Nate followed, and I saw him frowning at me.
I glanced down and saw that my form was a blur, like a smeared watercolor.
Huh. That was something, but it was a distant thought, as I was wrapped up in the void. Only the feather existed.
Nate reached my side, now pressed up against the side of the house. “The church teach you that?” he asked softly.
I shook my head. I wasn’t sure where it had come from, but he didn’t need to know that. And I knew for a fact that silence upset men.
It worked on Nate.
I managed to bite back a smile at my small measure of success.
Glancing about, still confident we were alone, I flung up my hand, and an orb drifted up above us to hover outside the window on the second floor, one of the windows that was illuminated. The orb didn’t have a color, exactly, but seemed to be a distorted view of its surroundings, like staring through glasses with Vaseline smeared over the surface.
Again, Nate grunted. That one had been from Roland.
Sounds slowly reached my ears and I felt Nate tense, thinking someone was creeping up on us. Then he seemed to understand what my orb was doing. Like a small microphone, it was picking up on sounds from the room above.
“I don’t care what she said. We don’t work for her. The warning didn’t do any good anyway.”
“… payback…” a muffled voice replied, too far away to catch all of his reply.
“Oh, she’ll pay for this. It’s already in motion.”
“… Temple…?”
The first voice hesitated. “We’ll see…”
“… rumors…”
“I damned well know the rumors!” the first voice growled. “But we don’t have much choice if he shows up. Even considering…” the voice faded with a steady thump of walking feet on a wooden floor. Then the light in the room winked out. I released my spell, glancing at Nate.
He shrugged, then held out a hand for me to proceed with whatever I chose to do.
I waited, wondering what the two bears had been talking about. Or maybe they had been guards. Still, it seemed someone had come to warn them of something. And that I needed to pay for something I had done. But… I hadn’t done anything to them. Nate had been the one to fight the bear at the auction, and I realized with a start, I had never asked him the outcome. Had he killed him? And who kept going around warning people about me? I was confident it wasn’t the Demon, because her letter had admitted to killing the wolf and vampire, and she had no need to warn them ahead of time only to kill them hours later. It made no sense.
But none of that mattered. I needed that spear. It was the last piece. Then I could get it to Roland and be done with this.
But you need to make an impression. A stand. Give them fear… a small voice inside of me whispered. I nodded resolutely. This was like the first day in a prison yard. I needed to walk up to the biggest man in the pen and punch him in the teeth. Even if that meant bluffing.
I refocused like Roland had taught me, feeding my emotions into the image of the feather in my mind. The feather ruffled lightly as the wind of my emotions struck it, and were absorbed into it, leaving only the feather, slowly rotating in midair.
I was ready. No fear. No emotions. Cold. Calculating. One with my training.
One last flicker of fear darted through. Would that be enough?
I fed it into the feather, waiting for the calm to return. I thought I heard faint laughter in the depths of my mind, but it stopped as soon as I focused on it.
When I opened my eyes, Nate was watching me thoughtfully. I stared back at him, face devoid of emotion. An eager smile slowly spread across his face, and he gave me a single nod.
“Back me up if things go bad, otherwise please stay back.” He nodded.
I repeated the same spell I had used earlier over both of us, washing us in a water-colored smear. Nate grunted, glancing down at himself, eyes thoughtful. I knew he could duplicate it now. He seemed a quick learner.
I grabbed his shoulder, and enveloped the two of us in a small cocoon of magic, the same I had used to kill sound as we had snuck away from the tree. Then I Shadow Walked us into the room where the bears had been a few moments ago. Nate hissed at me, sounding surprised I had done so rather than sneak in through the ground floor. I checked that we were alone before whispering back.
“They’re less likely to check a room they vacated only moments ago, and I bet the ground floor entrances are heavily guarded. They seem to be expecting us. Perhaps your spying didn’t do much good. Soldiers can die with faulty information,” I added as an afterthought, something Roland had told me repeatedly.
Nate’s vague form flickered in agitation, but I dismissed him, studying the room. It was an office. I quickly crept around the room, careful to keep the orb around me so my motions were silenced. I found a desk, and slowly began sliding open drawers, searching for the spear. It wasn’t there. I found papers all over the desk, and even a confirmation email about the auction, proving that at least some of Nate’s information had been accurate. This was the right house. Bear shifters were reportedly loners, but that didn’t mean there couldn’t have been two or more grizzly families in town.
So, we had the right house, but no spear on the desk. I glanced over my shoulder to see Nate scouring one of the closets. He had duplicated my sound-suppressing spell, although his wasn’t an orb around him that I could see. Maybe that was because of the illusion spell I had used on him. Still, no sound betrayed his search.
He finally looked up at me and shook his head. He pointed to various spots around the room, again, shaking his head, letting me know where he had searched — the bed, the night stand, and the closet. I didn’t see anywhere else to hide the spear, but I did unfold from my crouch to check behind paintings on the wall, curious if they had safes for the spear tucked away behind one.
Then I had another thought. Would I be able to sense the spear? I had felt the other two pieces, so maybe I could follow that connection. I focused on what I had felt from the spear pieces I had touched, and a moment later, I flicked my head to the desk for some reason. To an empty spot between papers.
I frowned, but nothing was there. Still, I felt a… resonance of some kind, as if the spear had sat there for some time. Maybe the bears had taken it when they left the room. I focused on the resonance again, and I could feel Nate studying me, sensing something. A faint trail of… not light, but something, drifted from the desk to the door exiting the room. Nate still watched me, apparently not seeing it, but I wanted to let out a hoot of triumph. I could follow it!
I motioned him forward, and tentatively placed my hand on the door.
It exploded into me, hammering me across the room.
Chapter 42
I struck the desk with a grunt, and stumbled back to my feet to see a hulking man glaring into the room with a snarl on his face. He was tall, built like a woodsman, and had a short, thick beard that matched his auburn hair. Seeing me, his face shifted to alarm, but his eyes seemed to be taking in more than just me. Ah, the water-color. He was seeing a smear of a human shape, like a ghost. His concern slowly faded as another thought replaced it. Ghosts wouldn’t have been impacted by a wooden door hitting them. “What the hell?” he growled. “I smell wizard stink.”
Nate rushed him from the side, striking him with a sledgehammer of air once within arm’s reach, but the man merely grunted as if annoyed by an insect. Then the bear punched Nate’s distorted form. Nate flew across the room, flipping over the bed to land on the opposite side. Nate had been holding back in his attack, not wanting to alert any of the other bears. That was why he hadn’t used something stronger than air. Like his whips.
But it hadn’t even fazed the beast. And he was in human form.
I knew real bears could take a beating, due to their extensive layers of fat, but did that relay over to the human itself? That was something I had never considered. Or heard of. Then again, I hadn’t ever met a shifter bear.
Twin kamas formed in my fists, and I dropped my illusion spell as I squared off against the bear. He blinked at me in disbelief, and then a murderous, hungry scowl split his bearded face. “Back to the scene of the crime, eh, church-mouse? This is better than our original plan. I think I’m going to enjoy this. Oh, yes…” And he began to shift.
I had no idea what he was talking about, but if he had been strong in human form, I didn’t want to take risks with him in bear form. I raced at him, trying to close the distance as fast as possible, splitting my mind to stretch out my spell that swallowed sound. It struck him, and he shook his head angrily. Then he exploded fully into bear form, roaring so loud that spittle flew from his sudden massive canines, drool stretching from tooth to tooth, salivating with a hunger for blood. But at least the sound would stay in our bubble now. I stretched harder, closing the last few paces, and the orb of silence suddenly pressed from wall to wall, covering the entire room.
I heard Nate grunt — whether in surprise, or pain, I didn’t have time to see, but I did feel a crackle of power erupt from his direction, and assumed he had his familiar whips out now that I had blocked the room from sound. But I didn’t dare let him use those here. If they cracked through a wall, the rest of the bears would hear and be inbound in a heartbeat.
The bear was a giant brown one, long thick hair and deep brown eyes. He shot me another roar with his long, yellowed teeth, and lifted his inches-long black claws, ready to slice me up.
I began to slash with my miniature scythes — bladed to rip and tear, but small and light enough to move as fast as a machine gun — slicing and dicing in every direction. They sizzled as they sliced into the hairy bear’s flesh as it stood on two legs, massively clawed paws swinging at the air as it unfolded to a ten-foot-tall monster of the wild, roaring ferociously. It was the same one from the auction, although his face seemed mostly healed from Nate’s whips.
I ignored the sound — focusing on the feather in my mind — continuing to bite and tear into his legs, stomach, and his sides, but these wounds only seemed to annoy him. I danced around him, recasting my illusion so that I was a blur of color, hoping it might give me a moment’s respite. I ducked, twisted, and danced back and forth, side to side, barely dodging swipes of his claws. Just like in my training. I focused on my feather, and my body moved without restraint. He lifted one massive paw high overhead, and then brought it hammering down as if to squish me like a beer can. I dove, rolling over my shoulder between his legs, holding out both kamas to the side as I did, scouring deep hits on both of his inner thighs.
He snarled, furious, and finally sounding pained after so many little pricks. He was tough, but I hit him like a swarm of bees, slicing and hammering at any target that opened to me, not giving him a straight on fight. Just cutting any opening that presented itself to me. I swung with all my might deep into his kidneys, and he dropped to his knees with a yowl of agony. Then I dragged the crackling blades down, dropping to my knees.
He blindly swung an arm behind him, barely missing me, but I tagged his forearm with a blade, causing him to grunt. Then he whirled to face me, long haired silky coat now glistening with dozens of patches of crimson blood. The light from outside — the moon — gave it a silver shine, but the scent of copper hung heavy in the air.
He lifted one paw high above his head, then brought it crashing down at me, but my feet tangled up as I slipped in a puddle of blood. I tripped to one knee, staring up at the claw racing towards me. I had managed to fling up my blades, and they suddenly flared brighter as I held them in an X over my face, hoping I could block at least some of the blow, even if it broke my arms. I saw a band of white light suddenly encasing his wrist, yanking it back up, then a loud crack almost at the same time, making the bear arch his back in agony as the scent of burnt hair swamped the room. Nate must have hit him with another whip in the back, the reflexive motion of the bear arching his back only helping Nate yank his arm further.
I didn’t waste a moment, springing up in a jump, climbing up the bear’s body, grabbing fistfuls of hair, the kamas now hovering near my hands, since I didn’t actually need to grip them. I climbed up the bear, aiming for the arm that Nate held high. I clawed his face with my nails on the way by, scoring an eye in hopes that it would prevent him from biting my ribs on my way by. The instant, surprising pain to his face, even though only from a human set of manicured nails, saved my life, preventing his jaws from meeting my tender side.
I latched onto his arm, swinging my body over his shoulder as I wrapped my hands around his throat, standing on his upper back. Nate had loosened the whips enough for the bear to crouch forward slightly, giving me a nice saddle.
I settled the blades of both kamas against his throat, and held onto the handles instead. They sizzled loudly, and the pungent stench of more burning hair filled the room as they rested against where his jugular would be. He froze, allowing me to straighten up a little. I knew bears were tough around the neck, but I was fairly confident that my crackling blades would slice right through those defenses if I yanked hard enough. In fact, I was holding the kamas like a pair of reins, crouched on his back, pressing them hard into his flesh, likely already causing him agony.
“Drop to the ground. Slowly,” I rasped, panting.
He did, and I slowly eased up on the kamas. Not by much, but enough to not accidentally slice through him. He remained in bear form.
Two bears suddenly burst into the hallway leading to the room, skidding to a stop on all fours, knocking over a table with a vase of flowers. I realized that I had subconsciously dropped my concealment spell during the fight, in order to increase my endurance and speed. Because as I crouched atop the bear, I realized I was utterly exhausted, and on the verge of passing out, my magic all but drained. So, the other two bears had heard some of the fight. They growled at me now, eyes dancing with murder as their glares shot from me to their fallen compatriot.
One of them let out a whine, but the other took a cautious step forward, and then, he was suddenly a hairy man on all fours, thick beard fanning down to his nipples. Well, with all that chest hair, it all kind of blended together, but it looked like the beard fell to mid-chest.
His thick, coarse hair led down to his manhood, which was very impressive in itself, and even his legs were covered with wiry hair.
Good lord. This guy was a bear without even being a shifter. One big hairball.
Long greasy hair hung to his jaw, and a long-puckered scar — two twin lines side by side — trailed from his temple to beneath his beard. His eyes glinted in the moonlight, steel grey.
“You will pay for this…” he said in a very deep bass tone.
I shrugged, unblinking, hoping he read my exhaustion as a lack of concern for his threat.
“Why have you returned?” a female voice hissed from behind him, and I was surprised to see a very tall blond woman, prominent in the chest, with wide hips. She wasn’t skinny at all, but the size of her breasts and hips made her appear so. She was a giant of a woman. Her face wasn’t beautiful, but it had an inner light that spoke of steadfastness. Her hair was pulled back in a braid, and she stood with hands to her side, facing me with squared shoulders, but her fingers looked to be imitating claws, rigid as if eager to rend flesh. In contrast to the first man, her body was utterly hairless, not unusual in itself, but after seeing the man, I guess I had expected to see hairy nipples or a forest between her legs. She had a scar running over her ribs.
“Give me the spear. And he can live,” I said calmly, ignoring her question.
They stared at us, faces incredulous.
I felt Nate step up behind me. Then he was crouching down beside the bear’s face. “Hi.” He waved his hand. “Remember me? I kicked your ass a few days ago. Now she did. Wizards 2, bears 0,” I saw that he was grinning as the bear growled in warning. Then he whispered theatrically, loud enough for everyone to hear. “She’s meaner than me. I didn’t make you play dead and then mount you like a Great White Hunter on the Africa
n savanna.” Then he patted the bear’s head, and stood, motioning for me to proceed before folding his arms.
I bit back a laugh as I felt the bear growling beneath my feet.
The other two didn’t find it humorous. I felt a small thrill of exhilaration. Sure, Nate had helped, but the majority of it had been all me. I felt weariness pulling at me, using too much magic too fast, not even counting the physical exhaustion from the last few nights. I suppressed a shudder as the lack of action suddenly had me feeling like a limp dishrag. Not to mention that we were still far away from danger. What if the bears let me kill this one, and came after me in tandem?
Nate might still be fresh, but I knew I wasn’t.
“Why do you shame us, girl? We’ve done nothing to you! Or the Shepherd.”
I hid my frown. Shame? “One more time. Give me the spear.”
The hairy man threw his hands in the air, livid. “What game are you playing?” he demanded. “We have pictures of you holding our piece of the spear in front of your father’s house!” he snarled, looking ready to attack.
A sickly feeling hit my stomach, and I had to fight my hands from shaking. She had asked why I had returned… and they had pictures of me holding the spear…
“I don’t have your spear…” I said slowly, horrified at the implications.
His glare flared even angrier. “I can smell it on you, girl. What in blazes are you trying to pull on us? You steal it, then return to mock us? We only wanted to keep it away from others, stupid, stupid girl. All you had to do was ask and we would have handed it over. Bears don’t play the games of your kind,” he spat on the ground, turning to the woman. “We should have heeded her warning yesterday.” The woman nodded, eyes glittering.
Nate was very, very still, but I didn’t meet his gaze, suddenly realizing that somehow, we had been played. Again.
Someone had warned them yesterday, stolen the spear, and then planted it in my yard. It didn’t make any sense to me, but it had to be the Demon. She hadn’t given us the piece from the auction like we had thought. She had given me the bears’ stolen piece. But what was her angle? To have every single monster in Kansas City come after me?
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