As she caught her breath, she became aware of a popping sound. She brought her gun up, aiming at the wolf’s corpse, and found that she was shaking. Grimacing, she added her other hand to the grip.
“Dammit,” she muttered. It wasn’t over.
Tanya’s canine body was changing. The wolf’s head turned to glare at her, its scarlet gaze revealing hatred and rage, then it turned away as the pain of its transformation overcame it. The grayish body hunched and rolled, the fur becoming a much darker brown. It rose…and kept rising. Soon, the beast stood on two legs, its bulky frame towering over Ariana’s full height. It growled again, much lower, deeper than before. Her heart turned to ice at the unmistakable sound of it.
When it finally turned toward Ariana, her face paled at the sight of an enormous grizzly bear, easily a thousand pounds of hard muscle and fur. It offered a wickedly fanged smile, then launched itself at her as she scrambled to get to her feet.
She managed to fire four shots into the creature’s huge chest, but they had no effect at all. She tried to duck as she had before, tried to dive away at an angle, but the bear swatted her with a massive paw, batting her across the room like a child’s toy. She hit the wall hard, banging her head in the process. When her body came to rest, she had vicious gouges in her left shoulder, left by the bear’s great claws, and her left arm was broken at the humerus from the sheer power of the blow. Another bright flare of pain erupted from her left ankle, only dimly registering among the pains of her head and shoulder. Her gun spun away, out of her reach, and she struggled to remain conscious.
“Seems like I’ve got a little more than nothing.” The bear’s voice was low and rumbling, yet it still had a hint of Tanya in it. The beast dropped to all fours and turned to face her downed opponent. “Whatever was in those bullets stings a bit, but you’re no match for me. Poor little witch.”
The bear ambled closer, impossibly powerful and huge. It lumbered lazily towards her, taking its time. It stood tall on both legs again, preparing to fall upon Ariana in a fury of fangs and claws.
An odd noise, almost a buzzing sound, reached Tanya’s ears, and she turned her snout towards the large tunnel that led to the outside. It was coming closer, louder. The fierce whine of an engine filled the cavern.
Kane had arrived.
Chapter 29
The ride across the desert was actually kind of fun. I loved the speed, and although I can run that fast for a short while, the motorcycle could do it for much longer. The terrain was rough, but I could see perfectly well by moonlight, so I enjoyed riding the bike hard, jumping the hills when the occasion presented itself, and going as fast as the motorcycle would allow.
I half-expected to be shot at when I came close to the compound, but I saw no one. Ariana must have enjoyed herself as well. I skirted the walls, leaving a wide enough gap that I wasn’t an easy target for a sniper, and then made for the mountain on the north side. The feelings of dread and nausea, the hallmarks of old, bad magick, were getting stronger all the time, and I hoped Ariana was all right.
That thought made me frown, and I shook my head. She was either alive or she wasn’t. That’s how it would be. I didn’t need to be all mushy about it. I tried to ignore the fact that I leaned on the accelerator harder as I approached the cave.
My intention was to stash the bike and then move quietly inside, hoping to surprise any bad guys I ran up against. As I was about to turn aside, the Goddess told me not to. That was it. No vision, no flash of insight, other than the pure knowledge that I needed to be inside that cave right now.
Whatever you say, Lady. I’m not one to take orders from anyone. That is, unless it’s Mother Nature. If she says go, I just go.
I nearly ripped the throttle off as I gunned the bike and hunched my body over the handlebars. The engine whined in my ears, complaining as I pushed it to its limits. The yawning mouth of the cave entrance beckoned, and I hit it at full speed. The stone floor of the inner passage sloped downwards, which only made me go faster. I realized I was grinning like a fool, but I didn’t care. This was fun. And if Tanya was down here as I thought she must be, I’d probably get to kill her. More fun.
The tunnel leveled out and I saw it ended in a chamber up ahead. Reaching out with my magick, I felt Ariana’s presence, as well as something hideous that could only have been Tanya. I’d only been near her once before, and that was when Avery had been shooting at me. However, I still recognized the feel of the younger Thornwall woman’s aura, as I might have recalled the faint scent of her perfume. The only problem was that her magickal footprint was now about fifty times what I had sensed that first time. The taste of that aura was now hugely dark and powerful, and I was hard-pressed to remember when I’d felt something like that from a human. I realized that she must have completed her ritual; she’d become a Skinwalker.
Shit.
As I approached the opening, I saw an enormous…bear? It was standing in the middle of the chamber, its attention focused on a figure on the ground nearby. I glanced that way and recognized Ariana with her back up against the wall. Bright spots of pain flowed from her into my perception, and I could see her favoring her left arm. There was blood on her chest and shoulder. Oh, yeah, it was definitely time for me to join the party.
The bear turned and looked at me just as I raced into the chamber. In that instant, I yanked on the handlebars as I stepped off the back of the bike, popping a wheelie and sending two hundred fifty pounds of angry motorcycle hurtling into the bear at top speed.
The bear’s angry roar was cut off by the impact, and the flying cycle bore Tanya back into the wall of the chamber, where she slammed into the stone with an immensely satisfying crash. Big bones broke, and an injured moan rolled out of the bear as it sank to the floor, still entangled with the slightly misshapen motorcycle. The machine fell to the floor and toppled over on its side, red blood smeared over some of its chrome and leather.
“Kill her, Kane!” Ariana mumbled, still groggy. I was somewhat surprised to hear that from her, and I turned to give her a quizzical look. Her voice gained strength as she urged, “Seriously! She’s going to change again and walk it off. Kill her right now!”
My head snapped back to the dying bear on the floor. It growled at me, then began to twitch and convulse. Its fur rippled oddly and I realized that Ariana had the right of it. Anytime a Skinwalker changed, any wounds it might have had in its previous shape would simply vanish as its body reorganized itself into a new form. I bolted forward, my claws out, and slashed at the furry neck for all I was worth.
And I missed.
Tanya’s change was faster than I expected, and by the time my claws would have opened up her throat, she’d shrunken into a slender, furry thing the length of my forearm. A ferret! My claws struck sparks from the stone as she evaded me, then she raced up my arm and onto my back. Hot bursts of pain erupted along my back and shoulders as she dug her tiny but sharp incisors into my flesh, and I spun in place, frantically trying to lay a hand on her. I heard her laugh, her voice an odd chittering from that tiny throat, and no matter how I gyrated, I couldn’t get hold of her.
Something whipped around my body, pinning my arms to my sides. I looked down and saw the thickening coils of a python tightening around me. Uh, oh. I’m strong. I can, if properly motivated and can get a good grip, throw a car at you. But I’m limited by the laws of physics and leverage the same as humans. Pin my arms to my sides tightly enough and I might have a problem. Another coil worked its way around my neck, and I decided that I did, indeed, have a problem.
I turned my head to one side and jammed my chin to my shoulder, keeping the coil from wrapping completely around my neck. It wasn’t comfortable, but it bought me some time. My mind raced as I tried to figure out what to do. Even biting her would only get me so far, and it would leave my neck vulnerable.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the head of the python circling around so she could see my face. Her forked tongue flicked out repeatedly, testing the a
ir for any sign of fear it could use to gain power. I had no fear for her to use against me, though. Just anger. That was for my strength, not hers. I strained against the coils and the snake hissed laughter at me, then tightened them another couple of inches, making it harder for me to breathe.
“Let him go!” The pain was evident in Ariana’s voice, and she groaned as the words left her mouth. She put her right hand to her head to steady herself, but nearly passed out instead. I watched her try to reach her gun, but the few feet that separated her from it may as well have been miles. She reached for its twin in the holster on her left thigh, but between the pain and her awkward position, it was lost to her as well. She tried again to reach the other gun, but her movements were feeble and slow.
Looks like it was all up to me this time. To be honest, I didn’t like my chances.
Chapter 30
I moved backwards and slammed up against the stone wall, hoping to damage Tanya’s serpentine coils enough to get her to let go, but she didn’t budge. In addition, the motion finally allowed her to slip a coil under my chin. I tightened the muscles of my neck, but she was strong. I knew it was only a matter of time. Pressure started to build in my head and my ears started ringing. I reached out with my magick, trying to get into her head, but her mental defenses were more solid than steel. Whatever she’d gained from the dark powers when she became a Skinwalker had strengthened her magick far beyond my ability to penetrate. She had me.
No.
I strained harder against her coils, determined not to go out that way. I’m a GrimFaerie, dammit. I’m of the Fae. I grunted and strained harder, growling as my anger rose, and I gained a quarter inch of breathing room. She hissed furiously and struck at my chest with her inch-long fangs, burying them deeply into my pectoral muscle. The pain should have drained me, but it didn’t. It pissed me off.
NO.
Walking this earth for centuries as I have, I’ve fought some things that would eat Tanya for lunch. And I killed them. All of them. I would not, could not, let this mortal sorcerer beat me, not like this. In the midst of all the pain and rage that swirled through me, I latched onto that thought, held fast to it. It steadied me. I focused my mind and gathered every bit of power I could find, along with every scrap of physical strength I possessed. With a primal shout of fury, I released it all, prying my arms away from my body with all my might. Something snapped inside the snake and coils began dropping away as she lost feeling in the lower half of her body. As my hands came free, I started throwing off the rest of her. Her fangs pulled out of my chest and I threw her across the floor into a limp, ropy mess. Tanya hissed all the while, furious. She struggled to slither away, but only the top half of her body answered her, while the rest twitched and spasmed aimlessly. I grinned at the sight, then my exertions caught up with me and the room spun. I fell to my knees, then found myself face down on the dirty stone floor, wheezing in great gulps of air as best I could.
“That’ssssss it!” Tanya’s voice was barely recognizable as it came from the snake’s head. “I’ll kill you for that!”
I raised my head as much as I could, locked my gaze onto hers and responded, “Bring it, baby.” Then I laid my head back down on the cold stone as I caught my breath. I figured I had a few seconds before she changed into whatever was coming next, and I needed every one of those seconds if I was going to meet her on my feet. My strength returned quickly at such times, but I’d unleashed a lot of my energy. It was going to be a race to see who recovered first.
Tanya’s hiss became a growl, and I heard the popping sounds that accompanied the shifting of her bones as they reorganized themselves into their new configuration. I didn’t bother to look. Instead, I focused on the stone in front of my face. I pulled my hands up beneath me so I could push myself up, and I sat back on my heels, vertical at least. When I saw what Tanya was becoming, I considered lying down again, but only for a millisecond. I sighed, then grinned tiredly. If ever I wanted a challenge, I was about to get one.
The creature before me was nine feet tall, and still growing. I thought it was a bear at first, but then its arms lengthened into a grotesque combination of human and bear, with long, grasping fingers tipped with dagger-like claws at least five inches long. The legs were wrong, too, not like the stubby-looking legs of a grizzly. They were longer and more muscular. I finally recognized them as those of a lion, but far larger. When she stopped growing, the hideous thing Tanya had become was nearly a dozen feet tall and had to weigh a couple thousand pounds, easily. Her bear’s snout was too long, much like a wolf’s, but truly belonged to neither. The finger-long fangs seemed perfectly appropriate in the gaping mouth on that monstrosity. She opened her jaws wider and growled at me, then swiped her claws at the floor, digging four deep slashes into the hard stone as though it was nothing but soft dirt. Only her eyes reminded me of Tanya, human eyes, but filled with a scarlet gleam of malevolent power.
I sighed and rose to my feet. I cracked my neck to the left, and to the right, then bared my own claws and fangs. They seemed pitiful next to those of the thing across from me. I’d never had claw envy before, but there’s a first time for everything. Nevertheless, I flexed my fingers, gathered my feet beneath me, and prepared to fight for my life.
The creature’s roar rattled the entire cavern, and I answered as I sprinted forward, intending for one of us to die in the next few seconds.
An intense beam of pure blue-white fire as thick as my waist slammed into the beast’s left side, knocking it out of my path and into the wall with an impact so great that a wide crack crawled up the sheer rock face and dust fell from the ceiling. A rumble from within the mountain answered, as though it was displeased. I skidded to a stop as I stared at the wounded creature in astonishment.
Where the bolt had struck, Tanya’s fur was blackened and burnt, and the misshapen left arm was badly broken and mangled. Flesh hung from it where it wasn’t gone altogether. I could see ribs exposed through the beast’s shaggy pelt on that side. The enormous creature slid slowly down the wall into a heap on the floor, completely stunned. I turned to see where the bolt of energy had come from and saw nothing at first. Then the air shimmered as a veiling spell collapsed, and I saw a battered, exhausted woman hanging from a tall wooden post by a pair of steel shackles on her wrists. Her black hair hung loosely on either side of her dirty face. When she raised her eyes to mine, they were glowing fiercely with the same bright blue energy that had struck Tanya’s monstrous form. Thin tendrils of power played around her face like lightning. Her mouth was clamped in a thin, tight line, and determination was written all over her face. As I watched, the light faded from her eyes and she sagged, as if whatever energy she had conjured had been holding her up.
“Detective Avery!” I said, surprised. “What did you just do?”
“I…” she whispered, just loudly enough for me to hear, “I don’t know. Got mad. Tired of her…bullshit.”
I looked at Tanya and saw that her form was already changing, shrinking, her bones popping and snapping as they reordered themselves. This time, however, the wounds she had taken didn’t mend. When she resumed her fully human form, her entire left side was still burnt and mangled. A faint, agonized moan escaped her, a mournful, gurgling sound. Keeping my guard up, I walked over and knelt beside her, though just out of easy reach.
The damage was extensive. The blast of magick Avery had thrown at her had devastated her left side and laid most of her rib cage open to the elements. Even if she were in a hospital’s ER at that moment, there was no saving her. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked around wildly, suddenly terrified. She tried to move and grimaced in pain. Then her eyes fastened on me and I finally saw terror there. I dropped the illusion that hid my true face from the world so that she could see. If anything, her eyes widened slightly at the sight of the real me.
“The Goddess tells me that your crimes are punishable by death,” I said quietly. “You’ve more than earned it, I think.” She began to quiver, and she moa
ned again, quite piteously.
Of course, I have no pity in me.
Seeing no need to make her suffer further, I reached out to grab her hair. I tilted her head back slightly and sliced her throat open with my claws. They went deep, all the way to the spine. Her eyes stayed on mine until the light went out of them.
It took me another few seconds to remove her head from her shoulders. You can never be too careful with sorcerous types, especially Skinwalkers. They were a tough bunch. Couldn’t have her coming back to life somehow and causing more trouble. That done, I laid the head on the floor several feet from the body and moved towards the detective. She’d been watching me the whole time, exhausted, but wary.
When I got the chains down and popped open the manacles, Avery sat down with her back against the post to rub her wrists.
“It was you,” she said, her eyes narrowed as they regarded me. “You killed my grandfather. I’m sure of it now. I saw you that night, like this. The way you moved, the way your power feels…I felt your magick back then, but I was just a child and I didn’t know what it was.” She paused and looked harder at me. “It was you.”
Before I could speak, I realized that I had yet to cover my features with my customary glamour. She was seeing my true self, just as Tanya had, but she wasn’t flinching. She just sat there looking at me, waiting for me to talk. I sighed and put my ‘face’ back on, then spoke.
“What I said before was true, Detective. I don’t remember you or your grandfather. If I killed him, I can only tell you that I had an extremely good reason for doing so. I’m an assassin, yes, but I work for the Goddess. For the Light. I keep the balance. If she pointed me towards your grandfather, then he was doing something truly evil, and that marked him. I can’t tell you anything more because I don’t remember off the top of my head. I’ve been all along the Gulf Coast during the last hundred years or so, and I’ve killed a lot of people. Each and every one of them was a murderer at the very least. There was evidence in plenty if you knew where to look. But although I’m a killer, and a damned good one, I don’t kill innocents. Ever.” I glanced over towards Ariana, who was finally sitting up. “Especially since I’ve been hanging out with her.” I allowed myself a ghost of a grin and whispered, “I think she’s a bad influence, but don’t tell her I told you so.”
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