its true form, Julie’s pale skin giving way to green scales. Her stomach turned at making skin to skin contact with the creature.
But still, she held on tight while the creature thrashed like a cat being thrown into a bathtub of water. Diana managed to avoid its grasping claws as it rolled in a panic to unseat her. Her fingers went numb, and her wrists hurt like hell. She realized then that she would likely wind up with two broken wrists. But still, she hung on. She needed to survive for Mac. She needed to survive for their baby.
“Die, die!” Was all she could say when the creature refused to stop fighting her. She didn't have much energy left to kill it. She didn't want to die this way.
Blood pounded in her ears as she continued to crush the changeling's throat with her bound wrists. It staggered around the small house with her on its back, banging into walls until the structure began to collapse. Tears ran down Diana's face, the pain in her wrists grew exponentially, but still, she held on. Suddenly, she heard the crash of dry old wood splintering. The musty smell of the room gave way to the smell of fresh dirt and grass. The walls must have come crashing down, but still, the creature wouldn't die. The thought overwhelmed her and brought yet more tears to her eyes. She had to hold on. She had to.
Then she heard gruff words spoken as if from a great distance.
"He's mine," said the deep voice. Diana nearly wept for joy. She blinked through the dust and saw Mac, fully shifted, looking down at her. At his side, Bubba, also shifted, crouched in an attack stance.
She felt his huge hands, so strong and nimble, slide underneath hers.
"Let go, baby." And she did, the way she had longed to from the first time they'd met. She wanted to feel safe enough to let go, and with Mac, she finally was.
She had no sooner slipped her numb hands over the creature's head than Mac increased the pressure on its neck, digging into its throat with his thumbs. As he had at Julie Wheeler's apartment, he held the creature out from his body and continued the strangulation that Diana was now too exhausted to finish. As before, the creature flailed and clawed at its captor. Mac squeezed until the creature went limp, then kept on squeezing for good measure.
Diana backed up slowly, stumbling over the rubble. She tripped and felt herself caught by a pair of strong, wiry arms. She turned and found a bare-chested Bubba shifted back to his full human form and looking at her with concern, his amber eyes reflecting eyeshine in the dark. She knew without looking that he must be as naked as a jaybird. She kept her eyes averted as Bubba quickly untied the rope knotted at her wrists.
"Um, thank you." She made a show of dusting off her t-shirt and jeans, difficult since her wrists weren’t functioning normally, then patted her disheveled hair. She turned her attention back to Mac, who was holding the limp body of the changeling aloft. After their experience at Julie's apartment, she wasn't inclined to ask Mac to let it go. The creature's green skin took on a purple cast, and still, Mac did not let go. The creature's body began to shrink and wither, its skin puckering and rippling beneath the surface. Mac dropped it abruptly and stepped back. The three of them watched, open-mouthed, as the changeling was reduced to a green, bubbling mass on the remains of the shack.
Diana was the first to speak up. "What just happened?"
Mac turned to look at her and Diana was struck once aga
in by how beautiful he was in his beast form. His eyes glinted bright white in the gloom, almost bright enough to blind her, and the animal planes of his face stirred something primal inside her. She wanted to step into his arms, declare her love for him, tell him they could make a future together--the two of them and the baby. She reached out a hand to touch him.
Bubba took that moment to offer an opinion.
"Fuck if I know. I've never heard of a changeling committing suicide."
This threw cold water on her feelings, and Diana suddenly realized she was ready to leave. Mac must have sensed a mood shift and grabbed her outstretched hand to pull her close to him. She watched his body begin to shrink into its human form and felt a trace of regret. She wouldn't mind if he walked around shifted all the time.
They sat in Mac's truck for half an hour in front of the changeling's destroyed lair before the clean-up crew, whom Mac called "the Lopez boys," arrived. Bubba had, thankfully, donned his human garb and refrained from further commentary.
She thought about her sister, who encouraged her to pursue Mac while all the time rejecting Bubba. Despite her protests, Vanessa had a thing for shifters, as evidenced by her two shifter children. She saw her sister resisting Bubba, but ultimately caving into his advances. She would enjoy giving her Vanessa a hard time about it.
Finally, Diana and Mac were alone in the truck, as Bubba and the Lopez boys stayed at the lair to clean up all evidence of the changeling and to investigate the site itself.
Mac turned his truck around, and they headed back to the city.
"I'm taking you to the hospital," he told her, giving her the side eye as if expecting her to protest.
She let out a long, drawn-out sigh.
The Minotaur's Kiss Page 22