by Dodge, Lola
I kicked a door out of the van’s ceiling. Panther sprawled on the ground, barred in by a circle of ice spears. He’d been hit, but how badly?
Kevan whirled my way. “Lady Valdís. Are you h—”
I punched him under the ribs. His spear shattered against the ground as he fell gasping to his knees.
“How dare you raise your spear against my creature?” I yanked his chin up, forcing him to meet my gaze. “You kill innocents and betray your princess. Where is your honor?”
“No…I—” Kevan couldn’t catch his breath. He knew what I was going to do to him.
I’d never dreamed of using my true power. It had passed to me through my mother and back through time from the Goddess herself. So long I’d tried to cut myself away from it, but now my blood demanded justice. It was my duty to call back the power that Kevan and the others abused.
The result would not be pleasant for me. All four were fully grown warriors. It was a lot of power.
“We are…loyal to you…my lady.” Kevan lifted his hands to plead.
“I live among humans now.” I cupped his chin. “You slaughtered my people. You are no longer one of my tribe.”
Kevan’s shoulders jerked. Perhaps he’d found some remorse, but it was too late for mercy.
A cold well nestled at the center of his being. I reached for it, and with the same twist it took to draw ice into my body, I tugged at the chill.
It bled into me like the year’s first snowflakes, slowly at first, then thicker and heavier until a blizzard of power whirled. Too much to contain. Ice crept up my arms and frost blossomed at my feet.
Kevan fell limp in the patch of frozen grass. Not dead, though he may wish for death without his powers. He was simply human now.
The other three tried to run.
Columns of ice sprang up at my will, freezing their legs mid-stride. I couldn’t remember their names. Better that way. They no longer existed to me.
Three more times, I took ice into my body. When four bodies lay motionless around me, I shattered the spears of Panther’s prison. I couldn’t feel the energy from the fifth man, but by the blood on Panther’s muzzle, he was already dead. I knelt at the big cat’s side, sickened by the horror of his wounds.
Goddess help me.
So much power. So cold. It screamed and blustered inside. Snowflakes blotted my vision. Where did the power end and I begin? My thoughts tangled in the swirl.
Something warm touched my fingers. Wet and rough. Panther lapped my fingers with his tongue. He could barely open his eyes, yet he offered me comfort.
I stroked the velvety fur at his nose. “You’ll be fine. I’ll find help.”
He purred, but the sound shifted into a heart-tearing wheeze. How many creatures had I seen slain this way? Thousands? In all my years, I’d never been so rocked by the sight of blood. It slicked his fur like oil, dark and ominous.
He couldn’t end this way. Not such a beautiful creature.
Not my Panther.
What good was this energy if I couldn’t save him? That was my answer. I would save him.
As gently as I could, I froze over his wounds. His haunches twitched with the pain, and I flinched, but better pain than death. Burns matted the fur around his collars. With a touch, I iced its locking mechanism, and it fell away.
Panther didn’t shift back to human. It took all his willpower to keep breathing.
He could not die.
I conjured a column of ice and flipped the van upright. Its doors were unlocked. Flush with so much power, it was nothing to lift Panther’s weight with a second ice pillar. I eased him onto the wide seat in front. He was too massive for it to be comfortable, but I wouldn’t place him in back where I wouldn’t be able to see him.
We had to hurry.
I vaulted over the van’s hood rather than go around and swung into the driver’s seat. Panther moved his head onto my lap. It was the greatest motion he was capable of.
My poor creature. I rubbed at his head with one hand and started the ignition with the other.
The van bumped and wobbled over the uneven forest floor. I took it slow, but a whimper escaped Panther’s jaws.
This wasn’t fast enough. But what could I do?
I almost cried at the sight of the road. Easing the van across a shallow ditch, I spotted light in the distance.
A town. It would have a hospital. A telephone.
I needed the Ten.
Panther
I couldn’t do more than twitch my whiskers, but the world rattled around me. We hurtled toward somewhere, and I didn’t care much past that.
Ivory was with me.
She stroked my fur and whispered reassurances. She wasn’t hurt.
That was everything.
I stirred when she shifted away from me. Where was she going?
“Shh.” Ivory held my head steady. “I will come back with help.”
I sagged. I couldn’t feel much of my body. Help was probably a good idea. I must’ve drifted out, but Ivory’s yells brought me back.
“…then find someone who can care for him!”
The response didn’t carry, but whatever it was, she didn’t like it.
“Then call for a helicopter. That is Panther of the Manhattan Ten. Do you want his death on your town’s conscience?”
More mumbles.
“Yes, I’m Ivory, and if he dies, you will answer to me.”
I loved when she owned it. Maybe she’d even stay.
If she tried to go home, I’d better die and reincarnate as a snow leopard. Death couldn’t keep me away from her now.
Ivory
The townspeople were idiots. And what sort of backwater village lacked a hospital?
The best they could muster was a veterinarian. The man squinted through his glasses and moved his mouth like a fish—as if he’d never seen a panther before.
It was nothing but a large cat. Someone had to be able to help.
“Give me the phone.”
The vet didn’t back away from me, but by the wideness of his eyes, it was obvious he wanted to. “We called 911—”
Icicles blossomed from my arms until I looked like an arctic porcupine. I couldn’t control it. Too much power swirled inside me, and I feared bottling it would force an explosion. “Not good enough.”
“You can use m-my cell phone…” The man held it out with a shaking hand.
Finally, he was being helpful. But how did I get in touch with the Ten?
“Try 119.” The man finally backed away.
I stalked back to the van, punching the numbers as best I could with ice-crusted fingers.
Every one of Panther’s pained breaths was a javelin to my heart. Hours lived in the moments between those breaths. He could not last forever. I’d stopped his external bleeding with ice, but the wounds were deep, and my power was not for healing.
I needed help.
“Manhattan Ten. What’s your emergency?”
Finally.
“Give me Angel. Now.”
“I’m sorry. She’s in a meet—”
“NOW!” It came out a roar. “Panther’s hurt.”
“One moment.”
“Ivory? What happened?” Tension gripped Angel’s voice. But not panic. That was me.
I wanted to scream with relief. “Please. Panther’s badly injured.”
“What form?”
“What?” Between the searing power and crushing worry, I couldn’t follow.
“Is he human or panther?”
“Panther.”
She cursed in Spanish, but I heard her bustling. She was going to fix this. Angel could fix anything. “Ivory?”
“I’m tracking the call and I’ll have your GPS coordinates in about twenty seconds. Jet will be there a minute after that with a med kit. I’ve got a copter lifting off with our emergency team now. Do you have a doctor there?”
“A vet.”
“Good. He can administer the injections…okay, got you.” Keys click
ed. “And Jet’s on the way.”
“Thank you.” As much as I wanted to sag, I wouldn’t be able to relax until Panther was safe in a hospital.
“Anytime. Bring him home safe.”
“I will.” I clicked the phone and off and stroked Pan’s nose as I waited for Jet. It was the longest minute of my life.
A gust of wind whipped at my clothes and Jet appeared. He clutched a massive bag embroidered with the M-10 logo, but his eyes widened as he spotted Panther.
“Here.” He dropped the kit. “Where’s the doctor?”
“Over there.” The vet had retreated as far from me as he could, ducking into the gas station across the street.
“Got him.” Jet disappeared, and three seconds later he was back, pulling the man’s arm.
“Help Panther.” I gestured to the bag of supplies.
The man tugged away from Jet. “I don’t know what he needs…”
“Couldn’t be easier.” Jet unzipped the kit. It was split into two pockets. One with general supplies like gauze, scissors and tape. The second compartment was jammed with labeled trays of filled syringes.
Thunder. Steel. Panther.
Even one for Ivory.
Jet pulled out Panther’s course. The shots were labeled too. There were treatments for blood loss, shock, poisoning, and radiation. I couldn’t read the drug names, but that much I could understand.
“Ah.” The vet poked through the tubes until he found the ones he wanted. “This’ll do.”
This’ll do?
This was a miracle.
Pan slipped into a deep sleep after he’d been stuck with half the needles in his course of injections. Jet shot around doing something—maybe appeasing the steadily growing crowd of locals—but I wasn’t leaving Panther’s side.
The helicopter blades were the sweetest sound I’d ever heard.
As soon as the copter landed, the medical team jumped for it. I was ready to move Panther with an ice luge, but one of the EMTs was quicker. She levitated him out of the van and onto a waiting gurney.
Technicians hooked him up to IVs and took measurements with a frenzy. They weren’t at all fazed by dealing with a giant panther.
“Don’t worry,” the levitation woman said. “We’ve treated him before. It’s bad, but you saved him, freezing his wounds closed. The drugs will keep him stable until we get back to the tower.”
“Thank you.” All I could do was stroke Panther’s fur and stare. It hadn’t been me who saved him. It was all of the Ten’s resources. If I hadn’t been able to get in touch with Angel…
I would’ve been shattered.
When did Panther become so important to me? His existence was more than an acquaintance, but we weren’t friends. Lovers, perhaps?
Only once, and it had been sensational, but we lacked the level of shared experience that label deserved.
He’d called us partners.
The moment I glimpsed his shifted form, something clicked inside me. We were meant to hunt together. With Panther at my side, there was no game we couldn’t fell. Nothing we couldn’t accomplish.
There was much to learn about the man, but…I wanted to.
“Ah…” The medic touched my shoulder. “Can you step away?”
My icicle spikes grew out of control, edging dangerously close to Panther and the machines that kept him alive.
I bit the power back as far as I could and retreated from the gurney. It caused me physical pain to step away from the helicopter, but I couldn’t endanger Pan by flying along.
I’d been worried my run-in with the Ten would ruin my life among the humans, but in the end, my own people were the ones responsible.
My own powers.
I would never be able to mix with humans again. Perhaps not even super humans. Where was my place now?
The helicopter lifted into the air. Panther had to recover.
When he did, we would have a talk about places.
First, I had unfinished business.
“Not going along?” Jet appeared at my side.
“I can’t.” As if he couldn’t see the six-inch icicles that sprouted from my arms. “Do you have to get back?”
“No hurry. Why?”
“You can help me round up the ones who did this to him. The ones responsible for the other murders.”
Jet rubbed his hands together, and a dark smile twisted his striking features. “Race you there?”
I rolled my eyes. “Follow me.”
We were halfway there before I realized I was playing part of the team.
But was that good, or bad?
Panther
Machines beeped. I was moved and jostled. Everything hurt, but the pain was good. Time passed and drugs washed into my system.
When I finally came to, sunlight streamed through my window. Manhattan skyline. I was home. In the medical suite, but still home.
It took effort, but I turned my head. Tank sat at my bedside, working his way through a newspaper. I was grateful, but his wasn’t the face I wanted to see.
“Where is she?”
“Roof. Trying to get her powers under control.” Tank’s newspaper rustled. “And I’m cheating by saying this, but if she wasn’t afraid of hurting you, she’d be the one in this chair.”
Damn. I needed to see her. Needed to touch her and mark her with my scent. I hated that Tank knew things about her that I didn’t.
Tank sighed. “Think you guys can keep the thoughts down enough that I don’t have to flee the state?”
“No promises.” I yanked out my IV and hopped off the bed. Not smart. I wobbled but grabbed a chair before I bit it. After a few shaky steps, my feet moved better. But not perfect. Super or not, major blood loss stung. So did medical staples.
I shambled to the elevator and hauled my way up the last set of stairs to the roof. I smelled her before I saw her.
Ivory’s scent was amplified. It was her own icy-sweetness multiplied by a thousand, and it was as tempting as it was frightening. She’d been powerful before, but now her energy crackled.
Turning the corner, I skipped a breath.
It was a winter wonderland in the middle of Manhattan. Snowbanks mounded the roof and Ivory lay in the middle of it all. A snow angel.
My snow angel.
Ice scaled over her arms like armor. She took deep breaths and it receded, but more snowflakes fell from the sky.
I didn’t want to disturb her, but I had to hear her voice. “Having trouble?”
As she jerked, icy spikes pin-cushioned her body. Good thing I hadn’t tried to jump her.
A few more deep breaths and the ice melted away. “You’re well?” She ignored my question.
“Fine.” And I was. In front of Ivory, the pain and weakness all flowed away. I pushed through snow, breaking a path toward her. “You saved me.”
“No.” She stood and a cascade of sparkling ice shed from her. “You saved me. I would’ve been transported home like a log for my mother’s hearth.”
“You’re the princess?”
“Not anymore.”
My chest clenched, but I had to know. “Will you go home? To confront her? Or back to your old life…”
“I fear I have no home.” She lifted a hand that glistened with ice, and waved it over the wintry roof-scape. “I took the power from Kevan and the others, and we turned them over to the police. I wouldn’t have been welcomed before that, and now…I can’t control it.”
My pulse sped. Maybe… “Say it again.”
“What?” Ivory’s brow wrinkled.
“You lost control.”
“I lost all control.”
That was exactly what I wanted to hear. “About time.”
Ivory
Panther’s smile heated my blood. Goddess, it was amazing to see him on his feet. Waiting for him to heal had been agonizing. I’d thought…
But here he was, up and needling me again. I’d even missed that.
“You’re pleased?”
“I�
�m fucking ecstatic.” Panther plowed through the snow until he loomed in front of me.
“I’m dangerous.” So much energy clamored inside me. I had to vent it constantly or worry I’d wake to find Manhattan buried in a few feet of unseasonable snow. I’d spend the rest of my life on the edge, always close to losing myself to the torrent of ice.
“So am I.” His fangs extended. “We all are.”
“But you control your beast. It doesn’t control you.”
“Ruin fried our flat screen last week and Nil ashed his computer. Hell, Cyclone floods his floor every other day. No one expects us to be perfect.”
A wisp of hope grew inside me. But… “The workers in your office. And the police and other humans you work with. It’s not safe for me to be around them.”
“So don’t be. There’s no rush. Figure out how to handle it, and in the meantime, the Boss will keep you honest. We’ve got an investigation to finish together, right?”
Tank. I’d forgotten his ability to suppress my powers. I’d thought it an annoyance, but now it was a blessing. He could stop me from causing harm. And Pan was right. We’d taken care of Kevan, but the hateful masterminds who wanted all supers dead were still out there. Maybe I could have a purpose.
“And you?” I shook another layer of ice off my shoulders. “You’ll be in the most danger if you stay close to me.”
“You won’t hurt me.” Panther leaned down until our eyes were level. “And fair warning, this is about how close I plan to stay. I’ll help you deal with whatever you need to deal with.”
As warmth spread through my limbs, some of the ice melted. “Am I truly welcome here?”
“Valdís.” Panther touched my cheek. “Anywhere I am, I’ll make a place for you.”
“Call me Ivory.” I covered his hand with my own and heat soaked into my skin. “I need a fresh start.”
“You’ll stay?”
“Yes.” Where else would I go? I belonged neither with the ice people, nor with normal humans.
Panther understood what it was to be in-between. Both of us were too wild, and as a pair…we fit.
He offered me a hand. I was quite capable of walking on my own, but I didn’t want to when I could stay connected to him. As soon as he had me in his grasp, he growled and swung me off my feet. No man had ever been able to do that.
“Since we’re starting fresh, you might as well move down to the tenth floor. Better lighting down there.” Panther kicked open the roof door.
