by Sophie Davis
“We’ll get the bounty on all three, right?” Pink Ponytail hissed.
Without taking her eyes from Erik, Eighteen snapped, “We don’t have all three. Yet.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught movement. When I turned to look, there was a shimmering mass hovering near the dorm entrance. The power coming from that direction was awe-inspiring, even if it was tainted. I couldn’t tear my gaze away.
For just an instant, a teenage appeared in the center of the mass. She met my gaze squarely. After raising one finger to her lips, she was gone again.
My mental abilities were dormant, but Erik’s weren’t. I concentrated on the panther, who stood alone against four assailants.
“Do you feel that?” I sent.
“Friend or foe?” he asked. The turquoise cat eyes never strayed from Eighteen.
Diesel made the first move, darting forward like a python. He was no match for Erik. The panther clamped down on Diesel’s leg and tossed him casually to one side.
“You stupid beast!” Diesel shouted. Clutching his bloody calf, the guy cursed up a storm.
The shimmering cloud of light moved from the dorm toward Erik and his attackers.
“I don’t know if they’re on our side,” I sent to Erik, my tone apologetic. “They haven’t attacked us yet, so….”
“They haven’t attacked the other side either,” Erik pointed out.
Breath fanned the back of my neck as a wave of energy made my head spin. Panic spiked over the link when Erik felt my reaction. The panther’s eyes darted my way.
“Hold still, I can get these off,” a girl whispered in my ear.
“Friend,” I sent Erik. “Hopefully.”
With deft fingers, the girl began unfurling the coils. While she worked—and my ego deflated—Sideburns decided to take a crack at Erik. The guns were gone, but the guy still had a pole with a large loop in the end. Sideburns pressed a button on the handle, and electricity crackled up the length of his weapon.
Move faster, I thought, wishing I could will my savior to step up the pace.
“I’ve got this, Tals. You don’t need to worry,” Erik sent. Sideburns lunged forward.
Coward that he was, Sideburns hesitated too much. The loop didn’t come close to Erik’s head. In one impressive leap, the panther opened his mouth and closed his teeth around the electrified circle.
Even though I knew what Erik was doing, watching him bite a live wire gave me heart palpitations. When Sideburns realized the electricity wasn’t affecting the panther, he increased the voltage. Being an Electrical Manipulator, one of Erik’s many created talents, he reversed the flow. The jolt that ran through Sideburns was like a bolt of lightning. He tried to drop the stick to break the flow, but the metal was melted into his palms.
The girl behind me was still working on the dampening binders. “I’ve almost got it,” she promised.
Erik held on to the loop until Sideburns started convulsing and fell to the ground. Not one of his companions went to him. Instead, Eighteen, Pink Ponytail, and Diesel advanced on the panther as a collective.
“Just a sec…I got it!” exclaimed the girl.
The power dampening straightjacket fell away. A surge of power shot through me. Every inch of my skin vibrated from the sudden rush of adrenaline.
“Go!” the girl called. “He needs you!”
Sprinting toward the attackers, I summoned my morphing talents and shifted mid-run. I rarely morphed. When I did, I almost always became a bird—just like Erik. Over time, I’d become accustomed to the change, and nearly immune to the pain. But panther was a first for me, and the process hurt like hell.
My bones cracked as they realigned. The pain fueled my rage. Tendons tore and muscles spasmed. My temper reached the red zone. Two front paws landed with a thud, followed by the back ones. Pink Ponytail was closest. Teeth bared, I snarled to shift her attention from Erik.
Pink Ponytail did a doubletake. She was kind of a shitty bounty hunter, not even realizing I was free until I was panthered up and ready to maul her face. Though, to her credit, she did stand her ground.
Stupid woman. I lunged for her midsection.
My bite was just hard enough for my canines to pierce her camouflaged jacket and break the skin. She was too shocked to struggle. When I used telekinesis to throw her across the courtyard, the bounty hunter let out a scream that made my ears ring.
Diesel was back on his feet, the injured arm dangling to one side. With his good hand, he jabbed a spear at Erik. The Nightshade girl reached for her vest. I leapt but she’d already deployed the dampening coils.
“Erik!” I screamed. He snapped Diesels’ spear in two and crunched on one half.
A shimmery form darted between Erik and Eighteen. The coils slithered and snapped closed, seemingly around empty air. An instant later, a thin boy appeared inside the dampening coils. Geometric patterns were shaved on all sides of his skull, and his eyes were huge black irises around white pinprick pupils.
Eighteen’s hand darted out and the boy flew to the side. Teeth bared, my canines snagged her vest. I yanked, and the lightweight, metal-like material tore with a sickening crunch.
“Ahhhh!” Eighteen shrieked, hitting the button one last time as the vest fell. She spun as dampening coils shot in random directions.
I pounced on the vest. My claws scraped across the front, where six smaller holes surrounded a larger circular opening. Sparks erupted, burning small patches of fur on my paws.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Erik’s panther form ram Diesel in the stomach. Diesel fell backward. Erik pinned him to the ground with one large paw. The panther snarled, teeth poised to tear out Diesel’s throat. Instead, Erik slapped Diesel across the face hard enough to knock him out and leave deep scratches on the man’s cheek.
Even without her vest, Eighteen was a force to be reckoned with. Now that I could feel her power, it was enough to make me cautious. Erik and I began to circle the Nightshade girl.
“I want to take her alive if we can,” I sent.
“I’ll do my best,” he replied.
Eighteen didn’t show any outward signs of fear. Given the fact she had two angry panthers circling her, it was rather impressive. She was a professional.
Still, the tendrils of panic that did reach me betrayed her. Erik and I together were more than she’d anticipated.
“Draw her attention,” Erik sent.
I snapped at the air in Eighteen’s direction. Backing up to keep both Erik and me in her sights, the girl turned slowly to face off with me. When she tried to use telekinesis, I was ready. Using talents in animal form was tricky but possible. I met her power surge with one of my own. Our energies collided in the space between us, the twinkling golden-orange light spraying in complete disorder.
“You are no match for Nightshade!” Eighteen hollered. Another telekinetic burst of power shot from her palm.
This time I let it get closer to me before I derailed her attempt. The flicker of hope I felt from Eighteen didn’t last long.
“Now!” I told Erik.
Another shower of golden-orange stars exploded just two feet from where I stood. Using his own telekinesis to give himself a boost, Erik soared through the air. His front paws smacked into Eighteen’s shoulders. She cried out as she fell backwards. I closed the distance between us. Eighteen’s head hit the earth, her body splayed out like she was about to make snow angels.
Erik hovered over her, paws pinning her arms down. Either of us could have killed Eighteen in that moment, but answers were more important. For now, at least.
Modesty be damned, I thought.
I was too pissed to care. The change happened fast, and the pain was an echo of my previous transformation. Crouched beside the panther and Eighteen, naked as the day I was born, I glared at the woman on the ground. Her head was turned to the side, her cheek pressed against the dirt.
“I don’t know about all of Nightshade, but we certainly beat you,” I said calmly.
“Who hired you?” I demanded.
I’d already screwed up once with Eighteen, and I was determined to not repeat the mistake. Once we got our answers from her…well, I wasn’t sure what we would do with her.
“You know the answer,” Eighteen sneered.
I levelled her with a blank stare. After a long moment that made Eighteen’s pulse race—she was positive her release from this earthly life was imminent—I smiled sweetly.
“If Gretchen McDonough wanted to catch up, she could have just called,” I said flippantly. “What is it she wants to discuss?”
Eighteen didn’t know. Nightshade never gave their bounty hunters client information. And yet, Eighteen knew Gretchen was the client.
“How do you know Gretchen McDonough’s name?” I asked as though Eighteen had answered verbally instead of merely thinking.
Either the Nightshade girl was feeling chatty, or she figured there was no point in withholding information from a mind reader. Whatever the case, she stared up at me with defiant eyes and smirked before answering.
“Let’s just say she’s a frequent customer.”
“You’ve delivered other victims to her,” I said, nodding.
“Ding, ding, ding. One point for the condemned girl,” Eighteen replied with false bravado.
“Who did you capture?” I demanded.
Eighteen was stubborn and strong-willed. Her molars ground as she fought my compulsion. When she thought she had me, I sent a second wave of compulsion her way and repeated my question.
“Who?”
In that moment, Eighteen knew true fear. She didn’t attempt to hide it. Though the Nightshade agent had been in tight situations before, death had never felt so certain.
Through slightly parted lips, the name slipped out. “Kev Leon.”
It sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t say why. Erik’s ears perked up though.
“Who else?” I demanded.
“Beth Larson,” Eighteen hissed through clenched teeth.
That name I did know. Erik and I exchanged glances. We’d met Beth during the last round of Talent testing, when all five-year old children were evaluated for abilities. We’d taken her away from her mother and her home, then handed the little girl over to TOXIC.
It was an enormous regret of mine, ever helping Mac abscond with innocent children. Beth must have escaped during the chaos of TOXIC’s demise or returned home when the school closed. Of course Gretchen hired Nightshade to tear her from her family again. It was exactly the sort of screwed up shit I expected from the McDonoughs.
“Who else?” I snarled, sort of hoping she didn’t have any more names for me.
“Viry Illy. Norton Jain. Haakon Crisp.” One of Eighteen’s eyes spasmed. It looked like it hurt, but she was too focused on her impending death to register the pain. She no longer actively fought my compulsion, but I still held her mind captive. Just in case.
“That’s it. I swear,” Eighteen added.
I believed her. The truth was plain in her head. She didn’t believe giving up the names would do me any good or Gretchen any harm. And, honestly, she had no loyalty to Nightshade. Eighteen was a true mercenary; she only worked for the organization because the money was good.
As I was deciding what else I might be able to scrape from Eighteen’s head, six children suddenly appeared in a circle around us. They wore matching smocks in varying states of filth and wear. A girl who looked a few years younger than me stepped forward with a thin blanket in her hands.
“I thought you might want this,” she said in a small voice when I looked her way.
Eyes following her every move, I accepted the blanket and wrapped it around me like a sarong.
“Thank you. You’re the one who freed me, right? Thank you for that, too,” I said, acutely aware of the four other very strong, very young children surrounding us.
The girl in front of me smiled shyly. “You’re welcome, Natalia.”
“How does she know your name?” Erik sent.
“I kind of announced it to everyone in earshot earlier,” I sent in reply, cringing a little.
The panther rolled his turquoise eyes.
“Will you tell me your name?” I asked the girl.
There was nothing seemingly remarkable about her, no distinguishing features that branded her as Talented. Her hair was dishwater blonde, and her eyes a shade of brown that was found frequently among norms.
She’s like Riley, I thought. A pang of sorrow hit me in the gut when I remembered that he was in critical condition.
Tentatively, as though afraid of me, the girl took two steps closer and held out her hand.
“You can call me Alpha.” Her small hand felt dry and cracked, though the skin appeared perfectly smooth.
Alpha’s glance strayed to Eighteen’s pinned form. “What do you plan to do with her? Are you going to kill her?”
With the level of emotion in her voice, she might as well have been asking about my breakfast. My stomach growled at the thought of food. Everyone at the house needs to eat, I reminded myself. We need to deal with that before going back.
I met Erik’s panther eyes. His nod was subtle.
“No,” I answered. “We aren’t going to kill anyone.”
Alpha gave me a small, knowing smile. “Then you might want to stop her before she swallows the fake tooth in her mouth.”
Chapter Eight
Erik
My teeth bared down on Eighteen’s windpipe, preventing her from swallowing the suicide pill. Nothing was going down the hatch, including air. Talia pried the girl’s clenched jaws apart and reached inside Eighteen’s mouth. The Nightshade girl bucked and twisted. When that didn’t work, she tried to use her talents against us. I sank down until I was sitting on her. Between the loss of oxygen and my considerable weight—my panther form was solid—Eighteen was rendered immobile.
Spurts of telekinetic power burst from the Nightshade agent in her desperation to breathe. Tals combated each one easily, gaining a certain amount of satisfaction each time she squashed the girl’s feeble attempts.
“I think she already swallowed it,” Talia sent.
“Wouldn’t she be dead?” I sent back.
“Well, there’s a hole in the back of her mouth with fresh blood and a hole where a tooth had been,” my girlfriend replied, annoyed.
“Reach down her throat. It can’t have gone far.”
“Are you serious?” Talia asked aloud.
I nosed her thigh.
Grimacing, Talia pulled her hand back and summoned the suicide pill with her mind. Eighteen retched several times, and then the fake tooth shot from the Nightshade girl’s mouth to Tals’ waiting hand. Eighteen heaved several more times before finally passing out.
“Is she dead?” Alpha asked in a small voice.
Tals shook her head. “Just unconscious.”
Alpha gestured to one of the other kids in the circle, a guy with an interestingly shaved head and inverted eyes. He walked toward us, electric coils dancing around him as though they were snakes and he was their charmer. When he reached us, he turned his big, black animal eyes on me. “Excuse me, Erik.” His accent was faint, sort of German-sounding but also possibly South African.
“They did save our asses,” Tals sent when I looked her way.
Slowly, I moved off Eighteen. As soon as I was clear, the boy sent the coils toward her limp form. They bound her torso, including her arms, which were pinned to her sides. Once in place, the coils formed one solid straightjacket but still hummed with electricity.
“She probably has dampening cuffs, too,” Alpha said hesitantly. “We could use them for the others.”
Talia smiled at the younger girl. “Good thought.”
The panther form wasn’t my favorite morph, but I didn’t entirely trust the children. They’d watched the fight with Eighteen and only intervened at the last second, so I didn’t morph back to human right away.
Tals summoned the dampening restraints with her mind. When the cuffs fell at their feet, Alpha and the boy with the shaved head bound our other attackers.
“Should we store them with Gracia?” Talia sent.
Though I nodded my head in answer, my focus never left Alpha. Of the small group of kids, she was clearly the leader. The collective power emanating off them was so enticing, I found myself drawn to them despite my misgivings.
“Are you thinking of keeping them with the clone?” Alpha asked.
Tals smiled, though I felt her trepidation. She’d taken an instant liking to Alpha. It was interesting, since my girlfriend wasn’t big on making friends and generally mistrusted new people.
“How do they know about Gracia?” she sent me.
It was a great question, one I really wanted answered.
Our mental channel was supposed to be closed, but Alpha’s keen gaze made me wonder if maybe she wasn’t eavesdropping on our conversation.
Alpha lowered her gaze, inclining her head slightly toward Talia. In the animal world, it would have been a show of submission—a small gesture to recognize Talia as top dog.
Just beneath the collar of her graying smock, a tattoo peeked from Alpha’s neck. It was the same eye that was on Gracia’s neck. It was also on Ernest Tate’s neck.
Tals stiffened when she noticed it, too. Adrenaline surged through her veins. Those friendly feelings were fleeing fast, and she tightened the blanket she wore like a toga. With her curls wild and her violet eyes blazing, she looked like a Greek goddess of legend.
Damn, she’s beautiful, I thought.
“Who are you?” Talia asked Alpha, the command heavy in her voice.
I inched closer to my girlfriend, slinking slowly to her side. Tals patted my head absently.
“My name is Alpha,” the girl repeated. She gestured to her group of misfits. “We are from the Clearwood Institute.”
Talia’s power washed over me as she readied for another fight. My hackles raised. I’d never worried before whether Talia and I alone were strong enough to defeat a foe, but Alpha had so much untamed power that her body practically vibrated.
