Cass looked up and frowned at me. “Go back to bed, newbie. If there was a noise, I’m pretty sure Tosh and I would’ve heard it before you.”
I could feel my cheeks heating but I pressed forward anyway, turning my gaze on Toshi.
“I swear, I heard a car door slamming or something. We should go and check it out.”
Cass let out a snarl of disgust. “Paranoid much? I already told y—”
But her words were cut short as the sound gunfire followed by the shattering of glass rent the air.
“Holy shit,” Cass gasped as she turned to stare at the bullet hole in the wall just a few inches to the left of her head.
Toshi leapt into action, running to the bottom of the stairs. “Alex!” he bellowed.
Alex must’ve already heard the gunfire, because he was thundering down the steps not two seconds later.
As I stood, frozen in place, they both exploded into the animal forms. Alex’s even, handsome features Rubik-cubed into those of a large, almost auburn-colored fox with black ears and paws. He looked devilish, almost rabid as he made a dash for the door. But it was Toshi who stole my breath.
His leanly muscled body had shifted into that of an animal. Almost a fox, but more. His sleek fur was inky black, all the way to his tails—yes, tails, plural. There were nine, interspersed with blue and silver iridescent streaks.
I’d barely caught my breath when he followed Alex out. I turned to Cass, desperate enough for some direction that I’d take it from anywhere, but she was already shifting as well.
“Okay, I can do this,” I muttered under my breath as the sounds of gunfire echoed through the night. In spite of everything, there was no way I was going to let them charge out to their deaths alone.
“Stay here. You’ve only shifted the once and will get in the way.”
Cass hadn’t spoken the words, but they rang in my mind, clear and true as a bell. She shot me a warning glare and ran outside.
I stared at the open door for barely a beat before I let Caleb’s words replay in my mind on auto-loop.
‘Trust your instincts’, Caleb had said.
They’d been right about the noise outside and what was that old saying? If it ain’t broke….
I closed my eyes and searched for the wolf inside me. Letting my body go lax, I let the beast take the driver’s seat. Moments later, it was done. My body was low to the ground, my vision sharp and clear as I stepped into the night.
The smell of blood teased my nose as I crossed the threshold and scanned the area. My companions were all engaged in battle. A brutal exchange of blows and bullets.
My dread tripled as I sniffed the air, mentally counting bad guys.
Nearly two dozen, packing enough heat to warm Alaska in December. I wondered if this fighting wasn’t a moot point. If we shouldn’t just give up. Wave the proverbial white flag and hope we’d find a way to escape whatever prison they planned on putting us in.
To my shock and awe, though, our team was cutting through them, one by one. As much as I hated Cass, I couldn’t deny, she was one bad-ass bitch. I watched in amazement as she leapt up and drilled one of the gunmen in the chest with both paws. Momentum sent him back on his ass and she took full advantage, closing her lethal jaws around his throat.
A scream of terror followed by a staccato beat of gunfire had me whirling to the right just in time to catch Toshi sailing through the air and landing on the face of a man in black.
The damage he inflicted was grisly, and I should’ve been horrified. Instead, triumph pulsed through me and my fangs tingled. I wanted to help.
I could do this.
My oversized paws felt a little clumsy at first as I loped forward toward the fray, but instinct quickly kicked in, and, soon, I was running.
One of the men wheeled to face me, leveling his pistol in my direction. I feinted right and his shot went wild as he tried to keep up with me. His human speed was no match as I attacked from behind, tearing at the back of his neck with bloodthirsty glee, his torn flesh warm and salty in my mouth before I moved on.
For the next few minutes, it was pandemonium as I moved from one opponent to the next, dispatching them more easily each time. I was learning what this new form was capable of, and I was liking it.
I released my latest victim and he crumpled to the ground. Pausing, I scanned the area for more bad guys to find we’d cut their number down to just a handful.
We actually had a fool’s chance of winning.
In the distance, I caught sight of Alex. He had just finished dispatching a short, stocky guy when another man leveled a pistol at his back from just a few yards away. Fury rocketed through me as I sprinted toward him. I was fast, but I’d never make it in time.
Alex.
Just when I thought he was going to get pumped full of lead, I watched in confusion as his would-be assassin let the pistol in his hand fall to the ground. It all happened as if in slow motion. His face twisted into a snarl as his body writhed and twitched. The fabric of his shirt split and then exploded into a rain of black confetti as his form stretched and morphed.
I skidded to a halt as he shot up, his torso lengthening.
What fresh new hell was this?
My brain went offline completely as his skin darkened and erupted into a herringbone pattern of gleaming, black scales.
It all fell into place as his pants joined his shirt and his transformation was complete.
Eight feet of hissing, pissed off, pure muscle with fangs. And it was stealthily moving toward an unsuspecting Alex.
The sight finally jarred me back into action and I let out a snarl that came from deep within my chest. I closed the last of the distance between us with a massive leap and, without a second thought, hurled myself at Alex, knocking him to the side.
I landed on all fours, but before I could get my balance, the reptile struck. Its diamond-shaped head moved so quickly, for a moment, I wasn’t sure if it had even happened. Then the pain came, hard and fast.
My vision went hazy and red, but I blinked furiously and tried to focus. The creature was still close. His lithe form was already tensing for a second strike—the killing blow—and I rolled to the side in the nick of time.
Commotion ensued all around me as I tried to stand. I might lose this fight, but I’d be damned if I’d die here flat on my back like a beaten dog.
I’d barely made it to my feet when I saw Toshio and Alex descend on the writhing creature. Between the two of them, they kept it occupied while Cass shifted back, grabbed the fallen gun, then blew the snake’s head off.
I stumbled back, my brain like molasses as Toshi shifted back into his human form.
“Damn it, Marti,” he snarled, eyes blazing with a mix of fear and rage as he stepped toward me. “Stay still.”
“Sure thing. Yeah.” The earth seemed to pitch and blood rushed to my ears. “I think I’m just going to have a seat for sec, though,” I murmured. I didn’t even time to fully appreciate his naked form coming toward me as my legs gave out and I slid toward the ground.
Toshi’s strong arms broke my fall and he gently laid me back onto the ground. I gazed up at him and an inane chuckle exploded from my lips. His face looked distorted, like it was made from Silly Putty. My brain commanded my hand to reach out to him and see if his skin felt as weird as it looked, but movement was a struggle. Like I was suspended in glue.
“Wh-what’s happening to me?” I managed weakly.
“Stay still and stop talking.” Toshi’s tense face flickered before my eyes. “You were bitten by a Naga. The more you move, the faster the venom spreads.”
I’d questioned just about everything they’d told me so far, but not this time. Even now, I could feel the poison coursing through me, emanating from the bite, streaking through my veins like fire. It was pulling me under fast and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
Vaguely, I heard Toshi calling my name from a thousand miles away. It took everything I had to keep my eyes opened, but soon
, even my everything wasn’t enough.
His face faded as he shifted back into his Kitsune form and nuzzled my neck gently. In my mind, I could hear his whispered reassurance, either real or imagined.
“It’s going to be all right, Marti. I’ll take care of you.”
I wanted to thank him, but the blackness was seeping in like Los Angeles smog, closing over me, dragging me down.
Then, I knew no more.
Chapter Seven
When the dappled sunlight pouring through the windows woke me, I’d never felt so grateful to be alive. A weird sensation for a person like me who’d always been rather ‘meh’ about existing in general. I wasn’t hardwired to, like, live each day as if it was my last, or dance like no one was watching.
Mostly, I just passed the time, waiting for the next shitty thing to happen. And if I scored a bacon cheeseburger in there somewhere, or heard a good joke that made me belly laugh?
I logged it as a win.
But on this day, after being bitten by whatever the hell that thing was, I was almost giddy with euphoria that I’d woken up at all.
I sucked in a crisp, cool breath through my nose and let it out slowly, taking in a faraway campfire smell and something else familiar.
Toshi.
My eyes fluttered open and peered right into his. He was seated on the side of my bed not a foot away. I resisted the urge to reach up and smooth my forefinger over his worried brow, shocked that I’d even had the urge.
“You’re up,” he murmured. The worry faded as he gave me a smile, but he still looked off somehow. Pale, with dark smudges of exhaustion beneath his quicksilver eyes, remnants of long nights that hadn’t been fully erased.
“How long have I been out?” I asked, surprised to hear the rusty-hinge sound of my voice.
Toshi grabbed the glass of water from the nightstand and I sat up to take a long sip.
“Two days.”
I blinked in surprise. “Damn. That’s a long time.” I ran a finger over the spot where I’d been bitten. Aside from two almost imperceptible bumps, it was fully healed. The whole shifter healing thing had clearly saved my ass.
“Your body needed a chance to process the poison and let your cells purge it. You should be fine now, though. I have to admit, I was a little worried, with you being a new wolf.”
“I guess I’m just a fast learner,” I said, setting the glass back on the table. I realized with a start that the table didn’t look familiar at all, and I glanced around the room. “Where are we?”
“New safe house.”
I let out a snort. “Hopefully a new safe-er house. Because that last one was a real dud.”
I expected him to laugh but his lips twisted into a frown and he lowered his head. “I’m sorry.”
Wow. He actually felt responsible.
“Toshio, there was no way any of us could’ve known what was going to happen. I was only kidding.”
“We have to choose more carefully from now on,” he said, raking a hand through his shiny hair. “They’re definitely better equipped than I thought.”
Perfect opening to ask the question that had been on the forefront of my mind since the first shot had been fired at the farmhouse.
“Who are ‘they’, anyway? I know you explained some, and, at the time, it was as much as my brain could handle. But I’m ready for the big girl version now. I need details. Like why the heck a shifter was on their side.”
Toshi shifted his hips until his whole body faced mine. He eyed me suspiciously.
“You sure?”
Nope.
“Yep. Hit me. I can take it.”
He blew out a sigh and nodded to himself, looking resigned. “Like I told you before, thousands of years ago—”
“How many?” I cut in. “You said tens of thousands, but exactly how many?”
He shot me an ‘are you for real right now?’ glare.
“One sentence in and you’re already interrupting. Let me get through the story and then maybe you can, I don’t know, write your questions down to ask me when we’re not being hunted by a bunch of bloodthirsty assassins, okay?”
Chagrined, I nodded, and pulled my knees up to my chest, tucking the blanket around me. “Sorry, sure. Continue.”
“As I was saying, about seventy-five thousand years ago—” he began then stopped to give me a look when my mouth dropped open. I shut it and he continued.
“The ancients did all those experiments and wound up with an elite team of warriors to protect them and a mass of slaves and laborers to take care of their day to day needs.”
“Crazy,” I murmured under my breath, “That’s—”
Toshi shot me a death stare and I clapped a hand over my mouth before turning the lip-lock and throwing away the key. Apparently, that was enough to save me a second lecture because he kept going.
“One day, the ancients saw the coming of an asteroid that would knock the earth off its axis and cause global flooding. By the time they realized it was going to happen, though, they didn’t have much time to prep. Like mice on a sinking ship, they scurried to find safety.
“The ancients who were against the experimentation retreated to underwater caves and retreats, and those who believed in it stayed above-ground, hiding in caves and catacombs across the earth. The cave-dwellers used their science to put themselves and some of their favorite experiments into a state of stasis. In order to make sure they stayed safe, they programmed these cyborg-like creatures they made to watch over and protect them until earth was habitable again. The underwater race—”
Okay, he nearly had me again at cyborg, but….“There are mer-people?! Dear god, tell me there are frigging mer-people,” I blurted, unable to contain myself.
Toshi’s lips twitched this time. “Fine. Yes. There are mer-people that helped the underwater dwellers build Atlantis—”
He cut me off with a glare again as my mouth dropped open again. But seriously, how did he expect to find out that Atlantis and mermaids are real and not collect a fly or two? However, since I really, really wanted to hear the rest of the story, I relocked my lips.
“But that’s not the point of the story. Besides, I wouldn’t fangirl too hard if I were you. They are some nasty creatures.”
I twisted my lips in disappointment and he took up his tale again.
“Anyway, in a nutshell, once earth was able to support life again, some of those in stasis were awakened. The Awakened are all over the history books, revolutionizing the sciences, making major technological advances for mankind. But they weren’t content with that. Soon, more and more came out of stasis. And now…”
“They want their turf back,” I finished.
Toshi shrugged. “That’s about the gist of it. They’ve spent the past century preparing. They’re the ones behind the interconnected healthcare computer systems and the human genome project. They created it so they could monitor DNA and try to find any of their descendants, but also to try to locate any underwater dwellers who might have come to the surface so they can destroy them.”
“And us?”
“We’re descended from the lines of drones and slaves and warriors who survived and then later procreated with humans. But we know what happened to our ancestors when the ancients were in charge and we refuse to be enslaved again. The men who were after us were part of the repo crew, sent to get us and return us to where we belong. Under the thumb of the Awakened.”
“But why would any of our kind join them? I still don’t understand.”
His face morphed into an unhappy, faraway expression. “There are those who believe that interbreeding with humans should never have taken place. They are allied with the cave-dwelling Awakened. But there are also others who believe that none of us—including themselves—should exist and are willing to help the underwater dwellers to eradicate us from the planet. Even if they are going to die too.”
“Sort of like suicide bombers?”
He nodded, expression grim. After a beat, he gave
me a sad smile. “Your dad was a huge part of the resistance and one of the reasons we’re still free now.”
There was something in the way he emphasized “your” dad that made me pause, but I kept quiet as I tried to take it all in. I’d spent so many years cursing my father for leaving me. For having a child and not being responsible enough to take care of it. Now it turned out, he was a little busy with trying to save the world, including his daughter.
Man, did humble pie taste shitty.
I pressed a finger to the naga wound again and realized I hadn’t even asked about the Alex and Cass. “How are the others? Everyone okay?”
“Yeah, we really held our own.”
In spite of his words, though, I could see he was looking more worn than he had even a few minutes before.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” he said, pushing himself up to stand. “Let’s go down and get you something to eat, all right?”
I eyed him suspiciously but did as he asked. Not that he was the boss of me or anything, but I’d given him enough lip for the day and he wasn’t looking so hot.
I trailed behind him into the kitchen and noted Cass sitting at the table with a steaming mug in front of her.
She looked up, saw it was me, and went back to examining her fingernails.
“Good morning to you too, sunshine,” I sing-songed. “I’m glad to see you’re better as well.”
I could literally hear her teeth grinding as she shot to her feet and towered over me.
“Glad you’ve got jokes, Mutt. Maybe next time you can treat a gift with a little more reverence.”
I wanted to take a step back. Her full rage all up in my face was a lot to take, but I stood my ground.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
An icy smile split her lips as she shot a glance at Toshi. “You didn’t tell her?”
He remained silent, but already, my stomach started to flop. “Tell me what?”
Cass crossed her arms over her chest, blood-chilling gaze drilling into mine. “Toshi gave up some of his life-force to save your pathetic ass. He used fox-fire to burn the poison out of your system. It cost him one of his tails and now he’s weakened when we can least afford it. If we got attacked right now, he’d be toast. Got more jokes now?”
Mutts Like Me (The Awakening Series Book 1) Page 5