by Zoe Chant
Reluctantly, she settled down. An unearthly screaming came from the clouds, mixed with the screech of the quetzalcoatlus. The keen of fury and despair raised the hairs on the back of Natalie’s neck. Then the great bird-creature came tumbling down out of the sky, wings flapping madly as she fought…something. The wings of the quetzalcoatlus were so vast that Natalie couldn’t get a good look at whatever it was that Carter had become. She saw sharp teeth slashing, a glimpse of a fierce yellow eye, and something lashing out that might have been a tail or a whip or a tentacle.
Together they crashed to the ground. The quetzalcoatlus sprang to her feet, and Carter, naked and barefoot and bleeding, staggered away.
“I’m hit,” Carter shouted, yanking his discarded coat back on. “I can’t shift!”
Pete and Roland glanced at each other, then Pete again charged the quetzalcoatlus, while Roland hurled the table at Elayne.
Elayne’s form melted into that of the harpy, and the table went flying over her head. She sprang aloft, whipping out her wing to send a shower of feather-knives at Roland. He dove out of the way, but when he got up again, blood trickled from his arm. It looked like he’d only been scratched, but what about the next time she tried? They were all sitting ducks for Elayne and her feather-darts.
Ransom squeezed Natalie’s arm, whispering, “Wait.”
The chupacabra again began to screech and dance. Natalie almost laughed as she saw that Merlin had glommed on to her ankle like a sleek black velociraptor bracelet, biting her with little white fangs. This time she whipped out her tongue, wrapping it around her own ankle.
The velociraptor became man-sized, yanking her forward by her tongue. It whipped back into her mouth as she staggered. He lunged at the chupacabra, fangs gleaming…
…only to become Merlin again.
“Ow!” Merlin yelped, rubbing at his back. He twisted his arm up, trying to reach the area between his shoulderblades, then was forced to dive to avoid another attack from Elayne’s feather darts.
“Got it,” Ransom murmured. “Natalie, create a distraction. Make sure no one’s looking at me. But don’t shift until I tell you to.”
She’d never in her life been so glad to be given the go-ahead to risk her life. She felt a grin crack her face as she leaped to her feet and screamed, “You think you’ve stopped me just because I can’t shift? Guess what? It’s showtime!”
Everyone stopped and stared. Then, moving faster than she had in her life, Natalie began turning cartwheels, flipping end over end as she catapulted herself into the fray.
Chapter 30
My mate, Ransom thought, pride swelling his heart.
He’d known he could trust her to create a distraction, but he’d had no idea quite what an amazing one it would be. He would have loved to lie there and watch her. But he had a job to do… if he could manage it.
He hadn’t been a sniper for nothing. He knew everything there was to know about angles and velocity and how to find a gunman based on where the bullets hit. Or, in this case, where the shiftsilver darts hit.
At first he’d thought Jager was teleporting from place to place. But he’d been watching the man when Merlin was hit. Jager hadn’t moved from his position beside the car. And unless he had the power to bend the path of a projectile in flight, he couldn’t have hit Merlin’s back from where he was.
Based on where Merlin had been hit, the sniper ought to be hiding in the ticket booth. And… Ransom tilted his head, keeping his eyes mostly closed… he could see a glint of metal from within.
Jager wasn’t a teleporter at all. He was an illusion-caster, creating versions of himself that looked and sounded completely real, but disappeared when they were touched. And if Ransom could take him and his shiftsilver rifle out of the game, then Natalie could fight Elayne as a Gabriel Hound.
All Ransom had to do was move a couple yards without anyone noticing he was doing it, get into the ticket booth, and defeat Jager. Considering the number of enemies around, the fact that he had no idea what Jager’s shift form was, and that Ransom was unarmed, it would be a daunting task under any circumstances. But right now, Ransom wasn’t sure he could even stand up without passing out. He’d fallen hard when the vertigo had struck, and he could feel a spreading wetness across his chest where he was bleeding through the bandages.
You can do it, growled his hellhound.
Heidi, who’d been curled up at his side since the vertigo attack, uncurled herself enough to nuzzle him.
“Stay,” he whispered to her and Wally.
The battlefield had erupted into pure chaos. Natalie was moving through it like a whirlwind, an avenging angel, a firecracker with sparkler hair. She was bringing every acrobatic skill she had to bear, tumbling and flying and cartwheeling and leaping.
Dali and even Tirzah had left the van to join the fight, along with Blue and the kittens. Dali was at Merlin’s side, swinging a baseball bat at the chupacabra, while Blue pursued it at a leisurely but relentless pace. Tirzah was on the sidelines, operating a drone that harried Elayne while three angry kittens flew at her face. Pete was still a bear, so Jager must be entirely focused on him, waiting for an opportunity to shoot a splinter into the hairless skin of his nose.
Ransom would never get a better distraction.
Gritting his teeth, he began crawling on his belly toward the back of the ticket booth. He’d done that often enough as a sniper—it was much less attention-catching than standing up—but it also required more strength. His own weight felt like an impossible burden. Every time he pulled himself forward, he was sure he’d never be able to do it again. But he kept going, even when his vision grayed out. He had to give Natalie this chance.
His fingers touched something hard. Ransom blinked, concentrating fiercely, until his vision came back into focus. He was at the back of the ticket booth.
He could hear the battle, but not see it. There was a closed door in front of him, and his enemy inside.
Ransom took a deep breath, took hold of the wall, and dragged himself to his feet. Once again, his vision grayed out. He leaned his head against the wall, waiting for the dizziness to pass. While he did, he put his hand on the doorknob and twisted it the tiniest bit to see if it would move.
It didn’t. The door was locked from the inside. He’d have to pick the lock with hands that were numb and shaky, without Jager noticing, and then fight him.
A sickening sense of anticipated failure clawed at his heart. How could he possibly fight like this? He could barely stand up.
He’d promised Natalie he’d take out Jager, but had he only given her false hope? Would he be the disappointment she’d feared so much?
You don’t have to beat him up or tear his throat out, his hellhound growled. You just have to make sure he can’t shoot Natalie.
Ransom wasn’t sure how he could stop Jager without getting into a physical fight. Unless…
You can show me people’s worst moments, Ransom said silently. Can you be more specific than that? Can you show me their deepest fears?
His hellhound seemed to think about that, then said, I can show you the moment when he was most afraid.
Ransom saw Jager, a little younger than when they’d met, working in a lab, yawning and rubbing his eyes. Clumsy with tiredness, he reached for for a beaker and knocked a jar over. Liquid splashed everywhere, on him and on the table and into the flame of a Bunsen burner. Fire exploded in all directions, burning off his eyebrows and setting the sleeve of his coat aflame. Jager staggered back, terrified, imagining that the entire lab would go up in flames and burn him alive…
And then Ransom was back in his own body, still leaning against the wall. He took a deep breath, then, pitching his voice higher to disguise it, yelled, “Fire! Fire! FIRE!!!!”
The door flew open. Jager stepped out, the shiftsilver rifle dangling from his hand as he looked around wildly.
Ransom snatched the rifle, ducked inside the booth, slammed the door, and locked it. He moved so smoothly and quickly
that it was almost a single motion. He was finished by the time Jager let out an outraged yell.
His head swimming, Ransom staggered to the ticket window and shouted, “Natalie! Go!”
He had a perfect view of what happened next. Natalie was just starting a leap, dodging the chupacabra. She transformed in mid-air, becoming the magnificent Gabriel Hound with its moon-bright wings and starlight eyes, and she arrowed straight for the harpy that was Elayne.
Elayne, distracted by the flying kittens and Tirzah’s drone, shot feather darts at her, but they went wild. Natalie soared above her and then, to Ransom’s shock, became a woman. One hand darted into her shirt as she plummeted toward Elayne, and the other seized the harpy by the throat. Ransom caught the glint of glass and silver as Natalie tossed the remaining contents of the vial of shiftsilver straight into the harpy’s beak.
Elayne became an unconscious woman in midair. Natalie, shifting to her winged hound form, closed her jaws around Elayne’s coat and brought her down, dropping her in an unceremonious heap when she landed.
Ransom looked around. Costello, back in human form, lay face-down in shiftsilver cuffs. The quetzalcoatlus was fighting Pete, but she was so much bigger than him that it was easy for Ransom to nail her with a dart. The next instant, Barnes was back in her human form, to be pinned down by a cave bear paw and cuffed by a delighted Tirzah.
“Look out!” Roland shouted, pointing.
A huge Siberian tiger was snarling them from the left.
“There!” Dali yelled, pointing at the identical Siberian tiger growling from the right.
“Another one!” Merlin called, pointing at the Siberian tiger crouched in the Viking ship.
They were everywhere, surrounding his team and Natalie, snarling ferociously.
So that’s Jager’s shift form, Ransom thought. All but one had to be illusions. He could find out which by shooting them all, but he wasn’t sure how many darts he had left.
Heidi and Wally sniffed the air. Then both puppies vanished. Heidi materialized behind one of the tigers, and Wally materialized in front of it. Wally barked fiercely as Heidi lunged forward…
…and Ransom fired.
Jager returned to human form, then let out a howl of pain as Heidi sank her teeth into his ankle.
“Good girl,” Ransom said.
Chapter 31
Natalie called out, “Can someone come handcuff Elayne?”
The instant she saw Carter head over with a pair of shiftsilver cuffs in his hand, she bolted for the ticket booth. She tried the doorknob, then banged on it and shouted, “Ransom? It’s Natalie!”
There was no reply.
“I need medical help!” Natalie yelled, snatching her lockpicks out of her bra.
She opened that lock in record time. Ransom was sitting in the ticket-taker’s chair, but had fallen forward over the desk. Heidi appeared at his feet, tugging at his pant leg and letting out little anxious growls.
Natalie’s fingers trembled as she reached to feel the pulse at his throat.
It was weak but present. Ransom was alive. He’d been willing to give his life to save her—to save everyone—but he hadn’t had to.
She was so overwhelmed by sheer relief that dizziness came over her. It felt completely unlike the kind caused by her damaged heart, but was nearly as powerful. Her legs went out from under her, and she sat down on the floor with a thud.
Natalie didn’t even try to get up. She leaned her head against the wall and thought about how everything she’d thought was unchangeable had shifted into a new pattern.
Ransom would live.
And so would she.
She imagined dust blowing around her ankles, but this time it was the dust of the open road as she and Ransom walked it hand in hand. And at the end of that road was the home they’d share.
Wally appeared in her lap, plonked his paws on her shoulders, and began chewing on her ear.
Roland and Merlin came running in.
“Merlin, help Natalie,” Roland ordered, then went to Ransom and checked him.
Merlin crouched beside her. “Are you hurt?”
She shook her head.
“He doesn’t have any new injuries,” Roland reported. “Looks like he passed out from blood loss and exhaustion. And over-using his powers, knowing him. I’ll take him to the van.”
Roland lifted him and carried him out.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” Merlin asked. “I mean, you’re on the floor.”
“I’m fine,” she said. “I’m happy. It’s just… a lot.”
He put his arm around her shoulders. “I know the feeling. Need a hand?”
A month ago, she would have said no. She didn’t need his help. But she did feel shaky, and some support would be nice. And while she didn’t need him to help her walk, she did need his friendship.
“Yes, please,” she said, and her inner Gabriel Hound wagged her tail.
“Sorry, buddy,” Merlin said to Wally. “You’re about to lose your seat.”
Natalie had to lift him off. He gave her a reproachful look, then vanished. Merlin helped her to her feet, and kept a steadying arm around her shoulders as they walked out.
She wanted to explain why she’d left. She wanted to tell him how much fun Tomato Land was when you weren’t fighting for your life, and that they should all visit it in the daylight. She wanted to ask him what in the world that big blue creature with the tiny wings was. She wanted to apologize for running away without a word, and to promise to never do it again. But there was so much, she didn’t know where to start.
“I missed you,” she said.
“Me too,” said Merlin.
And that felt like enough.
Outside, Carter and Pete were standing guard over the prisoners. Elayne was still out cold, and Natalie hoped she was not enjoying her unexpected visit with her inner harpy. Jager was sprawled in a very uncomfortable position, looking absolutely furious, while Wally stood by his head, growling and barking and occasionally drooling on his ear.
Much as Natalie would have liked to make Jager suffer some more, she wanted to have Wally with her more. “Wally! Come!”
Wally made a sudden rush, bit Jager’s nose, and vanished. Jager let out a shriek of shock and pain, and yelled, “By dose!”
“Serves you right!” Natalie shouted at him. Then she bent to pet Wally, now trotting sedately at her heels. “Good boy.”
Inside the van, she found Ransom lying on a back seat, wrapped in blankets with a pillow under his head. His eyes were closed, but his color was better and he looked asleep rather than unconscious. Heidi was curled up at his feet, the fluffy blue creature was sitting on the floor and licking his hand, the three flying kittens squeezed in around him, and the two women and Roland were clustered around him.
It warmed Natalie’s heart to see so much caring lavished on Ransom. He was clearly in good hands.
She sat down by him and held his hand. Wally appeared beside Heidi, prompting a brief but noisy scuffle between him and the spiky green kitten he’d displaced. It concluded with the kitten jabbing him in the nose with a sharp wingtip, whereupon Wally rolled over and placatingly showed his belly.
Merlin, who had clearly been bursting with the desire to introduce Natalie, indicated the curly-haired woman who used a wheelchair and said, “Natalie, this is Tirzah Lowe, our cybersecurity expert and Pete’s mate.” Then, in a tone of utter adoration, he laid his hand on the shoulder of the woman with black hair and elegantly arched eyebrows and said, “This is Dali Batiste, our office manager and my mate.”
“Oh!” Natalie exclaimed. “Merlin, you have a mate! That’s fantastic!”
“She’s fantastic,” said Merlin proudly. “Dali, Tirzah, this is my best friend from when we were kids, the trapeze artist and acrobat and target girl and apparently now a Gabriel Hound—”
Grinning to herself, Natalie thought, Of course Merlin knows what my shift form is.
“—and Ransom’s mate, Natalie Nash!�
� Merlin concluded.
“Ohhh,” chorused Tirzah and Dali. “We heard about you!”
“You did? Of course, from Merlin.”
“Not just from Merlin,” said Tirzah. “Also from other people at the Fabulous Flying Chameleons. They miss you, you know.”
“Yeah,” Natalie said, sobered by the reminder. “I know. I’ll get back in touch with them.”
“Why’d you leave?” Merlin asked. “Why didn’t you tell anyone where you were going? And how did you and Ransom find each other?”
“Well…” She glanced out the window, trying to think of a short version, and was startled to see a pair of dragons spiraling down out of the sky. “Dragons!”
“They’re friendly,” Roland assured her. “I called them myself. They’re cops. We can’t send dinosaur shifters and wizard-scientists to normal jails.”
Sure enough, the blue and silver dragons landed and became a blue-haired woman and a silver-haired man. They spoke briefly with Pete and Carter, who then came to the van.
Carter came in with his coat wrapped tightly around him, went straight to the back of the van with only a brief but very intent pause to check on Ransom, then declared, “Everyone turn your backs! I need to get dressed.”
“As if anyone wants to see you naked again,” Pete grumbled. He also bent over Ransom, then squeezed Tirzah’s shoulder. “Great work with the drone.”
“My pleasure,” said Tirzah. “Great work with the bat-bird dinosaur.”
“Quetzalcoatlus,” came a quiet voice. Ransom had woken up, though he looked very tired. “Did I miss anything?”
“I’ll catch you up,” said Merlin cheerfully. “The dragon cops are collecting the prisoners, Carter’s getting naked in the back—”
“Merlin!” Carter yelled.
“Everyone, buckle up.” Roland took the driver’s seat. Everyone scrambled to find a seat as he pulled out of the Tomato Land parking lot, heading back to Refuge City.