CAT SHIFTERS OF AAIDAR: ENDINGS

by Laney Kaye

  “Call off the witch,” he blubbered. “Or I’ll scream so loud, the drones circling your Resistance hovel a week north of here will hear me and come flying.”

  With a heavy sigh, Herc tucked his pistol into his waist, behind his back. From his pack, he pulled out a shirt, which he tore. He hauled Smithton back onto his butt, then wound the strip of cloth around his face, tying it snug, and cutting off further conversation.

  “Thanks,” Leo said. “All that whining was messing with my concentration.”

  “How close are we to getting in?” Herc asked, crouching down on his heels beside Leo.

  “Nearly there.”

  “Can we use his eyeball now, and then end him?”

  “Mmm! Mmm, hmm, hmm!” Smithton said.

  “After Aaidar, call Dragarians.” Terra loomed over Leo, pointing to her chest. “For me.”

  He cricked his neck to stare up at her from where he sat in the sand. “You want us to call the Dragarians, too? Where did they wind up settling, after they all left Harang?”

  “Many place. I give you call signal.”

  “Okay,” Leo said slowly. “No harm in sending out a ping, I guess. There’s no guarantee we’ll reach anyone, though.”

  “I give exact message.” Her knuckles dug into his shoulder. “You send.”

  “No problem.” Leo hunched over the device again.

  Rising, I paced back and forth, keeping to the shade. My pair-blade moved with my thigh, silent but waiting.

  Despite Terra’s assertion that Quelir sacrificed himself for me and thus, there was no need for my vengeance, my blade still needed something. Glowing blue, it pulsed with a new urgency, as if it strove to tell me something.

  Each time Jag and I touched, renewed sparks flew through us. But we hadn’t kissed. I shouldn’t touch him anymore. What if my blade still demanded I pay the full price? Loving Jag as I did, I couldn’t bear to hurt him.

  I’d hurt enough people already.

  Oh, Quelir. I held in my sob with the back of my fist, refusing to let it slip out.

  Smithton watched me, his expression merrier than it should be, as if he took pleasure in my pain.

  “Did you know you aren’t my father?” I shouted.

  He couldn’t speak with the gag, but his brow wrinkled.

  “That’s right,” I said, stalking toward him. “You’re not my father. I’ve never been more grateful for anything in my life. And soon, I’ll—”

  “Bring me his eyeball,” Leo said with a smirk.

  Smithton whimpered and tried to scramble along the sand, like a dying lorkus who knew it would soon expire and be eaten by its young.

  Herc and Jag hauled Smithton to his feet and dragged him over to Leo, who stood and aligned the device with Smithton’s face.

  Smithton pressed his eyelids shut, but Herc shifted his hand into a set of claws that would give a hardened criminal nightmares. And, when he poked Smithton in the back, drawing blood, Smithton bleated like an abandoned pillion calf and opened his eyes wide.

  A beep rang out, and Leo grinned. “Easier than stealing cucua leaves from a feylon.”

  Wiggling his shoulder against his cheek, Smithton was able to shift the gag off his mouth and unleash his fury. “This is preposterous! You have no right.”

  “No”—Herc gouged Smithton’s back again—“You have no rights.”

  Smithton’s haughty tone rang out, and I had to wonder how he could still maintain confidence he’d live. “Your efforts are useless. You won’t be able to reach them.”

  “Aaidarian command?” Leo said into the device. “Yup. Hold on. Let me put Jag on the line.”

  Jag grabbed the communicator and listened.

  Smithton snorted. “Jag? Ha. Like they’ll know who he is just by his first—”

  “Sure, I’ll talk with my father.” Jag cupped his hand over the transmitter. “Can you keep it down? Otherwise, I won’t be able to hear Supreme Commander Kelsallariann.”

  Smithton dropped to his knees, as if his legs could no longer support his puny weight. “Your father is Supreme Commander Kelsallariann?”

  Wait. I’d thought…I’d assumed Jag was only a mercenary, not a member of the ruling Aaidarian family.

  “Think he’ll believe me when I tell him about your DNA project?” Jag asked Smithton. His face loosened, and he turned and took a few steps away from us. “Dad! Great to hear your voice. Yeah, I know. Shoulda been in touch sooner. You know how it is. You get absorbed in the job and life gets away from you.” He sighed. “You’re right. I know Mom worries when I’m off base. Tell her I love her.”

  He paused, as if listening. “So, Dad,” he said. “Hate to cut you off, but we’re in trouble down here. Yeah, man, it’s a total crapshoot.” He walked out from underneath the overhang, passing through the pink and yellow sunbeams cutting across the desert floor. The sun would sink below the horizon and our two moons would rise soon. Now that we’d passed our message to the Aaidarians, we could travel.

  And I could give in to my thirsting.

  “No, you wrong,” Terra said quietly from beside me. “I tell you, thirsting not your right.”

  Maybe she was a witch. How else could she know what I thought all the time? “It is,” I ground out.

  “You not blood.”

  “You keep saying that, but it makes no sense.”

  “Tracin blood—my blood—now in jaguar shifter.” Her lips curled down. “In him, Tracin live, so Ari live.”

  “I still don’t understand.”

  She tapped her temple. “I sees. Sees all.”

  “All?” I growled, because, if she could see everything, why hadn’t she stopped the Dragarians from traveling to the compound, where they found death?

  “Sees enough.” Her rheumy gaze drifted to the men. “Sometime not enough. Sees many future.”

  Another statement that only threw more confusion into the mix. Huffing, I stalked past her and dropped down to the sand on the edge of the shade created from the overhang, and rolled onto my side, facing away from everyone.

  My eyes stung, from exhaustion and grief.

  “I kill now,” Terra said, after Jag had finished and her messages had been sent by Leo.

  I turned over, watching her pull her blade. Pale blue—almost white—it seemed to glisten with purpose.

  “I want him,” I said, scrambling to my feet. “He’s mine.”

  Determination boiled inside me, begging to be released.

  Terra and I advanced on Smithton, who, still tied but no longer gagged, cowered on the ground, his eyes blazing with a combination of anger and fear.

  Jag held us back. “No can do. The Aaidarian government insists on a Tribune. They’ll put him to trial.”

  “See?” Smithton said in a smug tone, his shoulders tight. “The Tribune will hear my case and dismiss all charges.”

  Herc growled.

  “You have nothing that proves I was involved in a crime,” Smithton said, settling his back against the wall and stretching out his feet—as much as he could while tied. “Someone destroyed the evidence.” He smiled at Leo, and his fear appeared to melt from him, leaving behind the confident, slimy man who’d raised me. “The Tribune will release me and I’ll return to the compound, where I can continue about my business, unscathed by your petty and unjustified need for revenge.”

  “Justice be served,” Terra shouted, knife rising as she strained to break free of Leo’s grip.

  “Please,” Jag said softly. “Now that the Aaidarian government is involved, we have no choice.”

  The narrow-eyed look Terra threw Smithton made my knees tremble, even though it wasn’t directed at me. Raw fury creased her face, and cords stood out on her wrinkled neck. “Always choice,” she said, shoving her blade back into its sheath and stepping away from Leo. “But I sees how this must be. I waits.”

  Did she see the same future Smithton envisioned? Or one filled with vengeance?

  Now that the message had been sent, we prepared t
o leave. Smithton would ride tied to Herc as before.

  I rode on Jag, burying my face in the back of his neck. How much longer could I be with him, without giving into my need to be with him always?

  We raced into the night, the other cats flanking us.

  Come dawn, we located a repurposed viper cave. While I’d normally refuse to share the hidden spot with Smithton, I’d kill him soon. The wait was killing me, but it did give Jag and I more time. Regardless, Smithton would take his knowledge of the viper cave system to the grave with him.

  I just needed to wait for my chance.

  After I’d dropped my blanket along one wall, Jag tossed his beside mine.

  As we snuggled together, I told myself I’d make this work.

  It was possible Terra did know something, though she couldn’t know everything.

  I needed to kill Smithton, but maybe, I could still find a way to be with Jag.

  #

  Something woke me. A creak. A sigh. Or the feeling that all was not well.

  My head pounded, as if I’d downed three bottles of benna.

  Herc groaned. “Fuck.” Sitting up, his silhouette created restless shadows in the dim light emitted by the small oil lamp. He rubbed his face, and red streaks stood out sharply in the whites of his eyes when he glanced around the room. “What the hell?”

  Rising up onto my elbow, I gasped.

  No Smithton.

  No Terra.

  Jag and Leo appeared to still be asleep, which was wrong, since their cat senses worked ten times better than mine.

  “Terra drugged us,” I croaked out, my throat dry and scratchy. “I bet she took Smithton.” Smithton could never have facilitated an escape on his own. Herc’s crew knew how to tie tight knots that couldn’t be loosened.

  “Guys,” Herc said, roughing Leo and Jag’s shoulders with his palm. “Wake up. We got a problem.”

  “Crap,” Leo said, struggling to his knees. His body wavered. “Feel like I made the rounds of the sleaze-easies while I was asleep.”

  Jag rose to his feet, his gaze falling on me immediately. “You okay?”

  “Yeah.” I patted my side, where my Dragarian blade still rested, then scrambled to my feet. “We need to go after them.”

  “Yep.”

  We gathered our things quickly and blew out the light, then climbed the ladder.

  Inky-blue dusk awaited us topside. Our two moons had risen, full and lush, shooting silver streaks across the sand.

  “Where did they go?” I asked Jag. “I’m worried about Terra.” Smithton, I would track for the rest of my life.

  Jag took my hand and squeezed it. “Don’t worry. We’ll find them.”

  Leo stooped down to study the ground, then lifted his head and pointed west. “Fresh tracks. Go that way.”

  In the center of three low hills half a click away, we found them on the flat surface between the dunes.

  Smithton had Terra pinned underneath him, and he held her Dragarian blade tight to her throat.

  “Tell me the location of the hidden dragonstone,” he shouted, spittle flying.

  “I be Keeper,” she ground out. “Never tell.”

  He smacked her face. “Tell me!”

  I whimpered and rushed down the hill, pulling my blade as I ran. It was time. I’d drive my knife so deep, it would pop out his backside.

  The guys were with me, Herc pulling ahead.

  “Let her go,” Jag yelled.

  Smithton curled his head our way, like a vultrex scenting prey. “Stay back, or I’ll kill her.”

  Herc held out his arms when we would’ve flown past him. “Don’t be stupid, Smithton. You’re in a no-win situation. Kill her and you’ll be dead before you have time to gloat. Let her go and you can take your chances with the Tribune.”

  “I need dragonstone. She knows where it is.” He pressed the blade harder against her neck, making blood well in a straight line and trickle down her throat.

  “You want dragon?” she asked, slyness filling her eyes.

  What was she—

  “Yes! Give it to me!”

  “Then dragon you receive.”

  Her body rippled and she arched her elongating, scaled neck, and screamed. While Smithton reeled back, her arm whipped out at her side and her fingers shifted, forming long, thick claws.

  With a grunt, she shoved her hand up, impaling Smithton in the chest. “Meet dragon.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Jag

  “Khal’s woman is going to want to meet that dragon, too,” Leo grunted with hard humor in his laugh as he eyed Terra, still straddling Smithton’s prone form. “I imagine her griffin needs gal pals.”

  I strode forward, lifting Terra from Smithton as though she were dria fluff. She’d instantly changed back into a crone, all the fight leaving her frail body.

  On his knees alongside Smithton, Herc planted his palm over the blood pulsating from the man’s chest. “Get me the med pack,” he snarled.

  I shook my head. “No point. It’s too late, man. Fuck, it’s gonna be fun trying to explain this one to Dad. He was adamant about Smithton facing the Tribune. Said they’d need information on how far the research had gone and who else knows about it.”

  Terra pulled herself from my grasp and drew herself up proudly, almost straight despite her crippled back. “I not bound by your law. I answer to custom. Honor.”

  Aren darted forward. Her hands curled into fists, she stood over Smithton, staring at the dying man. I moved to stand behind her, then slid my arms around her waist. Bonded or unbonded, I’d always give her my support and strength.

  The fact that the first bond called to us, zapping electricity through our neurons at every touch, only heightened my eagerness to get back to the Resistance Headquarters. We had to win this battle, not only to defeat the Regime, but so I could make Aren mine in all the ways possible.

  At the compound she’d said that our time would be limited, no doubt because she expected to face the repercussions of seeking vengeance against Smithton. But now, with Smithton dying at our feet, Terra had freed her from that duty, and there was no reason for us not to be together. Though it was going to be hard to explain to Dad that I’d lost his prime witness, I sure as hells owed Terra one for what she’d done for Aren and me.

  “Okay?” I murmured in her ear. What the hells did you say to a woman as she waited for the only father she’d ever known to die?

  She leaned back against me. “More than okay. It’s done. I didn’t do it, but it’s done.” She turned toward Terra, who looked suddenly uncertain under the scrutiny. “You were right, Terra, as always. It was your privilege, not mine, to end him. Now your son is avenged.”

  “And you knows you is free.” Terra’s words seemed laden with hidden meaning.

  “Am I?” Aren whispered. But then she shook her head, as though unconvinced, and turned back to Smithton, the glittering crystals of sand squeaking beneath her feet.

  Smithton gurgled, his eyes glazing. Aren’s hand moved to the hilt of her knife, but she didn’t draw it. Just watched with endless patience as the blood bubbled and frothed from Smithton’s mouth.

  When it was over, her hand relaxed and her shoulders drooped. “Leave him for the vultrex. We need to get back to the Headquarters. To my people. To our people.”

  #

  “Holy hells,” Herc muttered.

  We’d been able to see the smoke from clicks away, while it was still daylight. With nightfall, we’d move closer to the Regime encampment. Now, from where we hid in the lee of a craggy outcrop to the North of the Regime forces, even Terra and Aren could hear the sounds of battle. The high-pitched tension whine of the wires as the catapults reloaded drowned some of the screams, though the noise of hand-to-hand combat still burst through sporadically. For some reason, the clash of blades, the antiquated weapons that were all that existed on Glia before the Medians invaded, seemed to humanize a battle far more than the electric buzz of lasers or ping of ricocheting bullets. The
meaty thwack as one of those bullets found it’s mark, though? That was always grounding. There was no way to hear that and pretend it was anything other than pain and death. All of us had felt that agony far too often to distance ourselves from it.

  “It’s escalated,” I said. “The diversionary attack must’ve sparked off a major battle.”

  Leo nodded grimly. “Have to hope that we’ve at least forced the Regime’s hand, then. If they were unprepared, maybe there’s still a chance for us.”

  Our night vision multiple times better than any human, the three of us Felidaekin could make out details of the battle from our slightly elevated position. “Looks like they haven’t breached the wall,” Herc said, squinting into the gloom. “The bulk of the forces are milling in no-man’s land between the HQ and the encampment. If they’d broken through, there’d be no stopping them, they’d swarm the place like teromotan.”

  Aren’s shoulders slumped, and I heard her relief wheeze out. “Then some of our people are safe?”

  “For now.” Leo’s features were drawn as he scanned the night.

  I knew where his thoughts were. “She’ll be okay, man,” I said. Janie would be deep in the bowels of the mountain, dealing with the casualties.

  Herc grunted, his face creased with worry. His woman, Maya, could either be inside taking care of the wounded, or fighting at the gates alongside her sister, the Queen. However Lyrie, Khal and Fen had organized the Resistance, they were apparently succeeding at keeping the Regime at bay.

  A broad-winged scree wheeled overhead, its cry cutting through the cooling air. Terra looked up as it passed above us, raptor-like wings blocking the stars. “Messenger of death.”

  “Yeah. But whose?” Herc grunted.

  I clapped a hand on his shoulder, but there was nothing I could say, no reassurance I could offer. Sure as hells, some of us would lose those we cared about today.

  His shoulder rippling with tension, Herc nodded abruptly, his words heavy with irony. “Right, then. I’m sure three cat shifters can help turn the tide of the battle.”

  “Three shifters and a Refugee leader,” I corrected. Aren had become rigid at his words, her mouth open to protest. I knew she’d insist on fighting for her people, just as I would for mine.