Authors: Keri Arthur
He was only an inch or two taller than I, but I was practically running to keep up with his long strides. I could have pulled free of his grasp easily enough, but truth be told, I liked his touch. And right then, with the moon burning through my system, I didn't care if it was rough or gentle.
We climbed the small fence and strode through the cemetery. The wind stirred the dark pines surrounding the small graveyard so that it sounded like the whisperings of the dead. But if the dead had once lived there, they'd long ago moved out. The tombstones were worn with age and barely readable, the graves overrun by weeds and neglect. Even the dead had pride, and the place would not look so desolate if any of them still remained.
The fence surrounding the old army camp was just as neglected. It wasn't electrified. It wasn't even taut. "I doubt if anything more serious than cleaning products is in development behind that wire."
"No, but we still have to check."
I scanned the nearby darkness but could see nothing except shadows. I switched to infrared. The only thing to find were the small blurs of heat going through the rubbish bins that lined the back of the building ahead.
"Rats," I muttered, my stomach turning as I remembered a drunken teenage eating dare and the resulting days of sickness.
"If rats are all we find, I'll be happy."
He held up the wire and I ducked through. "I thought you wanted to find your friend?"
"I do, but I doubt he'd be here. Whoever is behind this cloning is very clever and very cautious. Lax security would not be part of it. It's too much of a risk."
"But maybe that's why he's been so hard to find. We're looking for one thing, while he's hiding under our very noses."
"I have no doubt he's hiding under our noses, but I don't think this place is it."
"Why?"
"You said it yourself. Smell the air."
I already had. "Ammonia." But it was overwhelmed by the richness of sandalwood and man.
He nodded. "This place
does
make cleaning products."
"That doesn't mean it can't also be making clones. The base is huge, and from a look at the plans, they're only using a small section of it."
He studied me for a minute. "You're looking for an argument, aren't you?"
Right then, arguing was the
last
thing on my mind. I raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think that?"
"Because two seconds ago you were saying you didn't think anything more than cleaning products was being made here, and now you're arguing it could be a front."
"I'm just playing devil's advocate."
"You're definitely playing. I'm just not sure what the game is yet."
I gave him my most innocent smile, but it didn't seem to offer him any comfort.
"This way," he said, after a pause.
He turned and led the way to the right. The wind stirred the gums and pines scattered around us, and rattled the loose tin on the roof of the buildings just ahead. From behind us came the steady growl of traffic along Camp Road, and from up ahead, the solo roar of an engine.
"There's a car headed our way."
"More than likely a guard doing his rounds."
I glanced at my watch. "It's right on nine, so maybe they do either half hourly or hourly checks."
"How close is it?"
"A distance off yet."
"So we've got time to get to the main building if we run?"
"I think so."
He grabbed my hand, fingers hot as they encased mine. "Blur," he ordered, and tugged me forward.
We made it to the main building a heartbeat before the car came into view. The sweep of lights as it turned the corner turned night into day, almost pinning the two of us in brightness.
I crouched in the corner shadows beside Quinn, watching the car and feeling nothing along the sensory lines. Which meant the guard was human. Anything else I would have felt.
"He's bored," Quinn said, his breath brushing warmth past my ear. "And hates his job."
My thigh rested against his, and electricity seemed to spark the air between us. The fever began to burn so bad, sweat trickled down my back, despite the ice in the wind. I was still in control, but it wouldn't take much to push me over the edge. I had a feeling Quinn knew exactly what my state was and that he wasn't about to make a second offer of relief. Next time, I'd have to ask. If he thought I wouldn't, he was sorely wrong.
"He's obviously neither psychic nor shielded if you can read him so easily."
He didn't answer immediately, his expression distant. After a minute, he blinked and glanced at me. "I've searched his mind. There's nothing here to find."
"We should still check."
He nodded and rose. We checked, and found exactly what we expected. Nothing.
"Hope Jack and Rhoan have more luck than we had," I said, as we made our way back to the car.
"I suspect they won't. This is all too well planned to be uncovered so easily."
"I would hardly call going through a mountain of files easy."
"But what did we really find? Plans that may very well be nothing more than a dead end."
He lifted the wire for me. I ducked through, then stopped.
The dead had returned to the graveyard.
There were eight of them, and they formed a rough semicircle around us. They were all males, all naked, and all rather lacking in the manhood department. Their bodies were muscular, almost too perfect, and their skin shone with a luminosity that reminded me of the moon. But any vague resemblance to humanity ended right there. The flesh of their arms gave way at the elbow to the soft golden fur of a cat, and they had claws rather than hands. Instead of faces, they had the heads and beaks of an eagle. On their backs, fanning lightly in the wind, brown-and-gold wings that arched high above them.
"Gryphons," I said. "Sort of."
"Humans bred with gryphons, I would suggest." Quinn stopped beside me, his shoulder brushing mine. The moon fever sang in response, and my whole body began to tremble, a sharp warning I was roaring toward the point of no return.
I clenched my fists, fighting the need in me. "Why then do I sense them as the dead rather than gryphons?"
"I don't know." He flexed his hands, then glanced at me. "I hope you have more of those punches in you."
"I most certainly do." I watched them watching us and wondered why they hadn't yet moved. "I gather you can't touch their minds?"
"No, they're shielded, though I can't see any wires on them." His fingers captured mine, raising my hand to his lips. His kiss was feather-soft, erotic. "Good luck."
He released my hand and faded into the night, moving swiftly to the right. That was obviously what the creatures had been waiting for. With a blur of wings, they rose, five swooping toward Quinn, three to me.
The insane part of me was quite offended by the fact that Quinn was considered the greater threat.
The sweep of their powerful wings filled the night with a maelstrom of air. Dirt and leaves swirled around me, making it difficult even to see.
As the three of them arrowed in, I turned and ran, heading for the protection of trees. I might be offended but I wasn't a fool, and I didn't have eyes in the back of my head. At least the thick pines gave me some protection against an attack from above or behind.
A clawed paw the size of a spade swept through the air. I ducked and swung, kicking the creature in the gut. The blow bounced off the gryphon's rippled abs and jarred the whole of my leg. I briefly wished I hadn't taken off my shoes. Spikes were a far better weapon than bare feet.
The air screamed a warning, and I ducked blows from the other two creatures. They were so close that the wind from their wings was a vortex that tore at my hair and clothes, filling the air with pine needles and my lungs with dirt. I coughed, squinting to see through the muck surging around me.
The first creature banked toward me, arrowing in from a sharp angle. He flew low under the trees, beaked mouth open as if screaming, though no sound came out.
I danced away from more blows from the other two, then rocked backward as the first creature swooped close. Claws lashed out, scouring my arm and leaving three bloody rents. I swore and leapt forward, onto its back. It screamed then--a high sound that was neither bird of prey nor cat nor human. I hung on for grim life as it bucked and twisted, then we were out of the trees and surging skyward.
His smell hit me, and despite what I'd sensed before, it was not the mustiness of animal and death. It was honey and rain, a sweet, refreshing aroma that had the already rampant moon heat surging anew. But these things weren't trying to fuck me, they were trying to kill me, and the moon heat wasn't yet strong enough to overcome the instinct of survival.
I drew my legs up underneath me, knees bent, feet pressed into the middle of its back, then released one wing and grabbed the other with both hands. It was a precarious stance and had he twisted then, I would have been gone. But he didn't, seemingly content to surge for the stars. His wings pumped the night, gleaming a rich, burnished gold, beautiful and powerful.
And I was about to destroy them.
Pushing away a touch of regret, I glanced down at the rapidly disappearing ground. It had to be done right then, or the fall could kill me. Taking a deep breath, I pushed up and twisted backward with as much force as I could muster.
I had the inhuman strength of a vampire at my call. The wing stood no chance.
With an odd sort of popping sound, the wing tore free of flesh, then it and I were tumbling earthward. The creature's screams filled the air, along with its blood. It spiraled out of control, the one remaining wing pumping frantically but doing little. More screams filled the night as the other two creatures swooped to the aid of the first, each catching an arm, wings a blur as they tried to ease the rate of its fall.
Unfortunately, there was no one to ease my fall. I twisted, hitting the ground feetfirst, then collapsed forward into a roll to ease the pressure on my spine. It didn't seem to make much difference. My breath left in a whoosh of air, and, for a moment, stars danced so close it felt like I could reach out and grasp them. The pain filling every fiber became a darkness that threatened to consume me.
I fought it, breathing deep. Heard the screams that weren't human and knew those things were coming after me again. I had to get up. Had to move.
With a groan, I rolled to my feet, but immediately dropped as a creature swooped. I surged upward as it skimmed past, avoiding its claws to sink my fist into its groin. It made an odd sort of coughing noise and came to a hovering stop. It hunched up, but the claw at the end of its closest foot caught my shoulder, slashing deep even as the blow knocked me sideways.
Pain burned white-hot through my body, and sweat beaded my brow. Gritting my teeth, I scrambled upright, grabbed the leg of the creature, and swung it around as hard as I could before releasing it. It flew awkwardly through the air and hit a nearby pine with enough force to shake needles loose. But it obviously wasn't hurt, as it pushed upright almost immediately.
The third of the creatures arrowed in. I ran, and had to resist the sudden urge to shift into my other form. A wolf wouldn't have a hope against flighted creatures, and the only weapon I'd have would be teeth. Nor could I use telepathy--if Quinn couldn't touch their minds, there was little chance I could.
Wrapping the night around myself, I grabbed several stones and tossed them into the pines. They clattered against the trunks and plopped into the soft carpet of needles. My attacker swung toward the sound, giving me time to catch my breath.
But the gryphon I'd torn the wing off was on the move, beak in the air and making a strange snuffling sound--much like a dog did when tracking. I swore under my breath. Obviously, gryphon and human wasn't the only thing in the mix. Its head swung my way and, with a scream, it ran toward me.
I backpedaled fast, not daring to take my eyes off the thing. It was faster than I'd expected. Talons raked my stomach, drawing blood. I dropped my cloak of shadows and bit my tongue to hold back the scream. Grabbing the creature's wrist, I twisted around and pulled hard, yanking it up and over my shoulder. It sailed past me and landed with a crash on its back. As feathers flew upward, I stiffened my fingers and knifed them toward the creature's eyes. It moved, and I hit cheek instead. Felt flesh and bone give as its cheek caved in.
Bile rose in my stomach. Shuddering, I dropped, sweeping my leg and knocking the creature off its feet again as it struggled to rise. It roared in frustration and lashed out. The blow caught the side of my face and sent me staggering.
The creature was up and at me almost instantly. Air became a torrent of dirt, telling me the others were also close. I faked a blow to the creature's head, then spun and lashed out at its groin instead. The force of the blow shuddered up my leg, but the creature dropped, clutching itself and making an odd sort of keening sound.
The others hit me. I ducked and weaved, but there was no way on this earth to avoid every blow. I was vampire-fast, but even the wind itself would have had trouble in this situation. Red heat flashed through me, and the smell of blood and fear sat heavily on the whirlpool of air surrounding us.