Authors: Judy Teel
I looked at the wolf. "Jesse, can you understand me?"
He cocked his head, interest flaring in his intelligent eyes.
"Do you remember your brother, Noah?"
He blew out a soft huff of air and then scratched his ear with his hind leg.
I pointed my gun at Mehk. "How could you have done this to him?"
"You'd rather he died like the golden wolf did?"
I sucked in a breath. Ryker was dead. "Turn around and start walking," I said aiming at his chest, the screams of those who had died echoing in my mind as Cooper's loss echoed in my heart. "You might be able to help the rest of them."
*
*
*
When we reached the Bone Clan compound, the sun had set and the gates were locked until morning. The torches mounted on posts along the inside the wall were being lighted. When Bald Guy turned and saw Mehk and then Jesse, who'd padded silently along behind us, he yelled at the other guard to get Cooper.
I was considering the best spot for a campout when I saw Cooper charging across the greenway. He stopped four yards from the gate and his gaze tracked over me from top to bottom before moving to Mehk. Cooper studied him. Crossing his arms, he looked back and forth between us for a moment. Finally, he focused on Jesse sitting quietly a few feet behind us. "Can he shift?"
I shook my head and his expression darkened. He gave Mehk his full attention. "What are you to Addison?"
Mehk beamed at me. "Addison?"
"Yeah. So what?" I said, frowning.
"I like it. Better than the one your mother insisted on giving you."
I grit my teeth. "Stop talking about that," I said, as I considered shooting him on the spot. Not to kill, mind you, but a nice near miss with a little grazing sounded like good idea. Having your mother abandon you as a baby tended to leave a few hard feelings.
"What would you know about Addison's name?" Cooper asked.
"Indeed?" Mistress Raevinne boomed. She shuffled up to stand beside Cooper, Miller supporting her on one side and Erika on the other. To his credit, Mehk held his ground as the elderly practitioner speared him with her imposing gaze.
"Alberta was her given name," he said, smiling. "Named after Julia's best friend, Allie."
Mistress Raevinne's mouth thinned into an angry line, but I saw fear in her eyes too. "Who are you?" she hissed.
"You seem to have a knack for pissing people off," I commented, not liking where this was heading. "Maybe we are related."
The practitioner's gaze skimmed over Mehk's leather pants and shirt. "What year is it?"
"
Thu solsh jun'urausoin ay shu Hensruss de shu somu nuw mi'in
," Mehk said, amusement sparkling in his eyes.
"
The sixth generation of the Huntress in the time of the new moon?" Miller said, wonder in his voice. "How do you speak—?"
Mistress Raevinne held up a hand, and Miller shut his mouth with a snap. "Your name," she demanded.
Mehk gave her
an elaborate bow worthy of an Elizabethan court.
"Mehkhem Nebtra
du
a'r Dakum-Wara
."
"Of the Demon-Were," Erika whispered.
"He doesn't lie," Cooper said, his intense gaze locked onto Mehk.
The breeze kicked up and the foul bite of rotten Jasmine assaulted my nose. Mehk and I spun toward the smell. Just beyond the light of the torches, a spot in the air started to shimmer.
Seeing my alarm, Cooper stepped in front of the practitioners. "Get away from the gate!" I shouted.
"Stop!" Mehk barked, a thread of panic in his voice. "It senses movement."
The air expanded and the disgusting bug-croc nightmare solidified. One of the people behind us gasped. The thing opened its snout and its thick forked tongue darted in and out. My muscles quivered as adrenaline pumped through my blood stream.
Swiveling its head, it tested the air again. Then its back leg twitched and the air around its body
rippled as the smell of rotten Jasmine thickened. Then the vibration pulled inward, distorting the monster until it looked
like a reflection rippling across a pond. Then it was gone.
"It's getting faster," I said, as the smell faded. I relaxed, turning to see if the others were okay.
"Not yet!" Mehk yelled.
I swung around. An orb of light engulfed him as his leather pants and shirt dissolved. Then his body stretched and morphed in the fastest shift I'd ever seen.
Then the stink of the monster swept over me. In front of me, the air shimmered.
I scrambled back, as a spine-covered insect leg stabbed the ground, just missing me. Behind it, the blur of Mehk's jade-green tail as he swept it under the monster's legs, knocking its feet out from under it. The Tor'nysoos stumbled and Mehk, now fully in his dragon form, leaped into the forest and ran.
He was trying to lead it away from the compound. Exactly what I'd planned to do.
I bolted into the woods, heading in a different direction at top speed, not looking to see which one of us the Tor'nysoos followed. Something big crashed through the underbrush about two hundred yards to my left and heading away from me, which answered that question. Mehk didn't stand a chance without some help.
When I hit the creek, I darted around an outcropping of rocks and ducked down. Unstrapping my gun, I stripped out of my clothes and boots and threw everything into a pile on the top of a rock so I wouldn't lose them. With my heart pounding in my chest, I took a deep breath and focused inward.
The glow spread quicker this time and the sphere of light popped out around me within a couple of minutes, the flash of light moments after that. As soon as I stood in 4-D, I focused on my other form and willed the shift.
It was the fastest I'd ever shifted and I staggered a step on re-entry, dizzy. Lifting my head, I sniffed the air until the sharp smell of rotten Jasmine burned my nose. I got a bead on the direction and then snapped open my wings.
One of the reasons I'd chosen this spot, was that it was cleared of trees. Concentrating hard, I flapped my wings, building up speed and strength as I re-familiarized myself with my shifted body. Slowly, my feet lifted off the ground.
Exhilaration swept through me as I rose higher, the rock outcropping dropping away below me as I cleared the treetops. To my left was the compound, the small figure of Bald Guy pointing at me, Cooper barking orders as he attempted to corral the practitioners back into the safety of their quarters. To my right, the forest stretched endlessly, broken only by the gray ridge of the cliffs that marked the village ruins.
A roar echoed from the forest below me. I angled my wings and body slightly, aiming for the spot, and sped over the tree tops, the cold evening air whistling past my head. I spotted a blue glow darting beneath the canopy, moving fast, and aimed for it.
I picked up the trail of flattened vegetation and toppled trees leading away from the compound and followed it. Based on the angle, Mehk had planned to cut a direct line to the village ruins, probably to give him more room to maneuver. But before he could reach it, the monster had driven him further West, trapping him against a bluff.
I circled over the trampled area as they fought, keeping high enough to minimize getting the bug-croc's attention but low enough to watch the combatants as I calculated the best way to attack. Mehk's fighting technique was smooth and professional, dodging, ducking and leaping being the bulk of it with an occasional attack, usually involving a sweep of his tail to unbalance the monster. The Tor'nysoos was completely on offense, putting its energy into slice and dice moves. Smart, considering its natural body armor and ability to do serious damage without too much effort.
Except for one thing — the Tor'nysoos never looked up.
Pulling my arms close to my body, I tucked in my wings and dove.
The monster's back rushed up at me and at the last minute, I opened my wings like a parasail to slow my descent, brought my back legs forward and slashed at the thing, aiming for the space between the plates of exoskeleton that shielded its body.
As soon as my claws struck, I gave a powerful beat of my wings and soared up as the Tor'nysoos screeched and swung around, jaws snapping, its front legs slashing the air. As I'd hoped, Mehk didn't miss the opening I'd given him. Darting forward, he raked his front claws down the neck of the thing, opening a wound a yard long from jaw to what passed for its chest.
The Tor'nysoos squealed again and struck out, barely missing Mehk's head as he leaped out of range. Oozing thick, brown nastiness from its back and throat, the thing skittered back, the air around it shimmering as it prepared to escape.
I dove again, my claws out — and swooped through empty air. The Tor had already disappeared.
Barely breaking in time to miss the thick trunk of a pine tree, I banked sharply to the right and skidded along the edge of the trampled ground, landing with a messy combination of stumbling, tripping and rolling.
I pulled myself out of the laurel I'd taken down with me and gave myself a shake, scattering a shower of leaves and twigs to the ground around me. Maybe it was a good thing that I'd been outed. I needed to practice.
A flash of light at the corner of my eye told me that Mehk had changed back to his human form. I ducked behind a tree, not sure what to do about the suddenly awkward situation my rescue had put me in.
"You're very shy for a shifter, aren't you?" Mehk observed from the other side of my tree. I looked up at the branches. Nope. Didn't really want to see the guy naked. "You want me to meet you back at
Cha'dana
?" he asked.
I nodded my head, still looking up.
He chuckled and I heard the soft rustle of his footsteps as he ambled back down the path that his fight had carved from the woods. I relaxed, glad I wasn't going to have
that
particular image seared into my brain.
The rhythmic crunch of leaves stopped. "The wings, those are new," he said. "You use them well."
My panic receded as a warm glow of pride spread through my chest. I could have kicked myself for it.
"I'm going now," he called, laughter underlying his voice.
I waited until only the silence of the forest surrounded me and then hopped my way into the clearing that their fight had made. Spreading my wings, I jumped into the air, flapping them hard as I did. Of course now that he wasn't there to see me, I made a smooth exit.
Back at the rocks where I'd left my clothes, I quickly shifted and dressed, glad to be human again.
"Are you done?" Mehk said from behind a boulder near the creek.
My heart leaped into my throat, and I had my gun in my hand so fast, that I wasn't sure which one of those things happened first. He came out from behind the boulder and I had a moment of shock, followed by marginal relief as I realized that somewhere along the way, he'd found some vines and wrapped them around his hips.
"That's a great way to get shot." I angrily shoved my weapon back in its holster. Turning around, I stomped down the path back toward the compound. Mehk caught up and I could feel his gaze on me.
"It'll be back," he said.
"Murderous prehistoric crap always is."
"It was created to be highly adaptive. We have at the most a day before it attacks again. When it does, it'll be ready to combat your ability to fly."
"Is it sentient?" I asked, stepping over the trunk of a fallen tree without breaking my stride.
"Not precisely. But it's highly instinctive. As fast as any Were, impervious to most types of magic and created for only one thing — to make vampires the dominant paranormal race."
Above the trees, loomed the bare gray rock face that marked the cliff of the compound. I slowed down and came to a stop. "I'm not sure what kind of reception we're going to get."
Mehk smiled broadly. "A feast, I expect."
"Demon-Weres are hated and feared now. Killing us is probably higher on their list of priorities."
"Julia said the same thing, but I was hoping..." His brows lowered. "We were designed to protect them. Without any thought for our own safety. Doesn't that mean something?"
My stomach gave a squirmy lurch. How many times had I done exactly that? Charged in to protect someone, never thinking of the danger to myself?
I glanced at Mehk. We might look completely different in our Were forms, maybe because I was only half Demon-Were, but maybe I could consider that we might be from the same general genetic pool.
A breeze sifted through the trees. From the left, I heard the clanking of the bones along the path that led to the fortress. I stopped and contemplated the swath of destruction in front of me. "What do you mean, 'designed'? Like the Tor?"
Mehk stooped down to gently straighten the bent stem of a small white flower. "Twelve times, volunteers from the four races of Weres held their form in the Fourth World while linked to practitioners in the Third. Wolf for courage, panther for agility, rat for cunning and dragon for immortality. Together they blended a new race that could protect them all."