by RJ Blain
I couldn’t risk using the sword to free him, so I clawed at the knot, snarling with each breath.
Someone grabbed my braid and yanked, jerking my head back. Yelping, I thrust Gentry’s sword around in a haphazard arc. Another yank unbalanced me, and I was forced to clutch at Todd’s mane to keep astride.
Whipping my head around, I got a good look at the man holding me. Our eyes met, and I sucked in a deep breath. My anger erupted out of me in a roar. My left hand throbbed, the pain so intense it blinded me. What felt like an eternity hadn’t taken more than a second or two; the cloth-enshrouded figure still held my braid in a fist. I lifted my left hand, aware of the feel of fur and stiff pads. I slashed down, claws unsheathing and digging deep into flesh. I pulled, tearing through muscle and the delicate bones of his hand.
He screamed and released me.
Lifting Gentry’s sword, I prepared to bring the blade down on the man’s head. I waited too long; Todd heaved beneath me and kicked, both hooves crunching through the man’s breastbone. Blood sprayed, and it took several more kicks for the stallion to dislodge his hoof from the corpse.
“Ew.” I shuddered and turned to reclaim my seat on Todd’s back, my left arm hanging limp at my side, my hand—er, paw—twitching. Pain pulsed up from my wrist to shoulder, stabbing at my neck before bursting in my head.
I clutched the sword so I wouldn’t drop it. Instead of taking the offensive, I waited, luring victims closer so I could dispatch them in as few strokes as possible. It only took three victims, which went by in a blur, for Todd’s assailants to realize approaching either one of us led to one outcome: death.
Forcing my left hand—paw—into motion, I clawed at the rope, snagging the thick strands until I could work the knot loose. I freed Todd and dropped the blood-stained line, panting from exertion and pain. Gentry roared again, and men and horses scattered. Another roar, from behind me, startled me into turning.
Todd’s teeth clamped onto my arm, keeping me astride when I otherwise would have fallen off his back. Anatoly stalked forward, his fur-covered body drenched in blood. He hissed at one of the corpses, swiping at it with his claws before prowling a few steps away, lowering his head.
I spotted Snapper nearby, sprawled on the ground with his neck broken. I growled at the waste of a good horse, flexing my paw and systematically sheathing and unsheathing my claws. My new mare, with her golden, speckled coat flecked with blood, snorted and picked her way towards me, her ears twisted back in equine accusation.
I meant to grab her reins, but my left arm flopped at my side, and I blinked, staring at it, puzzled over its lack of obedience. After several moments, I realized I hadn’t emerged from the fight unscathed; a blade had sliced me from near my elbow, along the bone of my arm, and almost to my wrist. “Shit.”
Blood dripped from Todd’s nose, and he twisted to regard me with a glowing eye. Except for the abrasions around his throat, the stallion seemed to have emerged unharmed. He snorted and shook his head, spraying bloodstained lather over those nearby.
Anatoly growled, catching my attention. He swiped his paw at a Dawnfire mercenary’s cloak, and the man wisely unpinned it and draped it over the tiger shifter’s back. He shifted and rose from a crouch. “We were ambushed just out of sight of the guild. Might’ve gotten away with it, too, if they hadn’t missed me. One of them hit Cherry with a dart, which gave Todd enough warning to shift.”
One of Gentry’s mercenaries draped a cloak over his shaggy shoulders, and the grizzly shifted, panting to catch his breath. “We heard him and came as fast as we could. Head count,” the guild master ordered, snapping his fingers at three of his men, who scattered into the crowd to calm the chaos. “Good work.”
While aware I needed to slide off Todd’s back, it took all my concentration to stay upright. “You lost Gentry’s sword, Ana.”
The tiger grimaced. “It’s under Cherry. When he fell, I got tangled in the stirrup and had a choice of the sword or getting trapped beneath him. Sorry, Gentry.”
“I’m not concerned. Better the blade than the life. You all right, Todd?”
The stallion snorted, and I got the impression if he could have shrugged, he would have. I thrust out Gentry’s short sword towards him to free my hand. Once the grizzly held the hilt, I gestured to the rope marks on Todd’s neck. “They were trying to choke him. Effective if you want to get a horse down, though if they weren’t careful, they might’ve killed him.”
“Good work. Now, get off him before he loses his patience and bucks you off.”
I shifted my weight on Todd’s back, debating the best way to dismount without jarring my injured arm—or cutting him with my claws. Sliding my leg over his rump, I worked my way to the ground, resting most of my weight across my chest and right arm.
Twisting his head around, Todd’s nose brushed against my back, pressing me against him so I wouldn’t pitch off in a heap. His touch woke the nerves near my spine, and all of them informed me something was very, very wrong. I choked out a scream, and then everything went black.
Chapter Thirty-Four
I lost a few seconds somewhere, having no memory of how I went from sliding from Todd’s back to kneeling on the ground, in so much pain I threw up. An arm wrapped around my chest kept me from slumping to the bloody cobbles. My back throbbed to the beat of my racing heart, and my breaths rattled in my chest.
“Get Henry,” Gentry snapped. “You and you, go to Todd’s estate and fetch Cleo. You, figure out where our mystics are and find out why they aren’t here yet. The rest of you, make yourselves useful. If you’re not hurt, you better be doing something.”
The screams of the injured and dying rang in my ears. I was breathing too hard and fast to make much sound at all. I had the sickening feeling if I tried to move, my screaming would add to the cacophony. The dizzying influence of blood loss added to the nauseating lurch of the world around me.
First, I needed to slow my breathing and swallow so I wouldn’t vomit again. “What happened?” I whispered.
Talking helped. If I could talk, I could keep from gasping. As long as I didn’t gasp, maybe I wouldn’t throw up again.
“Someone carved a chunk out of your back. Your arm got cut up, too,” Anatoly growled, his voice coming from over and behind me. I deduced he was the one keeping me from falling to the cobbles. “We didn’t notice until Todd tried to help you down and hit one of the gashes. You were unconscious for a little under a minute.”
Focusing on something—anything—other than my pain would help, too. “How many?”
“How many what?”
“Ambushed you and Todd.”
“Too many. We walked right into the middle of it, thinking it was just regular Charlotte morning traffic. If Cherry…” Grief marred the tiger’s voice. “If Cherry hadn’t been hit, if Todd hadn’t had that small amount of warning, I don’t know what would have happened.”
Gentry snarled, and the grizzly crouched in front of me. “You would have had been kidnapped or killed. I thought this was obvious. Kidnapped, judging from the number of them who came after you. There’s enough bodies here for them to have ambushed all of us together with a good chance of success.”
“That’s a nice sword you got, Gentry,” I mumbled. “They should’ve gone for the sword. Worth more than the tiger or the horse.”
A laugh burst out of the grizzly, and something about the sound made me think he hadn’t meant to let it escape. “You were practically skewered, and you’re thinking about my sword?”
“Beats screaming,” I confessed.
“You’ll be fine. It won’t take Henry long to get here.” Gentry inhaled. “You’re all right holding her a little longer, Anatoly?”
Anatoly’s grip on me tightened. “I wasn’t the one hurt.”
“Hey, Ana.” My throat itched, and I coughed. “I got to ride a pony.”
The tiger sighed. “You’re never going to stop calling me that, are you?”
I wasn’t, but I ignored
his complaint, concentrating on my more immediate concerns. “Is my mare okay?”
“She’s fine. A little jealous you rode a pony, though. A few of Gentry’s men have her. I won’t let them take her away.” Anatoly laughed, and his breath tickled the back of my neck. “Todd looks so offended right now.”
“Shouldn’t have let some pathetic human rope him, then.” I glanced down at my left hand, which was still a paw. I unsheathed my claws. “Hey, Ana. I learned a new trick.”
“Well done. Good timing. Todd appreciates breathing. I’m sure he’ll thank you appropriately once he’s a little calmer. He’s blowing air right now. Next time, worry more about your hide than his. He’s a big, mean, nasty stallion. He can handle getting roped. You could have had been killed.”
Arguing with Anatoly would distract me from the pulsing waves of agony radiating from my back. No matter how hard I tried, however, I couldn’t keep the evidence of pain out of my voice. “I’ll help the big, mean, nasty stallion if I want to. He was a good ride.”
Gentry snickered. “You sure did look good on his back.”
“Gentry!” Anatoly’s fingers dug into my side, and I found the pressure a comfort. “He’s going to burst a vein in his head, and you’re just encouraging her.”
“I’m helping. I’m pretty sure she wants distracted so she doesn’t scream. I’m being helpful.”
“He is,” I confirmed. It took too much energy to hold my head up, so I let my chin droop. “I didn’t even feel the hits. I should’ve.”
“It happens,” Anatoly soothed. “You did just fine.”
Someone whistled, and I glimpsed movement out of the corner of my eye. “Over here, Henry,” Todd bellowed.
Henry knelt beside me, cupped my face in his hands, and lifted my head so I was forced to meet his gaze. The pain vanished along with my interest in the world.
I was vaguely aware of Todd, Gentry, and Henry cutting my clothes so Anatoly could force me to shift into a tiger. It took them all working together to haul me into a carriage. Anatoly refused to induce a second shift, and Henry backed him. Although I hadn’t known him for very long, I recognized Cleo’s voice supporting his fellow mystic’s decision.
Something about the carriage or its horses amused me, but I couldn’t quite figure out what. Time stretched, and it felt like I’d endured a blurred eternity before Anatoly coaxed me to my paws. He held out a bleeding steak and lured me step by trembling step into a marble hall. Crimson drops stained the white floors, and I paused to consider the spots while panting to catch my breath.
My hunger stirred, and I made several clumsy lunges for the meat, my mouth watering. Every attempt, Anatoly thwarted me, dangling the meat so close to my nose I could taste the blood when I breathed.
“That’s right. Not much farther, then you can eat as much as you want. You can clean out the entire palace if you’d like.”
I recognized Anatoly appealing to my predatory nature, but only the thought of having to be dragged kept me upright. Henry walked at my side, his hand on my back. “The room better be close, Nate. She’s only on her paws because of stubborn pride.”
“My suite is just down the hall. That close enough?”
“We’ll find out.”
I made it, barely. I cleared the door, took a few extra steps to prove I could, and flopped onto my side. Kneeling beside me, Anatoly offered me the steak. After walking so far to earn it, I wasn’t about to leave my reward uneaten. Chewing the meat and swallowing sapped my remaining strength.
Henry stroked his hand over my head, leaning to stare into my eyes. “Bite-sized chunks of meat, as fresh as you can get it. If she can’t just swallow, it’s too big. If there’s fish, bring some—no bones. Nate, you’re in charge of making sure she eats. Cleo, thoughts?”
“I think I can whip something up to help with the blood loss. She’s got several infections, too—worst one’s in her throat. You knew about that, Henry?”
“I knew. She’s been sick a while. I had bigger things to worry about. I couldn’t fix everything at once. Gentry?”
“She’s had that cold at least three weeks,” the grizzly confirmed.
“Not your fault, Henry. You’ve done good work, and illnesses aren’t your specialty. Anyway, it’s not a cold. Colds don’t survive shifts very well, and this sucker’s thriving. I’ll get a swab and see if I can get an ID on it. Get her fed, get a lot of liquids into her, and keep her awake.” Footsteps and the closing of a door announced Cleo’s departure.
Henry sighed. “I’ll take care of getting the food. Ignore everything he said about keeping her awake. If she naps until I’m back, I’ll be able to wake her up.”
Anatoly ran his hands over my left foreleg, parting the fur to get a look at my skin. “What do you want us to do in the meantime?”
“Don’t get attacked, avoid attempted kidnappings, and try not to walk into ambushes. I don’t know, maybe don’t get into any more trouble, any of you!” Henry stormed out and slammed the door behind him.
“I think he’s a little upset with us,” Anatoly observed.
Todd chuckled. “I noticed. She’s covered in blood. If we drag her to the pool, she can soak while we wait for Henry and Cleo. We’re not any better. We’ll all feel better once we get cleaned up.”
The thought of moving made me groan, and I stretched my paw towards Anatoly, unsheathing my claws and hooking them into the cloak preserving his dignity.
“Take a shower, Todd. There’s extra bathrobes in the bathroom closet. Gentry, you after him. I’ll go last. Henry and Cleo can get the blood out of her fur easier than we can at this point.”
“Good plan. Shout if you need me.”
“If I shout, I’m pretty sure the Secret Service agents outside the door will go ballistic,” Anatoly muttered. “I’m really surprised they haven’t insisted on invading the suite yet.”
Gentry huffed. “I snarled at them. Snarling works sometimes. Not often, but sometimes. Actually, I may have mentioned you might start killing people if any strangers approached your female while she’s injured. That should keep them in the hallway. Once I shower, I’ll answer their questions.”
“They’re going to want to hear it from me. I’ll take care of them.”
“Any idea who they were?”
Anatoly shook his head. “No. I didn’t recognize any of them. I think you’re right about it being a kidnapping attempt, however. If they wanted us dead, we’d be dead. I don’t think Runs Against Wind was one of the targets. Any one of her injuries could have killed her.”
The tiger’s breaths emerged as low growls.
“Relax, Anatoly. Shifting closed the wounds, and while she’s suffering from blood loss, she’ll be fine. Happens all the time to mercenaries. Give her credit. For a courier, she’s tough. Between Cleo and Henry, she’ll be ready to dive head first into trouble by tomorrow morning.”
“That’s exactly what I’m worried about.”
Someone knocked at the door, and both Gentry and Anatoly tensed. I dredged up enough energy to rise to my paws, baring my teeth in a snarl, turning to face the door. After a long moment of silence, Gentry answered the door, his posture stiff and wary.
“Everyone okay?” a man’s voice demanded.
“Mayor Longfellow,” Gentry greeted, stepping back and opening the door enough for me to see Blossom’s father. Time hadn’t changed him much, although there was more gray in his hair than I remembered. I found it intriguing shifters always looked younger than they were, but their hair often betrayed their age. “Todd’ll have some interesting bruises for a while. Anatoly’s tigress took the worst of it, but she’ll recover.”
The mayor stepped into the suite, closing the door behind him. The wolf’s gaze fell on me, and he whistled. “Well, aren’t you lovely? What happened? I was only told you were attacked.”
When neither Gentry nor Anatoly answered, I turned and swiped my paw at Anatoly’s ankle, careful to keep my claws sheathed. He hopped back a step. “We split up
. Todd and I were going to his estate to fetch Cleo. Runs Against Wind was headed here with Gentry and Henry. We didn’t make it far before we were ambushed. We got lucky. They meant to sedate or poison me but hit my horse instead. That bought Todd enough time to shift. Lost Gentry’s sword in the chaos, so I shifted, too. Todd made a ruckus, and Gentry came as a bear, while Runs Against Wind came on horseback. They were trying to choke Todd out, but Runs Against Wind intervened. She decided to ride him, and our attackers cut her up: hit her back and cut open her arm. She got lucky. If the back injuries had been any deeper, her spine might have been severed.”
Even shifters could suffer permanent paralysis from spinal injuries, and I shuddered at the thought.
“Do you know which one of you was the target?”
“Not Runs Against Wind. I think they were going for the kill.”
Todd stepped into the entry, toweling his dripping hair and wearing a bathrobe. “She could have been the target for all we know. It’s not easy to take down a well-trained fighter, and she killed quite a few men—and I think she would have kept killing them if Dawnfire hadn’t driven them off. If they had mystics with them, they would’ve been able to cripple and take her without killing her. I wouldn’t eliminate her as a target quite yet.”
“I thought we’d already agreed she likely wasn’t one,” Gentry snarled.
“I changed my mind. Any one of those hits could have easily been fatal, and whoever hit her did so without either one of us noticing. I didn’t notice, and she was on my back. Go take a shower before you bite someone, Gentry. We’re bruised up enough without adding a grizzly mauling to it.”
While Dawnfire’s guild master roared, he stalked deeper into the suite.
Two men in black suits opened the door, and Mayor Longfellow waved them away. “The grizzly needed to vocalize so he wouldn’t start biting.”
The guards hesitated but nodded and stepped back into the hallway, closing the door behind them. I stretched out near Todd’s feet, keeping an eye on the door.