by Autumn Dawn
Xera strode through, calling Brandy’s name. “We need your input for what we’re going to do tonight!” She spoke loudly to the air, assuming her sister was inside. After all, there were only so many places a girl on house arrest could go. Besides, there was a light on at Brandy’s desk, at the end of the vats.
As they got closer, they could see the back of Brandy’s chair. Their sister was sitting at her desk, facing away from them. She didn’t respond to their calls.
“Are you sleeping?” Xera muttered when she got close enough. She spun Brandy’s chair around, then gasped. Brandy’s head lolled to the side. Her eyes were blank and staring. Gem felt her gorge rise.
Xera cursed and felt for a pulse. “She’s alive!”
“Yes, but not for long,” a new voice said.
The lights went out.
Blue’s plants were doing even better than he’d hoped. Pleased, he entered the kitchen, eager to tell Gem all about it. He had high hopes for the girl. She might have grown up a tavern owner, and disavowed all knowledge of gardening, but she was smart and extremely interested in everything he did.
She enjoyed hearing about his experiments and plans—probably because they were business-related, and she had a particularly apt mind for business—and encouraged him to try out many new ideas, as long as he didn’t discard what worked in the process. Cautious, she was. She’d never have made the risky investments that had led to his success, but her slow and steady approach had reaped its own rewards and he didn’t fault her. He was more cautious these days as well. A man was less inclined to make omelets with his nest egg.
She wasn’t in the taproom, but Azor and Zsak had come in. He greeted both men with surprise. “Hey! You didn’t tell me you were getting out of the hospital.” Since a hug was out of the question, even if he hadn’t been afraid Zsak’s arm would fall off, he settled for a hearty (opposite arm) forearm clasp.
Zsak grinned. He looked a bit pale but otherwise sturdy. “I couldn’t take it anymore. I threatened mayhem if they didn’t let me out. Luckily, Azor stopped in and gave me a ride back here.”
Azor looked unhappy. “I wouldn’t have visited if I’d known he would go AWOL at the first sight of someone he knew. He jumped out of bed and demanded his clothes.”
“I would have walked out in that stupid gown if they hadn’t fetched them,” Blue’s partner said without remorse. “Azor was a handy ride. Wasn’t going to pass that up.” He plopped a bag on the bar and spoke to Jaq. “Hey, stick these somewhere safe, could you? They loaded me up with enough meds to choke a donkey.”
He glanced around and said to Blue, “Where’s your lady? I want to tease her about marrying you when she could have had me.”
Blue snorted but wondered the same thing. “I was just looking for her. She and her sister went hunting for Brandy. Have you seen any of them, Jaq?”
Jaq shook his head as he wiped the bar. “Haven’t seen Brandy since first thing this morning. Said she was going to be in the brewery. They probably found her there.”
Blue got a sudden uneasy feeling in his gut. It was probably nothing, just déjà vu. After all, he’d been to the brewery a couple of times since they’d found Brandy and Jean Luc, and nothing bad had happened.
Azor and Zsak stilled at his expression. Cops themselves, they were attuned more to his unease than to any other stimulus. Paranoia ran in the profession.
“You want me to come with you?” Zsak offered.
“You’re in no condition to handle trouble,” Azor said with a dismissive glance. “I’ll go.”
Blue tried to wave them off. “It’s fine, guys. There’s probably nothing wrong. Why would there be?”
“Well, why don’t we use the security system to check for them? Rather than running around looking, we can screen the whole premises. I’ve got time, and Gimpy here isn’t doing anything special,” Azor suggested reasonably. Though he didn’t say it, he may have thought, as Blue did, that manning the security system would keep the still-recovering Zsak out of harm’s way. He had no business getting physical if there was something wrong.
“Hey!” Zsak protested the nickname Gimpy, but was ignored.
“If you’re determined,” was all Blue said, but privately he was glad for the backup. His paranoia had paid dividends more than once, and these guys had likely benefited from similar gut instincts.
Minutes later they were searching each of the security screens Blue had set up, while the office manager looked on in mild annoyance. They’d have to move this stuff one of these days. Although the need was no longer acute, Blue was a firm believer in good security. However, that didn’t mean it necessarily belonged in the manager’s office.
“There,” Zsak said quietly. “They are in the brewery. Or at least Brandy and Xera are.” And it was worse than Blue’s instinct had imagined.
He took a steadying breath. He could just see Brandy lolling in her chair near her desk, either seriously hurt or dead. She stared at the ceiling with a vacant expression. Xera was on the floor next to her, her arms bound behind her back. She’d been secured to one of the heavy legs of a nearby bench. She had a killing expression on her face, and she stared intently at something or someone.
Zsak panned the camera around. He stood straighter as it passed over Gem. She was upright against a pipe, her arms behind her. Her eyes tracked someone just out of sight, surely the same person at whom Xera had been leveling such loathing.
Zsak adjusted the view. “No way!”
“Kiyl?” Blue clenched his fist in shock. He wanted to wrap it around the man’s throat.
“But…he’s dead,” Azor said. “We saw him die.”
“We saw a flash. Your men and his body disappeared. But that’s him, Azor,” Blue murmured.
Azor nodded. “He duped us, somehow. That flash must have been a distraction, and maybe he changed form and flew away. Amazing—even jacked up on drugs, he shouldn’t have been conscious after being shot with a stunner like that. I wonder what he used to counter the effect?” He got out his communicator to call for backup.
Zsak shook his head. “Some kind of military hardware, maybe? What I want to know is, is there anyone else in there now?”
There was someone else present. In the shadows behind Kiyl they spotted another Kiuyian, but it was Match, and he was secured like Gem. His head lolled forward. He twitched from time to time, as if fighting for consciousness.
“Out!” Azor ordered The Spark’s office manager; Tam Rasheed would just be another body in the way when his men arrived. He looked at Zsak. “Put your earset on. You’re coordinator. I want you feeding my team data as they converge. Keep Blue and me updated. We’re going in.”
Blue was already opening a locker and extracting equipment he’d stashed there a month earlier. Guns and dragonskin riot gear armor were soon piled on the couch. Azor looked impressed.
Zsak shushed them and dialed up the volume on the security camera before he fumbled with an earset, putting it on one-handed. They could all hear talking.
“—was going to leave them like this and call in a tip, but this is too good to pass up. Why settle for ruining your sister when I can kill you all?” Kiyl’s eyes gleamed in excitement as he paced. His skin was scaled with dragonskin, like it had been when he’d fought Zsak. He’d transformed his hands into having freakishly long fingers with razor-sharp claws, and he waved one of those in Gem’s face. “Do you know how painful it was to regrow this hand, you little bitch? Your boyfriend will pay for that.”
“Leave her alone,” Match mumbled. It was barely audible. He couldn’t lift his head.
Kyil laughed and turned toward his fellow Kiuyian. “What’s that, shatungu? I don’t take orders from a useless piece of meat like you. You can’t even change, can you? Even your little brother is more of a man than you. No wonder your father hates you.” It was apparent the two knew each other, or Kiyl had taken the time to scout the neighbors. Something personal like this, though…It seemed Kiyl knew someone in the househo
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“What’d he call him?” Zsak asked.
Azor looked grim. “It means ‘Man who can’t change.’”
“Plan?” Blue prompted as he finished strapping on his armor. He had a gun but was smart enough not to run out, guns blazing. He knew his wasn’t the coolest head just then. Azor was many things, including calm under pressure, so he was the right man from whom to seek advice. Besides, he was a Kiuyian.
Unwisely, Match returned an insult. Maybe the drugs had diminished his judgment. Either way, Kiyl grabbed his hair and yanked his head back to expose Match’s throat.
“Haven’t you learned not to taunt a hunter? Your kind isn’t fit to live. Pitiful throwbacks. I should kill you, but…” Kiyl suddenly smiled, and it was a chilling sight. “Maybe I’ll make sure you can’t breed instead.” He stepped back and raked his claws down in a sudden flash.
Match screamed. The attack had created a shallow trench of blood over his belly and down the front of his pants. Kiyl stood back, watching him thrash.
“We can’t wait for backup. I’ll provide the distraction,” Azor said in a sudden decision. “Blue, go to the front of the brewery and wait for Zsak’s signal. I’ll slip in the back.”
“That could be dangerous if he sees you. He might kill someone,” Blue warned.
Azor’s smile seemed strangely amused. “I believe he’ll be too busy. He’ll never be able to resist.”
Gem stared, desperately wishing she could stop the blood. Even with Kiyl’s drugs in him, the pain must have been bad. Match kept moaning like a wounded animal.
Kiyl moved near her, unholy satisfaction in every line of his face. “You see what I do to your friends? Imagine what I’ll do to your boyfriend,” he promised.
“What did I do to you?” she replied.
He grabbed her chin, his long fingers making a cage around her head. “You stopped sending out Pax. I was getting filthy rich off the stuff. Plus, it was my favorite drug. Nothing like it. You snatched it away and then sicced the cops on us. You’re a bad luck charm, lady, and you’re going to pay.”
Gem tried to keep her voice even. “Didn’t you follow the trial? We were found innocent. My sisters and I didn’t really have anything to do with the Pax—that was all Jean Luc.”
He gave her a shove that banged her head against the pipe. His disgust was apparent, as was a small seed of admiration. “Yes, I saw that was reported. You paid them off. My father did it all the time.” His eyes turned savage at the reminder. “Your cop boyfriend sicced them on him.”
Clearly, there was no reasoning with him. One moment there was lucidity, the next, pure demon. The Kiuyian had cooked his brain on one too many chemical cocktails, it seemed, and now he was dangerously unpredictable. Not that he’d been safe beforehand.
Someone entered through the back. The sound of the opening door was so unexpected that everyone looked—everyone but Kiyl. He immediately jumped for Gem and placed his claws in a delicate position. “Step wrong and she’ll be smiling through her throat,” he snarled at the shadows.
“Hey, man, it’s just me,” a youthful voice said. Match’s brother Bijo appeared, stepping into the light. He glanced nervously around. “Hey, I thought you were just after the cop. What are all these guys doing here?”
“None of your business. Why did you follow me?” Kiyl demanded. Losing interest in Gem, he stalked toward the boy.
Bijo started to speak, then caught sight of his brother. “What did you do to him?” he shrieked.
Kiyl intercepted the boy before he could reach Match. “Don’t interfere.”
“You told me you’d leave us alone if I helped you!”
Kiyl showed his teeth. “I lied. If you’re not careful, you’re next. Lucky for you, I still have a use for you.”
Bijo shook his head and cursed.
Kiyl backhanded the boy, sending him skidding across the room. “You need a lesson in manners, kid.” He took a step forward. But then another sound, one from somewhere in the pipes, caught his attention. He looked toward the vats. A pair of beady eyes blinked at him from the shadows.
Gem blinked, for she saw the same thing as her enemy. It was a green rabbit with outlandishly long legs and ears like salad scoops. She had no idea how it had gotten inside her inn.
Kiyl stared for a moment, then laughed. “What’s this? Has your daddy come to see what’s become of his boys? Is that the best you can do?” he called loudly to the rabbit. “You full-bloods are so proud of your purity, and this is your best? A rabbit! Compared to you, I’m a god! Watch what a bastard can do, old man.” In moments he became a lean, armored carnivore of some type that Gem had never seen. His gray hide was covered with thick plates, and spines ridged his back. He leapt forward on four legs, black teeth snapping.
The rabbit released a horrible scream and bounced away. Kiyl gave chase, laughing maniacally.
Bijo used the distraction to leap toward his brother, pulling a knife and slitting the rope around Match’s hands, then caught him as he fell. Ignoring the noise of the terrified animal, he slung one of Match’s hands over his shoulder and dragged his brother toward the door.
Just before he reached it, the door burst open. “Get down!” Blue hissed, running inside, his gun leveled at the boy’s chest. Bijo instantly obeyed, though he tried to go easy with his brother. Match groaned as they both fell. There was another horrible screech; then all went quiet.
Blue sprinted to Gem and cut her loose. He pressed his knife into her hand and pushed her gently toward her sisters. “I’ll cover you,” he said softly. “Try to get them out.”
Kiyl, still in the carnivore form, slowly stalked out of the shadows. He shifted just enough to stand on his hind legs and speak. “Here you are, cop,” he crowed. “I thought I was going to eat your girl before you even got here.”
“Kiyl,” Blue replied. “I’d have thought you would give up by now. You know there’s no way out.”
Kiyl’s lips parted in a horrible black grin. “I’m invincible, fool. I got away once and I’ll do it again. I even grew back my hand.” He waggled his freakish claws in illustration. “I’m a god…a god of death.”
But the death god didn’t see what Blue was hiding. Bijo was behind him, and he was changing. The boy had talent. It only took him seconds to become a two-legged lizard with massive jaws and a powerful, clubbed tail. Only his arms remained humanoid, but they were clawed and thick with muscle.
He launched himself at Kiyl without warning. One snap of his jaws engulfed Kiyl’s entire head, and the shape-shifted boy clamped harder as the villain thrashed. He even shook his head back and forth, flinging Kiyl’s body around like a dog would a chew toy. Finally the Kiuyian’s body landed some feet away with a sick, meaty sound. Bijo stared at him for a moment and then spat out Kiyl’s head. It landed facedown with a wet thud. Blue could hear someone being sick. He felt a little off himself.
Bijo resumed the shape of a scrawny teen with a bloodstained mouth. He stared at Blue, then hurried over to his brother.
Again, the door burst open. Cops swarmed in. Bijo was forced to the floor before Blue called them off. Medics followed close behind.
Blue turned to his wife and family to see the damage. Xera was free and scowling as medics swarmed over Brandy. Gem’s youngest sister seemed mostly fine now, although she didn’t enjoy the medics’ attention. She kept insisting she was okay.
Gem hurried close for a hug. The embrace was brief if heartfelt. “I’ve got to find Azor,” Blue told her, and raced toward the vats where the rabbit had disappeared.
His friend and colleague lay naked on the floor in the shadows. His long green hair spilled loose and blood streamed out of bone-deep claw marks on his thigh, shoulder and back. Blue yelled for the medics.
Azor smiled grimly. “Is he dead?”
“The neighbor kid got him. Bijo,” Blue explained.
Azor grunted. “I saw him when I was still outside, heading for the door. Kid got involved before I could warn him.”
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“Relax—he came in useful.” Blue paused, then asked, puzzled, “Why a rabbit?”
Azor grinned. “I told you he’d never be able to resist. If I’d come in looking like a bigger monster than he was…” He trailed off as the medics swarmed him, flinched at their bright lights and ministering hands.
Blue got the drift. If Azor had challenged him with brute force, the killer might have tried to hide behind his hostages. Only by offering him an even more attractive prey had Azor been able to ensure that they could get Kiyl away from his captives. Smart.
When the storm of cops and medical personnel finally cleared, the Harrisdaughter family gathered in their apartments. Zsak had followed Azor to the hospital for the first watch. The medics had decided to let Brandy’s system clear itself of Kiyl’s drugs without intervention, because that was the safest route. As soon as she was able, however, her sisters vowed to take her to the hospital. She was impatient to see Match.
“It could have been much worse,” Blue explained. “From what I understand, Match should be able to regenerate much of his missing…parts…with a little help. They still have to patch him up and stop the bleeding, though. And infection is always a problem without medicine.” Blue held Gem on his lap as she sipped hot tea. They’d been sitting that way for quite a while. He wasn’t in the mood to let go.
She stirred. “We should go to the hospital.”
His arms tightened. “Not yet. Zsak will let us know as soon as our friends are ready for company. It’s just as easy to wait here. Besides, Jamir is still trying to soothe your shock with food. You wouldn’t want to duck out on his mothering, would you? He hasn’t even finished the cookies yet!”
She made a face at him, but his joke lightened the moment. She shivered, and he knew she was remembering how Kiyl had died.
“Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy,” he suggested. “The bastard was destined for a bad end. I’m just sorry you had to see it.”
