Panther Curse

by William Massa

  Trying not to dwell too much on what I’d become, I stepped into the kitchen. My eyes locked on a stainless steel refrigerator that was bigger than some studio apartments. I opened the door, and my fur stood on end as an arctic blast of air enveloped me.

  The good news was that the fridge had been stocked recently. I growled my disappointment when I realized that the fridge only contained vegetables and fruits. My luck that I would pick the apartment of a vegetarian to crash. A quick look in the freezer revealed five flavors of frozen yogurt but no steaks. Jesus.

  I grabbed a jug of water, closed the refrigerator door, and stepped out of the kitchen. Natalia was still unconscious on the couch.

  I studied my surroundings and noticed a small table covered with framed photographs. All the pictures showed a man and woman in their early thirties. The images featured them in different settings—one was snapped at a beach somewhere, another on some forest hike, a few at various hotspots in the city. They looked happy together, content, and in love.

  Lucky for them.

  I wondered if I’d ever have something like that. But who was I kidding? What kind of girlfriend would put up with her guy turning into a werepanther and eating raw steak for breakfast?

  My stomach cramped again, thinking of the flank steak I’d scarfed at Ashley’s apartment. Then I remembered that I’d promised to call her before the end of the day. To let her know I was safe. I eyed Natalia’s cell in my furry panther hand. I should call her right now.

  Thinking of the adjunct psychology professor had a calming effect on me. My breath steadied, and the tension in my body eased. The wind blowing in through the broken window ran through my fur, further relaxing me. As I inhaled, I started to morph back into my human form.

  This change brought my feelings of peace to an abrupt end.

  My whole body cramped up, almost as if invisible hands were remolding my anatomy—all my muscles, internal organs, and bones in a brutal collision with each other.

  As I collapsed on the cold, hardwood floor, I dropped the jug of water and the Codex.

  I lay there for a while, staring at the ceiling, cursing inwardly at how much this shifting business hurt and wondering if it this shit would ever get easier. According to Kolvak, it would. But maybe he was just bullshitting.

  The pain must have made me black out, and when my eyes snapped open, more than an hour had passed. It was around eleven o’clock, and the traffic sounds emanating from outside had faded. The shift had taken more out of me this time. I guessed that since I’d spent a considerable amount of energy during the fight, my body had needed to shut down.

  After laying on the floor for another ten minutes, fully human once more, my breath normalized. I stumbled to my feet and scooped up the Codex from where I’d dropped it earlier. The academic in me was horrified by the rough treatment the book had received. The rest of me was too tired to care.

  A rustling sound to my right made me whirl toward the couch. Natalia was sitting up, wide awake.

  “Looks like we’re both having a shitty day,” she said.

  My lips crinkled in a plastic smile as I covered up my privates with the Codex. I must have made some sight. Natalia possessed the dubious honor of being the first woman to see me naked in ten years.

  But she wasn't paying any mind to my naughty parts. Her gaze flickered between the medallion draped around my neck and the book of forbidden secrets hovering over my groin. “Who are you?” After the beat, she added, “What are you?”

  “Right now I’m kinda embarrassed. Do you mind if I get dressed before we fight again?”

  Natalia nodded, and I darted out of the kitchen into what I hoped was the nearest bedroom. Finally, something went right.

  I opened the closet and, not for the first time in the last twenty-four hours, and I helped myself to the clothes of a stranger. Luckily, the guy who lived here favored loose-fitting athleisure, and I easily slipped into a pair of Adidas sweatpants and a dark hoodie.

  Unfortunately, the guy had the biggest feet on planet Earth.

  After trying on three different pairs of shoes, I opted to go barefoot. At least I was somewhat presentable as I prepared to face Natalia.

  This time, I was in control of the situation. I'd made sure there was no landline in the unit so there was no chance for her to call Cutter for backup, and I still had her cell and Codex on me. I knew she wouldn’t leave without the book. Besides, I’d saved her life multiple times. She seemed like the type of person who took that seriously.

  It took me less than five minutes to get dressed and return to the living room. I found Natalia in front of the shattered window, the glittering lights of the city reflected in her eyes.

  “I wouldn’t stand so close to the window. Some weres might still be out on those rooftops searching for us. And those things see in the dark and pick up a scent a mile away…”

  “Funny that a monster has to give a monster hunter advice. I should know better.”

  Natalia took a few steps back from the balcony door. Her attention shifted to me.

  “You saved me again, didn’t you? Why?”

  “I have some questions, and I think you might have the answers.”

  “That makes two of us.” Natalia stepped closer. “You didn’t succumb to the curse when you shifted. I saw your eyes in that alley. Your mind was still human. How is that possible?”

  She took another step toward me. Was she trying to get close enough to ram the silver dagger into my guts?

  Almost as if Natalia had picked up on my apprehension, she stopped in her tracks. Perhaps we both wanted to keep a safe distance.

  The moonlight played over her beautiful black hair, accenting her sharply drawn features and full lips.

  “How do you tame the beast?”

  How indeed. My answer was to touch the amulet around the neck.

  “The medallion helps me maintain control.”

  “Which means it’s magical.”

  I nodded. “It belonged to my father. Maybe you heard of him? You people killed him.”

  Natalia’s eyes lit up in surprise. “I know nothing about that.”

  I scrutinized her for a beat but decided she wasn’t lying. His murder must have been before her time. She was about my age, and I doubted the League recruited teenagers. Or perhaps they had some monster hunter academy somewhere straight out of the latest Harry Potter knock-off, but they didn’t send kids into the field.

  She sighed and swept her dark hair back from her shoulders. “You realize talking with a werepanther could get me kicked out of the League or worse.”

  “No fraternizing with the enemy, huh?”

  Ignoring my flippant comment, Natalie asked another question. “How did you heal my wounds? I was bleeding out.”

  I pointed at my medallion again.

  “The force is strong with this one,” I said, hoping some humor might cut the tension. I also hoped that it might shut down this uncomfortable line of questioning. It worked, and a smile lit up Natalia’s normally severe features.

  “You’re not going tell me more, are you now?” she said.

  “We’re enemies, aren’t we? Besides, I’m still figuring this crazy shit out myself.”

  She raised a brow. “You appear to be a fast learner.”

  Natalia circled the couch, her eyes never leaving me as she spoke.

  “You’re a monster. And I’m a monster hunter. Yet you used magic to bring me back from certain death. I think I’m starting to lose track of how many times you saved me.”

  “Perhaps I want to show you I’m different from the others. That you don’t have to hunt me down like an animal.”

  Natalia’s face fell. “Try convincing Cutter of that. Or the high priests he answers to. The battle between humanity and the supernaturals is a war between the light and the dark. The League of Light is on one side, and you…you’re on the other. We can’t be allies.”

  “Do you believe that? It sounds like you’re trying to convince yoursel
f, Natalia.”

  “I believe you think you can control this monster. At least for now. But you’re also way in over your head. This conflict has been raging for centuries. You only joined this party yesterday.”

  I mulled this over. I couldn’t argue with the logic of what Natalia was saying. But then again, she didn’t realize that I wasn’t on my own. There was a dead warlock hanging out in my mind who was doing his best to bring me up to speed before I got myself killed.

  Natalia gestured at the Codex.

  “At least the book didn’t fall into Santara’s hands. I have to contact Cutter and let him know I’m okay, that we have the Codex.”

  “I hate to break it to you, but there’s no we. You just said we’re on opposite sides of a holy war, lady.” My sharp words got the monster hunter’s attention. “Call Scarface, and tell your boss I’ve figured out what the Followers of Bastet are after.”

  Natalia grew stock still, her eyes wide. “Are you bluffing?”

  I shook my head, my face serious.

  “You deciphered the text?”

  “Yes. And it’s far worse than any of you can imagine.”

  Natalia recovered from her initial shock and said, “Tell me what we’re dealing with.”

  “I will…if we can strike a deal.”

  Natalia’s eyes narrowed. “You’re playing a dangerous game.”

  “Says the woman who tries to fight off three werepanthers armed only with a knife.”

  “A silver knife.”

  A smile curled my lips for a moment. Natalia had spunk. And a truly fantastic figure, but that wasn’t important right now. “Cutter can have the book if he is willing to pay my price.”

  Natalia’s expression closed off; whatever warmth there was between us gone. “The League doesn’t negotiate with monsters.”

  “Then it’s time they started to. If you guys want the Codex, you play by my rules.”

  The icy strength in my voice surprised me. For the first time in ten years, I felt like that over-confident punk who’d wrapped his Mustang around a tree. The beast was allowing me to reconnect with my old self, a dormant part of my personality that had been tightly held in check after the accident had destroyed my life.

  “What if you’re bluffing? What if you’re making it all up so you can live out your life as a murdering beast?”

  “I haven’t murdered anyone!”

  “It’s only a matter of time, Erik. You can’t fight this curse forever.”

  The confidence in Natalia’s voice unnerved me. She was starting to sound like Kolvak.

  “If the beast takes over my mind, then I’ll end it myself. That’s a promise. I won’t go through life living off the blood of the innocent.”

  “Noble words, but do you know how many infected monster hunters promised me the same thing? And do you have any idea how many of them kept their promise?”

  The question hung in the air, the implication of her grim words all too clear. Nobody could tame the curse forever. Natalia, Kolvak, and even Santara had all told me the same thing—and they knew a hell of a lot more about this than me.

  Natalia was right. I was new to this craziness, a mere rank amateur dabbling in powers I couldn’t comprehend. I had convinced myself that I knew what I was doing, that I was in control, but who was I fooling?

  This shit was way above my paygrade.

  “I’ll make the call,” Natalia said, “but first tell me why the Followers of Bastet are after the Codex.”

  I regarded Natalia for a beat. And then I shared the bad news with her.

  “The book contains a ritual,” I began.

  “What sort of ritual?” Natalia asked with dread in her voice.

  “A ritual that if carried out successfully will make all were-creatures immune to silver for a month.”

  Natalia’s eyes widened as she ran this scenario through her mind. The Followers of Bastet and all other shapeshifting monsters would become invulnerable. They’d slaughter the League of Light. No one would be able to stop Santara and her followers from doing whatever they wanted—and I suspected that it would involve a lot of innocent people getting eaten.

  “The ritual has to be performed during a full moon, and it lasts one full lunar phase,” I explained.

  I waited in silence as Natalia digested this new information. The cat was out of the bag, an appropriate colloquialism considering what the League was up against.

  Natalia looked unsteady on her feet, still weak from the blood loss despite Kolvak’s magic. Reeling, she took a seat on the couch,

  “Give me the book. Let us secure the Codex at our headquarters in Rome where even Santara won’t dare to venture.”

  “Tell Cutter to back the fuck off…and it’s yours.”

  Natalia nodded at her cell, which still rested in my hand. “I’ll make the call. Hand me the phone.”

  “I will. But first I need to let a friend know that I’m okay.”

  My eyes never left Natalia as I dialed Ashley’s number.

  I had promised her I would be in touch, and I didn’t break promises to friends.

  I knew it was kinda late, but hopefully not too late. Ashley taught a night class so she should get home around this time unless she decided to meet up with friends for a late-night round of drinks. Or maybe she was pissed at me and wasn’t going to answer at all. Damn it! What if I’d really scared her this morning?

  And then she answered her cell, and I felt the tension easing from my body. After everything that had happened today, I was desperate to hear her voice.

  It seemed I would have to wait a little longer because the person answering on the other end of the line wasn’t Ashely.

  “I’ve been waiting for your call, Erik.”

  The eerily familiar voice hit me like a hammer blow to the chest. The last time, I had only heard the speaker in my mind, but the strange accent was unmistakable.

  “Hello, Santara,” I said.

  She laughed, a dark and sultry sound. My whole body tightened, and my heart jumped. My knuckles whitened around the cellphone.

  I felt Natalia’s eyes boring into me. She was gesturing impatiently for the phone now, clearly determined to talk to the queen of the panthers directly.

  “Your friend is beautiful,” Santara purred. “No wonder you’re so enamored with her.”

  “Let her go,” I ground out.

  “That’s up to you, Erik Cross. Give me what I want, and nothing will happen to your woman.”

  I stared at the Codex splayed out on a coffee table in front of me.

  "I know Ashley means something to you. I picked up her scent all over you. If you value her life, you will give me what I want."

  I gritted my teeth with rage, and it took all my willpower not to morph into a panther creature as Santara's mocking laughter burst from the phone.

  “If you hurt her…” My voice shook with barely contained rage, and the beast inside of me woke from his slumber.

  “Don’t wait too long. My boys are hungry.”

  The line went dead. I stared at Natalia for a beat. She sensed that something was wrong.

  A moment later, Natalia’s cell received an incoming video message from Ashley’s phone number.

  My chest tightened with alarm as I scanned the video file. It was even worse than I could have imagined.

  The vid opened on Ashley’s tear-streaked features. As the phone cam pulled back, I understood why Ashley was so terrified. Black panthers circled her, their jaws hungrily snapping at the air as they shook their powerful necks. Beasts eager to rip into easy prey and only held in check by Santara’s iron will.

  The camera swung around, and I saw a tall steel fence flanked by a sign that read Jaguar Habitat.

  My heart leaped. I recognized the place, had visited it many times in the past.

  The Followers of Bastet were holding Ashley hostage at the Los Angeles Zoo.

  16

  The cab powered through dark city streets headed for the Los Angeles Zoo & Bo
tanical Gardens. I sat in the back, my thoughts racing, filled with concern for Ashley. My anxious human brain spat out useless trivia, like the fact that the zoo encompassed 133 acres and was home to more than 1100 mammals, amphibians, birds, and reptiles. The beast inside of me paced back and forth, bristling with dark energy.

  Neither man nor beast could do anything to make the cab go faster.

  I had taken Natalia’s cell and tied her up at the downtown apartment before venturing out and hailing a taxi. In this day of Uber and Lyft, the yellow cab seemed like a quaint relic from another age. It was also the only way to get a ride without a credit card. The poor Russian driver had no idea that I didn’t have any cash on me. I’d lost all the money Ashley had given me when I last transformed. I felt like an ass for planning to skip on the far, but not being able to pay was the least of my concerns.

  Beneath my calm exterior, my emotions churned.

  Why had Santara chosen the zoo for the exchange? Was it a sick joke? I supposed the werepanthers would draw less attention in the zoo habitat than anywhere else in the city. In their full animal form, they were just jungle cats to an outside observer—and wild cats lived in zoos, not dark alleys. The park’s dense tree coverage would also allow the shifters to keep a close eye on who was coming and going in case the League should learn about our trade.

  Werepanther security guards with a telepathic link to their leader. Honestly, every time I thought my life couldn’t get any weirder…

  I had considered bringing Natalia along, but she would never give up the Codex, especially now that she knew what the werepanthers planned to use it for. I would do this on my own.

  As Griffith Park jumped into view, I wondered how many panthers were waiting for me in the zoo. And this led to another question. Besides panthers, how many other shifter races were out there?

  “Too many to keep track of,” Kolvak said. “If they pull off this ritual, werepanthers aren’t the only ones who will become invulnerable to silver. Wolves, jackals, hyenas—the whole nasty bunch will get the same boost.”

  I considered Kolvak’s word as I studied the ancient tome on my lap. With the help of this magical book, all the monsters hiding in the shadows of the modern world would become unstoppable.