by R. L. King
The cat screamed, its own aura flaring as brightly as the men’s. It twisted again, vaulted up, and disappeared under the bleachers as both men fired their guns at it.
Stone ran to the side, keeping low, scanning the area beneath the broken risers for the cat. As dark as it was, it might be able to hide itself in shadows, concealing it from its would-be captors, but it couldn’t mask that blazing green aura. Stone quickly picked it up again and headed toward it.
Surprisingly, though, the men seemed to have no trouble tracking the cat as well. They separated, one heading to one end of the bleachers where it hid, and the other to the opposite end, clearly intending to box it in. To get out, it would have to run past one or the other of them—and they both had guns.
This didn’t seem to disturb it, however. Its screaming cry echoed into the gym’s high rafters and it was on the move again, keeping low. Stone watched through the bleachers’ slats as its aura zigzagged from side to side, almost as if it were aware of the gun and trying to present an erratic target. It didn’t have enough room to execute a mighty leap this time, so instead it launched itself forward with its powerful hind legs and bull-rushed the man, bowling him over. Two gunshots sounded—one from the stricken man, the other from his partner.
Stone, closer now, flicked a quick magical scan back toward the other end. As he did, something on the floor lit up against the darkness, only a few feet away from him. Staying crouched to avoid getting caught in the two men’s gunfire, he darted over and snatched it up.
He recognized it instantly—because he’d seen it before, only a few nights ago.
It was Marciella Garra’s black-onyx pendant—the magical one she’d worn to Mackenzie Hubbard’s party. Its gold chain was broken, its arcane energy flickering faintly.
What? How can this—
Wait—
No. It couldn’t be. That’s not possible. It’s insane!
As farfetched as it was, though, it was the only thing that made sense.
He spun toward the first man, who was clambering back to his feet as the cat came in for a second pass, and pointed his hand, releasing a thundering, wide-beam concussion bolt.
The bolt slammed into the man with the approximate surface area and speed of a bowling ball flung by a giant, hurtling him back into the bleachers. He tumbled over and over, yelping in pain, and came to rest splayed on his back across several rows of risers. He lay still, stunned.
“What the fuck?” the other one yelled, whirling to open fire on Stone.
The bullets spanged off his newly augmented shield. Pink pinpoints flared up where the projectiles hit, but the shield held. Damn, but it felt good to have this kind of power at his command!
Don’t get cocky. You still don’t know what’s going on here.
The cat, meanwhile, hadn’t been idle. Yellow eyes gleaming in the faint light, it streaked on silent paws toward the man who’d just fired on Stone, forcing him to redirect his attention. He managed to squeeze off two shots before the cat took him down, screaming its eerie cry.
“Wait!” Stone yelled, running forward. “Don’t do this!” He focused his concentration again, using a telekinetic grip to grab the man and yank him free of the cat’s grip, flinging him across the room into the nearest wall. He hit hard and dropped in a heap.
Stone ran toward the cat. “Stop,” he yelled. “We can—”
The cat roared, and an instant later something slammed into him from behind. Startled, he let his shield slip for only a second—but that was long enough for the man to get hold of him. Before he could react, he was sailing through the air, far higher and faster than a normal human should have been able to throw him.
Bloody hell, he’s not a normal human. The thought was all he was able to process before he hit the wall hard and rolled down the bleachers.
Okay, change of plans. He rolled up, puffing, and reformed the shield around himself. The hit had hurt, but another side effect of his physical conditioning and extra time at the gym was that he’d been able to twist in the air and land in a more advantageous position. He’d have bruises tomorrow, but nothing was broken or bleeding.
Yet. That could change if he didn’t deal with these guys soon.
One of them was firing at him again, crouched behind some debris a short distance away. He quickly rolled to the side, putting the edge of the bleachers between them and considered his options.
Meanwhile, the other attacker was focused on the cat. The beast had leaped away, ducked low, growling, stalking its opponent. Stone could see from the rippling muscles under its inky pelt that it was prepared to move if the man took another shot at it.
It didn’t appear that was his intent, though. He brought the gun up and feigned a shot, but when the cat jumped to the side, he launched himself forward in the same direction toward it.
He’s going to wrestle it?
The man moved fast—as fast as the cat, which shouldn’t have been possible. He came down on top of it before it could jump free, and as the two rolled on the dirty gym floor, Stone caught the flash of metal in the man’s hand—a knife!—as he slashed downward.
The cat screamed again, this time as much in pain as rage, raking the man with powerful claws and flinging him aside, but the second attacker was ready for it. He squeezed off two quick shots. The cat managed to avoid one of them, but yowled as the second one hit.
“No!” Stone yelled. This was getting out of hand now, and if he didn’t do something soon the cat could be in trouble.
Okay, no more easy shots.
It felt good to gather power to him now—better than it ever had before, using either white or black magic. The energy from magic-rich Calanar flowed into him, raw and potent; he pointed a hand at each of the men and shaped it with his will into the weapons he needed.
“Get out!” he boomed, releasing the energy in the form of crackling lightning bolts that streaked across the darkened gym, wreathing their pathways with bright blue-white light.
Both men shrieked in pain, limbs stiffening, short-cut hair standing on end, eyes bulging. They staggered backward, dropping their weapons, and collapsed to the floor, twitching. After a moment they lay still.
Stone hurried over toward one of them. Had he killed them? He hadn’t specifically been trying to, but he hadn’t held back, either. A quick look with magical sight revealed faintly flickering auras—still alive, then, at least for now. They still had the odd green edging, too, but he didn’t have time to figure that out now.
“Where are you?” he called, turning to look for the cat.
His vision filled with darkness as a snarling, furry form slammed into him. It knocked him to the floor, its paws pressing down on his shoulders, its mouth wide open to reveal long, pointed fangs. Its yellow-gold eyes glared at him, full of rage. As he lay stunned, trying to get his bearings, it unleashed a deafening roar only inches from his face. Its hot breath washed over him. Its claws gripped at him, not quite piercing his shoulders but clearly capable of it.
“Wait!” Stone croaked, panting. “Dr. Garra—stop!”
21
For a second that stretched to an eternity, Stone feared his wild, mad speculation had been wrong, and the cat would sink its teeth into his throat before he could get his shield back up. He stared up into the creature’s blazing eyes, panting, and waited.
After a moment, the pressure on his shoulders lessened—but only slightly. The cat pulled its head back, still glaring down at him but closing its mouth. It growled something that almost sounded like words—and then it was changing.
The massive, heavily muscled black jaguar seemed to melt away, backing off, rising to a standing position. And then it was gone, replaced by a familiar—and naked—figure, blood running down her body from several wounds.
Stone, still panting, scrambled to his feet. “Dr. Garra…”
Garra’s glare had not receded in the slightest following her transformation. She was still looking at him as if regretting she hadn’t torn his throat
out, and didn’t seem at all self-conscious or embarrassed about her lack of clothing.
“Stone…” she said, and her voice held the same growl as the cat’s had. “I should have known…” She didn’t seem worried about the wounds, either.
“What—?” Stone began, but then looked down at himself, realizing the illusion generator was still active. He switched it off; the hoodie changed to his normal black T-shirt and long, dark coat. He stared at her. “Bloody hell, you are.”
“I should kill you…” she snarled. “I knew it was you—you couldn’t fool me with that illusion. It didn’t hide your scent—just like I couldn’t miss it in my office. I should have known you were a mage.”
Stone didn’t stop to wonder how she knew about mages. He risked a glance at the two fallen attackers. “Listen—unless you’re planning on killing me just now, we should get out of here. I suspect those two are going to wake up any moment. I don’t know where they got strength and resilience like that, but I don’t fancy seeing it in action again right now, do you?”
“Give me my amulet,” she ordered, thrusting a hand toward him. “I saw you pick it up.”
Stone pulled the onyx pendant from his pocket. “What is this thing, anyway? Your own version of my illusion generator?” He focused on her face; despite her confident stance and clear lack of concern about her nudity, he nonetheless found her impressive figure distracting and it was throwing him off his game.
She snatched the pendant from his hand, but her angry expression turned to one of dismay as she held up the chain. “No…it’s broken…”
Stone shrugged out of his coat and offered it to her. “Here. This should do for now until we can find you some clothes. If you let me take a look at your amulet later, I might be able to sort it out for you.”
“You stay away from me,” she snapped, but she did grab the coat.
“I’m not your enemy, Dr. Garra—or whoever the hell you are.” He backed off, turning pointedly away to give her time to cover up. “I just want to know what’s going on. I think you owe me that much for saving your life.”
She snorted. “You didn’t save my life. I would have handled them just fine on my own if you hadn’t come along.”
“I’m not so sure. Do you know who they are? Or why they’re after you?”
“No,” she said after a pause, and now she sounded more troubled than angry. “I don’t know who they are. I’ve never seen them before. They’re far stronger and tougher than normal humans.” The glare resurfaced. “Perhaps they’re mages—like you. Perhaps you’re working together.”
“Don’t be absurd. Why would I be working with that lot?” He jerked his head toward the door. “Now—you’re injured. Do you want to wait until they wake up and have another go at us, or shall we get the hell away before they do?”
She studied him for several more moments, with the same sort of look he got when examining auras. “All right,” she said grudgingly. “Let’s go.” She’d donned Stone’s coat and buttoned it; it hung down nearly to her ankles, effectively covering her. Without waiting for his response, she stalked toward the door.
Stone glanced back toward the two fallen attackers, both of whom were already showing signs of stirring. Then he jogged after her, noting that she didn’t move like someone who’d just been shot.
“Will you trust me?” he asked. “It’s fairly deserted around here so I don’t know if anyone heard those gunshots, but if they did, the police will be here soon. Best if they don’t find us when they arrive, yes?”
“What are you going to do?” Suspicion still laced her voice.
“Make it less likely that anyone will notice us. Where did you park?”
She pointed in the same direction as Stone had left the BMW. “A couple of blocks away. I’ve got some extra clothes in my car.”
“All right—let’s go, then. Stay close to me.”
She didn’t ask questions, but merely glared at him and moved closer.
Stone settled a disregarding spell around them and started toward the fence. Garra easily kept up with his long stride despite being barefoot on uneven terrain.
“How did you get past the fence?” he asked when they drew near it. “Did you find a hole somewhere?”
“I jumped over using a trash can. The person I was supposed to meet said he’d leave a gate open on the other side, but I didn’t trust him.”
“Let’s make things a bit easier, then. Hold still.”
“What are you—”
He cast a levitation spell on both of them, lifting them up and over. When they’d touched down again, she let her breath out. “I don’t know if I should trust you, either.”
“Well, you’ve got my coat, and my wallet’s in there. So if you take off at this point, I could be in trouble. Suppose we trust each other, at least until we get out of this?”
She grunted an affirmative and set off down the street.
As it turned out, she’d parked less than two blocks away from the BMW, farther up the same street. They passed his car first and he dropped the disregarding spell he’d cast on it.
Garra frowned. “I walked right past this spot. How did I not notice your car here?”
“Magic. Get in—no point walking two blocks in bare feet.”
The suspicion rose again, but after a moment she climbed into the front seat. “Why were you following me?” she asked in the darkness as he rolled off.
“That’s a bit of a long story. I have questions for you, too—would you be willing to go somewhere with me to talk about it?”
He thought she might decline when she drew a sharp breath, but then she let it out. “I suppose I don’t have a choice. I still don’t trust you—but I don’t think you’re involved with those men.”
“Well, that’s a start, I suppose. I assure you, I’m not. Are you all right? They hurt you. I thought I saw one of them shoot you.”
“I’m fine. I…heal quickly.”
“Yes, I noticed that the other night.”
They reached her red Honda and he pulled in behind it. “You said you’ve got clothes in your car—I can use an illusion to cover you while you change if you like.”
“It doesn’t matter to me,” she said with a shrug. “People have such issues with nudity. It’s ridiculous. But I suppose it will make things easier if no one sees us.”
Stone kept watch while she ducked to remove a key she’d left in a magnetic case under her car, then opened her trunk and pulled out a folded set of clothes. “All right—go ahead and change. You won’t see anything different, but I promise, the rest of the world—including me—won’t see anything but empty street. Tell me when you’re finished.”
Surprisingly, this time the suspicion didn’t return. Either she believed him, or she didn’t care if he watched her dress. Either way, he did as he’d told her he would, scanning the area around them with magical sight to make sure the two attackers weren’t approaching.
“All right—I’m ready.”
He dropped the illusion to reveal her standing behind her car, clad now in jeans, T-shirt, and dark-red leather jacket, holding out his coat. “Thank you,” she said.
“Think nothing of it.” He put the coat back on and looked around again for anyone approaching. He didn’t hear any sirens, which was a good sign. Perhaps the area had been too deserted for anyone to hear the gunshots.
She slid behind the wheel of the Honda. “So, what now? Where do you want to go?”
“Just follow me—I think I remember passing a restaurant on the way over here. It’s not too far. I think we could both do with a cup of coffee. I’d actually prefer a stiff drink or two, but that’s probably not the best idea at present.”
22
Ten minutes later, they were seated in a booth at the back of a dimly-lit Mexican diner, both of them casting occasional glances out the window to verify no one had followed them. Stone regarded Garra over a large cup of steaming coffee. “So—suppose you start.”
She flick
ed her gaze up, a shadow of the old anger flashing across her face. “Why me?”
“Because you’re the one who faked her identity to get a job at the University, and—oh, yes—changes into a giant black panther.”
“How did you know that?” she asked, eyes widening in surprise. “That I faked my identity, I mean.”
“Yes, I figured. The cat bit was rather obvious. What are you, anyway? Some sort of—panther shapeshifter? I’ve heard of shifters, but I’ve never met one. I wasn’t even sure there were any anymore. They’ve got to be quite rare, yes?”
“Yes. Jaguar, actually.” She looked down at her hands. “Rarer by the year, unfortunately. Most of us don’t live among normal humans. Those who do make a point to keep their heads down and remain…discreet. And most don’t live in such populous areas.” She sipped her coffee. “How did you figure it out?”
“It wasn’t difficult, once I found the amulet. I wasn’t sure I was right—when I first came upon you and those two men, I thought I’d stumbled into something that had nothing to do with you. That’s why I helped them at first.”
“What changed your mind?”
“I saw their auras. They were—strange. And I made the connection between you and the amulet. Remember, I asked you about it at Hubbard’s party?”
“Yes…”
“That wasn’t because I was admiring its design. I saw it was magical, and that raised my curiosity. I don’t often see mundanes wearing magic items. That meant either you weren’t a mundane, or you had some connection to someone who wasn’t.”
“Is that why you broke into my office?” Her eyes narrowed. “You did do that, right?”
“Guilty,” he admitted. “How did you figure it out? I was careful to—ah.” He nodded as he put it together. “I was careful—but I couldn’t disguise my scent.”
“Exactly. You were nervous, I could tell. But I don’t know what you were looking for. Were you trying to find the amulet?”