The magazine spent, I tossed the weapon aside and spun toward Natalia.
Time was running out for the woman. I refused to waste more precious seconds with Cutter.
I scooped up her unconscious form in my powerful arms and jumped toward the nearest rooftop.
Air whipped my fur as I shot upward, and I landed on the roof with primal grace.
I stole a glance down, catching a last glimpse of Cutter as he leveled his rifle at me from three stories below. His expression remained unreadable in the darkness below despite my enhanced senses.
Did he think I was abducting his trusted lieutenant, or merely grabbing a body for a snack later? The League of Light thought werepanthers were all monsters.
But not me.
And then I was moving across the maze-like landscape of chimneys and roof access doors.
I prayed I would reach the hospital in time.
12
As I leaped from one rooftop to the next, I could feel Natalia’s life running out. Her heartbeat was growing weaker with each passing second.
I would never make it. Despite my incredible speed and ability to use the rooftops as a shortcut, I would arrive too late.
Only a miracle could save the monster hunter.
The thought made me slow down. Who better to ask for a miracle than a bonafide miracle worker? Kolvak was a warlock. Even in his weakened, disembodied state, he still had a few tricks up his sleeve—or at least that’s what he kept telling me. Could he save Natalia?
“Listen, you have any idea how much it drains me to practice magic in my current form?”
I considered this for a split second, remembering how quiet Kolvak had grown during my alley fight. I guessed transmuting the silver chains had depleted him.
“What is this woman to you, anyway? I thought you had the hots for the teacher chick?”
This isn’t about Ashley, I thought.
Natalia had spared me when she could have easily killed me. And she was the only member of the League who knew that I could control my beast. If I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life on the run from a bunch of trigger happy monster hunters, I would need to convince them that I was on their side. Or at least not a threat.
Besides, I wanted to know more about the role the League had played in my father’s death. Who was the supernatural creature that dad had fallen in love with? And what was the name of the hunter who’d murdered him?
The woman currently dying in my arms was the key. I couldn’t let her go.
“So this is all about revenge?”
“You’re the one who opened this can of worms, Kolvak. Now, are you going to help?”
I gently lowered the bleeding monster hunter to the rooftop. Her lovely features had taken on a ghastly pallor. Despite my new abilities and strength, I felt utterly helpless at this moment. I was all too aware of the crushing power of mortality and sensed death’s icy breath running down my thick fur. The grim reaper was closing in, and there was not a damn thing I could do.
Kolvak had asked me what Natalia meant to me. Excellent question. Yes, I wanted answers, and she had spared me not once but twice now. But this was more than just quid pro quo. As corny as it sounded, I sensed the world was a better place with her in it.
“Why don’t you just say you have the hots for her, kid? You’re sure getting around nowadays. From virgin to heartbreaker in no time.”
“I’m not a virgin,” I said, a growl building in my throat.
“Whatever, kid. Compared to me, you are. Now shut up and do as I tell you, okay?”
I felt tempted to mouth off to Kolvak but swallowed the insults on my tongue when my paws lit up with a blue light.
What the hell?
“I’m about to save this wench. Now lay your damn paws on Natalia before the magic dissipates.”
My beast bristled, not used to being ordered around. Still, I did as I was told, all too aware of the stakes.
As I kneeled before the dying woman, reality morphed to a slow crawl, and I noticed a myriad of weird little details. Smoke curled from a nearby chimney, and laundry on a clothesline flapped in the nighttime wind. Somebody was watching Wheel of Fortune in an apartment on this block, and the Thai restaurant on the corner was cooking up something delicious.
I blocked out these distractions to the best of my abilities and focused on Natalia. My glowing paws ran over her body, locked on the bleeding wound, and then blue light spilled from my claws into the monster hunter’s crimson-caked flesh.
No mystical, choir-like soundtrack underscored the display of azure energy, nor was there a loud thunderclap or dramatic flash of lightning. The magical light simply jumped from my paws to Natalia’s body, and within seconds, the deep gashes the werepanther had torn into her thigh began to knit up.
The light became blinding, and I averted my gaze. My panther eyes were more sensitive, and the brightness seared my altered retinas. Even with my eyes shut, the light burned.
And then it was all over.
No sign of Natalia’s wounds remained. My ears made out a weak but steady heartbeat. Kolvak had come through for me with flying colors.
I hovered over the unconscious monster hunter, unsure what my next move should be. If this was a movie, Natalia’s eyes would have snapped open at this point, and she would have looked up at me with a grateful smile.
"Someone is sure desperate to be a knight in shining armor," Kolvak grumbled.
I bit back a sharp comeback and said, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, kid.”
Kolvak sounded weaker, his voice like a badly tuned radio. Saving Natalia had exhausted the warlock, and I figured it might be best to keep conversation to a bare minimum for the time being.
A gust of air buffeted my fur coat. I needed to get Natalia to shelter. She let out a low moan as I scooped her up and marched toward the ledge.
My eyes scanned my surroundings.
Downtown Los Angeles had gotten a makeover during the last few years. Artists and entrepreneurs had taken over, flocking to the cheap rents and promise of an urban boho lifestyle. In a town where property value was at an all-time high, it wasn’t long before both Wall Street and foreign investors had snapped up a good share of the properties for sale. In another couple of years, they’d drive the artists out again, and the whole process would start over somewhere else.
As I searched the nearby buildings, I spotted a loft apartment about three rooftops removed from me. A quick scan made a few things clear to me. The owner or owners of the unit had an impeccable taste for interior design, and no one appeared to be home. Perhaps the tenants were working late, or maybe this was an investment property that stood abandoned most of the time, a future Airbnb unit waiting to happen.
Determination welling up in my chest, I bounded toward the empty loft apartment.
The place was about to receive an unexpected visitor.
13
Santara loped down the city street, paws skidding over the uneven sidewalk. A few cars blurred past her, but she remained invisible to the drivers. Her black form had become one with the shadows. If passersby saw anything, it would be the green eyes aglow with thoughts of vengeance and destruction.
The were-queen hated run away from her enemies, but the traitor had left her little choice. Attacking the League of Light had always been a risky move, but the Codex had forced her hand. The ritual contained within the ancient book’s pages could give her kind the edge they needed to win this war and destroy the League of Light once and for all. Gaining possession of the Codex was all that mattered, regardless of how high the cost might be.
Even though Santara had expected the pride to sustain heavy losses—the League was a formidable adversary, after all—she’d hoped the element of surprise would help them. Unfortunately, the attack had failed. They still didn’t have the book, and most of her soldiers had fallen to the monster hunters' silver bullets.
What frustrated her the most was how close they’d gotten to achieving
their goal. She would hold the Codex in her hands if Erik Cross hadn’t shown up and turned the tide of the battle in their enemy’s favor.
Thinking about the archeology professor made Santara’s spine stiffen, and she fought back, the roar creeping up her throat.
Santara had suspected that Erik might return to the library, and she’d ordered two of her soldiers to stake out the building in their human form. When both Erik and the League showed up, Santara knew she’d made the right move. Her surveillance team had stealthily followed the League, and the clueless hunters had led them straight to their safe house.
The downtown warehouse was only one of the many properties under League ownership. The resources of the ancient order of monster hunters, which had been a thorn in her side for centuries, rivaled those of the Vatican. And now they’d added the Codex to their list of priceless treasures.
Not for long, though. She would acquire the book, one way or another. She wouldn’t allow herself to fail. The stakes were too high.
Santara’s mind turned toward the enigmatic archaeology professor who’d resisted the call of Bastet. How could he fight his panther nature now that the blood of the goddess coursed through his veins? He should have knelt before her feet and sworn his undying loyalty to her. The wounded female hunter should have fired up Erik's hunger and killer instincts, yet he had clung to his pathetic humanity somehow. Instead of tearing Natalia apart and taking the Codex, Erik had stood by the hunter’s side while her blood painted the ally red.
The thought made Santara’s flanks throb with rage, and she wanted to rend human flesh. Had some random pedestrian been unlucky enough to run into her tonight, she would have finished him on the spot.
Santara only had herself to blame. Her bite had made this traitor. How she wished she would have struck him down with her claws instead. Or at least ripped off that irksome little trinket he wore around his neck. The medallion was the source of his surprising resistance to Bastet’s call. Without it, he’d belong to her.
As the were-queen edged into another dark alley, she started to relax, and her racing heartbeat slowed down. No one had followed her. She was safe, for now.
Not all was lost. The League was after the traitor too. Santara didn’t understand why Erik had risked his life to protect the same enemy who, moments earlier, had been torturing him. The man was confused on many fronts.
Confused—and confusing. The apple hadn't fallen too far from the tree with Erik Cross. She remembered his father all too well — another hunter who’d lost his way and betrayed everyone who cared about him.
Over the last twenty-four hours, she’d learned as much as she could about the archeology professor. First, she’d found out where he worked and where he lived. Then she’d even spent the whole day at UCLA looking for Erik, only to learn he’d never showed up to work.
A female co-worker had proven to be quite helpful when she navigated the university halls in her human form while searching for the man she’d bitten the night before. Interestingly enough, back in the ally, Santara had picked up the same woman’s scent all over Erik’s body.
Was this Ashley Norton merely a friend or a lover? Either way, she was close enough to Erik to have marked him with her scent.
Santara had found her bargaining chip. If Erik refused to swear his loyalty to her, she would resort to other means to bend the professor to her will. Either the traitor would bring her the Codex, or she would bathe in Ashley Norton’s blood tonight.
14
Ashley struggled to stay focused at work after her rude awakening that morning. She was supposed to give two lectures today, but by the time she entered the first classroom around ten-thirty, she’d blanked on most of the lesson plan. Today's lecture centered on drugs and their various effects on human psychology, but as Ashley stumbled through her class, a few of the students probably thought their teacher might be on drugs herself.
Her mind kept wandering back to Erik’s bizarre visit earlier that morning. It had been the only thing she could think about since he stepped out of her door in her ex-boyfriend’s clothes. She wondered if he was okay. What had happened to the adorably shy archaeology professor? She had known Erik long enough to know that he was in trouble.
She’d heard rumors that Erik didn’t date, that a terrible car accident had scarred his body. But he was smart and funny and had a cute smile, and over the last few months, she’d increasingly looked forward to spending time with him. She was ninety percent sure Erik felt the same way despite his reputation for being a loner. Recently, she’d concluded that she wanted to take things further, to explore where these feelings might lead.
To her disappointment, Erik hadn’t worked up the nerve to ask her out, and this meant she would have to make the first move. She’d invited him to happy hour, curious to see if a few drinks might loosen Erik up. Despite the mild-mannered facade he presented to most of the world, Ashley had sensed a toughness and resilience in the man, a strength he had buried deep inside of himself in the wake of his accident. Strangely enough, Ashley felt she could bring out this strength in the professor if he only gave her a chance.
The happy hour hadn’t worked out, and Erik hadn’t even called her to say he couldn’t make it. She had been almost ready to give up.
And then he’d showed up at her doorstep this morning with some crazy story.
Ashley had sensed Erik was holding back something from her, but she could also tell he’d gone through some terrible ordeal. And then she'd noticed his body.
The skinny psychology professor she’d grown to like was gone, replaced by a man who looked like an Olympic athlete. Broad shoulders that strained the filthy trench coat he’d been wearing, muscular thighs that looked like they could run for days. She’d had to stop herself from staring, but it was impossible not to notice the difference.
Ashley knew it was physically impossible to put on that much muscle overnight.
So what was going on?
In her mind’s eye, she kept returning to the way his new physique had filled out her beefy ex’s clothes. Then she thought of him inside her bedroom, in her shower. Naked, with hot water running down that hard chest and…
Jesus, girl, get out your mind out of the gutter.
What was wrong with her? She was acting like a hormonal teenager. Before this morning, she’d been interested in Erik as a potential date. Now she wanted him so badly she couldn’t think straight. She remembered catching a whiff of a musky, almost animalistic smell coming off him. She had told herself that the unusual scent must have come from the trench coat he’d bummed from the homeless man. But the scent had been different, strong but weirdly pleasant.
Seductive.
No wonder this was turning into the longest day of her teaching career. How could anyone give a lecture with such thoughts flashing through one’s head?
As the hours crawled along, she’d kept checking her cell for a message from Erik. She was worried sick about him. Call it female intuition, but she sensed the archaeology professor was in trouble and needed her now more than ever.
After fumbling through the last lecture of the day, she fought her way through traffic and reached her apartment around ten o’clock. A crushing sense of loneliness fell over her. A whole day had passed without hearing from Erik, and a little voice told her would have trouble falling asleep tonight.
Her mind lost in thought, Ashley tapped her garage opener, and the steel gate rumbled open. As she pulled into the parking structure, she never noticed the three large panthers stealthily following her into the building.
15
I landed nimbly on the balcony of the downtown loft apartment, and my fist shot out at the sliding glass door.
The window shattered, and I stepped into the spacious, beautifully decorated apartment, the carpet of broken glass crunching under my thick footpads.
If I hadn’t been in my panther form, I would have let out a low whistle. This place was sweet.
I walked into the living room and ge
ntly lowered Natalia onto a couch that must have cost as much as my Honda. The leather shone in the moonlight, the black material forming a sharp contrast to Natalia’s still pale skin. Kolvak’s magic had saved her life, but she still had lost a lot of blood. I hoped she would wake up soon so I could make her drink some water and maybe get some food in her stomach.
On that note, my stomach emitted a low rumble. I must have burned up a fair share of calories during all the fighting.
Crossfit was no match for being hunted like an animal.
I was about to head for the kitchen to see if there was anything to eat, but first, there was one other matter which required my attention. Natalia had stuffed the Codex into the leather pouch strapped around her shoulder. I hoped we were on the same side, but I didn’t trust Natalia not to take off with the book.
I pulled it out of the bag and looked at the ancient leather binding with something close to hatred. It had all started with this damn book.
The Codex had gotten me into this mess. But perhaps it could get me out. At least I had a bargaining chip.
After a moment’s hesitation, I took her cell phone too and then headed for the kitchen.
As I passed through the living room, I caught my reflection in the big screen TV. I was a sight to behold. Muscles rippled along my black-furred body as my tail slapped the air. Let me tell you, having a tail was quite possibly the weirdest part of this whole experience. It kept moving like it had a mind of its own, and I resisted the urge to swat at it. The last thing I needed was for Natalia to wake up and find me chasing my own tail like Domino when she was hopped up on catnip.
I was both man and beast, a savage panther that walked upright on two legs. And at that moment, the realization truly sank in that Erik Cross, mild-mannered professor, was gone for good. He’d died the moment that she-beast had bit me.
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