by B N Miles
With a gasp of air, he let the memgram go. The priori fell away, like releasing a lover mid-caress. The Need flooded through him and he felt dizzy for a brief moment.
“Let me help,” she whispered. “Take them off.”
He clenched his jaw and reached into his pocket. He took out a key card, his personal card, and she held up the cuffs. There was a slot at the top, and all he had to do was swipe.
She stared into his eyes. God, she was beautiful. He wanted her, right there, right on the asphalt. He’d slide himself between her legs and taste her depths, take her again and again, relieve the itching and burning desire that coursed through his veins.
He slid the card through the slot. The cuffs whirred, clicked, and fell away.
She smiled at him. “Excellent choice.”
“Don’t run,” he managed. He shoved away the Need and felt around for the auras.
They were still there.
“Don’t worry,” she said, and pulled her brown top off. He stared, surprised, as she did the same with the bottoms. She was wearing black off-white underwear, her body smooth and curvy. Her breasts were barely covered, and her perky ass made his heart race with desire. “I can handle this.”
Then she shifted. Her underwear ripped to shreds as her body twisted from its human shape. Jared knew Shifters couldn’t turn their clothes with them, and so most of them wore stuff that could be easily removed. She hadn’t stripped just to entice him, but to have something to put back on when she was finished.
Her body morphed. It stretched and twisted, her bones cracking and reforming. She fell down on all fours as her face turned into a snout and fur sprouted across her skin. She was as large as a wolf with long fangs and a muscular body. But her fur was reddish brown and tinged with black. He’d never seen an animal like her before, and the closest thing he could think of was a large, killer fox.
She tore forward. Jared moved after her, forming the memgram just as the gunfire started up again. He found their attackers, three forms on motorcycles, carrying semi-automatic rifles. The bullets whizzed through the air around Jared as he formed the barrier again. He shaped it around the Shifter’s body as best he could, and he watched as bullets tore through her fur and bounced off the places he’d covered.
She was on one in a flash of ripping claws. The person screamed and he felt an aura flare. The others backed up, one stumbling and dropping his bike. They shot at her, but she swiped one rifle away with a huge paw and returned to tearing the first victim to pieces.
They got on their bikes. She dove for one, but too late. The bikes tore forward, leaving smoke in their wake. Jared dropped the memgram, and this time he was ready for the flood of longing and need. He steadied himself with a deep breath and held his service weapon at the ready.
The Shifter finished tearing her victim to pieces. He watched her rip an arm off and throw it aside. The arm fell to the road a few feet away from him with a wet thud. The skin was strange, with an odd greenish cast, and it took him half a beat to realize that it had come from a Dryad.
He looked back at the enormous fox as it turned to him and bared its teeth.
“Easy,” he said, raising his service weapon.
He took a step back. His heart began its steady rhythm, and he began ticking through the magic he knew, trying to find a memgram to help, but it evaded him. He cursed himself for not practicing more, for not studying harder.
The fox continued to pace forward, and he raised his weapon again.
4
“Stop,” he said. “Don’t come closer.”
The fox slowed. He stumbled back again and felt the transport press up against his back. The fox tilted its head at him, and blood dropped from its fangs. He steadied his weapon and stared back at her.
“Don’t come closer,” he said. “I’ll shoot, even if I don’t want to.”
He thought the fox smiled.
And then its body twisted again.
He watched her shift as relief flooded him. There was no way he could take on a Shifter in that form, even with magic. He was way too out of practice for
that. The body twisted and morphed, forming the smooth skin, the long red flowing hair, those gorgeous, full lips.
She stood naked in front of him.
“Sorry,” she said. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”
He stared at her perky, gorgeous breasts. The Need flared through him so badly he thought he might do something stupid. But he had trained for this.
Well, maybe not exactly this. He’d never been trained to keep control of his magic-induced lust while standing in front of a gorgeous naked Shifter girl before. But the idea was the same.
He steadied his breathing and maintained eye contact. She covered her breasts with her arms and tilted her head.
“Can I get dressed?” she asked.
He nodded. “Please.”
She pouted for a second. “Please? Wouldn’t you rather me stay naked? I thought you humans felt—”
“Get dressed,” he ordered. He didn’t need her staying naked for a single second longer than necessary.
She laughed and walked over to her discarded browns. She pulled on the top and then the bottoms. The baggy brown clothes covered her body well enough, but since she wasn’t wearing a bra anymore, Jared could see the outline of her breasts.
Damn it, get yourself together.
He bent over and picked up the cuffs. “Wrists out.”
She stared at him. “I didn’t run,” she said. “And I took care of your problem.”
“You just ripped apart a suspect,” he said. “We try to take them alive.”
“They were shooting at me.”
“You still murdered a guy with your teeth. Wrists out.”
She glared. They stood staring at each other for along moment, but Jared was finished with this.
This was not why he signed up for the Marshal Service. He didn’t want the action or the magic. He was done with the Need and the man it turned him into. He was done with magic and would it could do. He wanted the paperwork, the routine, the quiet. He didn’t want gorgeous Shifter girls with deadly teeth and gods damned Dryads breaking out of prisoner transports.
His gazed hardened. “Wrists. Now.”
She looked away and held them out.
He slapped the cuffs down. They locked and glowed as they activated.
She let out a sigh. Just as she looked up and met his gaze again, Jared heard sirens in the distance. She smiled and tilted her head. “I guess your friends are here.”
“Sit down,” he said. “We’ll figure out what to do with you later.”
She frowned at him but said nothing. She sat down on the ground, crossed her legs and waited. He leaned against the transport and slipped his weapon back into its holster.
He leaned his head back against the broken metal and closed his eyes for just a moment, waiting for the sirens to get closer.
“I don’t have anywhere to go,” she said. “Do you even know why I was back there?”
He opened one eye and looked at her. “No,” he said.
She snorted. “Not surprising.”
“And I don’t want to know,” he said. “Look, I appreciate your help. I really do. I’ll put in a good word for you. But whatever you did, I have nothing to do with that.”
“I know you don’t,” she said, her voice low. She stared at the ground, then looked up at him. “What would you do if someone was forcing you to be something you didn’t want to be?”
The sirens got louder. Jared held her gaze for a long moment. He didn’t see anything malicious in that gaze. He felt nothing evil in her aura when she had let it out. And now, as she stared at him, he didn’t think she was dangerous.
Despite having just watched her turn into a killer fox monster and rip a Dryad apart.
But the real problem was that her question hit home. Her question made so much sense to him that he was tempted to take off her cuffs and let her go.
Which he’d neve
r do. But he understood what was behind a question like that. The longing, the pain, the confusion. He understood better than most people.
He didn’t answer. He looked away and watched as the flashing lights got closer. They were speeding up the road toward them. He counted four cruisers, tearing up from the direction the transport had come. The Dryads had gone on the other way, heading toward the city.
The Shifter looked back down the road and sighed. “I guess backup’s here.”
“Stay there. Don’t move.” He pushed off the wrecked transport. His body ached and he had bruises all over, but nothing was injured. “I’ll handle this.”
He went to walk past her. As he pulled level, she looked up. “My name’s Cassie.”
He paused and looked down. “I’m Jared.”
She smiled. “Nice to meet you. Thanks for letting me shift. I don’t know when I’ll get to do that again.”
He said nothing as he turned to meet the cruisers.
He was sure they’d never let her shift again, but he didn’t say that to her.
5
The cruisers parked and Jared saw that they were locals. Not normal PD, but MetaDept guys. They dressed just like regular cops, but their badges and insignias were just slightly different. MetaDept had to move around in public without standing out.
The man that climbed out of the first cruiser was older with cropped graying hair. He wasn’t wearing a uniform like the other men that climbed out around him. He had on a shirt and tie, slightly baggy, a bit cheap. The MetaDept guys fanned out around the area as the older man barked orders before turning his attention to Jared.
“You the Marshal?” he asked.
Jared pulled out his badge. “Yes, sir. Jared Bechtel.”
His name sparked some recognition in the old detective’s eyes. He frowned at Jared for a long moment. “Bechtel, huh?”
“Yes, sir.”
“All right. I’m Robert Clyde, Senior Detective with the Pittsburg Meta Department. What in the hell happened here?”
Jared gave him the quick version: explosion, knocked over truck, missing Dryad, gunfire, shifting girl. The detective listened, nodding as he spoke, then looked over at Cassie. “That’s the other prisoner?”
“Yes, sir,” Jared said, and wondered if there were any other people with cuffs and browns nearby.
“All right. We’ll take her for now. We got some enchanted holding back at the station where she should be safe.”
“With all due respect, sir, I’m not sure if—” Jared’s cell rang at that moment, cutting him off. He winced and fished it from his pocket. The detective gave him an annoyed look, but the caller ID came up as his Captain. “I’m sorry. I have to take this.’
“Oh, yeah, sure. Go ahead and talk to your mommy.”
Jared turned away from the man, ignoring the insult, and picked up. “Hello, sir,” Jared said.
“What in the seven fucking hells happened out there?” Captain Wyatt sounded pissed, which wasn’t a huge surprise. “I just got a call that you ordered backup. Report, son.”
Jared gave him the same rundown he just gave the detective. By the end, Captain Wyatt sounded like he was having a heart attack.
“Are you okay, sir?” Jared asked.
“I’m fucking fine.” Captain Wyatt took a deep breath. “Listen to me. Do not let those yokels take that prisoner. Do you hear me? Under no circumstances are they to take her away.”
“Sir, I’m not sure I can stop that.”
“Put the detective you spoke with on the line.”
“Sir—”
“Put him on the fucking phone.”
Jared sighed and looked over at the detective. He was already barking orders but turned and cocked his head as Jared thrust his phone at the man. “My Captain,” he said.
The detective took the phone and listened. “Yes, this is…. No, sir, that won’t… I don’t think… Sir, I just…” The detective closed his eyes. “Yes, sir.” He thrust the phone back at Jared. “Your Captain is a pain in my ass,” he growled.
Jared smiled at him and took the phone back. “Sir,” Jared said.
“Listen up. That girl is dangerous, but the Dryad that escaped? He’s much, much worse.”
“There wasn’t much in their files,” Jared said. “Everything was blacked out.”
“For good reason. We planned on dumping them in Max and letting them both disappear for a long, long time, but that didn’t work out.”
Jared gazed over at Cassie. She was on her knees, smiling at everyone. “What did the girl do?” he asked.
“Nothing bad, to be honest with you,” Captain Wyatt said. “But she’s still dangerous. It’s complicated, but you have to trust me on this. You’re not to let her out of your sight for any reason.”
“What’s the plan then, sir?”
“I’m working on that. For now, keep her close. Keep those cuffs on. And keep me updated. Go find a motel or some shit and don’t let her so much as take a breath without you knowing it.”
“I can do that,” Jared said. “But wouldn’t she be more secure at the local station?”
“Absolutely fucking not.“ He sounded like he was going to reach through the phone and rip his head off. “Keep her yourself. Trust me, this is a shit storm of unprecedented magnitude.”
“I’ll do my best, sir.”
He let out a breath. “But I’m glad you got through it in one piece. You did well.”
“Thank you.” That surprised him. Praise from old Wyatt didn’t come easy. “What should I do with these locals?”
“Let them handle the scene. I’m passing down the description of your fugitive and they can start the hunt. You’re in charge of the Shifter, so don’t fuck that up.”
“I won’t, sir.” He hesitated for a long moment. “Wyatt, the driver’s dead.”
His Captain let out a sigh. “Yeah. You said that already.”
“What about his family?”
“I’ll deal with them. Shit, I got into the MetaDept to escape having to do this sort of thing.”
Jared frowned at the twisted hunk of metal that was once their transport. He knew Captain Wyatt had been military at one point, but didn’t know much beyond that. “I can do it, if that helps,” he offered. “I was there. I feel responsible.”
Wyatt’s voice was soft. “No, Jared. You did enough today. Just surviving that was well done. Get the girl, go get some rest, and check in later.”
“Yes, sir.”
He hung up the phone and slipped it back into his pocket. Detective Clyde was lingering nearby and nodded at him. “What are your orders?” he asked.
“Captain wants me to take the girl,” Jared said. “I’m not to let her out of my sight.”
Detective Clyde snorted and glanced at her. “Lucky you, then.”
Jared followed his gaze. She was watching them with a jovial smile on her lips. Jared felt the Need hit him again, the hunger for her body, and he had to tear his gaze away.
“I’m not so sure about that,” he grumbled. “Look, we need a safe place to bunk for the night. Got any suggestions?”
“Old motel about an hour up just off the next exit,” he said. “Might be good enough, if you don’t mind a dump.”
“I don’t mind anything,” Jared said. “I’m pretty sure my life’s about to get complicated for a while.”
Detective Clyde laughed at that. “I hear that. Listen, I’ll have a cruiser take you up. You keep a close eye on that one.”
Jared risked a glance back at Cassie. She was still smiling, her head tilted to the side ever so slightly.
“I will,” he said. Clyde nodded then walked off, barking more orders as the uniformed locals covered the scene like ants.
He walked over to Cassie and sat down next to her. They stayed there in silence for a long moment. He knew this looked weird, but he was physically and mentally drained. Touching the priori took a lot of effort out of him, and he was way out of practice. The last time he’d used magic was
months ago, and before that he hadn’t kept up his training since he left the family.
It’d been a long, long time since he relied on his skills, and they were rusty.
“So what’s the plan?” she asked.
“The plan is, I keep an eye on you until we can figure out what the hell to do.”
“Sounds like fun.” She beamed at him. “I’m all yours.”
He sighed and closed his eyes.
6
The cruiser took them about an hour up the turnpike and pulled off into a small suburban Pittsburgh town. It was hilly and dotted with trees, like everything else in Pennsylvania. The driver didn’t make much small talk, just kept his eyes on the road and seemed to know where he was going. Another ten minutes passed before they pulled into the parking lot of a motel called the Knight’s Inn.
The driver parked the cruiser and looked at Jared. “Here’s the place,” he said.
“Looks nice.”
“It’s not so bad. Clean, at least.”
“Thanks for the lift.”
“No sweat.”
Jared grabbed his bag from the floor. He’d salvaged what gear he could from the transport, including his own personal belongings. He got out, then opened the back door. Cassie let him help her, keeping her head low. Once they were clear, the cruiser pulled around and drove off.
“Just the two of us,” she said. “Perfect.”
“I’m not so sure I feel that way,” Jared grunted.
“Oh, come on. This beats sitting on that truck for another eight hours.”
“It was only another four. And at the end, I would’ve stayed…” He hesitated. “Well, at a place just like this. But without you.”
She laughed. “Then you’re in luck. Because I’m delightful.”
“I’m not sure about that,” he mumbled.
He knew he needed to keep his distance. She was his prisoner, and with those cuffs on, she was just another human girl. His Need was coursing through him, and the idea of taking her and ravishing her kept flitting through his mind. At this point, he was tempted to use some minor magic, just to get some temporary relief.
