Chapter Twenty-one
WYNTER GASPED WHEN large arms wrapped around her waist and lifted her off the ground. Whatever it was, it wasn’t human, but it didn’t look like any animal she’d ever seen before, either. The closest comparison was a sasquatch.
It was tall, looming over Wynter, and dwarfing her five-foot nine-inch frame. Dark, nearly black eyes stared down at her before it howled and dragged her backward.
She almost gagged at its stinking breath and the stench of body odor surrounding her. The tighter the beast held her, the more the vile smell assaulted her senses.
Geno shed his pack, his amber eyes glowing through the dimly lit cave. His face widened and flattened into that of a huge tiger. His arms and legs reshaped until a large jungle cat replaced his human form. His teeth grew, elongating until the two top incisors were curved, razor-sharp, and nearly as long and thick as her forearm.
Intellectually, Wynter knew it was Geno. That knowledge was the only thing that kept her from screaming and going willingly with the monster behind her. Digging in her heels, she held Geno’s gaze, hoping he could save her from the beast dragging her backward through the caves.
The tiger roared a warning to the large ape-like creature as it stalked them through the caves, no doubt looking for an opening to attack.
“Geno.” Wynter reached out, her hands grasping at air as the smelly beast dragged her backward. “Help me!”
The huge ape turned and grabbed her, lifting her onto its shoulder before it leaped into a large hole. They fell what seemed to be thirty or forty feet before the sasquatch hit the ground on its huge feet and took off at a run.
Geno roared behind them. Wynter heard him claw his way down the deep hole. His paws padded against the stone as he ran behind them.
The creature carrying her, threw her up on a ledge and climbed up behind her. As it climbed toward her, Wynter managed to push away and fall back down onto the cavern floor. She ran toward the sound of Geno’s approach, hoping the creature wouldn’t try to capture her again.
“Thank God, it’s you.” Falling to her knees, she grabbed the blue tiger around the neck. “I thought that thing was taking me to be its lunch.”
The big cat made a strange coughing noise as she held onto it, and then it growled. Its muscles stiffened, and it turned, its tail wrapping around her waist and maneuvering her behind it as the bigfoot, or whatever it was, approached them with its teeth bared and arms outstretched.
It almost appeared as though it was asking for help. Was it asking Geno to help it recapture her, or was it asking them for assistance because deep down inside, it wasn’t an animal, but a human on whom the scientists had done experiments?
“I think it’s asking us to help it.”
The tiger shook its head, the answer clear. No way.
“But what if he was just trying to get me away from you because he thought you were going to experiment on me?”
Wynter hoped Geno didn’t ask her how she could tell it was a male. If he couldn’t see the obvious signs, she wasn’t about to point them out.
Keeping her gaze trained on the creature’s face, she swallowed thickly and nudged Geno’s shoulder.
“I don’t know how we’re going to communicate unless he can change back into a human.”
The sasquatch shook its head. Well, at least it understood English.
“Were you human before this?” She waved her hand, indicating the tall form of the sasquatch while trying to avoid looking below his neck.
“Yes.” The voice was so low, and gravelly, Wynter almost didn’t understand him. “Human and...” He paused with a sigh. “Human and bear.”
“You were a bear shifter, and they turned you into this?”
“Yes.” He gestured to Geno. “He do same to pretty.”
“No.” She shook her head. “He’s my friend. He came with me to find my other friends. Are they here?”
“No.” The beast shook his head and then cast his gaze to his feet. “They kill all here long time ago. Not me. They not kill me.”
The poor man. They had made him more animal than human. So much so, he could barely speak clearly.
“They come here. They look for me.” He thumped his chest, and his eyes narrowed as he bared his teeth. “Thirty years, they not find me.”
It seemed as though the more he spoke, the easier it became for him.
He frowned. “I think it thirty years.” He scrunched up his face. It almost appeared as though he was in pain. “Is this nineteen-ninety-nine?”
“No.” Shaking her head, Wynter covered her mouth and blinked back her tears. “It’s not. It’s twenty-twenty. You’ve been hiding from them for over fifty years if nineteen-ninety-nine was your thirty-year mark.” She glanced at Geno. “How? How can those insane scientists do experiments on the population for fifty years, and no one has come forward to expose them?”
Wynter shook her head. “Never mind. I get it. How can they expose them without exposing the fact that they’re no longer human? Just eluding to being a shapeshifter would cause the authorities to lock them away instead of the lunatics who are performing the experiments.”
“Are you alone?”
“Yes.” The word almost sounded forced.
“Is it difficult for you to speak? Must you force the words out because of what they did to you?”
“I am dumb now.”
“No, you’re not.” Wynter fought the urge to reach out to him. She wanted to trust he was what he said he was, but he had just tried to abduct her. Besides, his rank odor was enough to make her gag. Not to mention the fact that no amount of hair could cover up his nakedness—especially below the waist. Her face burned when her gaze shifted to the area at that thought. “You’re a victim. Like me.”
“You?” The beast’s eyes widened, and then he glared at Geno. “You make the pretty victim?”
“No!” Wynter stepped between them, holding her hand out in front of her. “He saved me. He wants to rescue my friends, but we can’t find them.” She tried to ignore the fact that he’d called her pretty.
“Doctors go away. Not here. They run when the fixers came.”
“Maybe we can help you, and if we help you, perhaps you can help us.” Wynter turned to Geno and met his gaze. “What do you think? Can that weird computer of yours help him?”
Geno tilted his head and then partially shifted back to his human form. His face shrank a bit, his mouth changing to look almost human. “Lead us back to where you found us. We left a friend there.”
The man-beast nodded. “Follow.” Turning around, he began to lead them through the dark tunnel.
“I’m glad I fastened the light to my spelunking helmet. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t be able to see a thing.”
“You see. You wolf.”
“How-how did you know that?” Wynter stopped and stared at the beast. What if he wasn’t leading them back to Tabby? What if he was working for the scientists after all?
“Smell.” He leaned down and sniffed around her head and shoulders before nodding. “Yes. Wolf.”
Wynter hoped Geno’s computer could help the man, shifter, or whatever he was. Hoofing it around caves for fifty years trying to avoid whacked-out scientists was no life at all.
“Are you the only person living here?”
“Once was more. Now just me.” He led them past the hole they’d dropped through and led them to an area with many ledges.
“You aren’t going to be able to climb these until you change back into your human form.” Wynter stared up at the smooth cave walls. “I don’t know how we’re going to climb up even in our human forms.”
“That’s why you brought me,” Tabby called down from above.
“How did you find us?” Wynter waved up at her.
“I thought I heard talking and decided to check it out. I changed into a rat first. I’m not stupid.”
“You can change into a rat?” Wynter fought the urge to shudder.
“Yep. I can chang
e into anything. I wouldn’t recommend bats, though. People tend to chase you with brooms and tennis rackets.” Tabby grinned down at them. “Watch out. I’m dropping a rope. Give me a few minutes to anchor it.”
“What kind of shifter can change into anything?”
“The kind of shifter that his friends would most likely like to capture.” Geno smoothed down the front of his shirt.
“When did you change back?” Wynter asked over her shoulder.
“When you were talking to Tabby. No doubt she’s seen her husband do it enough that it is no longer a novelty to her.”
“I suppose.” Wynter glanced up at the ledge, waiting to see tabby and have her give the go-ahead. “When would be a good time to tell you I can’t climb a rope?”
“I can carry you.”
“Don’t be absurd.” She almost snorted but stopped herself just in time. “I’m too heavy for anyone to carry me up a rope.”
“Not for me and certainly not for the big guy there.” Geno waved toward the sasquatch.
Wynter shuddered at the thought of getting so close to the smelly beast again.
“Do you have a name?” She couldn’t keep thinking of him as the beast when there was a man buried inside him somewhere.
“Yes.” He nodded, his shaggy hair flying everywhere. “Name is...” He paused as though trying to remember. “Name is Gregor.”
“Gregor?” Wynter peered up at him. “Is that a bit of a Scottish burr I’m picking up there?”
“Yes. Scot.” He swiped a large hand over his face. “Miss the Scot.”
“I don’t blame you.” Maybe his speech wasn’t broken because of what the scientists had done. Perhaps it was because he hadn’t spoken to anyone for nearly fifty years.
“I don’t think you lack brains at all,” Wynter said as Tabby stuck her head over the edge of the landing thirty-or-so feet above them. “I think your speech is rough because you haven’t had anyone to talk to for fifty years.”
Gregor’s eyes widened at the thought. His eyes grew bright, and he nodded. “I hope.”
“I hope so, too.” Reaching up, she patted him on the cheek. “Who’s first? It’s not going to be me, because I couldn’t climb a rope when I was a kid. I know I can’t climb one now.”
“Climb onto my back. I’ll carry you up.”
“Uh. I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Tabby told Geno. “This rope has a three-hundred-and-fifty-pound weight limit on it. Deno weighs two-thirty, and you’re bigger than he is.”
“No doubt, the two of us would snap it like a piece of tissue paper.” Wynter might be anxious to get out of having Geno try to carry her up a rope, but she wasn’t pleased to have her weight be to blame.
“I tell you what. I’ll climb down to be with Wynter, and Geno can climb up. Once he pulls you to safety, I’ll go back up, and then Gregor can follow.”
“Gregor climb wall.” He eyed the rope. “Gregor don’t...” He growled and fisted his huge hands. His frustration at not being able to find the right words was obvious.
“You don’t trust the rope?” Wynter finished for him.
“No. Gregor not trust the rope.”
“I think your speech is getting better. You’re adding articles to your sentences now.” Wynter smiled, hoping to put him at ease. “I think the more you talk, the better you’ll get.”
“I hope so.” His speech was also becoming less stilted.
Tabby climbed down the rope, her young and strong body having no trouble with the descent, even though she also carried a few extra pounds.
“You know, you’d have no trouble climbing up the rope, Wynter. You only need to trust yourself. No matter how much you might believe you’re a normal human woman of middling age, you’re a shifter now, and as a shifter, you’re still a young woman, even at fifty. You appear as though you’re in your early to mid-twenties, you know. And you’re a lot stronger than you used to be.”
“I’ll believe that when I see it in a real mirror. Until then, we’re going to have to agree to disagree. And I’m not fifty.” Even a mirror wouldn’t convince her if it were on Geno’s ship or in the apartment they so graciously let her use. Their mirrors couldn’t be trusted.
It didn’t take long for Geno to climb the rope. He ascended arm over arm, making it look as though he had some kind of super-strength.
Perhaps he does have some kind of superpower. He is a shapeshifting tiger from outer space.
God, did she just say that to herself? It sounded crazy.
“Okay. Tie the rope into a seat, and I’ll pull you up.” Geno leaned over the ledge and watched as Tabby expertly tied the rope into a seat type of harness.
“Just step into it, one leg on each side, and pull it up over your hips. Once you do that, Geno will take up the slack and start pulling you to the ledge.”
“What about you?” She glanced at Gregor. “No offense, but this could all be an act to get you alone with one of us.”
“Don’t worry about me. No one has been able to hold me against my will yet.” Tabby grinned. “You’ll see why in a minute.” She stepped away from Gregor and watched as Geno pulled her up without a grimace or grunt. Perhaps he was stronger than he looked after all.
Just when Wynter’s legs were out of Gregor’s reach, Tabby closed her eyes, and in a blink, she changed from a young, gorgeous woman into a small bat. Before he could react, she was out of Gregor’s reach, and her wings were flapping near Wynter’s head.
“I realize that’s you, Tabby, but bats really creep me out. No wonder people chase you with tennis rackets if you buzz by their heads like you’re doing mine.” Wynter resisted the urge to shoo Tabby away. “Maybe you could turn into a hummingbird next time. Nobody that I know of ever tries to whack a hummingbird with a tennis racket.”
Tabby circled higher and higher until she joined Geno on the ledge and shifted back to her human form. “But hummingbirds can’t see at night, and bats have this really cool radar thing going on.” She grinned.
After Geno pulled her over the side of the ledge, Gregor’s head appeared near her feet. He climbed onto the outcropping and stood his teeth bared in what was probably supposed to be a smile.
“We go now? You fix Gregor?”
“We’ll try to fix you,” Tabby said as she patted his arm. “I hope your medical program is up to the task, Geno.”
“So do I.” Geno glanced toward the other male. “Even if it can’t change him back to what he was, perhaps she can help take some of the beast out of him and replace it with human or even Zolon DNA.”
Wynter didn’t think she would ever get used to anyone referring to a computer as she. But then again, technological advances were getting better and better, and androids or robots could be a thing during her lifetime, and she would refuse using the word it as a pronoun for any of them. She watched a lot of science fiction with Ella, and nothing good ever came of treating robotic AI like laborers.
The trip back to the ship was easier than the trek up the mountainside. Geno held her by the arm the entire way. It kept her from tumbling down the side of the mountain and breaking something.
“Will you go inside?” Geno waved his arm, gesturing for Gregor to accompany him into the ship.
“What is this house?”
“It’s not a house. It’s a ship.” Wynter bit her lip, trying to explain. For some reason, Gregor always looked to her for clarification. She wasn’t sure why. “It flies. Kind of like an airplane. Do you remember airplanes?”
“Yes.” Gregor nodded and then walked up the ramp. “This big plane.”
“Yes. It’s a big ship.” Wynter followed him inside, and Tabby closed the door behind them. “Follow Geno. He’ll take you to the medical bay where the ship’s um... doctor will try to fix you.”
How could she explain the tech on this ship to someone who hadn’t even spoken to humans in fifty years? The technology onboard could terrify him.
“Do you trust us?”
“Gregor trust...” He
paused and pointed at Wynter.
“Wynter. My name is Wynter.”
“Gregor trust Wynter.” He placed his hand over his heart. “Gregor, not smell lies on Wynter.”
Wynter wished she couldn’t smell Gregor, but she didn’t voice that. It probably wouldn’t go well to point out that he reeked of a garbage dump, rotting meat, and body odor. The poor man-beast probably hadn’t had a real bath in fifty years. It wasn’t surprising that he reeked.
Geno approached a console. His fingers flew over the glossy screen before a large med-bed seemed to appear out of nowhere. Nearly eight feet long, it floated on the air, a golden forcefield shimmering around it before it, too, disappeared.
“Climb up onto the table and lie flat on your back.”
Gregor’s eyes widened, and he shook his head. “No bed. No exper—”
“No experiments, Gregor. This is not to experiment. It’s to help you.” Wynter rested her hand on Gregor’s arm, and Geno growled.
“Oh, get over yourself.” She glared at Geno. “He’s scared. Do you blame him?”
Taking a deep breath, Wynter hopped up onto the bed and positioned herself on her back. “See? Nothing is going to hurt you.”
Sitting up, she slid from the med-bed and waved her arm. “Your turn.”
Gregor sat on the side of the bed and then swinging his legs up, he leaned back. Before he could react, the forcefield shot up, and the small area filled with a cloud of gas.
Eyes wide with terror, Gregor held his breath as long as he could before he finally lost the battle and took a breath. After a moment, he closed his eyes, and his muscles went slack.
“Couldn’t you have done something to put him under faster?”
“Not without needles,” Geno replied with a shake of his head. “I suspect needles would have been even more traumatic for him.”
“Probably.” Wynter sighed. “I know that if I never saw another needle coming at me again, it would be too soon.”
Chapter Twenty-two
Wooing Wynter Page 15
