by Keri Hudson
Caleb glanced upstairs to see Abigail and Edith watching from the second-floor hallway, the stairway shattered beneath them. It protected them from the ursine’s charge, but it also prevented them from helping Daniel, still trapped in the bathroom downstairs. And if the ursine could, it would kill Daniel; it would have to.
Abigail looked down at Caleb and he could see the helpless desperation in her eyes. She was looking at the bathroom, at the ursine, at the pair of lupines, Edith doing more or less the same. They were trying to imagine some strategy to free the boy, Caleb knew that, but it would depend on killing the ursine, or at the very least, drawing it into the backyard. That would give Abigail the chance to drop down onto the first floor and see the boy to safety.
Caleb looked at Jonathan, and the other lupine seemed to understand what Caleb was thinking. He certainly knew their ultimate goals: kill the bear and save the boy, no matter what it took.
Outside, Caleb thought/spoke to Jonathan.
Yes, Jonathan’s voice answered in the back of Caleb’s head, communicating in the manner of their species. But the bear was too big to grab and hurl across the room, even for two strong lupines. So they bit at him, taunting him, encouraging the ursine to swipe at them and drive them back, toward the yard and away from the bathroom, out of the house. But the ursine kept turning, seemingly aware of the boy’s presence in the bathroom. The big bear looked up too, at Abigail and Edith on the second floor, once again seeming to judge its best target. Caleb felt strong and ready, and he charged the ursine again. The bear knocked him hard to the side, and he flew across the living room, knocking over a freestanding lamp, which shattered when it hit the floor, lightbulb flashing before going dead.
Caleb turned to charge the bear again, jutting forward and snapping his jaws at that big, tan snout. If he could get his teeth in just right, Caleb knew he could literally take the ursine’s face right off its head. But the ursine seemed to know it too, and its own clapping jaws threatened to do the same to Caleb.
With a spark and a flash, Caleb turned to see a burst of flame from out of the electrical outlet of the old house where the fallen lamp was plugged. Even in that chaotic second, Caleb could track the source to water spilling out of the kitchen and covering the dining room floor. It had hit the exposed wires of the broken lamp and shorted out the old house’s circuits, creating a fire that none of them would be able to get to.
The wall caught fire quickly.
Caleb’s razor-sharp senses were able to find Abigail and Edith on the second floor. They both caught sight of the fire too, flames already climbing up the old wooden walls. Abigail looked back at Caleb, then both glanced at the bathroom. Not only were Abigail and old, stooped Edith trapped on the second floor with the fire breaking out beneath them, but Daniel was still cornered in that bathroom, with the fire about to cook him alive. Abigail looked down the hall, then back at the living room beneath her, and Caleb realized she was trying to strategize on the fly, and he knew she was just the girl to rely on.
But he also knew there was a limit to how much any of them could do.
The ursine seemed to know the house was doomed as much as Caleb did. The smell of ash was already powerful in the air, heat collecting, the sound of licking flames getting louder. The big bear shifter turned and started swatting at Caleb and Jonathan both, roaring out its frustration.
Jonathan lurched in, biting and shaking and jumping back, drawing the bear’s defense so Caleb could attack from the other side, the bear beginning to spin with agitation. The house got hotter, smoke thicker in the air. Caleb’s eyes began to sting, lungs hot with ash as the fire spread within the walls. Caleb glanced up to see flames clinging to the ceiling, and he knew then there was no saving the old place. It would doom everybody in the house as well, shifter or not.
The ursine swiped and snapped and roared, confused and enraged as the house got hotter.
Jonathan jumped back onto the ursine’s back, holding on and biting hard, opening that wound back up and working it with all the urgency of the moment. Caleb raced in and locked on the ursine’s throat. He growled and pulled and bit, inching his way toward his vulnerable windpipe. He could still take out the bear with one good pull if he could get deep enough. The bear spun, attacked from above and beneath, all its strength dedicated to freeing itself from their assault.
Caleb did what he could to pull the ursine toward the backyard, knocking the furniture aside in the wake of their struggle. Jonathan seemed to be reading Caleb’s lead, but he couldn’t do much to direct the ursine one way or the other. But he was renewing the fast-healing damage, and a continued harassment had a good chance of felling the ursine, if they all didn’t burn to death first.
In the corner of his eye, Caleb looked up at the second-floor hallway, where Abigail and Edith were bickering, though Caleb couldn’t make out what they were saying. Abigail was shaking her head, as if pleading. Edith waved her off and shouted what Caleb thought was, “Save him, forget about me!”
Old Edith pushed Abigail off the second-floor hallway and to the first floor. Caleb’s instincts were to jump to her aid, but he knew he couldn’t turn away from the battle with the ursine, or they’d both be dead.
Abigail stood up, unhurt from the fall. She looked up at Edith, who was already waddling down the hall and to one of the corner rooms. Caleb knew that she would die up there; Abigail knew it and Edith seemed to know it too. But Caleb’s instincts told him the complete story—that Abigail would not willingly abandon the old woman. But Edith was incapable of surviving the jump without being a hindrance, and her life did not compare to Daniel’s or Abigail’s or anyone else’s. She was sacrificing herself, and Caleb knew Abigail would never let her do that in vain.
Caleb kept harassing the big ursine, Jonathan glancing at him to confirm the strategy. Caleb also saw Jonathan watching Abigail as she crept along the wall toward the bathroom, her eyes on the bear.
It caught sight of her and roared. It was clear to Caleb that the bear knew what she intended, that the boy’s rescue was the last thing on the shifter’s mind. It roared and snapped its jaws, lurching at Abigail. She screamed and backed up, helpless against the wall. Caleb bit into the bear’s behind and pulled, his paws sliding on the hardwood floor. A vigorous shake of his head aggravated the damage. It was a weak spot on the animal, and a kill method favored by his species. But it took more than a simple tug and it took more than just one lupine unless the enemy was very weak.
But this ursine still had strength, seemingly even more as it was clearly feeling surrounded.
Jonathan bit into the ursine’s rear right leg, fangs disappearing into the bear’s limb. It let out a high-pitched scream and turned from its attack on Abigail. Judging by the pain in the scream, Jonathan had snapped his hamstring, a wound that would take long to heal.
They wouldn’t give it that much time.
But the bear was enraged and he spun on Jonathan. Jonathan’s position meant a crushing roll wouldn’t be effective. But he sat down quickly to try to crush Caleb’s head, a move he ducked just in time.
The ursine wailed, head up, and Caleb felt that they had it beat. But there was still the matter of the death blow. The battle wasn’t over yet.
The smoke got thicker, flames appearing through the floorboards, crackling louder behind the din of the fight. A hunk of burning wood fell from the ceiling, the old house creaking around them and promising a terrible demise for the structure and anybody in it.
Abigail made it to the bathroom behind the frustrated ursine and tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t open in front of her. Caleb could hear her calling the boy’s name and pounding on the door, shaking the knob.
Jonathan kept stabbing at the ursine with a series of quick snaps, Caleb doing his part to keep the big bear confused, irritated. It was a death by a thousand cuts, but it wasn’t going to work in time, and it meant neither of them could help Abigail to get through that door. The boy had no doubt locked himself in, and smoke inhala
tion could have rendered him unconscious. If that was the case, he could already be dead or was certain to die if Abigail couldn’t get into that room.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Caleb and Jonathan upped their campaign, biting and pulling, the ursine’s hide crusted with its own blood, roars getting louder as it spun and thrashed its mighty paws, shaking its head in frustration. This same shifter had taken Carl, a lone lupine. But this was a different fight and the massive creature certainly understood it.
On the other side of the room, Abigail was ramming her shoulder into the bathroom door. She bashed her frail body against the door, finally breaking through and into the room.
Even in that chaos, Caleb asked himself, Is he dead? Did he make it? Caleb glanced at Jonathan, his attention clearly locked on the same thing. But this was an advantage to the ursine, and it didn’t let it slip away.
The ursine charged, Jonathan and Caleb both retreating, snapping, and ducking its vicious swipes. All the while, Caleb watched Abigail cradle-carry the boy out of the bathroom and through the front door, a stealthy escape.
The three shifters took their battle gradually across the house as the heat and smoke became unbearable. The ursine hurled Caleb through the window and out to the porch, Jonathan holding on as the bear jumped for its own safety. Fire clung to their hides in little clusters of flame, on their haunches and backs and shoulders, but they were dowsed quickly with a quick roll on the grass. The ursine cleared itself of both its lupine attackers and faced down his adversaries. The house was becoming engulfed, smoke pouring out into the blue sky. Caleb didn’t doubt that it was only Armstrong House’s isolation that kept it from drawing attention, but it wouldn’t be long before the sirens were whining and the helicopters passing overhead.
But Caleb knew that the decisive moves would come long before that. And Abigail and Daniel were out of the house, which meant at least she would survive. Caleb couldn’t help but think about Lulu and Edith. According to his memory of the battle, Lulu had been in the kitchen and could have made an escape long before the fire broke out.
Poor old Edith had made her last appearance waddling down the hall, likely to lie down and die. If she hadn’t made it out of that raging inferno by then, she wasn’t going to make it out at all.
Caleb had no more time to reflect, the ursine digging its jaws into his neck while he was distracted. The pressure was terrific, his throat prone to collapse, his best weapon suddenly useless. He snapped his jaws, thrashed to free himself, Jonathan in the corner of his eye… looking on.
Caleb wondered, even in the frenzy of what could easily be his final struggle, Will he step back and watch me die? Is this his final victory, free to resume his terrible reign over his family… what should be my family? The ursine shook Caleb, its incredible strength too much to resist.
Jonathan jumped into the attack, biting into the ursine’s anus, where Caleb’s deep wounds had already minced the flesh, despite those fast-healing powers. Jonathan seemed to be putting all his strength into the attack, causing the ursine to roar out and lose his grip on Caleb’s throat. Caleb fell hard to the grass and scrambled out of the way. He was dazed by the attack, knowing then how his brother had fallen to that massive creature.
But there was no time for reflection. Caleb jumped back into the battle, biting into the bear’s bloodied throat, taking a hard swipe to the ribs, pain shooting through his chest. Two ribs were broken, but they would heal quickly enough if they had the chance, which was not at all certain.
Chk-chk, blam!
The ursine screamed and looked over, its shoulder erupting with blood and sinew. Caleb and Jonathan turned also, Caleb not surprised to see Abigail approaching, the shotgun in her hand. Once the delicate, frail fawn, she’d proven herself to be a warrior in her own right—against the coywolves, against the tyrant of her household, even in bed. An inner strength had been awoken in her, and she’d never been sexier to him even if he was never going to be able to touch her again. And that seemed likely.
Chk-chk, blam!
The ursine roared at her, lurching and swiping, held back only by Caleb and Jonathan’s combined efforts, and by the ursine’s weakened state resulting from their attack. Growling and struggling and writhing, the combined energy of the three creatures turning on each other was beginning to wane. But that angel with the shotgun was tipping the scales in their favor, her assault coming at just the right time.
Chk-chk, blam!
The ursine snapped to the side, taking the blow to the side of the face. Blood dripped out, one eye obliterated. But the wound seemed to fill the monster with even greater strength and an eagerness to make sure Abigail paid for her aggression, and with her life.
Abigail backed up as she emptied the shells and pulled the three backup shells she’d clearly brought with her from the shed, but nerves had overtaken her. The fresh shells fell out of her hands and she became possessed with fear, screaming and turning to run away.
She didn’t make it.
The ursine jumped away from Caleb and Jonathan and pounced on Abigail, her terrified wail stifled by its weight on her back. The ursine turned to Caleb and Jonathan, who both halted in their tracks. The big, ugly creature grinned as it looked down at Abigail, its hostage, before looking back at Caleb and Jonathan, its adversaries.
Well, well, the ursine thought/spoke to them, its growly voice ringing in the back of Caleb’s brain. It was unrecognizable in its ursine form, all deep bellow and gurgling menace. The little prize you both covet so dearly.
Take her, Jonathan answered. The boy’s already dead.
I’ll take what I want, your life included! Old fool! I waited for my chance at you long enough! I note that your mate fled. Did you track her down?
I did, came Jonathan’s answer, and silenced her for good. As will I do for you! And I’ll have this scrumptious normalo for myself!
The shriek came out of nowhere, Caleb as surprised as Jonathan and the shifter seemed to be. But the size and the pitch of the shriek told Caleb instantly that it was Daniel Armstrong in his lupine form. He was fast and aggressive and he raced up to the fight with a fearlessness that Caleb knew was inspired by Abigail’s peril. The boy had shown a great closeness to Abigail, a love that even his own birth father hadn’t established. But at that moment, they were a true family, all acting together against a common enemy in a fight to the death, perhaps for all of them.
The little shifter raced up to the scene and attacked without hesitation. He jumped up and onto the ursine’s back, biting into those open words with vigor and determination that could only have been inspired by love.
And it could only inspire love, and greater fighting.
The ursine reached around to grab Daniel and pull him off the back of his neck, claws digging into the little shifter’s side. Caleb dug into the ursine’s throat and pulled hard, hoping for a death grip, a coup de grâce that might bring the battle to a merciful end. The ursine flailed amid the three-pronged attack, stepping away from Abigail. She gasped and scrambled away in a panic. Caleb noted her escape and hoped she’d stay well away from the battle, though he knew in the back of his mind that she would not.
They all attacked the ursine together, the collective force of three lupines driving it to a dizzied state. Caleb could sense the thing weakening under their assault. But it seemed to be drawing on a hidden reserve of strength, something Caleb couldn’t identify. And the question of who this shifter was in its human form was still plaguing him.
Is it the cop, Hume? Is it the Animal Control officer? Who else could it be? Not one of the staff, no question about that, not Jonathan Armstrong.
With no more time to think, the house lurched above them, entirely engulfed in flame. Jonathan looked at Caleb, and the younger knew just what the elder was thinking.
This was Jonathan Armstrong’s place of power, a thing almost with its own soul, its own life—or so it had struck Caleb at one time. Instead, he saw it as a weapon, the last great power the great
man had to wield against his mortal foe. And Caleb couldn’t help but ask himself, Why not? It was the instrument of his rise, one source of his family’s power; and it’s his family which is at stake.
Caleb knew the gambit, and he did not object. But he knew it would require a sacrifice, and both lupines knew whose sacrifice would be the one required to get the job done.
Take care of my son, Jonathan’s voice echoed in the back of Caleb’s brain. Don’t tell him what I had to do to his mother. She ran scared, I couldn’t let her spread the word about us. You understand that, don’t you?
Caleb had no answer, and no answer was necessary. The end had come, and both knew what was going to happen.
Caleb did his part by leaping up and over the ursine. He did what the ursine couldn’t have expected and grabbed the cub shifter Daniel in his jaws, just tight enough to gain a good purchase. He dug his paws into the bear’s back and pulled Daniel free, the two of them jumping clear to let Jonathan redeem himself.
Jonathan dug into the ursine’s anus, already injured and the place of its greatest vulnerability. The bear spun, but Jonathan Armstrong was clearly pouring the last of his strength and his power and his wiles into that last stand. He would not relent, pulling at the weakened ursine from behind. The beast screamed out, thrashing and pulling at the ground as Jonathan himself pulled it backward. The creature had been so worn down, and Jonathan so inspired to new heights of heroism from the depths of his own depravity, that a most incredible feat played out before Caleb, Daniel, and Abigail’s eyes. The three stood together, a lupine in fighting trim, a cub of amazing promise, and the exquisite woman who would be the center of their new family, the nexus of their future family.
And in front of them, their new family’s past played out to its deadly, fiery conclusion. Jonathan dragged the ursine back as the house crumbled and creaked above and behind them. Caleb looked into the ursine’s round eyes, unaccustomed to fright, as the smaller lupine exerted the last of his strength and did what no ursine could have imagined possible.