I burst out laughing. “Really?”
Gunnar slowly swiveled his eye my way, and gave a slight nod between cuts. “It chafes in this form. Especially around the neck where my collar is.”
“Halloween is over, so why are you planning on walking around as a wolf-man?”
He shrugged slightly, careful not to interfere with the barber, who was leaned down over Gunnar’s neck with a pair of scissors, cutting carefully. He cursed a few times, reached into his drawer, stared down at a new pair of scissors, and then sighed, resuming with the first pair of inadequate shears. Apparently, wolf fur was harder to cut than human hair, and he was already using his sharpest pair.
“I find it more necessary than you might think,” Gunnar murmured, tilting his head back to expose his throat. “In this form, I can maintain rationality while utilizing the strength of my beast. If only the most powerful werewolves can do this, I figure there must be lasting benefits. It also serves to remind everyone who I am. Both my friends, and my foes,” he added with a light growl. “I don’t need anyone else getting attacked while someone is looking for the Alpha. This way there can be no mistaking it. Anyone wants trouble, they know exactly whom to come to.”
I blinked. “You’re saying that you are getting your fur trimmed so that you can be a more recognizable target.”
He shrugged. “That’s one reason. Like I said, the clarity of this hybrid form is quite… thrilling.” He smiled through wicked fangs, causing the barber to flinch a bit, thinking he had nicked the werewolf. The man didn’t look the slightest bit alarmed at cutting a werewolf’s hair. Just that he might have cut him. Then again, it was after hours, so the man had to have known this would be a special visit. Maybe he was a wolf, too.
I watched in silence as the maybe-werewolf-barber continued trimming Gunnar’s ruff. His icy blue eye tracked the barber’s scissors in the opposite mirror, ready for an attack in this vulnerable position. The barber finally stepped back. “This should help with the… discomfort of mortal clothes while in your Alpha form.” He leaned in, made another quick snip that only would have bothered a perfectionist, and then tossed the shears into a glass jar full of a blue antiseptic solution.
Gunnar stared in the mirror, nodding finally.
The barber took off the cape around Gunnar, used a blow dryer to get the last of the loose fur away, and then stepped back again. Gunnar unfolded from his chair, Tee bulging and stretching over his massive wolf-man bulk. He saw me staring and grinned.
“I’m convinced that Under Armour was designed for werewolves, by werewolves. The spandex material is perfect for accommodating my shifts.” It looked like he was wearing a Batman costume, so perfectly defined were the contours of his musculature underneath the thin fabric.
The world was unfair. He must have understood the look on my face, because he grinned.
He paid the man, hopefully for two haircuts, and then followed me outside. “Jeffries called me earlier. Told me you two spoke.” Gunnar said carefully. “I backed up your statement.”
I frowned back at him, not sure whether to be angry or thankful. Jeffries and Gunnar had worked together in the FBI, so his confirmation would go a long way. Then again, Jeffries didn’t need confirmation. He could sense lies. Which meant I was kind of angry that he felt he needed to back up my statement.
Ashley saved me from answering as she rolled the window down from inside a shiny new silver Yukon Denali XL. Silver car for a werewolf. I rolled my eyes at the arrogance, but was mildly proud. Ashley studied him with a hungry smile, and then whistled in approval. I shook my head with a grin, turning back. Gunnar had flung a pea coat around his shoulders, and was shoving his arms through. He popped the collar, striking a dramatic figure in the dark night. His white wolf head stuck out above the black wool coat, lone eye squinted as his body struck an arrogant pose for Ashley’s benefit. She hooted and hollered, even honking the horn once. White furred claws peeked out from Gunnar’s sleeves – again, a hybrid of wolf and man – sporting long obsidian claws, but more in the shape of a giant man’s hand, not the paw of a full-blown wolf. He looked absolutely terrifying.
And intimidating.
And… Royal.
“Alright, GQ. Let’s go. I need to talk with you about my BM problem.”
He frowned back, finally opening his long wolf jaws to reply. “I don’t want to hear about your bowel movement issues, however fascinating they may seem to you.”
I scowled. “The Beast Master,” I clarified, rolling my eyes.
He frowned, looking suddenly uncomfortable. “Look, Nate. No one wants to catch this punk as bad as me, but I have something that needs taking care of tonight. Pack business.” He walked up to me, placing a giant claw on my shoulder. “Why don’t you take a night off, and we’ll plan a hit for tomorrow night, or a way to break into the circus and save everyone. Maybe call in a few cards for help. I think everyone is mutually vested in the outcome of the Beast Master. You just need to remind them of it.”
I opened my mouth in disbelief, and then closed it. “You’re… busy?” I asked, dumbfounded.
He nodded, looking guilty. “It shouldn’t take long. But this is vitally important, and…” he looked truly uncomfortable now. “You seem a little bit out of sorts lately. I think the… Grimm business is getting to you. And the family angle.” He emphasized the word, referring to Ichabod. “And maybe a whole bunch of other stuff you haven’t allowed yourself to process.”
I stared back in disbelief. “What are you talking about?”
He gripped my shoulders tighter in his arms, and stared at me intently with his lone eye. “You were talking to yourself on the roof. Alucard told me about it. And I’ve caught you – a lot of times, now – muttering to yourself as you grip your cane.” I instantly released the handle in my fist, unaware I had been gripping it. He noticed, nodding as if to prove his point. “Then you were caught unaware by Rufus, which I didn’t think was possible for you. Then the news with Indie…” He shook me gently. “Take a night off, man. Find your center. We can’t have you going off half-cocked. Kids are involved this time.”
Seeing the hollow socket and scar where his other eye had been reminded me that when I had taken dangerous adult monsters into a fight, even they hadn’t been well-enough equipped to survive it unscathed. What would happen if kids were involved? And if I was half-cocked like he thought?
I sighed in frustration. “Look, you’re right, but these kids don’t have time for that. One of them is in danger. Tonight. Hell, we may already be too late! An Amber Alert went off earlier.” Gunnar nodded, grimacing. “So, my personal sense of peace doesn’t really factor into the equation. The fucker took someone last night. A red dragon.” Gunnar winced, at least it looked like a wince on a wolf. “But I have reason to believe that the Amber Alert wasn’t our target. Just another Amber Alert. Like the handful we’ve seen over the past few days.” I trailed off. “I hope.”
He let out a long breath. “How many wackos are kidnapping kids these days?” He growled angrily, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Fine. I’ll be finished shortly.” Ashley honked her horn lightly, as if to emphasize this. He frowned at the car, but nodded before turning back to me. “Let Ashley and me take care of tonight. Tell us where the kid is, and I’ll be sure he’s safe. Or she.” His face looked calculating for some reason.
I was already shaking my head. “No. I’m going with.”
He studied me like a petulant child. “No. If you want my help at all, then you need to go back home. Take a breather. This Maker thing is too dangerous for you to be out of control with it. You’re also emotionally unstable when it comes to kids in danger. Or women. I’ll take care of this. Go home.”
I could feel the command. He was trying to use his Alpha power on me. Which meant that I knew he wasn’t going to back down, no matter what I said. And this tipped my patience down a dark, bottomless hole where it died. “Fine. I’ll take a break. But if I feel calm in an hour, I’m going in. I’ll c
all you to see if you’re done with your club meeting. Must be awfully important for you to choose it over a kid’s life,” I growled, turning my back on him. “I would hate to inconvenience your dinner plans just to save a life.”
God chose that moment to bitch slap me. One second I was lifting my foot to storm away, the next I was pounded into a pile of empty trash cans a dozen feet away. I jumped to my feet, the dark voice whispering into my ears, ready to destroy everything around me, and sort out the facts later. Ashley was staring through the windshield of her idling SUV, eyes wary over the werewolf claws now gripping the steering wheel.
Gunnar stood staring at me patiently, his hand still extended from where he had punched me. His eye trailed down to my hip meaningfully. I realized I was gripping the sword cane with tight knuckles. I released it as if it was scalding hot, and cast my eyes down in shame, panting as I fought against the Dark Presence. It submitted with a disappointed grumble. A few seconds later, I looked up to find Gunnar staring at me from his giant wolf head, arms folded.
“Fine. You’re right. I’m a little stressed right now. Maybe I should go take a break.”
He nodded. “I’ll call you when I’m finished, but I don’t think I’m going to change my mind. Ashley and I will take care of this one. You can join us tomorrow. Text me the address.”
I wanted to lay waste to the SUV, slam him into the building, light the street on fire… and I began to snarl a threat at the Dark Presence inside of me for thinking such things.
But only a silent laughter echoed up from my soul. I shivered, understanding dawning.
Those thoughts had been all me.
I gave a short, harsh nod, and turned on my heel. I reached the end of the street, rounded the corner, and once out of sight, ducked into a shop entrance, hidden. I watched for a few minutes until I saw the SUV drive past me, and then out of sight.
I plucked out my phone and made a call.
“Oh, this ought to be fun…” a silken voice answered.
“I need a wing…chick. You free?”
“Only if you promise death, screaming, and destruction.”
I smiled. “I know how to show a girl a good time, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Chapter 26
We were ducked behind a dumpster in a filthy alley, outside of another soup kitchen. “You sure you can identify a Freak on sight? Without them doing anything?”
The Huntress looked distracted. “I stalk. I hunt. I kill.”
I guessed that was a yes.
I watched the constant flow of filthy bodies in and out of the building. “I don’t think they’re going to try a smash-and-grab with all these people around. That would be stupid. We go in silent. Like the G in lasagna.”
The Huntress slowly turned to me with a condescending frown. Then, without looking, she whipped her bow into position, aimed directly above us with an arrow already drawn, and loosed it before I even had time to widen my eyes. The arrow hissed up towards the fire escape, and a raptor-like scream split the night amidst a blur of feathers. Then a man crashed down the fire escape with loud bangs and clangs, to land inside our dumpster. The lid promptly crashed closed, effectively trapping him. The sea of homeless people near the soup kitchen began to scatter like a herd of cats fleeing a charging dog, shouting, yelling, and stumbling over each other in their haste.
I stared at the Huntress, ignoring the mayhem. “What the hell was that? That was not silent!”
“A werehawk of some kind. Probably not a werepigeon,” she added dryly.
A fucking werehawk? How could she be so calm about that? And surely there was no such thing as a werepigeon… Her face gave me nothing to go on. “Well, let’s go question him!” I blurted.
She shook her head, calmly studying the screaming people running about the entrance to the soup kitchen. “He’s dead.”
I hissed. “Well, what the hell was the point of that, then?”
She opened her mouth to answer, but her eyes instantly grew distant, and she hissed, jumping to her feet to pelt down an alley without waiting for me. “We’re not alone! There are more!”
And I heard it. The sounds of violent fighting from an adjacent alley. I cursed, tearing after the Huntress. I didn’t want to rely on the power and knowledge of the Dark Presence any more than I absolutely had to. I silently promised myself to only use him as a last resort. I felt him growling in disappointment at my mental promise as I forcibly shoved people out of my way, tripping and stumbling into a brick wall.
Which saved my life.
A vampire flew right past me, fangs snapping closed on my coat rather than my throat, ripping off a large chunk of fabric. I skidded to my knees, spun, and unleashed a wallop of purple power, angled up at the sky. I had practiced this one all by myself, and was proud of it.
A small wave of violet electricity uppercut the vampire, and upon contact, latched onto his ankles and turned into the equivalent of a Looney Tunes rocket, spraying sparks as it carried him screaming high up into the night sky. A small supernova exploded above the opposite building where the werehawk had been hiding, marking the vampire’s demise. I grew momentarily dizzy as I watched the explosion, and the delayed thump suddenly hit me in the chest like a giant feather pillow, knocking me onto my ass. It looked as if some big idiot had set off a commercial-grade firework.
Except for the screams.
But the Ultraviolet explosion had incinerated all evidence of the attacker.
I climbed to my feet, shook off my dizziness, and scanned the area for immediate danger. Seeing nothing, I tore off after the sounds of fighting, racing through the alley to find a small opening between buildings. Brick exploded past my ear as a werewolf crashed into the corner of the adjacent building, falling to the ground in a pitiful whine. I looked up to find a fucking Gorilla staring at me.
Except his fur was blue.
Really blue. And crackling with static electricity. And his shoulder sported three arrows. Not that it seemed to faze him at all. Hell, blue arcs of electricity even trailed up to the tips like a Tesla experiment before fading away.
His eyes blazed with blue fire, and he roared at me, the sound like a physical burst of pressure. I held up my forearm on instinct, but no magical power came at me.
I lowered my arm to see a half dozen wolves suddenly pepper him from all sides in a coordinated attack. The gorilla grabbed one by the ruff of the neck and threw him into another wall, seeming to laugh at the puppies nipping at his thick fur. Another dove at him, and he hammered his giant fists down into the pavement, using their length to lift his body high as he tucked his giant legs up. The wolf’s jaws snapped shut on empty air as he skidded beneath the gorilla. The damned dirty ape stomped down on him, and I heard bones break.
A white-furred beast of a man slammed into the gorilla, claws slicing open the monster’s cheek before the ape went flying into the wall. The building shook, and several metal poles broke free from the fire escape above, slamming into the pavement near the gorilla. I blinked at the werewolf’s familiar coat, which was now shredded. The other wolves darted clear, leaving my friend to face the gorilla alone as it scrambled to its feet, screaming at the white one-eyed werewolf.
I seethed with rage, briefly entertaining joining forces with the gorilla to smack the shit out of my best friend. “Meeting, eh?” I snarled, vision now pulsing blue at the combination of my emotions and my power.
He didn’t reply, but his shoulders did twitch in guilt as he continued to stare down the gorilla.
I saw a group of figures fighting in the alley behind Gunnar, and then heard a sharp scream.
Two sharp screams, to be precise.
A little girl, and a grown woman.
“GUNNAR!” Ashley screamed in a desperate wail.
“NATE!” the Huntress yelled almost at the same time from the same direction as Ashley. Gunnar shot me a panicked look, but the gorilla wasn’t having any of it. He had picked up one of the metal poles, and was barreling towards the Alph
a werewolf. They met in an explosive thud as Gunnar dodged the pole, and I heard him growling in a strained roar. “Get the girls, Nate!”
I didn’t have to be told twice.
I ran straight at the fighting hulks, watching as Gunnar’s eye shot wide in confusion, but then I used a boost of power to catapult myself over them. I looked so cool.
Then I landed wrong, on top of one of the other injured werewolves, eliciting a sharp yelp of surprise, and a quick slash of claws on my leg that felt like fire. I crashed to the pavement, shot a blast of power at the wolf as he instinctively attacked the body that had just crashed into him. The wolf went sailing straight into the gorilla, knocking him off balance for Gunnar. The wolf grunted again as it struck the blue gorilla, and then sailed off into one of his brethren. The wolves hunkered low, growling at me, but I ignored them, scrambling as I dizzily tore off after the sound of the screams. I heard the slamming of car doors, and the repetitive thwack, thwack, thwack of the Huntress’ bow and arrow.
I rounded the corner to the sound of screeching tires at the far end of the alley. Arrows riddled the side of a retreating van, one even stuck in the tire, which had gone flat as a result.
But that wasn’t enough to stop them. The van disappeared from sight, and the Huntress cursed, rounding on me. “Took your damned time!” she yelled, taking an aggressive step towards me.
I threw my hands in the air. “You forgot to mention the fucking scene from Jumanji back there!” I yelled right back, then my eyes shot wide and I whirled back around, realizing Gunnar was still fighting the gorilla. If we could catch him and question him, maybe we could find out where Ashley and the kid had been taken.
But I came face-to-face with Gunnar, striding towards me, claws dripping dark blood, and two or three wolves shadowing him like deadly sentinels. His eye was ablaze, and his muzzle was bloody, whether the blood was the gorilla’s or his own, I wasn’t sure. His coat was tattered and burned, hanging freely from one shoulder, the other side simply gone. He shook it off, not even looking as it fell to the filthy pavement, leaving him in the now equally tattered and burned spandex shirt I had seen him wearing at the barbershop.
Beast Master: A Novel in The Nate Temple Supernatural Thriller Series (The Temple Chronicles Book 5) Page 15