by Cheree Alsop
“Uh, Virgo? I think we should call for backup,” I said.
He glanced at me. “What do you mean? We should see—”
His voice cut off when the creature appeared in the kitchen doorway. Her hair was stringy and long. When she turned her gaze on us, the sight of her black eyes without irises made my blood run cold. She lifted one hand and opened her abnormally long fingers. A single drop of blood dripped from one of the deadly sharp claws at the end. It fell to the floor with a tiny splat that gave off a slight, canine scent.
“Zev, what is that?” Virgo asked in a whisper.
“I have no idea,” I replied without taking my eyes off of the creature. “But she’s dangerous.”
He snorted. “Was it the claws that gave her away, or the blood?”
I ignored his comment and placed myself between the warlock and whatever it was. She stalked into the room, her gaze predatory and alert. My instincts screamed that she didn’t belong, that she was an abomination, and that she would kill us.
“Virgo, run,” I said quietly.
He glanced at me. “What?”
“Run!” I repeated.
I picked up a lamp and threw it at her to shield our escape, but she moved even faster than I could. The door slammed shut. Virgo and I turned to find her blocking our exit. She was taller than me and hunched forward. When she grinned at our failed escape, her jagged teeth revealed the flesh caught within them. I tried not to think about whose skin it was.
“I think we’re in trouble,” the warlock whispered.
“Do some magic,” I replied. “Ward her or something.”
“I can’t just ward her!” he shot back without looking at me. “That’s impossible!” He paused, then said, “But I can do this.”
He whispered something and the runes on his hands began to glow bright blue. The creature’s grin twisted into a snarl.
“You’re mine,” she hissed.
Virgo grabbed onto her arm with his glowing hand. She jerked back, but he didn’t let go. He said something else in a language I didn’t recognize, and his runes glowed brighter. Smoke began to rise from where he grasped her skin. The creature’s eyes widened. She lifted her other hand and slashed downward. Virgo’s eyes were locked on her in concentration. He didn’t see the claws coming.
“Virgo, look out!” I shouted.
I barreled into the creature with my shoulder. It knocked her free from Virgo and pushed her back, but not before her claws tore through his skin.
Virgo shouted with pain and gripped his forearm. Blood oozed out from between his fingers. The sight filled me with anger.
“Enough,” I growled.
I pulled off my shirt and phased before the creature could attack him again. When I was on all fours, she towered above me, but the wolf in me only knew two things; she was an abomination and she would kill Virgo if given the chance. I refused to let that happen.
My snarl rumbled through the room. I bit at her in an attempt to make her back away from Virgo. The warlock stumbled to the side. I placed myself between them.
“Mine,” she hissed again.
The growl that tore from my throat must have said otherwise because she backed toward the door. I advanced, giving her no room to get past me. She stretched out a hand to stop me.
When I snapped at it, she slashed at my face. I yelped at the fiery trail of claw marks across my snout. Enraged, I lunged at her and latched onto one of her arms. She lifted me completely up from the floor with inhuman strength and slashed at my exposed abdomen. I dropped before her claws could open my stomach.
My body fell into the rhythm I had trained in my entire life. Defensive posturing, my muscles tight, and the ruff of my neck standing high to protect my vulnerable jugular and spinal cord, I stalked toward the creature. When she lunged, I fell back. When she gave ground, I pressed my advantage, forcing her away from Virgo and the family in the street.
I had never fought such a creature. At the Lair, we had been swarmed by countless demon hordes, phantoms, relics of ancient worlds, and dark denizens from the under planes, but I couldn’t place the creature I fought in any of those categories.
For one thing, when I bit her, she didn’t bleed. Her flesh tore and tattered, hanging like battered sheets in a wind storm, yet no blood colored the skeleton beneath. I didn’t know how to kill something that didn’t bleed. For another thing, she made sounds that would cause the greatest beast to cringe. When she shrieked in annoyance at another slash of my fangs, it was all I could do to keep from cowering. And finally, the clove and apple scent of hunger mixed along with her sour odor. She wasn’t just here to terrorize; she was here to feed.
I had faced creatures that were more petrifying; yet the memory of my dream hung in my mind. She was who had been chasing me. She had caused my heart to race with terror. I couldn’t help thinking that I was missing something. She was horrible, no doubt about it, but she wasn’t any worse than the fanged huge bat creatures who had picked up my brethren and sisters and flew high enough that the fall left them broken on the massive bricks around the Lair. So what was it I was missing? Why did my instincts scream to stay away?
I leaped at her again, intent on tearing her jugular to see if there was indeed blood within her body. But with the lightning-fast reflexes, the creature grabbed me by the throat and lifted me into the air.
“You’re mine,” she said with triumph in her raspy voice.
I struggled until she unexpectedly pulled me close and put her forehead against my own. Her eyes changed. Instead of the shiny, pupil-less black void, swirls of white appeared. They whirled in mind-numbing patterns. I felt myself sinking inside of them, becoming a part of them, embracing the nothingness through which they swirled.
The creature’s mouth opened wide. I could see it out of the corner of my eye, but I couldn’t tear my gaze away. A slimy tongue ran across her jagged teeth. She pulled me back just far enough that she could lower her mouth to my throat. I tried to care, I wanted to fight, but I couldn’t break free of the lethargy her hypnotic gaze had caused. I was about to have my throat slashed and I was unable to do anything about it.
“Let him go!”
A picture frame flew across the room and hit the creature square in the face. Startled, she stumbled back several steps and tripped on the couch. She let me go to catch herself before she hit the ground. The moment my paws touched the carpet, the hold she had on me released. I staggered and drew in a life-saving breath.
“Don’t eat my friends,” Virgo growled.
The creature’s eyes narrowed. She looked from me to the warlock. I snarled to keep her attention from him. As if hoping to repeat our first encounter, she swiped at my face. This time, when I snapped at her, one of my fangs caught a claw. I bit down hard. The tip of the claw snapped off and fell to the floor.
The creature pulled her hand back and stared at the claw in dismay. I wanted to laugh at the similarity to a teen who had just broken her nail. The similarity ended when the creature gave an ear-splitting shriek.
She looked from me to the closest window. Before I could stop her, she dove through the glass.
“Don’t let her hurt anyone else,” Virgo said.
A glance back showed his determined expression. His face was pale from the blood that spilled between his fingers and down his arm, but the steel in his gaze showed the true warrior within the warlock.
“I’ll be fine,” he assured me. “You need to stop her.”
The warlock could take care of himself. The humans couldn’t. I leaped through the broken window and took off after the creature. To my relief, she ran past the startled family and turned down between two houses whose lights were off at the late hour. Shouts of surprise sounded when I darted between the family. I reached the next street and lifted my nose to the sky.
My howl was cut short when the creature tore the door off a warehouse and threw it at me. She shrieked and then ran inside. I had no choice but to follow. If anyone was in there, given the thi
ck clove and apple scent of her hunger, she would make short work of them. I gritted my teeth and ran between towering stacks of crates.
“What the—” A scream followed a man’s surprised shout.
I twisted through the next row of crates and placed myself between the night guard and his bloodless assailant. The guard held a night stick, but his hand shook so hard I was amazed he didn’t drop it. The burnt wood smell of his fear colored the air. I lifted my lips in a snarl and faced the creature.
Her black eyes narrowed. “Mine.”
I growled an unmistakable denial.
The man behind me backed up until I heard him hit the crates. The realization that we were both trapped sent heat through my stomach. I growled again. She wouldn’t touch him if I had any say.
The creature took a step forward. Her skin hung in shreds where I had bitten her. By the slight limp of her left leg, the bite to her thigh affected her. I moved to the right, intent on exploiting any advantage I could find.
Claws snaked out. I darted beneath them and slashed the creature’s hamstring the way I would if attacking an elk or a moose with the pack. She let out a howl and the slice of her claws sent fiery tendrils along my back. I spun and lunged at her other leg. She jerked away and my teeth closed with a snap millimeters from her flesh. Before I could get away, she closed her hand into a fist and slammed down on my back.
I hit the floor with a resounding thud. The air fled my lungs. I struggled to regain my feet. Another blow threw me into the closest crates. I fell to the ground amid an assortment of plumbing pipes. The creature’s footsteps sounded low beneath the ringing in my ears. I lifted my head to see her black claws reaching for my throat.
The guard’s black club struck the creature in the middle of her head hard enough to make her stagger. She glared at him. It was the delay I needed.
I gathered my legs beneath me and sprang for her throat. My jaws closed around her jugular. I felt her stumble, but I didn’t let go. Claws raked my sides. I bit deeper. She fell to her knees and my paws touched the ground.
I heard the footsteps of the guard as he made his way around us. The instant he was clear, he took off running. Relief that he had made it flooded through me. I closed my mouth completely and felt the creature shudder. She collapsed forward, pulling me to my stomach. I held on until her body grew still. The hissing sound of her breathing stopped. I listened carefully, but couldn’t hear the beating of her heart.
I let go and backed away. Her sour scent turned out to herald an even more sour taste that refused to leave my mouth. I ran my tongue over my teeth in an attempt to clear it, but it clung like tar.
My heartbeat roared in my ears. I sat on my haunches and willed my breathing again to slow. That had been close, too close. If it wasn’t for the guard’s quick thinking, I would have been dead with him close behind. Would the creature have moved on or been satiated? I was glad I wasn’t going to find out.
I let my head hang and concentrated on calming my heartbeat. I needed to phase so I could explain if the guard called the police. The lines of pain from her claws made me long for the moonlight, but I pushed it aside. I would be out there as soon as I figured out what to do with the body.
The sound of a claw across cement made me open my eyes. My breath caught at the sight of the creature rising to her feet. She didn’t stagger or show any sign of pain from my assault. The marks from my fangs had healed somehow. She stood upright with a deadly grace.
Fear lanced through me.
A twisted grin showed her jagged teeth as if she guessed my line of thought. She opened her claws. I saw my death in her eyes. It wouldn’t be fast; she thrived on agony. She had been just toying with me, drawing out the inevitable. And the inevitable left my blood spilled across the cold cement floor.
I leaped through her claws, ignoring the deep lacerations as she scrambled to hang on through my fur. As soon as my paws touched the ground, I took off at a panicked run.
With the footsteps of the creature close behind me, I turned to the left, then right. I couldn’t remember where the door was. The scent of the guard’s fear clouded the trail. I took another turn, desperate to find a way to escape.
The sound of the creature closing in drove me faster. My paws slipped and I slid around a corner to crash into the next set of crates. A bloody swath colored the floor when I rose and took off again.
I lost track of how long I ran. The realization that she was getting faster spurred me on. I swore I had covered the entire warehouse, but I couldn’t find any door. Fatigue burned through my wounded muscles. I didn’t know how much longer I could keep up the intense speed. She didn’t appear to tire at all, and any time I lagged, the slice of her claws were quick to answer.
She was the cat and I was the mouse. I thought I had sympathy for mice before; that feeling was doubled now.
“This way!”
My head jerked up at the voice. I caught a glimpse of a pale figure that glowed faintly with light. It was the ghost from the college, the girl I had seen in my nightmare. She motioned at the end at the next alley. “Come on! Hurry”
I could have sworn it was the wrong way, but I didn’t have time to second-guess. I loped toward her.
She looked behind me and her eyes widened. “Faster! They’ll help you!”
I had no idea who she meant, but the thought of any help was a welcome one. I rounded the corner and spotted the door at the end. Lowering my head, I ran for it with every bit of my strength.
But I couldn’t let her leave the warehouse. The thought struck me as I dove through the door into the welcoming moonlight. I spun and faced the opening. My sides heaved as I struggled to pull in a breath. I wouldn’t allow her to hurt anyone else if it was the last thing I did. The voice in the back of my mind whispered that it just might be.
Movement caught the corner of my eye. I glanced to the right to see a familiar wolf trot into the light that spilled from the warehouse. Mitch. A younger wolf with the long, gangly legs of youth joined him. A look left showed two other wolves, one burly with dark gray fur, and the other slender and pale. My pack had arrived.
At their questioning looks, I turned to face the doorway and growled a low threat. They joined me without question, their lips lifted in silent snarls. The instant the creature left the warehouse, five sets of fangs latched onto her.
The four werewolves helped me do what I had been unable to alone. Torn apart, the air choked from her, and with her claws destroyed, she finally closed her void-like eyes for good.
I backed off without taking my eyes from her. The other werewolves did the same. Their heaving breaths matched my own. Triumph showed in their gazes. I was about to acknowledge the creature’s defeat when the sound of a breath filling huge lungs met my ears. I stared in disbelief as the creature’s claws regrew. Her limbs healed and her dark eyes opened. Fear made me back away. My pack mirrored my actions.
I stopped at the edge of the light and lowered my head. I snarled. The other werewolves growled deep threats. We may have never fought such an opponent, but we had been raised to never give up. We had promised to protect humans from the evil paranormal entities around us, no matter what the cost.
I glanced at Mitch. His ears were pulled back and determination filled his blue eyes. I squared my shoulders and faced the creature head-on, ready to pay whatever price it took to take her down.
A truck screeched across the pavement and slid to a stop several feet from us. Virgo practically fell out of the passenger’s seat with a rag poorly wrapped around his arm. James rushed from the driver’s side. Virgo held up a knife. A floral scent touched my nose.
“Lavender and silver,” James called out. “Jakhins can’t survive lavender and silver!”
The realization of what Virgo was about to do hit me. I leaped at the creature and latched onto her shoulder. The wolves around me did the same. With her screech of protest ringing in our ears, we pulled her to the ground. Her claws tore huge gouges in the cement as she struggled
to break free. She jerked upward and my fangs slid through her flesh.
Human footsteps ran to us. Virgo reached over my head. Before the creature could break free, he drove his blade deep into her chest to meet her heart. The smell of lavender filled my nose. The creature collapsed beneath me.
“It’s alright, Zev. You can let go.”
I didn’t believe it at first. My ears strained for any sound of the creature rising again. The wolves around me backed away slowly. I finally released my hold and did the same. I didn’t take my eyes off her, even when the sound of her breath left her lungs and didn’t return. I would watch her all night if I had to.
A hand touched my shoulder. I snapped at it and barely caught myself before latching onto Virgo’s hand.
He raised both of his hands and took a step back.
“Sorry,” he said. “I should be more careful.” He waved a hand toward the creature. “The heat of battle and all that.”
I gave a snort I hoped would be taken as an apology, but he was right. In all of my training, in the muscle memory pounded into my limbs through endless hours of combat, and in fight after fight in the ring, never had a friend set a hand on my shoulder.
In that train of thought, I had never had a friend have my back besides Mitch once at the Lair, not to mention an entire pack of werewolves, a warlock, and a human. It was a strange feeling and one that would take some getting used to.
“He’s all cut up,” James said.
Virgo’s gaze turned back to me. “Moonlight,” he told me. “And rest.” A grin creased his lips. “Your usual prescription.”
“What about the jakhin?” James asked.
“My mom….” Virgo’s words died away.
I lowered my gaze in understanding. His mother would have been the one to call. She had handled most things out of place in Brickwell. But she had been killed less than a week ago by Virgo’s deranged father and his dark coven. Virgo and his sister Jemmy were the head coven in Brickwell now, and Jemmy wasn’t there to call on.
Virgo let out a breath. “I’ll call the coven in Township. They can take care of it.”
