by Tania Hutley
Cale’s jaw tightens, but he nods. I can see on his face that he’s thinking the same thing I am. If we confront the Beast and he manages to destroy my Leopard Skin, there’s a chance my human body could die with it.
“What will you do with Morelle’s Skin?” he asks.
“I’ll lock it with my human body in the secret room behind the library shelves. Nobody will find it there.”
“If you don’t transfer back into that Skin, people will think the President of Triton vanished into thin air.”
“You could transfer into it.”
“Me?” He rocks back on his stool. “No thanks.” He shakes his head firmly. “Triton can manage without an interim president until the election.”
“No matter what happens, I’m giving all my factories to the Fist.”
His eyes widen. “You’re giving them all away?”
“The factories should belong to the Old Tritoners who work in them. The Fist will make sure the workers are looked after. And there are enough members that no one person will have total control. Hopefully, that’ll keep them honest.”
He thinks it through, and I can see the idea settling into him. “It’ll be a huge change for Triton,” he says finally. “Workers owning their own factories? That’s something I’d like to see.”
“I don’t know if it’ll work, but it’s guaranteed to make the industrialists angry. And anything they don’t like is top of my list of things to do.”
“Good enough for me.” He stands up, shaking out his arms as though prepping for a fight. “Are you going to call Brugan and Aza anytime soon? Because I’m ready to get to the part where we kill the Beast.”
“Think I should warn them it’s a trap and the Beast will be waiting for us?”
He waves a dismissive hand. “They’ll find out when we get there.”
Eighteen
The only two places I’ve ever used my Clouded Leopard Skin are in the Morelle scraper, and in the arena when I competed in the Skin Hunter contest.
Now Cale and I are bounding down the middle of an open New Triton road, heading toward Phoenix Industries.
My heart is thundering and rocket fuel burns through my veins. My Leopard Skin is a little more solid and slightly heavier than it used to be, but my increased strength more than makes up for it. Running in this Skin is still the best feeling in the world.
My paws eat up the ground in giant strides that feel like flying. Cale and I are both running fast enough to only catch brief glimpses of the shocked faces of the pedestrians we run past. Fast enough that we dodge around cabs as though they’re standing still. In my upgraded and improved Skin, I’m faster than I ever could have imagined. But as hard as it is not to let myself stretch out, I restrict myself to the speed of Cale’s Sabre-toothed Tiger Skin, forcing myself not to outpace him.
I glance back to see Aza and Brugan a little way behind us. When I spoke to them as President Morelle, they were enthusiastic about the chance to use their Skins again. Since then, I’ve been keeping clear to avoid wasting time with a confrontation. But I imagine they’re enjoying this as much as I am.
Aza’s black-and-red Wasp Skin is faster than Brugan’s, with her wings helping to lift her up and propel her forward with every long stride. Brugan’s lumbering at her heels, his Skin big and heavy in contrast to her slender frame. His wolfish face is as sinister as ever, and his fur-covered Devil Bear Skin shakes the ground with every stride.
The Phoenix Industry scraper is just ahead. Beside me, Cale runs with his mouth open and his tongue lolling between his elongated top fangs. His eyes are alight with such a fierce joy, it makes me want to laugh with delight.
When we reach the base of the scraper, we both leap at once, hooking our claws into the edge of the large Phoenix Industries sign above the front doors. The building is coated in textured concrete, and our razor-sharp claws cut into its surface, so climbing the outside of the tower is almost too easy. We haul ourselves up it as quickly as we used to go up the never-wall.
Near the top of the building, the giant phoenix logo is made from polished steel. It juts out from the concrete, and I pause for a moment, balanced on its curve. The boardroom window is just above it, so we can lever off it to crash our way in.
The other two are below us, and I want to keep ahead of them so they can follow our lead.
“You ready for anything?” I ask Cale. “The Beast will have seen us coming.”
Cale’s lips peel back in a snarl. “Ready.”
“Let me go first—”
But Cale’s already throwing himself at the window, claws outstretched to crash through. I follow so closely behind him that shards of glass are still hitting the floor as I land.
The Beast stands in front of us. He has an enormous gun levelled at us.
He’s cleared this entire floor of furniture, to make it an open, empty space. Behind him are five giant, hairy animals. They’re standing upright, but their chests are as round as barrels, and their arms are bulging with muscles and so long, they hang to their knees. They’re enormous apes, but with their upper bodies so grotesquely oversized, they look like cartoons. Like the gorilla from the retro version of Donkey Kong.
I have a feeling Morelle’s scientists didn’t make these Skins. Not when they were so meticulous about not changing the appearance of my leopard. I bet the Beast manufactured them himself.
“Two against six,” gloats one of the ape men. “You’re outnumbered and outgunned.”
I recognise his voice. It’s one of the businessmen who were with the Beast when I barged into his boardroom. If the apes are all businessmen and not used to fighting, at least we’ll have an advantage.
Aza and Brugan hurtle through the window and land on the floor behind us. Brugan snarls when he sees the Skins. Aza unfurls her red wings and extends the stingers from her palms.
We’re still outnumbered, but we’ll put up a damn good fight.
The Beast hitches his giant weapon further onto his shoulder, pointing it at me. The stench of its fuel is sharp and strong, burning the back of my throat.
Before the Beast can squeeze the trigger, I leap for his throat.
Cale jumps at the same time, and both of us arc toward the Beast. Flames shoot from his weapon, unbearable heat blasting into my face. Instantly I remember the feeling of super-heated polymer spurting from a machine at the factory, searing my flesh away and burning out my eye. I twist in mid-air and fall to the side, panic filling me, so all I can think of is getting away. The stench of burning hair and flesh fills my throat and lungs.
The Beast sweeps his weapon toward me, but I’m already leaping again. I slam into one of the ape creatures, bowling it over. Desperate to escape the flames, I claw at the creature. I gouge chunks from its hairy body, my claws lacerating its over-muscled arms and chest. It howls in pain as I rip flesh from bone.
The flames die, and for a moment I can’t hear anything but my own racing heartbeat, or see anything but white spots still burning in front of my eyes. Then my vision clears.
Beside me, Aza is fighting one of the apes, slashing it with her stingers. Her movements are as graceful as a dance, so precise and beautiful that watching her fight clears the panic from my brain.
My fur is singed, but I’m not hurt. The flame thrower is on the floor, still smoking, either abandoned or knocked out of the Beast’s hands by Brugan, who’s wrestling with him.
Cale was just as much in the flamethrower’s blast as I was. Where is he?
An ape charges at me. Adrenaline’s pumping through my muscles, and I rear up to swipe the ape to the side, sending it tumbling. The Beast slams Brugan against the ground, and an ape leaps on the fallen devil bear. Brugan and the ape are both giants, equal in size, and Brugan curses at the top of his lungs as he struggles to throw the creature off.
I move to help him, digging my claws into the ape and hauling it off Brugan so he can scramble to his feet. Behind them, I finally see Cale. He rears up over the Beast, plunging down with
his claws. But the Beast grabs him by the forelegs and slams him against the wall.
Snarling, Brugan tackles the ape again. I throw myself at the Beast’s back. One of my claws digs into his shoulder, gouging a wound deep enough that a human would go down screaming. He barely seems to notice.
One of the ape creatures grabs me from behind, latching onto my front leg with giant hands. Snarling, I manage to sink my teeth into its shoulder. With a mighty jerk of my jaws, I tear a mouthful of flesh away.
The creature roars, stumbling back, as I spit blood at it. Its arm hangs uselessly. Another creature is on me at once, but I slash it with my claws, ripping its flesh to shreds.
Cale circles the Beast, feinting forward and back as he looks for an opening. He’s limping, holding his front paw off the ground. His legs are stained red, his fur clumped with so much blood that it spatters onto the floor with every movement. As he turns away from me, I see the burn that covers one side of his body. His beautiful fur has been seared away and his flesh is raw.
Yanking my claws out of the ape creature, I rush to help him. The Beast tugs a long knife from under his shirt and brandishes it at me. I leap at him anyway, remembering what the scientist said about having a protective shield in my flesh.
He stabs me, mid-leap. Pain sears through my chest, but the knife only digs in a little way. Surprise flashes in the Beast’s eyes when it won’t penetrate. I slam into him as I land, sending him sprawling backward. Then I claw at his knife arm, slicing through his clothing and into his flesh as easily as I cut through the apes. The upgrades to my Leopard Skin have made me stronger than any of them.
With a roar of pain and rage, the Beast tears away.
I go after him, slashing big cuts across his back, and turning his shirt to ribbons soaked with his blood. He turns and slams his fist into my side, a powerhouse punch that bowls me sideways.
I hit an ape, knocking it over. It grabs me as it falls, pulling me with it so I land on top of it. Its hands wrap around my throat, cutting off my air. Before I can wrench free, Aza looms over us. She stabs downward, thrusting her stinger through its eye. Its grip loosens and I push away from it, pulling myself back onto four paws. The floor is slippery with blood, and my front paws slide forward so I almost go down again.
Chest heaving, I look around.
The Beast has his knife in his hand, and his knees bent in a fighting stance. He snarls, facing off against Brugan. Both are badly wounded, their arms and torsos slashed with cuts, The Beast’s shirt is torn away, and there barely seems like enough flesh left to hold his guts in.
Aza circles around to get behind him. Her wings are tattered and useless, and her black armor has been torn away from her body in several places. The flesh underneath is raw and bloody.
Littered around the room, the apes are mostly still. The businessmen must have transferred back into their own human bodies. All except two, who are struggling to rise, but too badly injured to be much of a threat.
Cale is on the floor, his legs sprawled out. His breath is loud, and my chest hurts to see him so badly wounded. Before I can go to him, I need to finish the Beast. Though Brugan and Aza are challenging him, compared to them, I’m barely injured. I leap over a dead ape, landing in front of them.
“I’ve got this,” I say with a growl.
“Come on.” The Beast brandishes his knife at me. “Come and get me.”
I launch myself forward, claws outstretched. He slashes at me, but his knife hits one of my claws and goes flying. I land on his chest, bowling him over.
As he struggles to rise, I hear Tori’s voice in my head. Don’t give him a chance to catch his balance. Only losers play fair.
I thrust my claws into his neck.
He gurgles, blood dribbling from his mouth. His glare is full of hatred. His mouth opens as though he’s going to say something, then his eyes go blank, and he slumps. He must have transferred his consciousness back into his human body.
Pulling my claws from his throat, I pad over to touch my nose to Cale’s. “Are you okay?”
His beautiful Tiger Skin stinks of burnt flesh, a stench that turns my stomach. His long saber-teeth are red with blood and his golden eyes are dull with pain. Still, he manages to lift his head. “I’m okay,” he lies.
Aza curses. Her black wasp’s helmet doesn’t show any emotion, but her voice is full of anger. “President Morelle told us we’d be fighting one humanoid Skin. Not these hideous creatures.” She kicks one of the apes.
Brugan gives her a gruesome smile, peeling his lips away from his bloody fangs. “I liked killing them.” He scans the room as though hoping more will appear.
“Thanks for killing the ape that had me by the neck,” I say to Aza.
“You killed most of them.” She runs her hand over the torn armor on her torso and sucks in air. “And yet you’re barely injured. Why not?”
“Yeah, how’d your Skin get so strong?” Brugan snarls. “The flames didn’t burn you.”
Aza spreads what’s left of her wings. “Something’s going on that you’re not telling us. I want to know what it is.”
I shoot Cale a glance. “My Skin was upgraded. Because, ah, I’ve been working with President Morelle, helping her track down people who’re making illegal Skins.”
Brugan takes a step toward me, and his voice drops dangerously low. “That’s a lie. She’d never choose a sewer rat to help her.”
He probably expects me to back down. Instead, I flick my tail from side to side, snarling up into his wolfish face.
“I may not have won the contest,” I growl. “But I lasted longer than you did. And now my Skin is stronger, faster, and better than yours will ever be.”
He lifts his claws. “Oh yeah? Then it’s time for a rematch, little kitty cat. Come here, and I’ll carve you into kitty shreds.”
It’s such an empty threat that my flash of anger fades away and I sit back on my haunches. He’s all hot air and bluster. Was I ever afraid of him? The idea seems laughable.
“That’s enough, Brugan.” Cale pulls himself up onto all four paws. He stands with his head and tail lowered, but his hackles are up. “We still have work to do and I won’t let you—”
“I’m leaving.” Aza cuts him off, turning toward the stairwell. “You might not care about your Skins, but mine needs urgent repair.” Torn pieces of her ruined wings drag on the floor as she stalks away.
“Wait,” I say to her back. “Please help me get Cale to the lobby. They’ll need to send a car to pick him up—”
Cale turns his face to me. “I’m not leaving. I’m staying with you.”
“You’re too badly hurt.”
“A few scratches, that’s all.”
Aza pauses to glance over her shoulder. She waves one of her hands, graceful even when she’s being dismissive. “Cale’s fine. And I’ve done everything President Morelle asked. Now I intend to ask for the same modifications she gave your Skin.”
Brugan stares after her, clearly not wanting to let her get away. He aims one more snarl in my direction. “Next time you won’t get off so lightly, sewer rat.” Then he hurries after Aza.
Cale starts to groan, but manages to muffle it, turning it into a loud exhale. Blood still drips from his fur, but his eyes are fiercely determined.
“I won’t leave you, so don’t ask me again.” His firm tone makes it a command.
I stretch my muzzle to his. He smells like burned fur and pain, but underneath is a will forged in iron.
“Then let’s go,” I say.
Nineteen
The elevators to go down to the lobby are at the other end of this floor. If Cale weren’t so badly hurt, I’d use the stairwell like Brugan and Aza did. Instead, I smack one paw against the button to call the elevator to this level.
Cale and I cram into it when it arrives. We’re two massive, feline Skins covered with blood, squeezing ourselves into an opulent, gold-and-marble carriage. The doors shut, and the elevator goes smoothly down. It’s mirrored so
we can stare at our own reflections while our gore drips onto its polished marble floor.
It feels like a dream. A surreal moment of unreality.
The elevator doors open on the lobby level of the building. Several office workers are waiting for the elevator. Their mouths drop open when they see us, and after a shocked second, they run.
As Cale limps out of the elevator, I turn my attention to its controls. There’s no obvious button or switch to make it go down to the secret floors below.
“What now?” he asks.
In answer, I stab my front claws down into the elevator’s marble floor, shattering the marble. Raking it up, I expose a thick metal plate.
Before the scientists enhanced it, my Skin could never have punched through metal. But when I put all my strength into a downward thrust, my claws go through it and I can peel it back like ripping apart a tin can.
Behind me, Cale grunts. “Who do I see about putting in for one of those upgrades?”
With a final, mighty heave, I tear the entire metal floor out. Peering into the gloom below, I can see the elevator shaft goes down one more level. At the bottom of the shaft, a door is set into the wall. I turn to Cale. “So much for the Beast’s fancy security system.”
Cale flicks his tail from side to side. “Poor fool didn’t think to make it leopard proof.”
I’m poised to jump into the shaft when it occurs to me that Cale may not be able to follow. His breathing is still too fast and it’s obvious he’s in a lot of pain. “Will you be able to get down there?” I ask.
“I’ll manage.”
“You could stay here and—”
“I’ll manage,” he growls.
I hesitate a moment longer, then drop into the hole, landing softly on the bottom of the shaft. Cale lands heavily behind me with a grunt of pain that he doesn’t manage to swallow. Together, we step out into the first of the Beast’s hidden levels.
It’s a huge, bustling space, filled with glass-fronted offices that back onto the outer walls. In the middle of the floor is a central, open well, and looking down into it, I see four more floors. A circular staircase provides access to them, solving the mystery as to why the elevator shaft only went down one floor.