Changeling Dawn

by Dani Harper

  Hey Kenzie. The good guys are here. You okay?

  Fine, Culley, thanks. Follow the hallway and help the others get outside, okay?

  Gotcha.

  Her eyes had easily adjusted to the darkness, but when she stood up, she wasn’t ready for what she saw. She’d thought she was in a lab but the cloying stench of the chemicals had blocked her ability to scent what the room actually was—a morgue. The steel tables closest to her were empty, but farther down, two had bodies. One was in a black bag, probably the ill-fated Dempsey because it was human shaped. The other was different, and it lay beneath a heavy sheet—

  She had to look. She didn’t want to, but she had to know. Kenzie forced herself to walk over to the farthest table and pull back the sheet.

  An adult wolf lay spread-eagled, belly up. Kenzie peeled the surgical fabric back further, exposing that the animal had been not just autopsied but carefully dissected, nose to tail, and preserved in that hideous condition. A rush of horror overwhelmed her as she realized several things at once. The wolf was actually a Changeling. A female.

  And one of its front legs was pure white.

  You bastard, she thought, wishing now she’d been able to claw Nate’s eyes out. You unholy bastard. Grim and heartsick, she headed to the hallway, which was empty except for a brass shell casing from the shot Culley had fired. Quickly she jogged north, heading for the stairs. She was getting Anya out of here now.

  Josh and James swept the first floor, room by room, as Culley and the other Changelings locked the three guards in one of the runs. Two more of the staff were put into an adjacent run after being found hiding under a desk in the dark.

  Josh assigned Culley and Devlin to help the Changelings get outside while he covered them. James disappeared. A few moments later, an entire pack of wolves came racing around the corner, eerily erupting from the shadows in strange shades of blue and gray thanks to Josh’s night vision goggles. He gripped his rifle reflexively but stood his ground as the animals swirled around him, and wondered where the hell James was—until an enormous white wolf bounded into sight. Damned if the thing didn’t wink a bright eye at him. Jesus, James.

  “I’m heading upstairs,” growled Josh. The white wolf chuffed and wheeled to follow him, with the pack obediently in tow as if they were well-trained dogs. Josh had no time to consider how surreal the situation was as he bounded up the steps. He was too busy watching for any opposition from IBC, uneasy that things were going smoothly and knowing it was unlikely to last.

  Just as the strange group cleared the landing, a pair of men wearing lab coats came stumbling out of a room into the dark hallway and froze. Josh doubted they could see much, but the growling of a dozen wolves couldn’t be missed. One man screamed and ran, the other threw up his hands and backed against the wall, shaking uncontrollably. James bounded after the runner and knocked him down within a few feet, where he lay too frightened to move. Josh leveled his rifle at the other man, whose eyes were bulging behind his wire-rimmed glasses. It was Jurgen Schumacher, whom he’d met on the scouting trip with Stanton. Funny how the project manager seemed much less arrogant when terrified. “How many people are on this floor?”

  “N-n-now?”

  “Now. Here tonight.”

  The man continued to shake as if palsied. “F-f-four, m-m-m-maybe f-five.”

  “Go lie facedown next to your buddy.” The man walked on jellied legs to comply, half-lying, half-collapsing on the floor. To Josh’s amazement, two wolves promptly lay down on top of the men, effectively pinning them. He spared a brief hope that the guys wouldn’t have heart attacks, and tackled the second-floor rooms one by one.

  A dozen rooms and four more scientists later, he still hadn’t seen Kenzie and no one seemed to know where she was. Culley said she’d gone after Anya and they were upstairs somewhere, but Josh was rapidly running out of rooms to check. And no sign either of that son-of-a-bitch, Richardson. It was the middle of the frickin’ night and most people should be in their barracks asleep, not working for chrissakes. Stanton and Birkie hadn’t seen anyone leaving any buildings—

  Sudden shots rang out from outside in the compound. “We’ve got five guards, maybe six, making a stand in the ATV shed,” Stanton’s voice crackled in Josh’s ear. “There’s no getting to the hole in the fence right now, they’ve got it too well covered.”

  “All of us are still in the main building, retreated to the south end, and we’ve got one prisoner wounded,” said Culley. “I’m trying to get the damn front gate open but it’s encrypted and I haven’t figured out the password yet.”

  “I’m sending James. Maybe he can give you guys a hand down there,” Josh said. “I’ll finish clearing the top floor and we’ll figure out something.” The white wolf made a series of high-pitched yips and dashed away, followed by all but the two wolves guarding the prisoners. Josh studied the hallway before him. There were at least a dozen more doors to go. He was about to kick in the door of the nearest one when a fluttering motion caught his eye....

  He shouldn’t have been able to see color with the NVGs, but the little girl’s tunic and shawl were vivid green and red as always. Her clothing was stirred by a phantom breeze, and tendrils of her dark hair escaped her scarf. She stood, solemn-eyed, in front of the farthest door, with one small palm upon its glossy metal surface—and then faded from his sight.

  Under normal circumstances, Josh would have continued sweeping every room along the way. But nothing was normal here, and whether spirit or hallucination, the little Afghan girl had never steered him wrong. Quietly he made his way down the hall and kicked open the door she had pointed to. His hands were steady and his rifle was instantly trained on Nate Richardson’s forehead.

  The man stood with Anya clutched by the throat in one hand and a gun pointed at Josh in the other. The little wolf’s eyes were wide with fear and she was trembling. “Welcome to the party, Talarkoteen,” he said. “Put the weapon down and you can have Kenzie.” He nodded at a small locked cage on the other side of the room in which she was crouched. “The cub and I have other places to go.”

  “You said you’d let her go, Nate,” Kenzie fumed, rattling the door in frustration. “You promised you wouldn’t hurt her.”

  Josh’s rifle was unmoving. “Put the kid down. Now. You kill her and you won’t take another breath.”

  “I’m no soft human. All I have to do is close my hand,” said Richardson smugly. “Her neck will snap and I can shoot you, all at the same time. And then I’ll shoot the bitch in the cage just for laughs.” He squeezed Anya a little harder until she made little choking sounds. “So put the rifle down and get out of my way.”

  Josh was about to lower his rifle when a brilliant flash of light blinded him and made him tear off the NVGs. Nate was flung backward into a bookcase, hard enough to stun him. The little wolf was gone and a small blond-haired girl blinked unsteadily and sat down hard on the floor, as blue sparks rained like falling stars all around her.

  Spots whirled in front of Josh’s eyes but despite the dark he could just make out that Richardson’s hand still gripped the gun. “Get over to Kenzie,” he said to Anya. “Hurry!” The little girl scurried to comply.

  He brought his rifle to bear and when his opponent started to recover, Josh deliberately fired into the wall next to him. “Drop it.”

  Nate blinked and tossed the gun aside. He grinned strangely, as if the whole thing was humorous—and faster than Josh could react, a tawny wolf was at his throat.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Kenzie screamed a warning but the big tawny wolf had already come up under Josh’s guard, making it impossible for him to bring the rifle to bear. Only his instincts prevented his belly from being torn out. He brought the butt of the rifle down on the wolf’s broad skull with a loud crack and used the momentum to spring out of the way. It barely bought him a second’s respite, however. The wolf was on top of him in a heartbeat, its fang-filled jaws held away from Josh’s face by only the rifle gripped crosswis
e in his hands, as if he were bench pressing a weight from hell.

  It was getting hard to breathe and his arm muscles felt like they were going to shred at any second. Human strength was no match for a shapeshifter. But if he didn’t stop Richardson, not only would he be killed, but Kenzie would be dead and Anya would spend her life in a lab. Josh held on, his own teeth bared even as the savage jaws snarled just inches away from his face. Again and again, he brought his knee up hard into the wolf’s ribs and gut. For the longest time it didn’t seem to have the slightest effect on the creature....

  Then abruptly the giant wolf jumped off to one side and Josh sucked in a lungful of welcome air. There was no time to gather himself, however, no time to move or think before snake-quick jaws had clamped onto his thigh. Yelling, Josh threw rapid-fire punches into the beast’s tender nose, desperate to make the creature let go before it applied all the pressure it was capable of and took his leg off.

  Suddenly a dark blur sailed over him and latched onto his attacker, ripping and tearing with tooth and claw. The tawny wolf released Josh to fend off Kenzie and Josh rolled fast to get out of the way. The gun, where’s the damn gun?

  “Did you want this?” asked a soft voice to his left. He turned his head to see Anya holding out the handgun to him in small cupped hands. Josh grabbed the weapon and held it in front of him with both hands to steady it. All he needed was a clear target for one split second, but the shapeshifters were rolling and snarling and snapping. It was too dark and the Changelings were moving too fast for him to separate Kenzie from Richardson. Blood and saliva and fur flew. “Anya, tell Kenzie to duck. In her head, tell her fast.”

  Abruptly, the gray wolf dropped flat to the floor and the larger tawny creature lunged with open jaws for the vulnerable spine at the base of her skull. Josh didn’t even hear the retort of the gun, only saw two holes open up between the tawny wolf ’s eyes. It slumped over its would-be victim, its long fangs still bared in a permanent snarl.

  Wriggling out from under the massive head, the gray wolf shook itself and Changed. Kenzie was bleeding from countless scratches, and a couple of long gashes along her ribs and down her back, but she caught the little girl who flew into her arms. Josh lay propped up against a desk, grateful to see the two together and safe. He wanted nothing more than to gather them both into his arms, but felt strangely weak and dizzy—must be his body dumping all its adrenaline after the fight. Then he looked at his leg and spotted the dark red pool fanning out around it.

  “Shit,” he said aloud, frantically ripping off his camo shirt in a hail of buttons.

  Startled, Kenzie followed his line of sight and blanched. She was beside him in a flash, tearing off strips of the cotton material, folding it into pads and packing it tight against the wounds. “Anya, press down here, like this. And here too, okay? Atta girl.”

  “How bad’s it look?” asked Josh.

  “It’s deep, and I don’t know if the artery’s been nicked. It’s bleeding like crazy.” She stopped and took a deep breath as if she’d been holding it. “But I can’t believe it’s not worse.”

  “You kept that from happening by jumping in.”

  She grinned a little at that. “We saved each other. And Anya helped, didn’t you?”

  “I made the lock open. Kenzie told me how.”

  “Nikki gave me some numbers, and they turned out to be the combination to that cage.” She tied the last of the fabric around Josh’s leg. “Anya was very clever—I know a lot of grownups who’d have trouble with a lock like that.”

  “We couldn’t have done it without you, honey,” said Josh, wishing he hadn’t had to shoot Richardson in front of her. “But we’ve got to get out of here now.” He grabbed Richardson’s handgun and stuck it in the back of his waistband, slung his rifle over his shoulder. Anya found his NVGs for him. They still worked but his radio had been broken in the fight. He jammed it in a pocket, not wanting to leave evidence. Amazingly, Birkie’s leather pouch still hung around his neck. He snorted—the amazing thing was that he still had a neck.

  As he struggled to his feet, Josh had to lean heavily on Kenzie, and was grateful for her Changeling strength.

  “Are you sure you can do this?” she asked. “You’re going to start bleeding again.”

  “Hey, I got Wonder Woman and Super Girl to help me out. I can do anything.” He began moving forward, but had to grit his teeth to manage it. Anya pushed herself under his other hand and tried to help. He tousled her blond hair, hoping she’d stay human for a while. “Let’s catch up with the others now.”

  From what she could glean from her brothers using mindspeech, nothing had changed downstairs. Kenzie hoped they could break the standoff before anyone else showed up at the complex, or someone managed to get a message out. Plus Josh’s leg needed attention—she had no idea how he was walking on it—and both Birkie and Stanton were on the outside of the compound.

  Two wolves still guarded the door to an office holding terrified IBC staff. The big animals surveyed the threesome solemnly as they passed by. “Can you talk to them?” managed Josh between his teeth. “We oughta say thanks.”

  “James and Connor are the experts in communicating with animals—” began Kenzie, but Anya interrupted.

  “I can tell them. I know how.” Before anyone could say a word, the child had skipped over to the nearest wolf and gripped the thick ruff on either side of his neck, bringing her small delicate face close to his broad muzzled one. It was scary as hell for a grownup to watch, knowing the ease with which the wolf could savage the life from Anya if it chose, but she was perfectly comfortable with the big predator and repeated the performance with the second one. Whatever she said was passed silently to each wolf, and both animals sat calmly, as if they talked with little girls every day. “Jesus,” breathed Josh, his hand gripping Kenzie’s arm.

  “They’re gonna wait here for somebody to come and take their place,” Anya said, as she came back and took Kenzie’s hand. “But then they want to go home.”

  “I don’t blame them,” Kenzie said, with a can-you-believe-this glance at Josh. “I want to go home too.”

  The journey down the stairs was slow and difficult. Josh gripped the railing with both hands and hopped on his good leg, as Kenzie walked close in front of him in case he fell. They were only a few steps from the bottom when an unwelcome voice called out from the shadows.

  “Freeze right there or I shoot.”

  “Gessler,” spat Kenzie and swept Anya behind her.

  “Don’t move,” breathed Josh and she understood at once. The way that she was positioned, half in front of him, he might be able to get to his handgun before Gessler saw him. She hoped.

  “Glad to see you too. Hands up where I can see them.” The man emerged from the dark hallway, wearing NVGs and pointing a small black Glock at them. Her friend Magdi had had one like it that she kept with her at all times. She’d said that the gun had a light trigger and Kenzie instinctively knew that this man would enjoy letting his finger slip.

  “I have to hang on to the railing,” said Josh. “Or I’ll fall.” His blood-soaked pants and smeared T-shirt, plus the makeshift bandages, reinforced his story.

  Gessler shrugged. “All I want is the kid. IBC will pay me a helluva reward if I can produce her, so let me have her and you go free. Everybody gets what they want.”

  “How do we know you won’t kill us?” asked Kenzie.

  Gessler raised the Glock. “I’m certainly going to kill you if you don’t comply. So better for you to take a chance that I’m feeling generous and give me my little prize.”

  It was obvious that the guy was concerned about harming his “prize” or he would have shot both of them already. Kenzie could feel movement behind her left shoulder as Josh no doubt palmed his gun—

  Suddenly a slender black shape separated itself from the darkness behind Gessler and stabbed him in the neck with a small fluorescent yellow dart. The man cursed but the sound trailed off and he collapsed to the fl
oor in an untidy heap, his NVGs skittering across the floor and coming to rest against a wall.

  The figure pulled back the hood of her black sweatshirt to reveal goggles and a grin. “Nikki!” Kenzie ran down the rest of the steps to hug the young veterinarian. “Thank you. You were wonderful.” She glanced over at Gessler. “I shouldn’t care but you didn’t use—I mean, it’s not—”

  “No, this stuff goes by body weight and it’s less than half a dose for an ordinary wolf. I didn’t want to kill him. Well, not much anyway.”

  Anya bounced down the steps and Nikki’s grin disappeared. “Omigod, you’re the cub, aren’t you? I—I’m sorry.” She dropped to her knees and took Anya’s hands. “We didn’t believe ... we didn’t know that you were really people.” She looked up at Josh and Kenzie. “Most of us thought we’d discovered a new subspecies of wolf, perhaps even a remnant of the old dire wolf from the last Ice Age. I’m so sorry.”

  Anya shrugged, not sure what to do. “The man with the gun is bad,” she said simply. “He’s the one that took my mom away. He caught me too and I bit him, but he didn’t let me go.”

  “Yes, he was bad,” agreed Kenzie. “And somebody had to stop him, so Nikki did that for us.” The child nodded, apparently satisfied. Kenzie wondered how Anya was ever going to be able to adjust to everything that had happened to her. “Come on, let’s go find the others.”

  Nikki was appalled by the condition of Josh’s leg and made him promise to let her look at it. She helped Kenzie support him as they headed through the doorway into the blackness of the corridor. They’d gone only a few yards when a shot deafened them in the confined space and something whistled past Kenzie’s ear. In a flash, Josh took the women to the floor with him and shielded Anya with his body. His pistol was pointed at the stairwell they’d just left.