by Faith Hunter
I pointed to the side of the fridge and waggled two crooked fingers, miming climbing stairs, before I stepped over parts of a chair and put my back against the wall. Air flow was moving slowly along the steps, with cooler air moving downstairs near the floor and warmer air near the ceiling rising to the second story, mixing and commingling right where I was breathing. I dropped to one knee and opened my mouth, drawing in air from above over my tongue and the roof of my mouth.
There was the usual herbal smell—sage, grass, and a faint undertang of pine—and there was the fermented smell, slightly beery, I’d come to associate with Naturaleza. But beneath it, like the odd bottom note of a really weird cologne, was a dry, musty, limy scent, like cement dust and roaches. I tried to remember if I’d smelled this particular stink when the vamps attacked Eli and me in the woods, but I hadn’t noticed it. The air had been open and moving there. Here the vamp reek was concentrated, and it smelled dry and scaly, like Francis in Esmee’s garage.
I stayed where I was, kneeling, parsing the scents until I was certain. Upstairs were at least two, maybe three vamps. I held up two fingers, made a waffling motion with my hand, and held up three fingers. Eli bent and looked up the stairs quickly, pulled back, and nodded. He pointed to the flashbangs on his belt. I hesitated and then shook my head. I couldn’t explain it, but the place felt open and large. Flashbangs worked best in enclosed spaces and small rooms.
He shrugged and gave me a thumbs-up. I rose, readied my shotgun, and peeked up the stairs into the pitch-dark. Eli didn’t have his low-light equipment with him. He would be blind. I pulled on Beast’s night vision and speed, taking the steps two at a time, not bothering with stealth, my boots pounding on the treads. My vision expanded into sharp focus, blues and greens and silvers. The upstairs was one large room, exposed rafters, wood floor, low furniture, the ceiling held up with columns. The first vamp charged as I cleared the stairs. I swiveled the M4, squeezed the trigger, and took off his head. He fell as the boom reverberated, and I lost hearing. I raced inside and felt the vamp more than saw her as she leaped at me. From across the room.
I missed the head shot, my round taking her in the shoulder, spinning her off course enough for me to drop the shotgun on its sling as I drew the vamp-killer. She landed with a bounce on her injured side, and screamed the high-pitched squeal of the dying or severely injured vamp. It was loud enough to hurt even above the shotgun-induced deafness. I raised the blade and brought it down with my weight behind it, grunting hard.
The strike cut through the side of her neck and buried the blade in the floor. She stopped moving on one side, so I’d done some spinal damage, but she clawed at me with her other hand. I glanced around, making sure I wasn’t under attack by the remaining vamp, and put a foot on her chest, yanking to free the blade. The fast healing of the Naturaleza half-sealed the cut. She was screaming and brought up her hand to grab the blade. I kicked her hand and brought down the blade again, taking her head with a whack that jarred my arm. Her head rolled free; blood gushed. The usual gore, but this time with the odd stink I’d noticed. Spidey-vamp stink.
I raced to the center of the room, hearing Eli shouting, “Lights!” I whirled, seeing nothing, then stopped and closed my eyes. Electric light flooded the place. And the last vamp rammed Eli, taking him to the ground. She was fleshy and powerful, dressed in what might have once been a white dress but was now covered with dried blood and filth. Her dark hair streamed out behind her like a whip as the two impacted.
With my left hand I pulled a silver stake, knowing that the silver wouldn’t be deadly even if I hit her heart but all the other weapons might injure Eli. The Ranger rolled, lifting her over his body, ramming her into the wall. I sprinted across the room, bringing my left arm over my head. She rebounded from the wall and landed on Eli before he could find his feet, her momentum bowling them both over. I timed my steps and brought my arm down, piercing her dress, back, and internal organs. Not feeling the heart give, knowing I’d missed. And made her mad.
She raised her head and hissed. I was pulling the M4 around to fire when she leaped. And landed on me.
Her fangs caught my elbow, biting deep, tearing flesh. I didn’t feel the pain yet, not with the adrenaline flooding my system. But she was too close to position the shotgun. She growled, and I felt the vibration through the flesh of my arm. She shook me like a wolf shakes prey, to break bones. I felt something inside snap and was instantly nauseous. I fell and rolled with her. Her taloned hands stabbed at me, hitting my jacket and catching on the thin, silvered mesh between the leather and me.
Her jaws ripped out of my arm and I felt it this time. Her fangs tore at my throat, raking at the silver-plated titanium collar, guttural growls coming from her throat. When she couldn’t bite through the mesh, she lifted my head and rammed it against the floor, her talons breaking the skin of my scalp. I saw stars for a moment, sparkles of white on a black surface. My vision cleared with a blink to see a metal bar that became the barrel of a shotgun.
The blast shredded the back of her head. She fell away from me. Leaving me gasping on the floor. A second blast took her through the throat, decapitating her. Eli stood over her, making sure she was dead. “Clear,” I whispered softly, knowing she was the last one.
He raised the gun and I wasn’t surprised to see the M4. I’d dropped it along the way to nearly being vamp bait. He hadn’t understood, or maybe hadn’t heard, my clear, and he walked the perimeter of the entire story, checking for other fangheads while I eased up into a sitting position, fished a tourniquet from a pocket, and clumsily tried to get it around my left arm. The bone was sticking through the leather. “Humerus,” I whispered, and laughed, because it wasn’t humorous at all. My stomach rebelled. I twisted to the side and threw up my lunch.
I was gasping, the room tilting at a ninety-degree angle. The blood spurting across my arm to the floor seemed important, but I couldn’t figure out what to do about it. There was a lot of blood. A lot.
The buzz in my ears went higher pitched, annoying. I shook my head to clear it, but all I did was sling my blood from the talon wounds across my face.
Eli pushed my fingers to the side and secured the tourniquet, his hands feeling hot on my chilled skin. I was going into shock. His lips were moving but I couldn’t hear anything except the roar in my head. My vision telescoped down into a single bright light, and then to the blood-spatter stains on the timbers over my head.
CHAPTER 17
I Know I’ll Have to Choose
My next coherent moment showed me Eli on the cell, his lips moving. He’d propped me against a center roof support. He closed the phone. I went dark again, and woke to see him taking off my boots. Which was just wrong. His fingers undid the Velcro and the ties beneath, pulling off the boot to expose my white cotton sock. I blinked and my eyes felt dry, like I had ground glass in them. I knew that was a bad sign, but couldn’t remember what kind of bad sign it was. “Eli? Whatcha doin’?”
He looked up for a moment and back to my feet. “Good. You’re back. Rick’s on the way. He says you have to shift to heal the arm.”
“You called Rick?” I realized I could hear, the annoying buzz had damped to little more than a high hum. “Why?”
“Boy Toy’s the closest thing to furry I know. You took a blow to the head. He says you might have trouble shifting.”
“Yeah?” That seemed off. “How’s he know that?”
“He’s Big Brother PsyLED. He knows his sh— his stuff.”
PsyLED knew about skinwalkers? How? Oh yeah. Rick would have told them about me. And they probably had lots of old papers and reports for intel, way more than in the woo-woo room in New Orleans cop central. I worried with that thought while Eli pulled off my other boot. PsyLED knowing all about me was info I didn’t know what to do with, so I concentrated on what I did know. Or did want to know. “So, why’re you taking off my boots?”
“And your pants.”
“You try”—I stopped to breathe and reali
zed I was woozy—“to take off my pants”—more breaths—“and I’ll shoot you.”
“I disarmed you.” I looked down and realized that while I was unconscious, he had unzipped my jacket, pulled my good arm out of my sleeve, and taken every single weapon. They were piled close by, but too far to reach at the moment. I looked back down. I had blood all over my nice, clean silk-knit undershirt. “Well, crap.”
“Yeah. Rick said you had to be naked to shift.”
“I can get out of my pants and shirt . . . after I shift . . . if you just undo my belt.”
Eli gave me that little nonsmile, but I saw the worry in his eyes. “And here I was hoping I’d finally get to see you naked.”
“Wish on, Ranger Boy.”
He chuckled softly. “I adore you, you know. If you die on me, I’ll be seriously pissed.”
That idea rested on me for a moment, as heavy as my silver-lined jacket. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. For all you’ve been in a funk for weeks like some hormonal PMS woman, we’re family now. So don’t die.”
“PMS woman.” I giggled. “Puma Monster Skinwalker. Panther Marshmallow Sabertooth.”
“Yeah. Funny.” He pulled off both socks, leaving my feet pale blue and vulnerable. He stared at them as he said, “You have to shift.”
“Okay.” Which seemed a totally stupid thing to say after a declaration of familyhood. I should tell him I adored him back. But I didn’t. I just blinked at him, puzzled. I have a family? “My arm hurts.” I looked down and saw a lot of blood. “Oh. Yeah.” I looked at Eli. “I have a dangerous job. People keep trying to kill me.”
“Yeah. Been there. I took off your vamp collar. Once you shift, Rick says you need to eat, so he’s bringing you some raw steaks. But you need to do it fast. I haven’t called it in, but the neighbors will have heard the shots fired.”
“If I shift,” I mumbled, “I can’t shift back to human.”
“What?” He looked stunned.
“I’ll stay a cat until sunset. That’s the soonest I can shift back.”
He looked at his watch. “It’s an hour to sunset. What the hell am I going to do with a mountain lion?”
“Be dinner, if the steaks take too long to get here,” I deadpanned. And then giggled.
Eli shook his head, as if shaking away an insect or something he couldn’t control. “What do I do to help?”
I raised my good hand and gripped the gold nugget. In the distance I heard sirens. I frowned. “Did you take pics of the dead vamps?”
“You’re going into shock and you’re worried about pictures?”
“Money.” My lips weren’t moving right and felt numb. I licked them, and my tongue was dry, sticking to my lips and pulling on the cracked skin. Not good signs. “I have a family to support, you know.”
I thought about the snake in the heart of the mountain lion tooth. And dropped into the gray place of the change.
• • •
Painpainpain. Like claws of bigger predator, ripping at bones. I saw Eli back away from gray lights and black sparks, moving like prey. Looked down at Jane’s body. It was dissolving like snow in summer sun. Becoming Beast. Pelt and claws and killing teeth.
Magics healed and reshaped. Becoming Beast.
I panted. Pushed paws against floor, rising to sit. Pushed out of remaining Jane clothes. Drew long, thick tail around paws. I was cold, like winter snow and ice had caught me on hunt far from my den.
“Holy sh—” Eli stopped, his breath like prey breath, fastfastfast. “Jane?”
I hacked. Not Jane. Beast. Jane sleeps in soul home. But Eli did not understand. He took another step back, and I chuffed with laughter. Eli was hunter, but showed proper respect to Beast as better hunter. I chuffed again, rotated ears to him, and lay down to show disinterest in prey sport. Did not want to eat Eli.
“Steaks are on the way,” Eli said.
I said nothing.
“Pretty pussycat.”
I looked at him and he laughed, smelling of nervous sweat and uncertainty. I yawned, showing big killing teeth and boredom all at once. Was good to remind other hunters and prey that Beast had big teeth.
“You really are beautiful.” I looked away, indifferent but listening. I liked humans who admired properly. “You’re not going to eat me, are you?”
Humans were stupid. I was showing clear disinterest but he did not understand. He was still alive. He should see what I was saying.
I heard a car stop out front. And moments later heard Rick call out. “Eli?”
“Up here, back of the building, up the stairs.”
Rick’s feet pounded on the steps and he stopped at the top, taking in the room, the dead vampires, and settling on Beast. I panted to show some interest.
Rick said, “Hey, Jane.”
I put ears back and hacked. Not Jane. Am Beast.
Rick opened bag and tore plastic. Smell of warm cow meat filled room. Last time, Rick had brought dead pig meat, but cow was good too. I stood and padded partway to Rick. When I stopped, he came the rest of the way and set cow meat on floor. I settled beside it and ripped into meat, swallowing fast. Was hungry.
Saw movement near stairs and growled low, snapping at meat faster. White wolf stood there, watching. He moved into room and my growl went deeper. My food. Wolf stared to growl, but Pea chittered and he stopped. Pea climbed from wolf’s back and scampered over to me. She sat on floor and watched, head tilted to side. She did not have big-cat eyes, but she had big-cat teeth. She yawned to show her teeth and smiled, mewling softly, asking nicely. I batted a small piece of cow to her, and she settled to eat. I growled once more to wolf and pulled cow between paws to eat.
Sirens sounded outside. Sound of humans entering house. Rick went downstairs to talk to police. I still ate. Rick was gone long time. Eli stood at top of stairs, guarding.
Belly full, I stretched and yawned. Human males were talking. Not looking at Beast. I nudged Pea with nose. Pea jumped to Beast’s back and held on to pelt with sharp claws. Together we walked slowly to stairs, not looking at wolf. Wolf was sitting like dog, back legs spread wide. Wolf looked stupid, like big stupid dog. I stopped close and sat, looking away, so wolf would not think I had plans. Wolf looked at me from sideways eyes and turned head to study me. I did nothing. Wolf slowly reached big head toward me. I did nothing. Wolf sniffed me. I did nothing.
Then I struck. Lifted paw, claws out, and swiped wolf nose. Wolf yelped and I bounded across room, whipped around, and hacked with laughter. Wolf was bleeding on big ugly dog nose. Fun!
I sat and lifted paw, licking off wolf blood. Feeling happy. Pea chittered at me, sounding like Jane, scolding, but Beast was smarter than Pea. Pea did not like Beast grooming off were-blood. But were-blood was in belly, not in cut, and I would shift back soon to Jane. Were-taint in belly would not hurt me/us. But was thinking that were-blood in cut might not hurt us now.
Beast was always better than Jane and big-cat together. Was even better since we talked with Hayyel-angel. Angel did something to wolf to make him stay wolf. Did something to us I did not understand. Pea did not know this. Jane did not know this. Was mostly sure that Leo’s Mercy Blade did not know. Beast was smarter than all of them.
Rick came back upstairs. “We have to get her into the SUV. Jane, will you take a leash?”
I narrowed eyes and snarled. Beast will not walk on leash. Beast is not stupid dog or stupid wolf.
“Guess not,” Eli said. “How about I carry you?”
I thought about that. Have not been carried by humans in many years. Would be fun. But not Eli. Wanted mate to carry. I stood and dropped head. Stared at Rick with big-cat eyes, walked slowly to him, shoulder blades rising and falling, stalking him. Rick stared, giving nothing away with human eyes. Were-scent of black leopard was strong on him. Full moon would be soon, and his scent would be strongstrongstrong then. I walked around Rick in circle and stopped to sniff one hand, his fingers curled in fist, as if to hold in something. Huffed and blew warm cat
breath on his fist. His fingers uncurled. Was nothing there to hold on to. I breathed on Rick skin. Liked smell of Rick. I stopped in front of him and sat. Lifted one front paw, then the other, and placed both on his knees. Waited.
“If you think I’m carrying you, you got another think coming, Jane,” he said.
I stood up on back paws, stretched to full height, and put front paws on Rick shoulders. Put muzzle in his chin and sniffed. Moved nose to his neck and sniffed. I purred.
Eli laughed. I ignored him. “She wants you, man.” Eli left, taking stairs, making much noise.
I snuffled Rick, whiskers tickling his neck. Jane said he had taken new mate. I did not smell new mate. Jane was wrong. Rick’s hands rose to Beast and he scratched belly. I whuffed and laid head on his shoulder.
“I don’t understand you, Jane. And if you think this fixes things between us, it doesn’t. But if you want me to carry you, I will.” His hands came together and made cradle. I leaped and landed in his hands. “Holy hell, cat. You’ve put on a few pounds.”
I hacked in amusement. I am bigger. I like bigger. Would like to be a holy hellcat too. I put chin on his shoulder and breathed his scent. Then I rubbed scent glands over him. Mine . . .
Rick carried me downstairs and into street. He opened essuvee of Eli and I jumped inside and lay down on backseat. Had been a good day. I/we had hunted with Eli. I/we had killed vampires. Had eaten dead cow meat. Had swiped wolf nose. Had been carried by Rick. Good day. I closed my eyes and napped.
• • •
I came to in the back of the SUV, lying naked under a blanket and feeling great. It was dark out, and the vehicle was parked at Esmee’s under the trees, ensuring my privacy. I had no memory of my time as Beast, but the pain in my arm was gone. Clean clothes were folded on the floor in front of me, and I dressed in the dark—panties, jeans, and a thick sweater that smelled of Rick. I held the knit to my face and inhaled. I hated that I didn’t have him in my life now. There was so much missing. I closed my eyes and buried my face in the sweater for a moment. Only a moment. I had no intention of grieving for him anymore.