Shifters And Glyphs

by Bauer, Christina;

  I go low on my haunches, my back legs braced against the half-broken wall.

  Bring on another mass attack. I’m ready.

  The scent of rage grows stronger as the pack closes in. Once the alpha’s front claws scrape against my muzzle, I leap into the air and over the pack. The group of wolves can’t stop their momentum. All six of them slam into the same wall; it shatters.

  We now have two busted walls and a very rickety farmhouse.

  The sound of snapping wood fills the air. The corner posts on one side of the room buckle. The floorboards above my head sag.

  Not long now before the whole place collapses. All around me, the weathered boards creak and shudder. Good. All I need is for the place to fall apart. It will be the perfect opportunity for me to counterattack.

  “Fight with your heads, boys,” growls the light gray wolf. “You watch sheep; you don’t act like them. Stop following her around. Attack like a pack.”

  This shocks me for three reasons. First, it’s a pretty rare shifter who can talk in their animal form. And second, this guy speaks English. Also unexpected. Third, he’s asking them not just to chase me around and slam into the walls anymore. That really throws a monkey wrench into my number-one plan for winning this battle.

  Crud.

  The wolves fan out to encircle me, which really gets my adrenaline pumping. Elle and I watch our share of Jackie Chan movies. We always love it when twenty ninjas go after the hero at once. Jackie takes them all down in like thirty seconds, flat.

  But in reality? That’s incredibly hard to do. I try to keep them all in my line of sight, but that just ends up with me twisting about in circles.

  I’m panting now. This is really bad.

  “Close in slowly, boys,” says the alpha.

  The wolves keep circling me in ever-smaller loops. This won’t end well for me unless I do something quickly. Leaning back on my haunches, I prepare to try another leap over their heads.

  And that’s when the roof decides to fall in.

  Ceiling beams snap. Floorboards collapse. Someone’s massive sleigh bed falls right on my back. Ouch. A ceiling beam slams onto the back of my head. White-hot hurt explodes behind my eyes. Dizzy with pain, I try to get up, but some of the wolves have jumped onto the massive piece of furniture that’s across my back. Plus, that massive beam isn’t giving an inch. With all my strength, I twist and writhe.

  Nothing helps.

  My wolf, who’d been pretty quiet through the battle, decides that now is a good time to give strategic advice.

  “Shift back into human form,” urges my inner animal. “They won’t expect it.”

  “Neither will my spine,” I reply in my mind. “Or the back of my skull.”

  The alpha strides into my line of sight. “Good thing we were warned about you.” His eyes flare with golden light. “No one comes to steal our flock, you hear?”

  I buck even harder, but it doesn’t help. I’m pinned down tightly. Plus, twisting about only makes the ceiling beam press harder onto the back of my head. I can’t even open my jaw enough to speak.

  The alpha strides closer. “I hate to make an example of you, considering how you’re a woman and all, but a deal’s a deal.” Leaping forward, he sinks his teeth into the tender flesh of my neck. The copper tang of blood fills my senses.

  My inner wolf howls with agony and terror.

  This is where I die. No, please, no.

  Outside the ruined farmhouse, the storm grows fiercer. Fresh bolts of lightning strike grounds, casting flickering shadows around the room. From the corner of my eye, I see what looks like a huge black wolf leap through the ruined wall, his massive form highlighted by a bolt of lightning.

  Knox is here!

  A sense of joy balloons through my soul. Somehow, when I needed him most, Knox found me. Inside my heart, my inner wolf howls with glee.

  “Mate!” she cries. “We love our maaaaaaaaaate!”

  Fast as a heartbeat, Knox tears into the wolves pinning me down. One by one, he flings the shifters off my back. After that, my mate clamps down on the alpha’s neck, tearing him away from me.

  My inner wolf howls with glee. “Our mate is here! He saved us!”

  I’d howl as well, if I didn’t have so much blood loss to worry about.

  With the wolves off me, Knox kicks away the beam and mattress. He leans in and checks out my neck. “Bry, are you okay?”

  Before I can answer, the other wolves race toward us, ready to counterattack.

  In response, Knox’s entire body shines with golden light and magic. “Enough!” he cries. Waves of alpha energy radiate off him, making the entire room tremble. Floorboards creak. Broken bits of glass jingle in their shattered frames. The air shimmers with waves of power. As Knox’s alpha energy reaches the other wolves, they freeze in place.

  “I’ll say this one last time,” growls Knox. “Back off my mate, or I will kill you.” A final burst of alpha power shimmies through the air. After that, Knox releases his magic. My mate’s fur returns to its regular shade of black.

  For a long moment, there’s only the rain, lightning, and no one moving. Then the other alpha tilts his head. “Knox, is that you? We haven’t seen you since we all hunted Denarii together.” The alpha shakes his head again. “That can’t be you.”

  Knox scrapes the floorboards with his front claws. “You know another huge black wolf who can kick all your asses in thirty seconds or less?”

  “Damn,” says the alpha. “And this shifter here … is she really your mate?”

  Knox growls out one more word: “Yes.” He turns to me. “Are you all right?”

  I force myself back onto my legs. “I’m feeling better. Good to see you.”

  An awkward moment follows where Knox and I stare at each other. The air becomes thick with emotion. Joy that we’re together. Fear for our future. And in my case, a healthy dose of guilt.

  “I’m sorry,” I say in a low voice. All of a sudden, I can’t help but stare at how my claws scrape against the floor. “I shouldn’t have run off without you.”

  Knox steps closer. “No worries. Az can be very convincing with his all-knowing Gandalf routine. I get it.” He nuzzles into my neck, sending warmth through my core. “But you’re my mate, and no one, not even Azizi, can change that.”

  In the movie of my life, I’d have a great speech for this moment. But this is me, not a film, so I can only smile and lick his muzzle. “Okay.”

  “Good.” Leaning in, Knox nuzzles my neck more deeply, and I sigh. Nearby, one of the weres clears his throat.

  Oops. I forgot about them.

  “Sorry about your neck,” says Bo.

  Knox steps back and checks my neck again. “It’s almost healed. Bo here isn’t a very efficient killer, thankfully.” Knox shoots an angry look at the alpha.

  Bo’s tail goes under his legs. “She was coming here after our sheep.”

  “And who told you that?” snarls Knox.

  Bo’s ears go flat against his head. “That would be …”

  “Let me guess,” growls Knox. “Ty.”

  “That’s right.”

  It’s been a day for shocking news, but this one still floors me. I focus on Knox. “Do you mean the Ty?” Is there anyone who doesn’t know Knox’s ex?

  Knox nods. “My guess? She engineered this whole thing so I’d have to pay attention to her. Ty called me in New York and said you were about to be attacked at Boucle-Roux.”

  “And I came here because she told me she has the Codex Mechanica,” I say.

  Knox’s eyes narrow. “She probably does. Ty loves to collect rare stuff.”

  Bo crouches against the floor. I have to hand it to the guy. When he goes for a grovel, he’s all in. “Look, Knox. We didn’t know she was your mate. Ty called us and told us a fierce warrior was after our sheep. She even said the scents would be misleading. In exchange for the information, we promised Ty that we’d kill the intruder.”

  “We need to talk about this, an
d not as wolves,” says Knox. He starts to change back into his human form. His bones realign, and his fur retracts. Within a few seconds, there’s an awful lot of naked butt standing in front of my wolfly self right now. And I can’t help but notice that Knox is looking totally recovered from the last time I saw him in New York. Back then, he’d lost all his muscle tone. In fact, my mate could hardly stand by himself.

  But now? Knox seems fully recovered, judging by the quality of his glutes. And there’s his ripped back, too; let’s not forget that part. Oh, and great legs. Plus, his arms look pretty buff again. Heck, even his toes look better.

  The good news is that I love how Knox looks healthy.

  But the bad news? Knox’s recovery happened right after I left him.

  And that’s a point for the Az is right column. When I’m near Knox, I make him sick.

  All of which is terrible, but at this point? I’m so happy to see my mate, I really can’t muster too much sadness.

  Knox glances over his shoulder. Grinning, he rakes his hand through his mop of wet black hair. “Like the view?”

  I mock-pant a little. “Woof.”

  Knox strides to a wooden chest by the wall. The thing is covered by fallen plants and debris, so Knox has to pull off all the heavy stuff. I won’t lie. I do enjoy the show. Eventually, Knox opens the box and pulls out a pair of jeans with a black T.

  He pulls them on and looks to the other wolves. “Get changed, guys.”

  At this point, I realize that I should probably shift back as well. Within a few seconds, I’m back to my human form. Happily, my unshreddable outfit is once again in place—and somehow magically cleaned. The fae may be crazy, but they make good clothing.

  The moment my shift is over, Knox pulls me into a hug. “I’ve been so worried, Bry.”

  “I’m sorry. This was something I had to do.” I lean into his embrace. “Besides, I was making you sick.”

  Knox leans back and cups my face in his hands. Even in the few minutes we’ve been together, it seems the color is fading from his skin.

  I frown. “You’re already worse.” I inhale deeply. The barest scent of pain lingers in the air.

  “I won’t lie to you. Now that we’re together, I feel a change inside. Something’s happening. Making me weaker. But it’s not you, Bry. Never you.”

  Across the room, Bo clears his throat again. Knox and I look up to see six very buff guys in overalls standing around a ruined farmhouse. Knox slides his arm around my waist. “Bry, I’d like you meet Beauregard Roux and his people.”

  My eyes widen. “Oh, I get it. Your fairy-tale template is Bo Peep.”

  Bo nods. “You know how it goes: ‘Little Bo Peep lost her sheep and doesn’t know where to find them’? That’s not me. I never lose my sheep.”

  “What about the second part?” I ask. “’Leave them alone, and they’ll come home, wagging their tails behind them?’”

  Bo sniffs. “If you leave sheep alone, they don’t come home. Other weres have them for dinner.”

  One of the other guys raises his hand. “We’re vegetarians, by the way. After spending years going after the Denarii, you lose your taste for red meat.”

  Knox looks around the place. “I’d say sorry your house got ruined, but you attacked my mate.”

  “It’s all right,” says Bo. He even has curly blond hair, like his namesake. “Been meaning to rebuild anyway. This place was always a dump.”

  “We live mostly in the wild with our flock,” adds the guy who made the vegetarian comment. I decide to call him Chatty Cathy since it goes with the Bo Peep theme somehow.

  “Hey,” says Bo. “Maybe your warlock friend can come over and conjure us up a house?” He scans the room like Alec is hiding under a floorboard. “Where is your buddy, anyway? Isn’t he always with you?” Bo hitches his thumbs into the sides of his overalls. “Although, I guess if your mate travels alone, maybe Alec does too now.”

  For the record, I’ve been very patient about being attacked and having my neck chomped on. But getting criticized for traveling alone? That’s one step too far. I round on Bo.

  “Look here, buddy. I came to Europe to save all of magic for everybody, you guys included. You don’t even know what that means, but it’s a big deal and an even bigger pain in my neck. Want to know why I came here alone? I’m not a big fan of people who drag those they care about into trouble just because they can. I could get this job done on my own and keep my mate safe, so that’s what I did. Because unlike some people in this room, I don’t think like a sheep and do things just because that’s what someone told me to do.”

  I toss my hair over my shoulder. “Plus, I hope your stupid crappy house burns down.”

  Not sure why I added that last part, but it sure felt good.

  Bo’s mouth hangs open for at least twenty seconds. “Knox, I can see why she’s your mate.”

  “She’s also right about the magic stuff,” says Knox. “We need to go see Ty. You got a bike or a car I can borrow?”

  “Let’s check out the old barn,” says Bo. “There might be something in there.”

  In the end, Bo gives us his old Fiat to drive, which is more like a golf cart with doors, but it’s still better than nothing. We get in and start up the engine. I’m surprised there’s even an engine, really. I half expect us to pedal the thing forward, Flintstones-style.

  I squirm in the frayed pleather seat. “Look, I can’t imagine what you think about how I took off—”

  “You don’t have to say another word, Bry. Everything was explained back there with Bo. I understand why you tried to do this alone. I also get why you don’t want to pull Elle and Alec into this, either. But I’m here now. There’s no way I’m leaving your side, yeah?”

  A weight I didn’t know I was carrying seems to lift off my bones. “Yeah.”

  “Good.” Knox puts the car in gear and takes off down the dirt road. “I know the way to Ty’s. You get some sleep.”

  “I’m not sleepy.” That’s what I say, but the moment the words leave my lips, my eyelids instantly feel super heavy. I fall asleep in five minutes flat.

  At least, I don’t have any nightmares of the Void.

  Chapter 21

  I stay conked out and comfortable until sunlight blazes onto my closed eyes. I flip my arm over my face, block out the brightness, and try to get comfy again. It isn’t easy. I’m sprawled across the front seat of the Fiat with my legs jammed onto the dashboard and my head smooshed against the passenger-side door. Huh. My sleepy brain tries to process all this. How is Knox driving, exactly? My left leg uses the steering wheel as a footrest.

  My eyes flutter open. We definitely aren’t driving anymore. Knox isn’t even in the car. I scrub my hands over my face. Where am I again? The last thing I remember, Knox and I were driving away from the Boucle-Roux farm into the night. I must’ve slept longer than I thought.

  Craning my totally cramped-up neck, I see that Knox has parked us before a fancy iron gate somewhere in a countryside that positively screams France. The roads are lined with quaint houses that might have fallen out of a fairy tale. Everywhere, the buildings are made from heavy wooden frames filled in with white plaster and topped by overly pointy roofs. There’s even an old man on a bicycle with a baguette strapped behind him. The town isn’t what interests me, though.

  Beyond the gate, a gravel road winds up the side of a cliff. Atop the mountain, there stands a castle. It’s another fairy-tale classic: a sprawling structure with a gray façade and skinny windows. Now, what fairy-tale life template would that fit in with? I frown, thinking through the options.

  Unfortunately, most fairy tales have a castle or two in the mix. I inspect the façade closer, seeking some kind of clue.

  Everywhere you look, the castle is lined with stone turrets that end in tiny conical roofs. At the center of the ground floor, there’s a seriously huge set of wooden doors, which are most definitely closed.

  Around the castle itself, the cliffside has been crammed w
ith dozens of fountains and small, perfectly manicured lawns. Topiaries are everywhere, and for some reason, they’re all snipped into the shape of fish.

  Wait—fish? I’ve never of any story where there’s a castle with an aquatic theme. Not that I’m an expert in fairy tales, but that seems odd. Knox stands with his back to me, gripping the bars of the main gate and staring up at the castle. I want to call out to him, but I’m sort of jammed in an odd position. Some conversations are best had when your leg isn’t wound around a steering wheel, especially ones that cover topics like:

  Is this a sightseeing stop, or does Ty really live here?

  And if Ty is here, since when does anyone have an ex-girlfriend who lives in a castle in France?

  Long story short, I need to get myself upright for this conversation. Since I’m stuck in a strange pose, it takes some work to get unstuck. As I shift around, my foot gets caught in the steering wheel. The car horn gives out a friendly little toot-toot.

  Hearing the noise, Knox turns and smiles. The sight makes me both happy and miserable. Knox’s health has certainly taken a nosedive since last night. All the color has drained from his skin. A pang of guilt tightens my stomach.

  Knox was better last night.

  He’s sicker today.

  Either Ty is casting a spell to make Knox sick, or Az is right that magic is somehow punishing Knox for finding a mate instead of the fountain.

  Whatever way I look at it, the situation isn’t good.

  Plus, another night has passed, so the equinox is only two days away.

  Correction. The situation is looking worse.

  Knox stalks to the car, grips the roof, and leans into the side window. “How’re you feeling?” He taps the window frame. “I left this open to give you some air.”

  “Thanks, it must’ve worked. I really slept hard.” Narrowing my eyes, I scan his features. Now that Knox’s face is only a few inches from mine, I don’t like how the veins have popped out on his forehead and neck. The barest scent of pain lingers in the air. “How about you?”