Shifter Wars Complete Series

by Sarah J. Stone

  "Yo, Benson!" Jack called, his booming voice attracting the ire of nearby agents.

  A pudgy, fleshy-faced man in the same bleach-white outfit as the others turned to Jack, his round face wearing an expression of surprise. He had small, red lips and watery-blue yes hidden behind small, black-rimmed spectacles.

  "Jesus, Jack," the man said, standing to shake Jack's hand. "You scared the bejesus out of me."

  "Just keeping you on your toes, my man," Jack said. Then, he turned to me. "Nadia Helmsley, this is Benson Wilfred, the sharpest damn lion you'll ever meet."

  The man extended a white-clad hand toward me and I shook it. "Pleased to meet you," he said, his face going red.

  I got the impression that Benson didn't talk to many girls. Truthfully, I was surprised to hear his species. Lions typically didn't go in for the tech stuff. They were more the "honor-bound warrior" types- always reminded me of barbarians from some other time.

  "So, what've you got for me, my friend?" Benson asked .

  Jack filled him in.

  "That's…incredible," Benson said, now a little flustered that he knew about the stakes of what was going on. "You think you have a way to kill a dragon? You have to let me see."

  "All I've got is pictures of notes," Jack said, pulling out his phone and flipping through it. "Here."

  Benson took the phone and looked carefully at the pictures. "Amazing," he said. "Let me print them."

  A few moments later, Benson had several sheets of freshly-printed paper in his hands. He flipped through them eagerly, his mouth moving along with what he was reading.

  "This is…I don't know how whoever you got this from found this information, but it's what we've been looking for for years. I mean, dragons are like any other creature in that they can be killed through sustaining heavy firepower, but this…we're talking a weapon that could fit in the bullet of a hunting rifle."

  "Does that mean we could kill all the dragons, if we wanted?" I asked.

  "No, no, no," Benson said, his tone one of someone being frustrated at having to explain something to a simpleton. "Each one of these weapons would be carefully tailored to the dragon it was designed for. That's why you need the…you have a piece of the spine, right?"

  Jack nodded, smirk on his face.

  "Ah, excellent," Benson said, taking the spine piece from Jack. "You see, this spine needs to be ground down to a fine powder, which we can do here. Once done, the spine is mixed with the rest of the ingredients, and it's all placed into a bullet. One shot and the dragon is done, poisoned with his own essence."

  "And you can make this soon?" Jack asked.

  "We have all of the ingredients, but it'll take some time." He tossed the piece of spine in his hand, testing its heft. "It's a damn lucky thing that this even broke off. Dragon spines are harder than steel. He must've had some kind of defect right at the spot where this broke off. One in a million chance, really. But, anyway, we'll need some time to grind this thing down. You need the sandpaper to end all sandpaper to even do a bit of damage to this thing. Give me a few hours; I'll let you know when it's ready."

  "You're the best, Benson," Jack said, giving his friend a playful slug on the shoulder.

  "Um, of course," he said.

  With that, we headed out of the lab and back to the office area. "Next," Jack said, "we gotta figure out how to talk some sense into the wolves and the tigers before this all gets too out of control."

  "Sure," I said. "Just set up a few quick meetings with the tiger and wolf threes. No problems there."

  He flashed me a wry smirk. "I didn't say it was going to be easy, but killing Anandrox is only one part of the equation."

  I sighed and agreed, sitting at my computer and pulling open my email. There was the standard junk, but in the middle, I spotted an email tagged "important" from an address that I didn't recognize. I opened it and read carefully.

  I have information about the wolf-tiger war. Possible meeting opportunity with the wolf Three. Meet me at Coney Island beach at ten p.m. tonight.

  And that was it.

  "Jack," I said, "take a look at this."

  He leaned over me and read the email carefully. I hate to admit it, but having him so close reminded me of our…time together last night. I indulged myself a little, taking in his wild, manly scent.

  "I don't like it," he said, his voice snapping me back to reality.

  "Me, either," I said.

  Then together, "But it's the only lead we've got."

  We shared a small smile as we realized we'd said the exact same thing at the exact same time.

  "Great minds," I said, our faces only inches from each other.

  Jack smirked one last time before standing straight. "We have to go, but we'll need to be careful as hell."

  He checked his watch. "And we've got a few hours. We might be up for a while, so I suggest you grab a quick nap. Give me a ring if anything else comes up."

  And with that, he was gone. For the first time in a long while, I was alone with my thoughts. Jack was right that I should probably try to catch an hour or two, but there was too much swimming in my mind for me to even think about napping. Part of me wanted to follow Jack to wherever he was ducking off to for his shut eye and, um, provide him with some company.

  Goddamnit, I thought, knowing that sleep wasn't in the cards and pouring myself a cup of coffee. Why the hell am I thinking about romance at a time like this? I should be focused on the job, not…any of this stuff. But I couldn't help it- Jack was all I wanted to think about.

  Oh, God. I stood at the railing overlooking the main hall of Sapien HQ. I can't believe I'm doing the whole "fall for your superior" thing.

  I chided myself for doing something so childish and silly, but that didn't make my feelings any less intense. Jack was…stunning for one. And he was damn good at his job. And though I was loath to accept it, his lost-boy nature did nothing but make me more attracted to him.

  Focus, Nadia, I thought, trying to get my mind back on the case.

  I looked over the dozens of agents on the floors below, all from different species, all here for the same purpose. Keeping the peace was our job, and I knew that if Jack and I failed, then a war that could cost hundreds of lives might be the result.

  Taking a sip of my coffee, my face scrunched up when I realized that it had long since gone cold.

  "There you are," Jack said from somewhere behind me.

  I turned on my heels, surprised, and nearly spilling my tepid coffee.

  "You okay?" he asked.

  I checked my watch and saw that nearly an hour and a half had gone by.

  Geez. Time flies when you're lost in daydreaming.

  "We need to get down to Coney as soon as possible," he said. "I have no idea what to expect, but if there's even a chance whoever sent you that email can help us, then we need to take it."

  "Right," I said, the word coming out in a mumble.

  It was somewhat embarrassing to be speaking to the man who I'd just spent the last ninety minutes thinking about, but I got my game face on and was ready to do the job at hand. "Any word from Benson?" I asked as we made our way to Jack's car.

  "He said he’s getting there, and it should all be ready in an hour or so."

  "Killing a dragon…" I said, sliding into his car.

  "Hope you're a good shot," he said, turning the engine over and pulling out of his parking spot.

  "What?" I said, the word shooting out like a bullet. "You want me to pull the trigger? I mean, I get ‘trial by fire,' but I think dragon-slaying might be a little much for a girl's first forty-eight hours on the job."

  "Don't get me wrong," Jack said, pulling us out into traffic. "That fucker's all mine. But if it comes down to it, I need to know that you'd be able to kill him if you had to."

  My blood ran cold at the idea of trying to kill a dragon and messing up somehow. I imagined the gun in my hands, the bullet hole in the wall to the right of the Anandrox and no more rounds in the chamber, the drago
n's mind now racing with just how he was going to exact his revenge.

  "I'll do it," I said, "but I'm a terrible shot—you have no idea."

  "Oh, I have some idea," Jack said.

  "But, ho—"

  I flashed back to my time at the gun range, realizing that my terrible performance had been likely on tape for all to see. My face went red.

  "You'll just have to get really close," Jack said with a wry grin.

  We drove through the city, the buildings around us illuminated and stretching up into the inky, wine-dark night. We passed over the Brooklyn Bridge, and soon we were in the southern tip of Brooklyn, nearing Coney Island. Another few minutes later, we were there. The theme park and beach was desolate, not a soul to be seen.

  We parked and got out, walking slowly toward the hushed sounds of the tide coming in.

  "No specifics on where exactly we're meeting this person?"

  "Hey, you read the same email I did," Jack said, the wood slats of the boardwalk groaning under our steps. To our left was Luna Park, the amusement park near the beach. The curved forms of the roller coaster and Ferris wheel loomed large, their metallic shapes silver in the moonlight. There wasn't a soul to be seen, and something about the whole scene struck me as…wrong.

  It didn’t take long before we reached the stairs leading to the beach.

  "There," Jack said, speaking in hushed tones and pointing toward a solitary figure standing on the sand near the water.

  "Must be him," I said. I wondered just who it could be. Maybe someone from the tiger or wolf societies who didn't want to see war break out? I hoped it was someone who wanted to help us, though my gut told me to be on-guard.

  We stepped onto the sand and made our way toward the figure. The moon was big and round directly above him, the dark water shimmering with moonlight. The sand crunched under our steps, and the sounds of slow breathing through my nostrils accompanied the steadily increasing beat of my heart. The man—we could clearly see that it was a man by this point—stood stone-still, standing facing the water. And when we finally cut the space between him and us to about thirty feet, we stopped. At this distance, I could see that his shoulders were slim, and he was dressed in a long, black top coat, his blonde hair striking, even in the dim evening light.

  As soon as I laid eyes on the details of his form, my blood ran cold. And as soon as he turned to face us, I knew that we'd made a mistake.

  "There you both are," the ma said n, his eyes an otherworldly blue, his voice a strange, inhuman tone. "I was wondering when we'd see each other again."

  It was the man I'd seen at Grand Central, the one behind all of this. It was the dragon, Anandrox.

  CHAPTER 14

  JACK

  I didn't even think. I just pulled out my gun and started firing. Stupid as hell, looking back on it, but it was like instinct. I knew that Anandrox was a threat, and I didn't fuck around with threats.

  The crack of my gun cut through the still evening air. Half of the bullets went wide and into the water, the rest of the rounds hit home, slamming into Anandrox. But I couldn't put every shot clean between the eyes and not have done a bit of damage. Dragonskin was as tough as a tank, and when my magazine was emptied out and my trigger clicked harmlessly, the only thing I'd managed to accomplish was to put a smarmy little smirk on Anandrox's pretty face.

  "Not exactly the best way to start this little chat of ours," he said, his voice aristocratic.

  He looked down at his clothes, sticking his finger through a hole in his top coat just over his chest.

  "Do you have any idea how much this coat cost?" he said, wiggling his finger through the hole. "More than you make at a month at that job of yours, I'm sure."

  I turned to Nadia and saw that she was frozen in fear. I didn't blame her—we'd walked right into a trap. I should've known better, but I was just damn desperate for a lead.

  "What the hell do you want, you lizard fuck?" I said, reaching into my coat for another magazine.

  "Don't bother with more gunplay," he said. "I've got you right where I want you, and there's nothing you can do about it."

  He was right. I'd need a tank if I wanted to hope to do any damage to a dragon, and even then, he could just melt me into hot slag.

  "I'm here to negotiate," he said, slowly folding his fingers together and holding them over his stomach. "Well, it'd be more accurate to say that I'm here to dictate terms."

  He walked toward us with slow, deliberate steps. His face was strange to look at—it was so perfect in shape and proportion that it seemed unreal. His lips were pulled up on one side in a smirk that I just wanted to wipe off his smug face. With a haughty motion, he tucked a few strands of blond hair behind his ear.

  "You're not going to dictate shit," I said, my temper getting the best of me.

  Here I was, with the dragon who'd killed my clan standing feet away, and there was nothing I could do but lob insults at him. And Nadia…he could kill her, and there was nothing I could do about it. He had all the cards.

  "I know that you two have been trailing me. It's been painfully obvious. And while I appreciate your…investigative spirit, I must ask that you desist at once. I have plans in motion, and I don't need any upstart agents meddling in things."

  "Not a goddamn chance," I said.

  Anandrox raised one of his perfectly-sculpted eyebrows. "And what exactly are you going to do about it?" The resonance of his voice changed to a tone so strange that it made my guts quake. "If your brilliant plan was to show up and shoot me with that little pistol of yours, then I'm not too worried about anything else you might have up your sleeves."

  Part of me wanted to brag about the weapon, but I knew to keep that under my hat—didn't want to give away the one advantage that I might have.

  "Jack, what do we do?" Nadia asked under her breath.

  "You do nothing," Anandrox said. "You let me execute my plan, and you two keep your lives. Sounds fairly straightforward to me."

  Superhuman hearing, too. Great. "There's no way I'm gonna let you start a war," I said, stepping forward.

  Anandrox sighed. "Really? You're going to try to stop me?"

  I didn't need to hear any more of his gloating. Pushing Nadia back, I ran toward Anandrox in a full sprint, leaping into the air and attempting to tackle him. But with one smooth, effortless motion, he stepped aside, grabbed me in midair, and tossed me toward the water. I landed hard on the hard, wet sand that the surf had reached. My shoulder throbbed in pain where I landed, and I forced myself onto my back.

  "Jack!" Nadia cried out, and I could see her running toward me out of the corner of my eye.

  "Stay back!" I shouted.

  Anandrox walked over to me and stared down with an amused look on his face.

  "I'll have to take some…collateral, of course," he said. "The girl, I think. I'll hang onto her until this whole situation is done with—make sure that you don't get any big ideas."

  "Don't you lay a finger on her," I hissed.

  "Very well," said Anandrox. "I won't lay…a finger."

  With that, he stepped back, giving himself space. Anandrox then closed his eyes, crossed his arms over his chest, and began to shift. His form grew in size, his skin turned from a porcelain white to a hard scale of the same color, horns sprouted from his head and spines from his body. A pair of wings emerged from his back, and his face turned to that of a fearsome dragon. When he finished shifting, he towered over me, his steps thudding on the ground, a snort of steam jetting from his nostrils. Then, as if to make the point abundantly clear, he turned his head toward the water and shot out a long blast of fire, the stream of flame sent out a deafening hiss as it touched the water, steam emerging in massive plumes from where it touched.

  Then, he stepped toward me until he was standing directly overhead. At that moment, he could've killed me with a step. He lowered his head until his brilliant blue eyes were only feet from mine.

  "I'm taking the girl," he said, his voice so booming that it felt l
ike my skin might be blasted from my body. "Follow, and you forfeit both of your lives."

  With that, he swiped his clawed hand through the air, grabbing Nadia. She let out a shrill scream as he took hold of her.

  "Nadia!" I shouted, scrambling to my feet.

  "Jack!" she shouted in reply as she struggled against Anandrox's grip, to no avail.

  A small smirk formed on one corner of Anandrox's mouth. "It's so amusing to see you lesser creatures struggle. I do enjoy a good war every now and then, but these little emotions you experience…it's always a pleasure to watch them up close."

  Then, he beat his wings and rose into the air. His body blocked out the moon for a moment as he went up into the sky, shrouding me in brief darkness. Then he turned and flew, up into the air, toward the city, and out of sight.

  He was gone, Nada with him.

  CHAPTER 15

  JACK

  I rushed back to my car as fast as possible, gunning the engine and peeling off. It was pointless to try and follow a beast like him in flight, but I could see his form disappear over Midtown Manhattan. Midtown was not the best clue as to where he was headed, but it was at least something.

  Sitting behind the steering wheel with my heart racing, I felt beyond helpless. I gripped the wheel until my knuckles turned white, and all I could think about was tearing that asshole wing-from-wing. But he was right—at that moment there wasn't a damn thing I could've done about it. I was lucky he didn't burn me to a crisp right there on the beach, bringing to an end the Swift line that he'd already nearly wiped out.

  Rage ran through me. I needed to kill that dragon fuck, and now.

  The image of Nadia in his claws was fresh and raw in my mind, her face twisted into horror as he flew away with her in his claws. And now that she was gone, all I could think about was how much I'd begun to care for her. I couldn't believe it, but I actually had...feelings for her. But all of that meant nothing if I wasn't able to protect her.