by Zoe Chant
His muzzle broke the surface. He managed one desperate gulp of air before the current pulled him under.
Chapter Ten
Catalina
Catalina watched from the cave entrance as Shane lured the bear into the woods and out of sight. His panther was so beautiful, fierce and lithe and sleek. Apart from the stab of fear she’d felt when the bear had knocked him down, she wasn’t worried about him. He was obviously much faster and more agile than the grizzly, not to mention that he had human intelligence. He’d be back once he’d led the bear far into the woods and then ditched it.
Then a wave of ice-cold terror washed over her, making her hands shake and her guts clench. She suddenly knew Shane was in danger. She had to help him.
Catalina scrambled into her clothes and shoes, then grabbed the tranquilizer guns and ran out of the cave. Shane and the bear were nowhere to be seen, but she was certain that she knew which way to go to find him. Catalina bolted toward the woods.
Fear for Shane, the conviction that he was in trouble, and the hope that she could save him drove her as she ran down the hillside and toward the forest. Then, a few feet short of the woods, all those feelings evaporated like a drop of water on a hot pan.
She stumbled to a halt, confused. What had she been thinking? Why had she been so convinced that Shane was in danger? He’d had the situation completely under control the last time she’d seen him. She hadn’t heard any yells or had anything else happen to make her think something had gone wrong.
And even if something was wrong, why would she just bolt out without even taking supplies? If Shane was injured, he’d need bandages, maybe a splint, and certainly a fire to keep him warm and ward off shock. She could easily pack everything they had into the medical kit and take it with her.
“Weird,” Catalina muttered. Maybe love did strange things to you, like make you suddenly lose your mind when the man you loved turned into a panther and ran off into the woods.
She hesitated at the edge of the forest, wondering if she should go back to the cave to fetch supplies, or back to the cave and stay there. She was tempted to search. But he was almost certainly fine, and if she started wandering around the woods, she’d probably get lost. She might even run straight into the grizzly he’d gotten rid of. It didn’t seem like a good idea.
She started to turn to go back, but the skin on the back of her neck prickled an alert. Catalina spun around.
A man stepped out of the woods. It was the shifter who had gotten her scent at the base. The dim light bleached his pale skin to the color of frost, and his hair and eyes were black as midnight.
The tranquilizer guns were in her hands. Catalina fired at him as he rushed her, hitting him once— twice— three times in the chest before he closed with her and wrenched the guns from her hands.
“Shane!” Catalina yelled.
Iron-hard hands yanked her arms behind her back and clamped her wrists. She struggled, then relaxed, realizing that there was no need. She’d hit him three times. He’d collapse any second now.
But he didn’t. Instead, he started pushing her forward. She stumbled, off-balance with her arms locked behind her back, and nearly fell.
The man let out an exasperated breath and released one of her arms, but kept a firm grip on her other wrist. Immediately, Catalina tried to stomp on his foot. She moved fast but he moved faster, jerking his foot to the side. She whipped around and tried to punch him in the face.
He caught her wrist before it could connect, holding it in an unbreakable grip. “Fight me again and I’ll shoot you with the dart gun. It’s no trouble for me to carry you back.”
She stopped struggling. It was obviously hopeless, and she had no hope of escaping if she was unconscious. “Fine. I surrender.”
He released her right wrist but held on to her left. With one hand, he plucked three darts from his chest and dropped them to the ground.
Catalina looked from the darts to his chest. He was wearing a T-shirt, not a bulletproof vest. “Just my luck to get three defective darts.”
“There’s nothing wrong with the darts,” he said. “They don’t work on me.”
“How come?”
“Adrenaline invincibility.” At her blank look, he elaborated, “It doesn’t matter what you do to me. I won’t feel pain, and I won’t go down unless you shoot me in the head. With a bullet.”
“Oh,” Catalina said, enlightened. “I’ve seen that. A guy who’s high on meth or PCP will just keep coming, no matter what you do. It takes five or six people to strap them down in the ER, and then it takes triple doses of sedatives to knock them out.”
The man looked annoyed. “I’m not high. It’s my ultimate predator power. Well, one of them.”
Stalling for time but also sincerely curious, Catalina asked, “What’s the other one?”
“Tracking. You know that.”
“I thought any shifter could track by scent.”
“Maybe. But it’s not by scent. If it was, you’d have lost me— well, delayed me, anyway— when you went through the creek and climbed those trees. Once I touch you, I can find you anywhere. It’s not here.” He indicated his nose. “It’s here.” He tapped his temple.
“That’s cool. What does it feel like?”
“It—” He broke off, looking annoyed. “Enough stalling.”
He picked up the tranquilizer guns, stuck them in his belt, and started to drag her away.
At the top of her lungs, Catalina yelled, “SHANE! HELP!”
When the echoes of her voice died down, she heard nothing but the sounds of her own feet scuffling through the dead leaves. The man kept on hauling her through the woods.
Catalina felt an unpleasant flutter of fear, for Shane as well as for herself. Noise carried a long way in this sort of country. He couldn’t have gotten far away enough to miss her yell in such a short time. In fact, he should have heard her the first time she yelled. And he could run like lightning in his panther form. So where was he?
“Shane!” Catalina shouted again.
“Don’t bother. He’s not coming for you.”
We’ll see about that, she thought. Shane said any shifter can track by scent. And this guy isn’t even bothering to walk through water. Once Shane gets back from wherever he is, he’ll be on us like white on rice.
As if he had read her mind, the man said, “I don’t mean that he can’t. I mean that he won’t. Garrity doesn’t come back for people. He’s long gone.”
Indignantly, Catalina burst out, “What do you know about him?”
Her captor turned his cold black gaze on her. “I know enough.”
She fell silent, remembering Shane’s story. He had killed for Apex. But not by choice. And he’d eventually decided that he’d rather die than do it again. He’d come back for her.
If he could.
She chewed nervously on her lip, once again worried for him. What had happened to him? Had he been injured in the fight with the bear? He must have been. Or could he have gotten lost? Maybe he could track other people’s scents, but not his own. She hoped that was it.
Despite the dim light and difficult terrain, the man was hurrying her along at a rapid pace. She ought to do something to delay him. It would be much easier for Shane to fight just one enemy, out in the wilderness, than if he didn’t reach her until she was already locked back up in the base.
She considered her options. The man’s grip on her arm was tight as a steel clamp. If she pretended to be sick or hurt, he’d just throw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. They’d probably move even faster if he was carrying her than if they continued walking.
The only thing she could think of was to try to befriend him and persuade him to let her go, which seemed about as likely to succeed as wishing herself a pair of wings to fly away. But she was out of other options, so she said, “My name’s Catalina Mendez. What’s yours?”
“None of your business.”
“None Of Your Business, that’s unusual. Is it a
family name?”
He didn’t so much as crack a smile. Nor did he reply. He just kept walking, hauling her along.
Tactics that don’t work, she thought. Number one: small talk. Number two: wisecracks.
Let’s see if guilt-tripping works better.
“I’m a paramedic,” she said. “I’m not in the military. I didn’t sign up for this. I’m a working woman with a family. And friends. And cats. My family is going to think I’m dead!”
“Join the club,” the man retorted, unmoved.
“Doesn’t that bother you?” Catalina asked, now genuinely curious. “Were you kidnapped too?”
That seemed to strike a nerve. He actually stopped, whipping around to face her. “If you ask me one more question, I’ll tranquilize you.”
She could tell that he meant it. “Okay. Sorry.”
He yanked on her arm, dragging her forward again. But she silently exulted. Guilt-tripping was working!
“You know what they’re going to do to me, right?” Hastily, she added, “Rhetorical question! I know that you know. They’re going to force me to go through the ultimate predator process. It’ll probably kill me. Are you okay— oops, question— I mean, please just take a second to think about whether you’re really okay with dragging an innocent civilian woman to her death.”
His voice was no longer cold, but hot with anger as he replied, “Number one, they’ve improved the process. It’s not going to kill you. And number two, don’t give me that “oh please save helpless little me” bullshit. You want this.”
“I do not!”
He gave a snort of disbelief. “Dr. Elihu showed me some of your test results. Your brain lit up like a Christmas tree whenever he asked you about doing the process or being a hero or any crap like that. You totally want to do it.”
“If I want it, how come I’m trying to talk you into letting me go?”
He didn’t reply immediately, giving Catalina hope. Then he said, “You’ve got mixed feelings. Just like everybody else. But you’re not an innocent victim. And I’m sick of listening to you. Forget questions. If you say one more word of any kind, I’ll tranquilize you.”
Catalina ground her teeth. She’d been so close!
All the rest of the journey, she tried to think of some plan to delay him or fight him or escape. But nothing came to her, other than hoping that Shane was all right and would catch up to them before they reached the base.
The bright beam of her captor’s flashlight picked up the gray concrete of the base. Her heart sank. Shane hadn’t come. What had happened to him? He had to be hurt. Badly hurt, or he’d have come anyway. Minor injuries wouldn’t have stopped him. Even something like a broken arm wouldn’t have stopped him. He was unconscious or couldn’t walk or was trapped somewhere. Or he’d been re-captured too. Maybe that was the best option.
Or he was dead.
Catalina flinched away from that thought. She wouldn’t believe it. She didn’t believe it. Either he was also being dragged back to the base, or he’d broken his ankle or something like that and hadn’t been able to travel fast enough to catch up with them.
“Home sweet home,” her captor said sardonically.
“You won’t think it’s so funny if I die here.”
“I don’t know why you keep thinking I care what happens to you,” he remarked. “I’m an assassin— a predator— an animal. I don’t care about anything.”
“Then why does it matter that I’m not an innocent victim?”
“Shut up.”
He dragged her into the base, where they were greeted by the usual array of guards, and then along the corridors and into the lab.
Dr. Elihu was waiting for them. “Good work. You didn’t find Garrity?”
The man shook his head. “He ditched her and took off. I could go back for him, but he’s probably long gone.”
Dr. Elihu was silent for a moment, looking thoughtfully into the man’s black eyes. “No... No. I expect you’re right. Don’t bother chasing him. I’ve just got one more job for you, and then you’re dismissed. She’s ready for ultimate predator now. Bite her.”
A jolt of pure adrenaline sang through Catalina’s veins. It was finally happening. There was nothing she could do to prevent it. But the thought excited rather than frightened her. In just a few minutes, she’d be a shifter!
She wondered what animal this man could turn into. A bear? A wolf? A panther, like Shane? She hoped for a big cat of some kind. Or else a dragon!
“No.” The man folded his arms. “I already told you, I won’t do that.”
“It’s only to protect her. Without shifter healing, she’s unlikely to survive the process.”
“I don’t care.”
Dr. Elihu scowled at the man. “Go to your quarters. If she doesn’t do well, I’m going to summon you back. We’ll see how you feel if she’s dying in front of you.”
“I. Don’t. Care.” The man turned around and walked out.
“You’re not going to do the process now, right?” Catalina asked uneasily. “There’s no point if I won’t survive it. You might as well shoot me in the head and be done with it.”
The doctor gave her an icy stare. “Oh, no, we’re doing it. He’ll come around. And even if he doesn’t, your experience will provide valuable data that will be useful for our next try.”
“Valuable data” like my death.
Hot fury flashed through her. Catalina punched Dr. Elihu square in the nose, throwing her full weight behind the blow. The force of the strike jarred her entire body, and the doctor fell on his ass.
“How dare you!” Dr. Elihu shouted from the floor. His voice was thick and choked, and blood ran down his chin.
Catalina laughed. Then a sharp pain stung her shoulder. One of the guards had nailed her with a dart. She slid to the ground, paralyzed. People walked in and out of her field of vision, and then she was unceremoniously hefted on to a cold metal table.
This is really it, she thought. I should be terrified.
But she wasn’t. Part of her simply couldn’t believe that she was actually going to die. Shane would rescue her, or that strange shifter would change his mind and bite her after all, or she’d simply be lucky and beat the odds. But another part, which did accept the possibility that this could be the end, was filled not with fear, but with sadness for everyone who would mourn for her.
My family, she thought. My kitties. Ellie. And Shane— what will it do to him if another person he loves dies here?
Then darkness swept her away, and all her thoughts with it.
Chapter Eleven
Shane
Shane fought his way up through the rapids, snatching gulps of air when he could, trying to keep himself afloat. The current slammed him into a boulder, knocking the breath from his lungs. But he didn’t panic. He’d been trained for exactly this sort of situation. Instead, he let the river carry him downstream, not trying to fight for air, until his diaphragm relaxed and he could breathe again.
He swam at an angle so he wasn’t directly battling the current, trying to make his way to the bank. Once he came almost close enough to touch it, only to be flung back into the middle of the rapids. But Shane persisted, though even his strong panther’s muscles burned with exertion, until his outstretched paw touched sand. He clambered ashore, then collapsed on the bank, exhausted and sodden and chilled.
He lay coughing and gasping for a minute, then shook the water from his fur and looked around. He was at the base of a cliff so steep he doubted even his panther could climb it, and on the wrong side of the river to even try. Shane didn’t want to swim those rapids again if he could help it. And he’d been carried far downstream. He could be as much as a mile away.
At least the bear has to be gone, he thought. But what’s Catalina going to do when I don’t come back?
He hoped she’d stay put and wait for him. Without enhanced shifter senses or special training, she’d have no way of tracking him and would only get lost herself.
He stood up, shook himself again, and set out along the bank, walking upstream. The sooner he got back, the less likely she was to get worried enough to decide that looking for him was the best of bad alternatives.
Shane set a brisk pace, loping along the bank as the sky brightened from indigo to blue. He finally spotted a tall hedge at the top of the cliff that he thought marked the place where he’d fallen. But the river raged beside him, and he didn’t want to risk getting swept downstream again if he tried to swim it.
Frustrated, Shane kept heading upstream, hoping the current would get less fierce. It didn’t, but he came to a place where several boulders protruded above the waterline. They were wet and looked slippery, but they seemed like his best chance. Shane leaped from one boulder to the next, landing lightly and launching again before he had a chance to slip, until he made it to the other side of the river.
And the cliff.
It loomed before him, very high and nearly vertical. His panther could climb any tree in existence, digging his claws deep into the bark, but this cliff was something else entirely.
Well? Shane asked his panther.
He felt the big cat’s reluctance to admit to weakness, a trait matched by his own. But after lifting a paw to test the rock surface, his panther admitted, I’d fall right back in the river.
Shane considered hiking further in the hope that the cliff would get more climbable. But he’d already been gone for an hour, at least. Catalina would be worried. If he was gone for long enough, she’d start searching for him— in an area that already contained one pissed-off grizzly bear.
Shane became a man again. Nude and shivering in the cold dawn wind, he looked up at the forbidding cliff.
“Here goes,” he said, and began to climb.
He’d gone rock-climbing before. It was a hobby of Destiny’s, and she’d often invited the entire team to accompany her for a climb and a picnic. And of course he’d climbed on obstacle courses and rappelled down. But even the rugged outdoors climbing Destiny enjoyed had been nothing like this. For one thing, he’d had ropes to prevent him from falling to his death if he slipped. For another thing, he’d been wearing clothes. He had to press himself right into the rough cliff-face to keep his balance, which was painful in at least three different ways for his most sensitive areas.