Eternal Embrace

by Billi Jean

  “Several times!” Joey agreed.

  “Jaxon! Hurry!”

  “I am, I am. He’s fucking hard to kill.”

  The changelings took off out the open door, but Viktor and the other wolf remained, circling her of all things. Viktor snarled and Joey spun, coming face to face with the demon woman.

  “Shit!” She shifted to the cage where she’d freed the wolf and slammed the door closed in the woman’s face when the demon misted right after her.

  The demon hissed. “Bitch, you will die for this.”

  Joey gasped to see her tongue was forked, long and reddish black. Her skin had darkened, turning a burnt red. Viktor dragged the demon backwards by a leg.

  “Get off me, you mangy dogs!”

  Joey prayed they could keep the demon busy and shifted closer to Jax, ready to help if she could. The demon woman stalked her. She’d barely settled from her shift and the woman was right there. Joey shifted again—this time keeping her gun up—and shot twice then called her pipe and threw that at her. The pipe hit the demon in the head and she screeched. Viktor jumped on top of her, tearing into her torso. With a savage kick, she sent Viktor flying. He landed with a yelp against a far wall and staggered to his feet. The other wolf took his place, tearing huge holes in the demon’s legs, but she kept coming at Joey, as if nothing could stop her.

  “Oh, God,” Joey whispered and tried to think. What to do, what to do?

  From the side, she saw Jaxon slice Gerald’s neck. Blood pooled from the wound. Gerald reached up, grasping his neck with an oddly shocked look, and staggered back, for once looking seriously worried. All at once, he slumped to the floor as if his legs couldn’t hold him and blinked at them.

  The demon misted in front of Gerald and attacked Jaxon without fully materialising. Jaxon dived under her attack, spun and yanked a yellow extension cord from the wall. The demon hissed and darted in with two long, razor-sharp knives in her hands. Jaxon dodged, bent at the waist and came around behind the demon and wrapped the extension cord around her neck. Joey thought he was going to strangle the woman, but he sliced a deep line in the electric cord and rammed the piece past the demon’s long fangs and into her mouth.

  Grunting with effort, he shoved the end with the plug on it at Joey. “Plug her in!”

  Joey swallowed but lunged for the floor like she was a professional volleyball player and stabbed the cord in the electric socket. She scrambled to her feet, lifted the lid on the electric box and jammed all the circuits off. She counted to three, heart beating wildly, and shoved all the circuits wide open. At the same time, Jax grabbed her arm, pulled them to the side, and tossed a bucket of what looked like dirty mop water at the demon. Sparks flew from the demon’s convulsing body and the smell of burnt meat filled the room.

  “Gross! That’s horrible!” Joey said, covering her mouth with the crook of her arm.

  “Shit stinks, baby.” Jaxon huddled over her for only a second, then he urged her into a run for the door. “Go, go, out the door. If there were more, they’d be here by now.”

  “More?” she demanded, then screamed when hands dragged her away from Jax’s side.

  “You will make a nice addition, much stronger than his last woman,” Gerald whispered harshly in her ear.

  She attempted to shift to the first cell again, but as she imagined the bars, something pierced her side and she screamed, looking down at the syringe in Gerald’s pale hand.

  “Joey!” Jax knocked Gerald back and caught her when she would have fallen, while Viktor tore into Gerald from the side. Gerald fell hard to the ground, but quickly managed to get out from under Viktor and gain his feet. She heard Jaxon grunt then he turned and slammed his fist into Gerald’s face. Shock settled over her, chilling her skin and seeping into her bones. Gerald’s neck was whole, clean of blood and appeared fine. Nothing could kill him, could it?

  “Out, out, go, please,” she whispered to Jaxon, both aloud and in her mind.

  “Hang on, Joey.” Jax nailed Gerald once more and dodged a blow.

  “Jaxon!”

  “Arm yourself. We go.”

  She called her pipe to her hand and tried to keep her panic under wraps.

  “Come, Vik, out now! You too, wolf. Out!”

  Jaxon swung out savagely with his blade and she felt something warm hit her face. Seconds later they were outside. Jax took her pipe and slammed it into the door jamb, locking Gerald inside.

  “Will it hold them?” she gasped, trying hard to catch her breath.

  “No, it won’t,” he said, but urged her into a run.

  She tried to keep up, but she couldn’t seem to get enough oxygen, and the pain in her side from the needle spread alarmingly, sapping her strength in an odd, frightening way. Her stomach ached, almost as if someone had hit her. It felt a hell of a lot like what she’d experienced turning into a vampire.

  Jaxon slowed and lifted her in his arms. He began running as soon as he settled her head against his shoulder.

  “I’m—”

  “Shhhh…just let me.”

  “I’m not okay, Jaxon. I’m not…”

  “Stay with me, Joey, stay with me.”

  “I am, I am…but it’s bad. Real bad.”

  “Vik, find the changelings. We need them. Joey’s been shot with something.”

  “I can sense them, ahead,” she said, sounding weak to her own ears. She reached out and pressed her hand to Jaxon’s heart, holding it there to try to soothe him.

  “Don’t talk aloud. Use our link. Tell me what you’re feeling.”

  “It feels like whatever he gave me is forcing me to change—or not exactly change, but as if it’s destroying my blood. Does that make sense?”

  “Darlin’, I’m not letting anything destroy you. You can make it. We’ll get you some help, I swear it. How close are we to the changelings?”

  “Just a bit farther.”

  “Are you sure? I sense nothing.”

  She concentrated, and a murmuring, low but there, vibrated through her consciousness. She shared it with Jaxon and felt him stumble, but gain his momentum again quickly.

  “You think that’s them? That what they gave you lets you sense them?” Jax demanded.

  “I don’t know. Maybe. Oh, God, put me down, put me down!”

  Jaxon jerked to a halt immediately, and knelt with her in his arms. “What is it? What is it, Joey?”

  She shivered, the sensation worsening, almost like her own skin was going to split, and she’d emerge as something other than herself.

  Jaxon was suddenly in her mind, sharing the pain. He grabbed her tighter and she experienced the complete panic he experienced.

  “It’s going to happen, but I think, I think it can be reversed. At least for me,” she added. “It’s as if it’s invading my blood.” She broke off, unable to explain the sensations rushing through her. “Jax, you have to get this out of me, the blood has to go. It’s infected so you can’t drink it, but…”

  He shook his head hard, a look of anguish covering his strong features. “I can’t do that, Joey, I can’t. You might die.”

  “I won’t die, you can give me blood,” she began, but paused at the odd look he gave her. “What?”

  He didn’t speak, and through their bond, she couldn’t sense him either. He’d shut her out, she realised.

  “Stop that! No secrets!” she reminded him.

  “Shit, shit, shit! Joey, there isn’t time for this.”

  She pressed her palm to his warm chest and stopped him from getting to his feet. Holding his anguished gaze, she brushed his dark hair from his forehead. “If this holds you back from helping me, then there is. Tell me. Anything you say won’t change one iota of how I feel about you. Remember? No divorce? Not even if I don’t like something.”

  Jaxon took her hand off his face and kissed her fingers, but she could sense his fear now, it practically choked their connection it was so deep. “Shit, you should never repeat a man’s words—”

  “Back
at him. I know, spill it now!”

  He swallowed several times before he managed to say, “There was a woman once, not my bonded, but I found her, she’d sliced her wrists, and I…”

  “You saved her,” she guessed. “And then?”

  “She killed an entire village to show Gerald how much she wanted him.”

  It took Joey several long seconds to make sense of him past the pain shivering through her veins. Then she sat up, clutching her stomach because it hurt, and slugged him in one big bicep. “You jerk! Do you really think that I’m going to go kill a bunch of people, then beg that disgusting man for a hookup and leave you?”

  Viktor snorted beside them, and Jaxon shot a startled look at the wolf, then at her. Slowly, the silliest grin split his face and he hauled her hard to his chest. “Fuck me, you’re right. Fuck, I’m an idiot—”

  “Jerk, but we’ll discuss this later, huh?” she asked painfully. Immediately, he loosened his hold and eased her back. “You will have to drain me…maybe a few times, okay? And, oh, God, it’s going to be rough…”

  “Stay with me, link with me,” Jaxon demanded.

  “I am. I am.”

  The sensations of burning from the inside out increased, until she began to shiver, her skin crawling. With a powerful burst of pain ripping at her bones, she arched her back off the ground and tried to breathe past the pain. Quicker than she could comprehend it happening, she shifted to fur and her body twisted, becoming more feline.

  “Fuck! Joey!”

  “I’m here, I’m here. Ah, God, that hurt!”

  Jaxon sat back and stared at her, then at Viktor. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

  She raised her hand—paw—and touched his arm. “Don’t freak out. If you freak out I will too.”

  “Shit, shit—”

  “Jaxon!” Joey watched him blink a few times, draw a hand through his dark hair and breathe out deeply before he reached out and touched her head. Their bond was still strong, so she experienced his shock, but she needed him to be strong for her. He nodded as if she’d said that in their mind speech, and frowned at her, examining her body from head to tail.

  “Damn, we have to think of—”

  She knew he was going to say something other than draining her blood, but she had absolutely no urge to argue with him. She wanted back to being her—not a cat her.

  “Jaxon! I’m fine. I’m fine. There’s no more pain. But I sense the others, they are waiting. They’ve found shelter. Come, come on and once we are there? You drain me because I am not becoming a house cat!”

  His expression grew intense at her words, and he sent her a warm sensation that reminded her of a hug. “Ah, wildcat, I love you.”

  “Cut me and let me bleed out! The blood is infected, Jaxon. I can’t let you drink it, and you promised.”

  After several seconds of silence, he finally said, “Joey says the changelings are up ahead. Follow her, and keep your nose peeled for that bastard.”

  Panic rippled through her at the idea of Gerald still being around—let alone after them. “Oh, shit, you think Gerald is still after us?”

  “No, don’t worry over him. We get to the changelings, and I’ll do my part. You, I may never let out of my sight again.”

  “This was so not my fault.”

  “No, this wasn’t your fault. This is the fucked-up world I tried to keep away from you.”

  She stood and tested her new paws, finding it odd that she still felt as if she were human, but obviously wasn’t. It was almost like she wore a mask over her body. A four-legged body mask with whiskers and a tail, but still, it was like she’d always been a cat. The thought freaked her out.

  Jaxon tipped her head up, and stared down at her with such a serious look, she wanted to hug him. “You okay to move like this?”

  “I think so. And for the record? I’m in your world now and plan to stay. Besides, I did good, didn’t I? I mean for my first time and all?”

  Grinning, he shook his head before he sobered and stood to scan the area, then turned to her with a signal to move out. They both started walking. She was so quiet, it was like being sneaky. Her sense of smell had grown so intense, she could determine exactly how far the changelings were from them. She could also hear better and thought she detected Viktor’s every footfall.

  “You were fantastic. You fried a demon, darlin’.”

  At first, she thought Jaxon referred to her new skills as a cat person, but she realised with a surge of happiness that he meant her battle skills. She felt like her face split in a grin, but with her cat features, she wasn’t so sure how she looked. Jaxon’s smile grew, so he must be sneaking into her thoughts more deeply. Or he could read cat body language.

  “I sure did. That bitch would not go down!”

  “No shit, they never do.”

  “What? You could have told me that—”

  He stopped her mid-rant with a hand on her head. She scented the changelings closer. Viktor had stopped ahead of them, his head down, seeming to confer with the other Lykae.

  “You were scared enough, now—ah, shit, I think we’re here. This better work.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Jaxon settled next to Joey on the dirt floor of the cave, making certain that Viktor and the other male Lykae were standing guard between them and the entrance. The changelings surrounded them, all watching him with Joey. None of them had interfered with him bringing her inside. It was almost as if they’d been waiting for them. Still, the dozen or so beasts made him nervous. He had no idea what species they had been prior to the change, and worse, if any of them were Death Stalkers posing as changelings. The intel on the Death Stalker cells and this new, twisted, forced change was limited. Worse, there was no time to figure anything out because Joey needed him.

  “Are you certain of this?”

  “I am.”

  She sounded so normal, so confident. He swallowed tightly, and rubbed his hand over her soft fur. “You make a beautiful wildcat, like a small snow leopard.”

  “Well, thank you, but I’m not staying this way. I think you owe me a real bonding ceremony with chocolate, champagne and cherry burgundy on ice—or you.”

  The snap to her tone made him smile. His wildcat. She was so strong, so damn brave. He knew she was in shock, and worse, frightened, but she tried to hide it—for him. Shit, she killed him. “Right, I can see where this wouldn’t work with that.”

  She lifted a small paw, settled it on his chest, right over his heart, and forced him to meet her eyes. Hers burned with an intensity and intelligence that felled him. But what she wanted…

  “Jaxon, please, just begin. I’m crawling with nerves here, waiting on you to do this!”

  He snorted and rubbed her head. “Let me first deal with our audience.”

  She relaxed back on her four feet, and turned her head to regard the group of changelings. “Yes, tell them what you’re attempting.”

  Feeling worse by the second, Jaxon still spoke to Viktor first. “Vik, get ready to be on guard here.”

  Viktor rose from where he’d sprawled out next to them. He tilted his head at Joey, then stared at the wolf next to him, then back to Jaxon.

  “Look, she says I have to drain her. She thinks it’s the blood keeping her trapped in the beast form. Well, maybe for you it’s the collar,” he added, with a grin at the two wolves.

  Viktor snorted and the other wolf shook his head marginally. Who the guy was, Jaxon didn’t know, but if they could get to a witch, they might get those collars off.

  “Just stay focused. This will make her weak, and until I do this, we’re stuck here.”

  Viktor nodded. Alongside him, the other wolf did the same. Beyond them, the changelings watched him with eerie silence, from perches all over the silent cave.

  “Jaxon. Now, please.”

  “Now, hold on to me with your mind.”

  “I always will, Jaxon. I always will.”

  He didn’t flinch, but sliced her paw deep, hitting the vein bene
ath the fur quickly. She tensed, but through their bond, she remained steady. He soothed her in her mind as best he could telling her how beautiful she was to him and how much he needed her. In response, she did something that reminded him of her snuggling closer to him, if she could do such a thing in his mind.

  “Your mind is amazing, Jax.”

  “Really? Did you check out my porn?”

  “Oh…porn…”

  He loved this woman. She fit him. There’d been a moment back there when they’d worked as one, as if they’d been together centuries instead of mere days. She was his and even more, he could sense he was hers. Gradually, her body grew heavy and limp with the loss of blood.

  “That’s it, almost there, then I will give you my blood.”

  “Mmm, I feel a bit on display here, Jaxon.”

  “I doubt we could get them to leave, Joey. Not now.”

  She began to fade and Jaxon calmed his instinctual panic. Pulling her head to his lap with one hand, he bit his other wrist deep, placing the cut at her mouth immediately after and forcing the blood past her lips. She didn’t respond at first until she licked at his flesh and finally sank her fangs in and drew from him. He let her drink for a few more minutes before he gently pulled her from his wrist. “Joey?”

  “Again. It might take two more tries, though.”

  He stared at her feline features and pulled her knowledge from their bond. She was convinced this was the only way. Her surety calmed his growing unease, but he still asked, “Two more?”

  “Yes, two more. Can you supply that much blood?”

  “Viktor, I’m going to need blood.”

  Viktor gave him a look as if he’d lost his mind, but stared at Joey then at him and shook himself.

  “Yeah, believe me, I didn’t want to ask.”

  “Oh, Jax, I love you so much.”

  Shocked, he finally spluttered, “This makes you say that? Sharing blood with a mangy wolf?”

  “Yes.”

  “You’re insane, woman.”

  “I know, that’s why you love me.”

  “I do, I love you, crazy cat. Now, once more. Same paw, or…?”