by Chloe Cole
Mina leaned forward and peered upward at the surrounding skyline. There were no peaks close enough to them to account for a rockslide. So where had that--
A blast of adrenaline pulsed through her and she gripped his forearm. "Jesus, Dan. Drive, drive, drive!"
He paused like he was about to argue, but the urgency in her tone combined with the expression on her face must've been enough to kick-start him into action. He slammed the car into drive and nailed the gas, hard.
Mina's heart beat a tattoo against her ribs as she tried to corral her scattered thoughts.
Surely this couldn't be happening. Especially when the sun still hadn't fully set.
Especially not with a witness in law enforcement.
But a piercing cry rent the sky, belying her thoughts. It was loud enough to hear over the growl of the straining engine and set the hair on the back of her neck rising.
Dan shot her a hard look before turning his attention back to the road ahead.
"Start talking, Mina."
What could she possibly tell him? She could try the truth, but somehow it felt like the whole "I can't say for sure, but I think we're being attacked by shape-shifting assassins and an eagle shifter just dropped a rock onto our windshield" thing might not go over well.
Even on the off chance that he believed her, just that knowledge could put him in more danger than he was in already. There was no question her enemies were making a statement with this latest attack. So fine, they weren't going to let human interferences stop them from getting to her, but that didn't mean they were going to show themselves for real.
She'd barely completed that thought when another stone the size of a tennis ball connected with the windshield. This time, it gave in, and the rock completely punctured the shatterproof glass. The jagged projectile protruded through the other side of the windshield, aiming straight at Dan's head like a warning from the gods.
His vision was totally obscured now by the ruined, crackling glass, and he took his foot off the gas. The car shuddered and slowed as Mina fumbled to unlock her seatbelt. It would be near impossible to drive like that, but unless Dan kept going, Mina had no doubt that he wouldn't survive this attack.
"Listen to me," she demanded. "I'm getting out of the car. And I need you to go. Stick your head out the window to see if you have to, but fucking go and don't look back."
She used every ounce of energy she could muster to make him hear her. To make him see. But she knew the outcome before he ever answered and her stomach sank, leaden with guilt.
"I don't know what's happening, Mina. But if you think I'm the kind of man who would leave you here, in danger, you've clearly misjudged me." His gaze burned with a fire so fierce, it rocked her to her core. "I don't expect you to explain it all to me right now, but if you give me some direction that makes actual sense, I'll follow your lead. Just don't ask me to leave you again."
She released his arm and reached for the door handle, wrenching it open. There was no time to argue.
She moistened her lips, and nodded, stunned to find her throat was too achy to respond. For someone with less friends than thumbs and more enemies than the rest of her fingers and toes put together, his chivalry was oddly touching. On the off chance that they survived this mess, she'd have to remember to thank him for that.
"We're going to run like hell," she said simply.
Chapter Eight
Please, God, let him listen.
If it had been her alone, she would have stayed to fight. But Dan's life was in her hands right now, and damn, it felt precious. She'd do whatever it took to get him out of harm's way. And once she did? These sons of bitches wouldn't have to come looking for her again.
She would find them.
She launched herself from the passenger's side door out into the damp grass, eyes glued to the sky, nostrils flaring to catch the scents of her enemies.
If they had expected Dan to crash a mile back after the first rock had struck, then it would take the big cat another minute or two to cover the distance. The eagle, though small, was a formidable, vicious predator. But once they hit the forest just a few yards away, the canopy of trees would hamper its movements. Dan, with his military training, actually had a shot at fighting the thing off with only minor injuries if he played his cards right. That would leave her with the mountain lion shifter. She wasn't the biggest or even the fastest of the shifters, but she prided herself on being among the most cunning.
One on one, hand to hand, she'd bet on herself every time.
She just wished she wasn't gambling with Dan's life.
He’d had just reached her when another, bloodcurdling screech came from the sky.
"Go!"
To Dan's credit, the expression on his face changed from shock to determination as he grabbed her hand and yanked her toward the trees. They trampled together through the underbrush, branches slapping at their faces, and brambles and thorns clawing at their legs.
"Which way, east or west?" he demanded, slowing for her response.
"Doesn't matter. The more dense the wood, the better," she said, taking the lead and tugging him along with her.
She heard it before she saw it. A flutter of branches overhead. The swoosh of wide, lush wings as the bird of prey came barreling through the trees.
"Duck and cover your head," she shouted, following her own advice an instant before she felt the scrape of talons against the bare nape of her neck. The bird of prey had nicked her, but not enough to maim. She risked a glance over her shoulder for Dan and found him hunkered above her like a roof in the rain. Stunned, she reached up and touched the back of her neck, finding her fingers damp with blood.
Not from talons at all. It had been the scrape of a golden star worn by her Sheriff protector.
Another gush of warmth shot through her, but this time it was laced with cold, icy terror and topped off with fury.
"Do you have a death wish?" she demanded, wriggling her shoulders until he straightened away from her. "You said you'd follow my lead, so follow it, damn it. Or you're going to get us both killed."
She had just turned him around to assess the damage to his back when a low, chuffing sound reached her ears followed by the rustle of underbrush.
"It's going to get bad, Dan. Really bad. And if you won't run, then you have to promise me at least to stay back. No matter what you see...no matter what you hear. Stay. Back."
Dan's strong throat worked as he straightened to standing and reached a hand down to help her rise.
"I'll do my best."
He didn't say the rest, but his unspoken words lay between them, loud and clear.
But I ain't making any promises.
That would have to do, because there time was up.
A low, gurgling snarl came from just a dozen yards away. She reached for her waistband and drew out one of a pair of throwing knives she had secreted there.
"Jesus, what the--"
She used her shoulder to drive into Dan hard enough to send him to the ground, and then leapt over his prone form right as the mountain lion sprang toward him.
God, the thing was huge.
Almost as large as an African lion, and she wondered if he was some sort of mixed breed of cat. She didn't let the surprise slow her down, launching the first slim blade into the air with lethal precision. The light was fading fast, but with her keen eyesight at that close distance, she could see that she'd scored a direct hit, right in the fleshy part of its mouth. The animal let out a roar of fury as it stumbled back.
To his credit, Dan backed her up like a pro, firing his Glock from a prone position just seconds later and hitting the animal's side.
There was no time to celebrate, though. The eagle had doubled back and was hurtling through the air, like a feathered missile, straight for her.
It felt like it happened in slow motion. One second, she was sure her exposed face and neck were going to be chewed up like chopped meat. The next, Dan was leaping to his feet, knocking the bird fr
om the sky with one, massive fist.
The bird hit the ground hard and floundered, scrabbling backward. Dan didn't hesitate, lining up and firing four shots in quick succession at the animal's center mass.
The eagle shifter twitched once, then again before stilling.
"Keep your gun trained on the animal, Dan," she ground out, "and shoot again if it moves."
"Roger that."
She turned her attention back to the second assailant who had just rebounded from its wounds and started padding toward her with a snarl. A strange sense of calm settled over her as it broke into a run.
It was literally do or die. Either she stopped this thing or Dan was almost certainly a goner.
She closed her fingers over the second slim piece of steel at her waist and dispatched the second knife, this time, harnessing every ounce of strength she had before letting it fly. A truer shot had never been had as the blade flew through the air before burying itself deep in the lion's eye.
Deep enough to maim or worse. At best, it would take at least a day to heal, and that was if it didn't lose the eye altogether. The creature roared and then shuddered before lurching backward and then breaking into a run.
She briefly entertained the idea of a chase, but it would be pointless. She couldn't hope to catch him on two legs, and wasn't about to leave Dan alone. Besides, her large wings were useless in the heavily treed terrain.
She blew out a shaky sigh and ran a trembling hand through her snarled hair, the adrenaline draining away in one fell swoop.
That had been so close. Too close. And being under Dan's care had nearly cost him his life. Somewhere along the line, between the time she'd left Europe to come and convince Etienne to leave Taya and the time she'd become a fugitive herself, the Council had changed its M.O.
Apparently, all bets were off. They no longer cared who saw them, or what it looked like to the outside world. Suddenly, they were willing to risk it all to make sure she was disposed of.
Not good.
She pushed turned to face Dan, pulse pounding as she realized she still had no idea what to tell him. What to say when two wild animals behaved in a way that defied explanation?
"Dan, look. I know this probably seems--"
"Mina."
"Just let me finish--"
"No." His stark, angular face went pale as he stared at a spot somewhere behind her to her left.
A sense of dread, more pronounced than ever, settled over her as she turned slowly, to follow his gaze.
There, on the leaf-covered ground where a dead eagle used to lie, was a naked man with bullet holes riddling his belly.
And wings.
Shit.
Chapter Nine
Dan stared at the scene in front of him and blinked, trying to clear his blurred vision.
Then, he blinked again, this time squeezing his eyes closed for a long, protracted moment, trying to tamp down the rising tide of confusion.
But when he opened them again, nothing had changed. He was still standing in the forest, Mina silhouetted by the setting sun to his right, and a dead eagle-man prone in the brush at his feet.
"Dan?"
Mina's voice seemed distant, like she was calling to him from down a long, echoing hallway. It didn't matter, though. He had no oxygen to voice even the most basic response.
“Listen to me, all right? I know it's confusing, but right now, we need to get rid of that body. Do you understand what I'm telling you, Dan?"
The sharp crack of her voice finally penetrated his fog and he snapped to attention.
Get it together, soldier.
He turned and leveled her with a steady stare, gears churning like mad.
"Break it down for me. Are we talking genetically modified soldiers? Or is this some sort of comic book-like experiment gone horribly wrong?"
He dropped to his knees and examined their attacker, taking in as many details as he could. Then, he hefted him over one shoulder and jerked his head at Mina, awaiting her answer and her next directive.
"Neither. I mean..." She blew out a breath and motioned for him to start heading toward the roadside. "It's a long story, better shared once we're out of danger."
He slowed to a halt and peered over his shoulder at her as the words sank in. "You mean to tell me there might be more of these fuckers?"
"Yes. No. I mean, yes there are more, but I don't know if they're here looking for me yet."
Yet.
Because they were coming. Any enemy that would send such a soldier after her wasn't about to just end it there. This was serious. Even more serious than a missing person and a murdered hotel clerk. This could be an issue of National Security.
"Are you government? Black ops?" He started walking again and he heard her footsteps as she followed behind.
"Neither."
"You're just a regular citizen whose ex happens to be a fucking birdman?" he practically snarled, the surprise of it all finally fading and letting the anger set in. "What do you take me for, an idiot?"
"Not at all." She pulled up close, lengthening her strides to catch up to him until she could look up at his face before she continued. "There are things I wasn't at liberty to tell you."
"Right. So instead you let me risk my town and my deputies while there was a pair of virtual killing machines after you instead. Sorry, but I don't care what kind of security clearance you have, I had the right to know so I could at least try to prepare and protect my people."
They had reached the edge of the forest and he hoisted the man more securely to his shoulders as he scaled the small hill back onto the narrow road. They'd come out twenty yards from where the car had skidded to a stop, and he made his way to the vehicle without looking back.
"We'll get him into the trunk and then out to my property," he called behind him.
Once he'd secured the corpse in the trunk, making sure to tuck the wings in, he slammed it shut and wheeled around to face her. She was standing just a couple feet away, looking world weary and miserable.
"I know you're mad, but I promise you this. If you think you and the people in this town were in danger before, it's nothing compared to the danger they would be in if the truth was revealed. Just knowing about the existence of shifters marks you for death, Dan."
He bit out a curse and fisted his hands at his sides in frustration. "Don't try it. I don't want to hear about how you did this for the good of the people here. You did this for you. Sure, maybe you feel bad about it now, but that didn't stop you from bringing this shit-storm into Styx without a thought to anyone but yourself. So now what?"
Her big blue eyes glimmered with tears, the first he'd seen since this whole fiasco had started. She blinked them away and held his gaze.
"You're right. And I know I fucked up by staying here, and I have no right to ask you for it, but I'm going to need your help. There's no way to undo what I did, but if something happened to you or one of your deputies because of me, I'd never forgive myself. So we get rid of this body. Then? I need you to let me walk."
The pleading in her eyes nearly undid him, but he kept his face stony as she leaned in and gripped his forearm.
"I'll lead them away from here. Take the fight somewhere totally remote. You alter the paperwork from the past two days and the hotel case and then resign." She was speaking more quickly now, her tone urgent. "Come up with a plausible scenario that will satisfy the public and your deputies, and close those cases as fast as you can. No one will even blink if you leave town after all this carnage. You're smart and resourceful. Without me leading them to you like a beacon, you can blend in. Have a life. There's nothing you can do here for Paulie or Stacy now, Dan. We got one of the men responsible and he’s in your trunk right now. Knowing that in your heart will have to be enough."
Rage threatened to choke him and he turned away, striding to the driver’s side door and sliding in the still open door.
She was out of her mind. Thinking he would just turn a blind eye to what he'd seen today a
nd then run and hide. And for what? So she could run off after more of these...whatever they were and get herself killed?
Fuck that.
"Get in the car, Mina," he called, loud enough for her to hear him through the passenger’s side door.
She didn't argue, and climbed in silently.
For the next ten minutes, they drove in total silence. He had questions. Lots of questions, and withholding them was killing him. But he couldn't stomach any more lies, and he imagined she had told him all she was willing to. Which left him alone with his torturous thoughts.
They were just a mile or so from his cabin and dusk had turned to dark when she finally spoke again.
"I'm so sorry. I knew you wouldn't agree to that, but I had to try."
He gripped the wheel tighter and nodded. "All right."
She sounded so miserable, he could almost feel the despair pouring off her and it was hard to ignore.
She could've gotten your entire team killed.
What if they had pounced right at the scene of Stacy's attack?
Stacy's attack.
"So the lion...the ‘animal’ who killed Stacy, that's a hybrid too?"
He clenched his jaw and tried not to imagine Stacy's terror as she ran through the woods, prey to a predator that only existed in nightmares and horror movies.
"Shifters," Mina murmured, folding her arms around her waist before clearing her throat. "We call them shifters."
He let that sit for a long moment as he contemplated the word. Shape-shifters. Could that really be? There was a bird-man in his trunk that said yes. It was like he'd fallen through some portal and landed in another world.
He pulled down his long driveway, and then popped the car into park. Then, he stepped out wordlessly and Mina followed suit.
"Let's go inside and sit down with a bourbon. We've got to figure out where to go from here. He'll keep til then."
He led the way up the path, hyperaware of his surroundings. Every crackle of every leaf seemed magnified, just like it had in that other lifetime, when he didn't know what lurked around the next corner, friend or grenade.
