Nine Lives of an Urban Panther

by Amanda Arista

  She moved her hand so Chaz’s was under hers and mine. With every breath she took, my power swarmed hotter and faster around the three of us. A few meat suits tried to attack us, but they couldn’t get through. My world focused to just the three of us.

  “You get Dallas back for good, Violet.”

  I couldn’t answer for fear of the sob that might escape me. I simply nodded.

  Her head dropped toward Chaz. “Take care of yourself. And the farm.”

  “Thank you,” he managed to get out, but he too was fighting tears. “For everything.”

  Iris gasped and her body went rigid. I grabbed Chaz’s shoulder, knowing we were both about to crack if apart.

  She calmed and her gaze fell to me again. “Would to have liked to see some grandchildren.”

  I leaned down and whispered in her ear. “I’ve seen them. Seth and Jesse. They grow up on the farm and Seth is exactly like his father.”

  Iris smiled and I kissed her temple. “Go, Prima. Leave me to my son.”

  I looked up at Chaz. His jaw was rock solid as he pulled Iris into his lap. “You kill that sonuvabitch.”

  “Nice and dead this time.”

  Iris squeezed my hand before I pulled away from her. My bloody hand grabbed the knife and I rose.

  The power still swirled around me as I turned to where I’d seen Spencer fly. Out like this, I could feel him. Where he used to be an inky black panther, he was now a tangled mess of power. Stolen power that was icy to my burning energy.

  I followed the cold trail of power as I walked through the back of the stage, turning the handle of the knife over and over in my hand.

  Where the wings of a theater would have held ropes and pulleys, the renovations had replaced all that with aisles of storage containers and catering tables.

  I went for the Exit sign and kicked open the door to find Spencer just outside, stuck in the binding spell Willowbourne had put around the place.

  I grabbed his collar and ripped him backward. He crashed against a wooden crate bigger and taller than him. The contents spilled out, an entire wooden crate of glass lightbulbs. That was a lucky shot if I’d ever seen one.

  The panther was ready, willing, and fast. Thanks to the extra power infiltrating every cell, eased by the sheer hate that consumed me, I was on top of him in two seconds. I curled my claws into his new white shirt, still teeming with starch, and threw him as hard as I could against the brick wall.

  It was more than appeasing to start his concussion count as well. “All that power and you still can’t fly.”

  He retaliated against that one with a ball of energy that caught me in the stomach and lifted me high into the rafters. After all the sessions in the barn with Iris jumping from rafter to rafter to test my surefootedness, I managed to bounce around in the rafters. But it didn’t change the two-story fall all the way back to the ground.

  Cats do actually land on their feet. But they need all four of them. I landed safely but the knife went clattering between us.

  I eyed him and then the blade and went for it. He did too and we met in the middle, my hand on the handle and his hand on the blade. Letting my talons loose, I scratched at his face, my claws raking across his unshaven cheek, and jerked the knife away, the blade slicing a line into his palm.

  I scurried back on all fours, and then jumped to my feet, ready for the next attack.

  Spencer stood up and straightened his suit coat. In the dim light that filtered in from the night and the light of the Veil dancing around us, I watched his face heal. The four lines across his perfect cheek sealed back up until they were nothing but faint pink lines and then nothing.

  That was new.

  He just laughed. And then he started fighting.

  I matched him kick for punch and tooth for claw. Sensei had taught me well. I was faster, but not stronger. Where I sliced a claw against his throat, he shoved me back six feet with an open hand.

  I stumbled back a few feet. “You’ve had a teacher.”

  “I ate a teacher.”

  I rolled my eyes at his comment until I realized that no, he probably had actually eaten someone with talents and now had those talents. Crap.

  What he didn’t have was an ounce of his panther left, or if it was there, it was so buried underneath that nasty gooey center of evil that it couldn’t get free.

  He came at me again and I was able to defend myself, getting in a few nicks with the silver blade here and there, his skin sizzling under the silver. At least he was still Haverty enough for the blade to be a threat, because I sure as hell wasn’t enough to make a dent.

  I jumped to a rafter above his head and for a moment, I paused. Patience. Sensei had taught me: be patient and your opponent will show you their weakness.

  Spencer ran his fingers through his hair again and I knew that he was just about to straighten his jacket.

  I leapt at him from above. If I could get him on the ground, I might be able to get this knife where it belonged.

  My plan didn’t work.

  Spencer caught me, his hands grabbing my jacket and belt tightly, spun me, and threw me toward the stage.

  I flew backward like something akin to a windmill, appendages flailing out in all directions as I tried to right myself, tried to catch onto something.

  The thick red curtain caught me for a moment and I stabbed the knife through the material as I fell back down to the stage and rolled out from underneath the curtain and back into the main hall. It didn’t exactly work like it did in the movies, but I didn’t hit the floor as hard as I could have.

  From my firmly planted seat on the ground, I looked up to see my people wiping the floors with the meat suits. There wasn’t a Shade left in sight.

  But the Veil was still open. Jessa hadn’t managed to close it yet.

  “Vi!” Jessa rushed to my side. “Is he . . . ?”

  I waved her back as I pushed myself to my feet. “Not even close. And hot on my heels.

  A blast of energy threw me into Jessa’s small frame and we slid across the wooden stage until the wall stopped us. It got the attention of everyone in the hall.

  “I’d almost forgotten about the little fairy princess,” Spencer said as he walked out from the red curtain and across the stage.

  Jessa rolled me off of her and sat up. “I’ll give you—”

  I grabbed her shoulder and shook her before she said anything else that was going to get something else thrown at us.

  Tucker, Tyler, and Nash lined up at the edge of the stage, blood-flecked faces sporting wounds that would heal before being given a second thought. I surged with pride as they stood against their former master.

  “Boys.” Spencer casually hopped off the edge of the stage where my entire pack was waiting for him.

  “Spencer,” Tucker growled.

  “Mutts finally found a home, I see.”

  They attacked together, even Shadow getting in on the action. But even together, they were no match for Spencer. They flew back and landed so hard on the floor that I felt the jarring of it in my spine.

  There were lightning bolts and fangs and the fast flash of Valiance’s blade.

  I only saw Spencer stumble back once the whole time they all went after him.

  “The Veil seems to be closing itself,” Jessa said from behind me.

  “What?” I asked, still panting, taking a moment to use the Legacy to heal myself. The aches were slowly ebbing away; the blood in my mouth wasn’t flowing.

  “This place wasn’t a natural rip. It was all spell work and the spell is fading.”

  “We are fading. And if we can’t beat him, we have to get him back through.”

  I couldn’t watch anymore. They were fine with the Shades and the ghouls, but Spencer was tossing them aside like oyster shells, seeming more full of himself with every attack.

  It was Shadow’s yelp as his claws skidded across the wooden floor that was my final straw.

  Grabbing the knife from the stage, I went after Spencer
again. I landed three solid punches to his midsection and a knee to his chin, and he still managed to send me sliding across the floor on my ass.

  “Need the floor,” Chaz called out.

  I got up again and looked over at Chaz. And he had something pretty.

  I pulled my people back, like yanking on a leash to get them out of the way. Sensei blew the rest of my pack off the floor as Chaz took aim with his modified shot gun and launched a rocket at Spencer’s chest. I covered my ears and looked away from the explosion.

  In the silence after the blast, Spencer’s laughter echoed in the empty space.

  “Is that seriously all you’ve got?” He recovered from the edge of the stage and readjusted his suit jacket. The blast had burned a hole the size of a basketball into his shirt. Now, his flawless abdomen showed through without so much as a courtesy scratch. “I thought you’d prepared better than this, Violet.”

  “I was counting on my stubbornness to win the day.”

  I circled around with my back to the Veil, the soft pitter-patter of its energy dancing along my skin.

  “Well, this little show has taught me something.” Spencer flicked at the torn edges of his white shirt.

  “What’s that?” I needed to keep Spencer talking. I knew he liked the sound of his own voice off the bare walls of the theater, but more importantly, I was beginning to feel the ache of my pack as they battled, only seven left on their feet. They needed a moment; I needed a better plan.

  “You really do know how to throw a welcome back party.”

  I predicted the attack this time. Like drawing a line in the sand, I forced my shield out before me and managed to lessen the force of his swirling dark energy ball. I skidded backward with the force until my foot hit the edge of the stage.

  Spencer laughed out again. “That’s what I love about you. Always changing, always finding new ways to use our power.”

  I growled at his choice of pronouns. “My power.”

  “When I kill you, it will be mine. You’re just holding on to it for me. So let’s speed things up again, shall we?”

  I felt him draw on his power, like being on the outskirts of a black hole. We all stepped back as we watched darkness swirl around him. It solidified between blinks and another line of Shades swarmed the theater floor.

  He could create Shades. That was full-on demon power. The knowledge didn’t come from me, but from Nash’s hazel eyes.

  I pushed out as much of my energy to my pack as I could to make them ready for this; and with it, I pushed out the notion that he needed to get back into the Veil, and quickly.

  I stabbed the knife through my belt and pants and the silver stung my skin. But I needed all four limbs free to shift. Maybe four sets of claws might do enough damage.

  The Fang sisters shifted as well, leaving the men with the swords. Half fur and half fists, we were a little more productive. The girls went after Spencer with a viciousness fueled by protecting their family and ruining their Saturday date nights.

  Spencer didn’t fight animals as well as he did knives and swords. His flesh seemed nearly impenetrable to a blade, but my claws slashed into his skin.

  His panther was ten times stronger than the girls’ wolves but he still didn’t shift. Instead he swung at us and tried to force us away with his power, but we kept at him.

  As the men fought off the newest batch of Shades, the girls managed to get Spencer’s back to the four-foot-high stage.

  How do you make a man jump four feet? If we could just get him back through the Veil.

  I went for his ankle and he wasn’t fast enough. I actually sank my teeth into the muscle below his calf. Startled, I released him quickly. This guy had just deflected a rocket launch, but my panther teeth pierced his skin like a knife through butter.

  Shifters were now his vulnerability. That was the price of the demon power.

  I pushed the knowledge out to the rest of the group. Everyone who could shift did, and joined me.

  Spencer leapt onto the stage. I may have bitten him, but he was still healing too fast for us to really slow him down.

  The Veil danced behind him. Jessa scurried to the side of the stage and watched as my pack nipped and snapped and scratched at him.

  He swatted Kandice’s hawk like he was smacking a mosquito. She went limp and fell like a brick to the stage.

  Charlotte leapt at him, taking the moment of distraction. Spencer caught her by the throat and the echo of the snap of her neck rang out like gunfire throughout the hall.

  I felt the snap in my chest and fell to the floor in my human form. Like a tight piano string, her connection recoiled and I felt blood in my mouth and a stab through my chest.

  A white-hot fury consumed me and the Legacy burned down my spine and boiled the lacquer of the wooden stage beneath my feet.

  The rest of the pack knew something was wrong and they backed away from Spencer in fear and anticipation.

  My eyes flicked to Jessa as I got into a sprinter’s position. She knew it was Plan C time. She knew we weren’t going to win this one on this side of the Veil.

  As my muscles tensed, I sent out everything I had left to my pack. To Tucker beside me; to Nash as he nudged Kandice; to Tyler, who vocalized his hate in a deep growl. Even to Shadow, who was fighting as hard as any border collie could.

  Somewhere in the Dallas night, Peter gasped, sitting forward on Devin’s couch; Hannah’s hand flew to her chest; and Remy hugged Twila harder. They were going to be fine.

  My last thought went to Chaz. Chaz would understand because he knew me better than I did. He would have known that I had a Plan C as part of the big picture. He already knew that I was going to do something stupid, but he’d also know that I could not have another person die for me when so many psychics had already seen me dead.

  The moment I pushed against my back foot, Spencer knew. His blue eyes widened and he braced himself.

  I threw my panther power forward first, which caught him off guard, and then hit him with my shoulder to his midsection, which gave him just enough lift to get him off his feet.

  The Veil welcomed us both with open borders. Like a ball being thrown through deep space, spinning and weightless, I tightened my grip on Spencer’s jacket. Everything was bright and sharp and I just squeezed my eyes shut and waited to land.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  I SLAMMED AGAINST Spencer’s chest and then rolled off him. The dagger tore into my hip and I pulled out the knife quickly and felt the familiar sizzle of the silver. Start off the fight of your life with a self-inflicted wound. Crap.

  I had to force my eyes open and sucked in the air that had been knocked out of me.

  We were in a field. The sun beat down hot against my pale skin. The green grass was familiar, as was the smell of the wind. Spencer had been here before. Spencer had killed two Biggers here. There was a pond in the middle where he’d tried to rip the Veil before.

  I pushed myself up from the grass, wincing at the burning wound in my hip. It wasn’t deep, just annoying.

  I looked around. No sign of Spencer. He’d been right there.

  With a small breath, I released my borders and staggered back. This place was amazing. Like a haven on crack. Everything pushed back at my power; everything had its own life. The earth, the grass, the wind itself.

  Willowbourne’s prayer made more sense than ever. May the ground support your steps. Because the ground might actually have an opinion on the matter.

  I heard a moan on the wind.

  Let’s hope the ground was in my favor today.

  Spencer’s blond hair caught the breeze and betrayed his position in the high grass.

  I was just about to make some snide comment to incite the fight again when I felt the pop of the Veil closing behind us. It echoed through me and so did the knowledge that my pack was now leaderless. My fiancé was now a widower. Jessa was going to have to scrap all those wedding plans.

  My skin tightened as I realized I was alone. For the firs
t time in four months, I didn’t have any ties binding me to another person. For the first time in a year, I didn’t have anyone to call for help. I felt empty and the emptiness pulled at me. How did people live like this? How had I lived like that all that time?

  Iris’s words seem to wrap around me. You will always have the biggest sacrifice. My family, my ties were the biggest sacrifice of all. Without them, I was just Violet.

  Spencer pushed himself up from the grass. He ran his fingers through his long blond hair and then grabbed his shoulder.

  “Really didn’t see that one coming.” He pulled at his jacket.

  I felt him call for his power and I tightened my Legacy around me like a blanket in the midday sun. “Just so I can get the rest of the story. You were supposed to be Jovan’s little favorite, come before him, pave the way in chaos and blood?”

  The blood drained from his face.

  “You underestimate the power of our connection, Spencer. And the fact that I’ve written this time and time again.”

  “That’s right, your little movies.”

  Anger sizzled down my back and I clenched my fist so tight around the blade that I lost feeling in my fingertips. “They are not little movies. And you know what happens over and over in those movies?”

  “Bimbo runs up the stairs?”

  My, wasn’t he playful? Of course, this was where he had been living for the past six months. This was his home court. “No.”

  “Someone says ‘I’ll be right back.’ ”

  “Closer, but no.”

  “Then what happens, my brilliant little sister?”

  The earth warmed beneath my feet. “The good guys always win.”

  Spencer slid his jacket off his broad shoulders, again wincing with the action. “And you think you’re the good guy in this scenario?”

  “I didn’t kill a defenseless old lady today.”

  “Defenseless, my ass. She was as guilty as the rest of them.”

  I shifted as the ground beneath me seemed to vibrate, as if it too disliked his tone.

  “She was weak and that’s why my father took Dallas from her. Just like I’m going to take Dallas from you.”