Shift Happens (A Carus Novel Book 1) (29 page)

If Ethan wasn’t sitting in his throne, lording over his minions, where was he?

I kept looking. If Ethan wasn’t a permanent fixture in the area, how did he have a posh place like this, outfitted with dungeons and his own special home décor? Vampires must have their own definition for a visit. Then again, being so old, a few years would be a short-term stay in comparison to their age. Something weird about the whole situation, but regardless, Ethan must’ve been pretty sneaky with his set-up to not raise any alarms with Lucien’s horde until now.

The volatile winds fought me as I pumped my wings harder to gain elevation. The master suite had to be the room on the top floor with a wall of windows. I quickly circled around and careened toward the patio. Wick’s group would attack soon and I needed to be poised to strike at the right time.

Light flickered in the otherwise dark room. Candles? Some of the older Vampires couldn’t evolve well to the changing times despite the horde of money they made over the years. The dull light reflected off two intertwined bodies. Good thing I wasn’t in wolf form. Vampire sex reeked of mildew and the dregs of a wine barrel. I’d never choose to bottle that fragrance.
Gross.

The only windows open on this level were tiny—more vents than entrances—and even if I dropped a few pounds, I’d never fit through them. A screech threatened to erupt from my throat. I clamped down on it and flew around to the second floor, circling, desperately looking for an opening.

Casting my gaze to the surrounding foliage, I made out dark shapes moving toward the mansion.

There! A larger window on the second floor level, open just enough for me to fit. I pulled my wings in and barrelled through the opening just as cries of alarm rose in the house. Chaos reigned.

Shifting quickly to human form, my feet barely touched the floor when a large force smashed against my head, sending me reeling into the wall. Dazed, I turned around to see a fuzzy Mark, the Werehyena, holding what looked like a baseball bat. Certainly felt like one.

“Overcompensating?” I squared off, ignoring the thumping of my brain inside my skull. Maybe having a smart mouth would be useful for once and buy me time to get my eyes to focus.

He laughed and my vision cleared enough to see him stroke the baseball bat with a jerky pump motion. “I’m going to have fun with you.”

“Mmmhmm,” I stalled, willing my eyes to see only one of him. The three swirling Marks solidified into one just in time to see him swinging the bat at my head.

I ducked.

“I hope you like this bat.” Mark circled me. “I plan to give you splinters.” He made a thrusting motion with his hips, giving little doubt to
where
he referred.

“That’s disgusting.” I dodged another swing of the bat.

Mark licked his lips. A waft of his saliva coursed through the air and smacked me in the face. A nastier weapon than the bat.

“Ugh.” I fanned the air away from my nose, and caught Mark’s tensing muscles too late. He shot out and tackled me.

Slammed to the ground, I had little time to appreciate the inlaid stonework as I battled for position against the Werehyena’s heavy body. Sparring with Wick had its advantages—my ground game had improved.

Gripping one of his legs with both of mine, I prevented Mark from moving to a more dangerous position. Let him get distracted with dry humping my leg. It beat a bat to the head or getting choked out.

A large bang downstairs rattled the floor. Mark and I froze. Some screaming and hissing erupted below and I took Mark’s renewed ardour as my signal.

I thrust a hip up and yanked my arm to the side and threw Mark off-balance. Pressing my advantage, I used my momentum and rolled until I straddled Mark. I met his smug smile with my own.

His grin faltered.

“My sole regret is that I don’t have more time for this.” My smiled widened. I enjoyed the deep set frown on his face as I willed the changed.

The scent of his confusion turned to fear, his eyes big and round, took in the sight of a large mountain lion pinning him to the floor instead of a five foot ten slender woman. My tail twitched from side to side as memories of what this man did to me and the stuff he planned to do.

Another outburst of screaming spiraled up the staircase from the first floor.

No time!

With no warning, I dipped my feline head and clamped my jaws around Mark’s neck. With a quick jerk of my head, I heard a snap and Mark’s body went limp beneath me. Not dead, not yet. Some Weres could heal an injury even this intense. I quickly sank my teeth into the soft tissue of his throat and ripped it out. Ugh. The taste! Hacking, I spat out chunks of cartilage, artery, muscle and a whole slew of other tissues. When that didn’t rid the taste, I wiped my tongue off on my paw.

“Eric!” A man’s voice shouted from the floor above me. “Dammit, answer your phone.”

I followed the sound of his voice and slunk up the staircase, ignoring the battle waging below.

“What’s wrong, Ethan?” The sound of a whimpering female voice flittered to my position. Even from a distance the high pitched whine irritated and grated my nerves. I bit back a hiss.

“Not now.”

“But Ethan, I’m scared,” she simpered.

The pounding of feet followed by a sharp snap made me poke my head around the corner to find out what the hell just happened. A naked woman’s body lay crumpled on the floor, her head twisted at an unnatural angle.

I guess her voice irritated Ethan, too.

Ethan stood over her prone body, also naked, and ran a hand through his thick wavy hair before turning away from the staircase. Moving at vamp speed, he changed into clothes. Too fast to track. Too fast for me to attack. My advantage was the element of surprise. I waited.

He was in the middle of throwing various articles into a bag when he froze. His head turned to the side and his nostrils flared.

Fuck!

Coiling my muscles, I sprung forward as he swiveled around to face me with fangs barred. My claws swiped empty air. The weight of my body would have felled any norm and most supes on impact, but Ethan only staggered back a step. His cold fingers, strong as metal, grasped my front limbs.

He held me at arms-length, my feet dangling off the ground, and smiled, a slow, calculating smile. “They sent a pathetic Shifter? After me?” His hands tightened. “I’m going to enjoy sending a message.”

His face surged forward like a striking cobra, going in for the bite.

I shifted.

My limbs slipped out of his grasp as they formed wings. The moment my talons touched the floor, I shifted again. Back to cat, I twisted around Ethan and used the bed to launch onto his back. This time, my claws sank into cold flesh. I plunged my teeth into the back of his neck. And raked his skin with my hind legs.

Ethan howled, but his skin closed up after each lash of my claws. Freshly fed, he had the energy to heal quickly. He whirled around the room with Vampire speed and slammed me against the wall.

My vision went black.

I hit the floor. A heavy numb feeling spread through my body and I staggered to my feet in time for Ethan to clutch my hide and fling me across the room. This wall was as hard and unforgiving as the last; my body bounced off and fell to the cold hardwood.

Ethan tackled me before my brain could process the need to move. He flipped me over and pinned my back to the ground. An awkward and uncomfortable position for a mountain lion. His knees dug into my thighs so I couldn’t use my legs or my sharp claws to rip open his body.

“Full of surprises.” His head plunged down.

His teeth punctured my skin. The draw of blood sent a cold shiver through my body…and then he stopped.

My eyes fluttered opened and I struggled to maintain the cat form unsuccessfully. I groaned as my fur folded and I lay in my human body, limp under Ethan’s control. Ethan pulled back, his face inches from mine, his mouth dripping blood onto my cheek.

“What are you?” His voice softly hit my face.

My chest felt hollow as aches and pains hammered my nerve cells, and heavy, fatigued muscles remained unresponsive. Developing a new super power right now would be helpful. Or what about an old one? A power so raw and furious, it remained buried deep inside after the night I broke Dylan’s hold. I reached for it. Hidden in the depths of my core, it waited, coiled and poised to strike. Something monstrous answered my call and rose up within me. The beast.

Like hot lava flowing over fields, it consumed my center.

No!
What was I thinking? It took years to find my humanity after the last time. I doubt I’d find it a second time, if it happened again. And that kind of vacuous life wasn’t worth living. I tried to push the monster back, but fluid fury bathed my cells, overpowering my will.

My mountain lion responded first. Pressing down on the feral monster within, she stemmed the flow. The wolf and falcon joined, containing it, leashing it.

When my eyes opened, the vision my own. The control, my own. What seemed like an eternal battle lasting hours, must’ve passed in mere seconds because Ethan still watched me in wonder. Where was Wick? I could use him right about now.

A shard of glass glinted from the corner of my eye. I snaked my hand out and clutched it. Ethan blocked my arm and pinned my hand behind my head. He squeezed until I let the glass go.

My muscles tensed as Ethan’s face dipped closer. I shut my eyes, but the second bite never came.

Looking up, I found Ethan still, in that freaky way Vampires were capable of. His eyes shifted to the right, where I caught a blur of motion. What the heck was that?

Whirling around in his crouched position, Ethan avoided the decapitating swing of Clint’s sword. It glanced off his shoulder.

My breath hitched, caught in my throat. A flush of adrenalin tingled through my body, moving in waves, revitalizing my energy. Clint! I watched him move around the room, dodging and weaving to avoid Ethan’s grasp. I stood up and whispered
thank you
. He’d saved my life. Now, I might have to return the favour. In a movement, too quick for the human or cat eye to follow, Ethan disarmed and pinned Clint.

Ethan hovered over Clint, eyes glinting. “I’m going to enjoy this.”

I threw myself on his back and forced my body to change back to the mountain lion. Legs pumping, I used them to shred at the lower half of his body. Ethan grunted and straightened up, releasing Clint.

Ethan reached around and grabbed me by the scruff off the neck. Tearing me off his back, he flung me across the room. Again.

Dazed, I looked up from my curled, fetal position in time to see Ethan drive the sword through Clint’s body.

No!

Staggering to an upright position, I limped up to Ethan’s exposed back while he dropped his head back and relished the glory of his kill. He licked the sword.

“Are you going to try again, little kitty?” He spoke with a calm voice without turning around. “Third time’s the charm?”

I hissed and sat back on my haunches. He had a point. Attacking his back had already proven fruitless twice. Maybe a frontal assault would work? Maybe I could use his confidence against him.

Maybe my death would be quicker.

Ethan glanced over his shoulder with a smirk before he turned around and studied me.

My tail swished back and forth with a mind of its own.

A dark figure moved silently up the stairs behind Ethan.

On all fours, I barred my teeth and let out a yowl that would raise the hairs of any wild animal in a five mile radius. Ethan blinked and then smiled before taking a step closer.

“I wish I had more time to play with my food, but there’s a battle going on downstairs. I don’t think my team’s winning.” He shrugged. “It’s of little consequence. Progeny is easy to make. But you…” His head tilted to the side. “You are rare, unique. I wish I could keep you.”

The dark figure materialized behind Ethan. Allan.

Not daring to make eye contact or look over Ethan’s shoulder, I projected my thoughts to Allan.
On the count of three?

I didn’t wait for a response I wouldn’t get. Could Allan even hear me? Swishing my tail like a pendulum, I counted to three.

One.

Two.

Three.

On three, I leapt at Ethan. His arms moved up instinctively to block my claws. But he had no defense for my jaws clamping on his face.

Ethan dropped my forelimbs and grasped my head, preventing me from ripping his own off. Then Ethan’s body jolted. Again and again. The sick sound of metal slipping into his body reverberated in the room. Something pricked my belly.

Ethan’s grip relaxed and he fell forward, landing on top of me. Unlocking my jaw, I rolled out from underneath the dead weight.

Allan stood over us with a katana sword, its curved, slender single edge coated with blood.

“Make it quick.” He tossed the sword before my shift fully finished. I caught the hilt midflight and brought the blade down on the back of Ethan’s neck.

Young vamps turned to ash when staked or beheaded. The older ones would too, eventually, but I had a few hours to get his head to Lucien. Already shriveling, it looked like an old bloodless corpse instead of something that had kicked my ass moments ago.

“Don’t suppose you want to carry that for me?” Looking down at the gray, emaciated head, I shivered.

Allan held out a handkerchief and shook his head. “I have to carry Clint.”

My head whipped around to where the human servant lay in a pool of blood. His glazed eyes, open and unblinking.

Allan waved the handkerchief in my face.

Frowning, I snatched it from him.

“You’re bleeding,” he explained.

Sure enough, when I cast my eyes down at my bare navel, an ugly gash oozed blood. I clamped the cloth on it and pressed to stem the flow.

“I thought you were offering it to me to pick up the head. That or to cover up.”

“It would take more than that flimsy piece of cloth to cover your ass.”

Flicking him the bird, I reached down and picked up Ethan’s head by the hair. Good thing these old European vamps tended to grow their hair out—never met one with a crew cut. No idea how I’d pick his head up if he had short hair.