by Jaime Rush
Tucker’s car was in the drive. He’d come back! She searched the shadows inside the car but saw no sign of him.
“Darius drove.”
She spun to find Greer standing right behind her, looking ready to restrain her, if necessary.
“You’re a troublemaker.” He narrowed his eyes. “Tucker’ll have my head if I showed up with you. I’ve got the map, with the location marked. If he needs help, he’ll buzz me.” He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. “I’m ready to go at a moment’s notice. I know it’s annoying, but we’ll throw him off. Tucker has our best interests at heart.” He obviously respected Tucker’s order, even if he wasn’t happy about it.
“I need to be part of this. Elgin has my mother. And I can help.”
“You don’t hold Darkness. How can you fight against two guys who do? Look, I know you’re frustrated, maybe even pissed, but there’s nothing you can do about it. I’m sure there’s no point in suggesting you go back to bed. I’ll make some coffee and you can beat on me if you want.” His mouth quirked in a smile. “Cause you look like you want to do just that.”
She took note of her posture—fists at her sides, mouth clenched—and took a deep breath. Giving up was not an option, nor was sitting around waiting. With her mother and Tucker in danger, she would not back down.
“Come on,” he cajoled. “I make good coffee.”
She put her hand on her tummy. “I couldn’t drink anything. My stomach’s all knotted up.”
A map was open on the coffee table, and she wandered over. Foothills Road was circled. She visually traced it to where they were now, taking note of the highways and roads from one to the other.
Greer leaned close. “You don’t want to walk there. It’s a long way by foot, and who knows what dangerous creatures you might encounter on the way.”
She pushed away from the map, releasing a ragged sigh.
“I can make something to eat, maybe some toast to settle your stomach.”
She saw a key ring in a bowl by the front door and recognized the dice—Tucker’s keys. Keys to the car that was sitting outside.
“You know, that sounds good. And coffee. I’m going to take a shower.”
He gave her a nod and went into the kitchen as she headed to the base of the stairs. As soon as he was out of sight, she took two steps at a time, turned on the water, grabbed her purse, and then nearly tripped coming back down. She could hear the water coming down the pipes, so maybe that would buy her some time. She carefully lifted the keys, palming them so they didn’t rattle together. Then she opened the door and slipped out.
Her heart was thudding in her chest like a playing card stuck in the spokes of a bicycle. She didn’t dare look at the house, just kept her head down as she ran to the car. It was locked, and she didn’t hit the button on his key fob, in case it beeped. She unlocked it, risking a glance to the front door—still closed—and got in.
She recited the roads that lead to Foothills as she drove, at first only vaguely aware of the feelings coming from the shifter. Once she got onto a highway, she could breathe again.
Do you want to know?
Yes, she did. She wrapped her hand over the leather shifter knob and sorted through a barrage of feelings, from their altercation with Elgin the night before to a powerful feeling of . . . protectiveness. And more. It knocked her back, and she realized her eyes weren’t open, which was a really bad thing when you were driving eighty miles an hour down the highway.
She snapped to attention, and dammit, she couldn’t keep her hand off the shifter. She was driving a manual transmission car, after all. She put her hand back, feeling that fierce protectiveness, along with the images Tucker had seen: her being thrown in the car, the car taking off, and then her falling out the passenger door. He’d freaked. Murderously, manically freaked inside, but he’d held it together to pull up beside her and help her into his car.
She shivered, pulling her hand and pressing it against her chest. That’s what she would get if she stayed with him. Everything. More than everything. He scared her, but to be cared about, cherished like that, spoke to her at some deep level.
She passed the street she needed to turn down and had to go back. The front part of the neighborhood was sparsely populated. The back section was the newest, built during the boom when homes were overpriced. And oversized. She parked at the end of the first street.
She didn’t have Darkness, but she had skills. She would stay hidden and look for an opportunity to help Tucker. Damned if she was going to sit by and let him deal with her mother’s rescue without her.
TUCKER CREPT AROUND the buildings, alert for anything out of the ordinary. There were two unoccupied houses on one side of the street, a partially finished one on the other side. He moved stealthily, through the open rooms of that one, and then crossed the street to investigate the first finished one.
The sound of a car’s engine halted him, and he peered around the front corner. A car was slowly coming down the street. Couldn’t—shouldn’t—be Darius. It was too early. Not that he could check his watch, but he hadn’t been snooping long enough for it to be six. He thought it was the green Buick, but its lights were dark. When the passenger door opened, no interior light came on.
A shadow slinked from the car and across the yard to the second finished house on the street. Tucker felt a smile curve his snout, ducking down as the car continued up the side street.
When Tucker reemerged, he saw no sign of the shadow that lay in wait for him. Hunkering down, he stayed close to the bare concrete walls of the house until he reached the corner. Darkness seemed to camouflage the vibration they normally gave off, which could work for and against him.
He crossed the two lots between the houses, staying close to the clumps of weeds that grew in bunches here and there. The moon wasn’t full but was bright enough to give him a sense of what was around. It would do. Because they weren’t animals in a real sense, they didn’t gain the fine-tuned senses animals possess.
The scrape of shoe against concrete stilled him for a moment before he continued on. Was it Elgin or his sidekick? Probably Bengle, so Elgin could roll in right on time and pretend to want to talk to his long-lost son.
The windows had been broken out, making the block home appear to have gaping eyes. Tucker melted into smoke, rolling into the opening and drifting up behind Bengle, whom he found crouched in human form by the front window. Perfect, one on one. Tucker went back to his wolf form. Bengle’s head jerked toward him, probably catching the movement.
“What the—”
Tucker lunged at him, and Bengle Became in that instant, knocking him back. Tucker skidded across the concrete floor but was on his feet immediately. Good thing, too, because Bengle was flying at him, claws extended. As his name suggested, he’d chosen the form of a tiger. Tucker rolled as Bengle landed hard, then reared around and bit at his flank. He’d tussled with the son of a bitch before, knew to tear him apart bit by bit. Bengle fought harder this time, swatting Tucker and batting him aside. He came back in time to take another chunk of Bengle’s dark hide.
Bengle swiped and tore a piece of Tucker’s substance this time. Yes, it did weaken him, though it would take a lot more of those to take him down. The two beasts circled, the lean wolf and the bulky tiger. Tucker was faster, dodging in, lunging, and getting out before Bengle could react.
Break him down, bit by bit, and then move in for the kill. Tucker could not let him get away this time. He had to take him down before Elgin returned.
Bengle jumped, landed on Tucker and sent him to the floor. Damn, he weighed a ton. Tucker reared up and took a chunk out of his stomach. The “flesh” had no taste, only a thick texture. It broke off in his mouth, and he spit it out and watched it disintegrate as Bengle screamed in some unholy voice and rolled over Tucker to back away.
Tucker grabbed him, but Bengle tossed him off—and came face to face with something not human and not distinctly any kind of beast.
Darius. Hell
.
Darius wrapped his long arms around the tiger’s neck while sliding his body beneath him. His legs came up around Bengle’s body, and Darius face-planted into the tiger’s throat.
Tucker staggered to his four feet and watched the bizarre sight. Darius looked more like a demon, though Tucker wasn’t sure if that was by design or lack of training. He’d already been working with Darkness before Tucker had found him. That he’d chosen a form near human made sense; Darius could be man in Darkness, whole, able to use his legs.
Right now he was jeopardizing the whole takedown. The tiger could barely struggle with the leech attached to him, sucking out his substance. Finally, he became man again, and Darius crouched over him and twisted his neck. It cracked, echoing against the bare walls, followed by the thud of his head as he dropped to the floor.
Darius stood, rubbing his hands together, facing Tucker. His limbs looked long and rubbery, his hands huge. “Now that’s how it’s done.”
Tucker remained in Darkness, uneasiness prickling through him. “You were supposed to stay in the car.”
Darius’s features were indistinct, even in the light, but Tucker could well imagine the smug look on his face when he said, “You weren’t getting it done, Tucker. I could see you needed help.”
“I had it under control.”
“That’s what you want to think. Maybe I should be the Alpha, huh?” He laughed, but he wasn’t entirely joking.
“Get back in the car, before—”
The sound of a car’s engine cut him short, and they both moved to the window and watched the Buick glide by. The soft sound of a chirp near his foot brought Tucker’s attention to a cell phone near a duffel bag. Elgin’s name lit the screen.
Darius grabbed it and answered before Tucker could stop him. “Yeah?”
“There are two cars in the area, neither one Tucker’s—or at least the one he was driving yesterday. Have you seen anything?”
“Nope.”
Two cars? Tucker’s heart hitched. He didn’t want a couple of kids who were sneaking off to get high or laid stumbling into their situation.
“Maybe he brought some friends,” Elgin said. “I’m going to check it out.”
“I’ll keep an eye on things here,” Darius said.
The moment he disconnected, Tucker cuffed him. Darius clamped onto Tucker’s arm, his whole body ready to attack.
“You’re out of line,” Tucker whispered. He hated that he couldn’t depend on him to have his back. Tucker had only fought alone, never in a situation like this. He shook off his grip.
“You’re not in charge of me. I do what I want.” Darius took off into the night, as slick as mercury, in the direction Elgin had driven.
Chapter Thirteen
DEL CROUCHED INSIDE the unfinished house when she heard the car. The roof was open to the sky. Moonlight spilled into some of the rooms, casting shadows like bars from the skeleton-framed walls. The construction crew had only started the roof; several boards lay on top of the concrete walls, looking precarious.
She peered over the edge of the window opening and watched the car creep down the street. Was it the green Buick? It was hard to tell, though she could see the driver was on his cell phone by the square of light inside the car.
Something—or someone, she couldn’t be sure—darted in front of the car, too close to be trying to hide. It ran toward the house where she was hunkering down. Tucker? Oh, no, he was leading Elgin right to her!
No, not Tucker—at least she didn’t think so. She clearly saw a human-shaped shadow, though it ran in an unnatural lope across the dirt yard and into the door opening. One of them, then.
The car stopped in the road, and the driver got out. The interior light didn’t go on, so she still couldn’t see if it was Elgin. He evaporated, or probably Became, and in terror she watched his shadow moving toward the house, too.
Then, just behind him, another shadow. Wolf. Tucker. All heading toward her.
She slid from her spot and made to go around a narrow concrete wall to hide behind it. She came face-to-face with the man she’d seen first. Man, and yet . . . Darkness. He blinked in surprise at seeing her, then ducked and looked behind him at the sound of something scraping on the floor.
She ducked around the wall and found herself in the garage. He didn’t follow, didn’t try to grab her. Darius, maybe? She kept close to the wall as she headed to the opening at the front of the house where the garage door would go. She would be no help inside, where she could be grabbed and used as a hostage.
Where was Tucker?
She turned the corner and ran right into a hard, dark creature. Swallowing her scream, she stepped back, ready to fight. Tucker became man again, gripping her arms tight, his anger at her being there clear in what she could see of his face.
A scream of agony jerked their attention to the house. They ran to the first window, and then the second. He ducked back, pulling her with him. She pressed close as he peered around the edge.
The sight, at least what she could see of it, tightened her throat. One man standing, his hand held out as though to ward off someone. A glow, faint and blue, emanated from his hand. Elgin. Darius, in human form, too, writhed on the floor.
“Tucker, where’s the girl? I know she’s here somewhere.”
Elgin thought Darius was Tucker. Darius was gasping in pain, unable to answer. What was he doing to him? Why couldn’t Darius Become—and fight or run? Whatever Elgin was doing with his hand . . . he was using some supernatural weapon.
She could feel it, painful pulses, like the way being at a concert might feel, only the throbbing bass hurt. Could Elgin emit sound waves? She ducked back against the concrete wall, and it lessened. The concrete blocks acted like a buffer. She pulled Tucker back, too, gesturing to the wall. He nodded but dared another peek.
They had to help Darius.
Darius was panting now, dragging himself away from Elgin.
Elgin dropped his hand, and the painful waves stopped. He knelt down closer to Darius. “You’re not Tucker. But you are my progeny. I can feel me in you. Don’t try to Become, or I’ll hit you with the Force again. It will stop you, and if I do it long enough, your cells will explode.” Elgin said all this as though they were having a nice chat. “Where’s Tucker? Give me his location and I’ll spare you.”
Tucker was wolf shadow again, having leaped to the bare windowsill, his body compressed as he readied to leap.
“Right behind you, you son of a—”
Tucker hit, sending Elgin to the floor. Darius rolled out of the way just before he’d have gotten flattened.
“Grab hold of him,” Tucker said as he fought to keep Elgin from turning over and freeing his hands.
Elgin Became, twisting and growling, slashing at Tucker with fangs. Darius grabbed for Elgin’s thrashing hind legs.
Del climbed up on the sill, ready to jump down and help, if necessary. She knew better than to throw herself into the fray. Tucker’s fangs tore at Elgin, shredding off bits of Darkness.
Elgin twisted, chomped down on Tucker’s paw, and then lunged for his throat. It looked like blood pouring from Tucker’s neck, like a real wound. No! Would it weaken him? Then Elgin used the trick she’d seen Tucker do during his show: he disappeared into mist. When he reappeared, he morphed back to man only a few feet in front of her, facing Tucker and Darius, who scrambled to their feet.
Elgin shot his hand out, dropping both men to their knees, stripping away their Darkness. The sound waves threw her backward, and she fell to the ground clutching her head. Once the brick wall was between them, though, she was able to try to get up. The waves churned her stomach, throbbed through her entire being.
They would explode her cells, he’d said. She believed it, too, holding her stomach as she tried to stand. Only when she was directly behind the wall could she even manage the strength to do it.
She heard Tucker’s and Darius’s groans of agony. No, she couldn’t let Elgin kill them. She pulled hersel
f up, ready for the blast again. Her heart plunged at the sight of Tucker struggling to get to his feet while curled in pain.
Have to . . . stop him.
She dropped down again, unable to bear it. How was Tucker even able to move under the direct onslaught? Her gaze locked onto the heavy boards on top of the walls, longer than her body, maybe a foot wide. From her vantage point, she could see the top of Elgin’s head.
You can do it.
She concentrated on the boards, Elgin’s head, the boards . . . the board shifted. Through the bricks, the sonic blast was muffled, but it still hurt all through her body. Her head. She clenched her jaw, teeth gnashing together, and focused all of her attention, her anger, and her fear into moving that damned board.
It flew off the wall and whacked Elgin exactly where she’d intended. The board fell to the floor, taking Elgin with it. Tucker slid down to his knees, his face pale. She only spared him a glance, though, her attention returning to Elgin as she climbed over the sill again. His body twitched, hands trembling, the board lying over his face. She searched for something else to use as a weapon.
He had taken her mother. Maybe even killed her. He’d tried to kill Tucker.
She grabbed a smaller board and approached him. He would never hurt her or anyone she loved again. Tucker staggered over to her, his breaths coming thick and heavy.
“Nails,” he managed to say.
She looked at the board she was holding, then followed his nod to the one on top of Elgin. Two nail heads gleamed in the dull light. Tucker kicked the board while she held her weapon like a baseball bat, ready to strike.
Two huge nails pulled away from Elgin’s forehead, out from the two huge holes they’d left in it. His eyes stared at nothing, his mouth open and moving, as though he were trying to say something. Blood trickled out as his body trembled again.
“Where’s my mother?” she asked, leaning down into his face.
That mouth turned up into a macabre smile, and a breath hissed out of his mouth. No word, just a sound like air being released from a tire. His face went slack.
