With a sinking feeling, Ali jumped from the tree and tore out of her backpack, her body making the changes even while her mind screamed, “Hurry. Hurry.”
She couldn't very well talk the guy out of going inside as a raccoon. Throwing herself into a pair of jeans and a tank top, Ali ran for the house.
Ali spent a lifetime talking her way out of punishment. Most of her teenage years she barged into trouble and tiptoed her way back out with no one but Jen being any the wiser. On at least five occasions, she’d been pulled over for doing 10 miles/hour over the speed limit, but never once given a ticket.
She edged along the side of the house. The man was alone and seemed to be in no hurry. Instead of going inside, he stood outside looking toward the road. He must think that she and Ali were still coming.
With a broad smile, Ali strutted to the man waiting in the shadows of the house. Not ten feet from where he leaned against the siding, she picked up the scent. The guy needed a bath and a few bath soaps, lavender or rose, maybe a scrub brush, definitely some deodorant. This one was a vampire. The smell of death permeated the air, making it hard to breathe properly. Ali grimaced but proceeded with her plan.
“You’re not Jen.”
Ali stepped carefully onto the gravel driveway, her feet bare and protesting at the rock. “Didn’t think you’d notice.”
“Do you have the amulet?”
Ali smirked, “You don’t think we’d be stupid enough to…”
But Ali never got the chance to finish the sentence. Garan moved across the driveway at the speed of lightning and grabbed her, his incisors stretching to fangs and a manic look in his eyes. A tingle of fear touched Ali, but she lived for excitement.
Garan’s hands were tight on her arms and his mouth reached for her neck. (There was nothing romantic in this. He stunk, being a dead thing and all.) Ali leapt back, kicking Garan in the groin as she pushed her feet against him with her whole body weight. He made an “oofing” sound, but his grip held as he went down with her. Barefoot, her kick didn't do much.
Swearing she pulled back, but he persisted, falling with her.
By the time they hit the ground, she was a raccoon, and as quickly as she changed, Garan readjusted his grip until he now held her tightly to him. Swinging a paw, she gouged his face, running sharp claws down his cheek and shredding the skin which seemed less taut than a regular human’s skin would. “Bite this, Boneyard Breath.” Of course in raccoon-speak, this sounded more like “yowl, yowl, pant, yowl.”
He clamped down on her. “Better stop or I’ll break that paw of yours.”
Ali never quit a thing in her life…except cheerleading. And that was only after she had successfully sabotaged the mascot’s costume which was the whole purpose of joining the cheerleading squad to begin with. Garan managed to hold her claws down, as much as she twisted and turned to shake him loose.
One of Garan’s arms came within reach of her face and in a panic, Ali bit him, as deeply as she could. She came up spitting. Oh, Yuck. Ptooey. Dead thing taste, more like month-old roadkill than hamburger. Ali spit and spit trying to get the taste out of her mouth, all the while squirming and trying to get free.
He let go of a paw and she swiped his face again. Dark blood seeped from the stripes she'd laid down where her claws struck. Twisting, she felt struck out again, but he didn't react to her the way anyone who felt pain would. Instead, he tightened his grip and refused to let go.
Ali heard a crack and felt a sharp pain but struggled until she'd pulled free. Dropping to the ground, she limped away as quickly as her hobbled leg would take her.
But Garan wasn't giving up. He chased her, somehow faster than any human should be. This was not a talent real-live vampires were known to have. Fictional ones, yes. Ali scrabbled up a tree, hoping to escape his reach.
He followed right behind, his eyes wide and crazy like a serial killer in their police photo. Ali stopped looking over her shoulder and focused on the tree. She only hoped Jen was having better luck getting Rob out of the house. Realistically Jen should have at least found Rob by now. The house wasn't that large.
Garan turned out to be a tree climber, too. Sharp pains made every pressure on the injured paw unbearable, but Ali continued up.
The vampire was faster. He grabbed her, but didn't hold on. Instead he just pulled her off the tree and dropped her.
Ali felt her heart in her throat as she crashed through the branches. She screamed, hitting the ground hard and knocking the wind out of her lungs. Dizzy, Ali found herself once again in the vampire's grip.
She twisted in his hands, biting his forearm, even while her mouth recoiled from the taste.
She squirmed until another snap shuddered up her leg. Garan’s hand tightened on the scruff of her neck.
When Ali tried to swipe his face with her claws again, Garan broke her front paw and started to squeeze her throat. Sprinkles of light danced in the periphery of Ali’s sight while a screen of dots faded across the world. Ali struggled once more to free herself before succumbing to darkness.
* * *
Thirsty. Garan smelled the blood pooling near one of her broken limbs, and slashing with his teeth above the wound, drinking deep. Were-raccoon. Definitely an acquired taste, one Garan had yet to truly embrace. Licking his lips, Garan withdrew. This one would have to wait for later. He wanted her human before he finished.
At the top of the stairs in the kitchen, Garan narrowed his eyes. Yes. Someone else was in the house. Must be the werewolf's assistant. Garan carried Ali’s weakened body into the basement, light flooding into the darkness from the top of the stairs. Garan opened one of the cages and tossed Ali in, slamming the door shut.
“One down. One to go.”
And he walked up the stairs in search of Jen.
Chapter 10
Huddling in the dark, Jen pondered the many adventures she and Ali had enjoyed. Never at the full moon, when everyone else had changed. Those days Jen hid, but when everyone was busy living their human lives, she and Ali adventured.
This was by far the worst trouble she’d found herself in. Not since they snuck into the grocery store in animal form and ate a bag of Hershey’s had Jen felt such fear. Of course, the broom-wielding cashier who opened the store in the morning screaming a blood-curdling and no less frightening yell was innocent of any dark deeds, at least in Jen’s mind. The same could not be said for the situation Jen found herself in now with a kidnapping horror who smelled of death.
Footsteps passed in the hallway and Jen heard the bedroom door open. Her fur itched and the crawling feeling under her skin had nothing to do with dust bunnies or fleas and everything to do with the shadow standing in the doorway.
Thoughts tumbled in Jen’s mind. Why would a house on the market for so many months feel so lived in? And it couldn’t be coincidence that this house was on the same street as the one where she and Ali stole the amulet. What had happened to Ali? She hadn't heard the warning signal.
“Here, little mouse. I have a treat for you.” Jen closed her eyes and shrank back into the shadows. The voice grated on her nerves and Jen shivered in the presence of pure evil.
Starting in the corner, Garan tore up the room, sweeping the dragon and wizard figurines from the top of the dresser.
“I hope you’re not hiding in here. I can smell you, you know. A bit of fur and that exquisite fear. You smell so very frightened.”
While he emptied the dresser, Jen considered making a run for it while his feet were pointed away from her. And the clothes just invited her to hide in them. Every small creature liked a good place to hide and clothes were as good a place as any for a were-mouse, which meant they were a trap.
“So you came upstairs all alone. I hope you brought the amulet. Your friend—Ali, is it?” The voice softened and Jen shook from paw to tail. “Yes, the raccoon wench is locked up in the basement. I’m just not sure she will survive. Not unless she gets help soon. She’s a tasty morsel.”
Jen felt a cold s
hock. Garan must be lying. She waited in silence, itching to run for the open door. When the drawers were emptied and clothes strewn about, Jen heard the sound of scraping against the wall and jumped with a sudden shock when the top of the dresser crashed inches from the cabinet where she hid.
The demolishing of the room continued and Jen got the sinking feeling that she was being toyed with. He must know she was still there. Did he know where she was hiding? From under the cabinet, Jen was blind. She heard the unzipping of a backpack.
Picking up the key in her mouth and turning it until the key lay at its most comfortable point, Jen edged away from the wall and closer to the opening. She poked her nose out and watched. The man dripped blood from a bite wound and loose skin hung where claw marks ripped the side of his face. Ali’s work. He threw the backpack aside and turned to the bed, pulling first the blankets off, still ranting, though Jen no longer listened.
With his back turned, Jen crept out from the television stand and lurched toward the door putting the overturned dresser between them as much as possible. She heard him coming behind her when she ran through the doorway.
Jen knew he would catch her if she tried for the stairs. Because he would expect her to go that way, she scrabbled back up the hall toward a table with a vase, slipping behind the leg while he fumbled out the door. She was right. Her attacker turned the corner and jumped the stairs by two to the landing.
Jen changed into human about the time Garan had gotten to the bottom of the stairs and realized Jen had gone the other way. Picking up the vase as a weapon, Jen kept the key in her mouth. Germs would be better than holding it in her hands.
Waiting behind the wall, Jen felt an adrenaline rush and a sense of empowerment. That creep would feel the difference between a man and a mouse, well, a woman and a mouse.
When he turned the corner, Jen brought the vase down to smash Garan’s head, only to find her hand stopped by superhuman strength.
“I take it you didn’t bring the amulet.” Garan said with a smug look of satisfaction on his face, the strips of torn skin hanging bloodless below his eye.
Key in her mouth, Jen said nothing, just let Garan drag her down to the basement where everyone else was chained.
Rob gave a cry of dismay at seeing her caught.
“I guess we’re all lucky your rabid friend didn’t go human at the end like you did, since I’m running out of chains.” Garan pushed Jen in front of him and she acquiesced, letting him chain her next to Rob, her face and neck flushed a deep red.
“At least get her a blanket or some clothes.” Rob said.
“What? Do you take me for human?” Garan sneered. “She’s just a fancy mug. In a few hours, you’re going to watch me drink from her, Wolf. She will die bloodless before your eyes.”
Garan wrapped the links around Jen, without care as if she were just another piece of meat, which wasn’t terribly surprising considering he was a vampire. Jen kept her mouth shut through the insults and indignity, mostly because of the key.
Garan picked up Ali’s purse on his way out. In the distance, Jen could hear a car turn over and pull out of the driveway.
Chapter 11
Jen curled up, even with the chains across her body, trying to keep her private bits more private. She felt a strange sense of detachment. Being a were-mouse led to many a bout with helplessness, but at the moment, she wouldn’t say she felt helpless. No, Jen felt rage.
“Jen? Are you okay?” Rob’s arms were so stiff he could barely move, but he managed to reach her fingers with his. That woke Jen out of her shock.
Jen spit the key out. “I’m fine. It’ll just take a minute.”
Jen’s change came with difficulty. The steel pressed on her body, with the weight growing heavier and heavier while Jen shrunk. The manacles on her wrist had no where to go when she got smaller and fell weightless behind her, but the chains across her middle stayed, crushed her body until with a shout she pushed herself away from them. Limping back in mouse form, A few tufts of fur stuck to the links and her fur coat looked patchy and bled.
Quaking with fatigue, Jen took a deep breath before returning to human form, free of the chains. Human again, with strange bruises, and bleeding in places where the furless patches had been replaced with broken skin, Jen stiffly picked up the key.
While she unlocked Rob, Jen asked. ”Can you check on Ali while I unlock Francis?” He gruffly said yes and gratefully stretched his sore muscles. Rob limped to the cage where Ali lay motionless. He lifted the metal lever that locked the cage and reached down, carefully examining Ali for damage.
“I’m afraid to move her. She’s breathing, but her paws are broken and she’s unconscious.”
“Do you think taking the whole cage would be better?” Jen moved behind him, still a few feet away, but he could feel her presence and it stirred feelings better left buried.
Pulling off his jacket, Rob handed it to Jen. “Maybe. We’ll call an ambulance to take her to St. Mary’s. I have a duffel bag in the car, just in case.”
Jen nodded. Every shifter knew that St. Mary’s was the best hospital for the dual-natured. She felt sick at the thought of Ali injured. Ali was tough. She had to be okay. Francis hovered behind them. “What about me?”
Rob looked up suddenly. Francis had been so quiet the whole time, he’d forgotten about the vampire. “We drove separately. You should probably head home.”
Francis nodded. “I’d still like to buy a house, if you want to be my agent, and if we can figure out how to get rid of Garan.”
Rob sighed. Francis was inept and socially awkward, tending to bring up subjects at the worst time, but rather than draw himself into a long argument Rob just said, “If that’s what you want.”
Chapter 12
Rob rested next to Jen in the waiting room for a few hours, refusing medical treatment for himself as had Jen. Her hand sat delicately on her knee right at the edge nearly touching his pant leg and he wanted to hold that hand in his. Tense and worried, Jen sat rigidly in the chair, her eyes fixed on the people coming and going.
He had refused medical attention, washing up the vampire's wound himself. His head ached with a fierce pounding consistency that kept his stomach churning. He wanted to be home in bed or on the couch, but Jen needed him.
Rob mind focused on the vampire’s words. Finally, he cleared his throat. “Francis told me you stole the amulet, that you knew what it did. He said that you lied to me. I trust you, Jen. I do, but it’s just been bothering me.”
Jen glanced up with a troubled look in her eyes and her face flushed to a deep rose. “What Francis told you is true. By omission only. I didn’t correct what Ali told you while I was a wolf, but I knew the amulet was stolen and what it did.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you were a weremouse? I nearly killed you.” Rob’s voice strained with the question, his hurt apparent.
Jen’s eyes filled, but she kept her tears in check. “I wanted you to like me. Most werewolves don’t generally like other animal shifters.”
“That’s not true.” Rob said.
“Then why did you throw me off your shoulder before you knew what I was?” Jen asked.
Rob rubbed his eyes. “You can understand why chained in a basement I might be a little uneasy if something lands on my shoulder. And there are a lot more regular animal mice than were-mice. I think you’re the first I’ve met.”
Jen nodded, not trusting herself to answer. Weremice hid their existence. She'd bet Rob had met more than one weremouse in his time.
Rob slumped back, leaning his head against the wall, which lasted only a few seconds before he sat straight, his hands opening and closing into fists. He needed some time to think. His cheeks burned with fever, and he was trying desperately to hide from Jen how truly ill he felt.
After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Rob asked, “Are you hungry?”
“No. Thank you.” Jen adjusted in her chair, moving her hand away and then bringing it back to the same place n
ear his thigh, so close he could feel the warmth. Did she want him to take her hand? Maybe he ruined everything by talking about her animal. Finding out she was a mouse hadn’t changed his feelings. Why couldn’t women just say what they wanted?
“I could get you a book.”
Jen smiled, not a real one though, not the kind that Rob loved where her whole face lit up with joy. “I’m fine.”
Five minutes passed. Ten more. Finally Rob reached out and put his hand over Jen’s, wondering if she would pull away or lecture him. With a deep sigh, Jen’s whole body seemed to relax.
“Thank you.” Jen curled her fingers around his and leaned back. In a few more minutes, her head rested on the edge of his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her and rested his cheek on her hair. She smelled so good.
“Jen, do you want to go on a date when this is all over? I mean a real one?” Rob asked.
“I'd like that.” They sat quietly together, waiting for news of Ali.
Chapter 13
When Jen snuggled up to Rob, she realized something was wrong. Heat was pouring from his body. As she was leaning into him, he trembled. Pulling away, she turned and put her hand on his cheek.
“You're sick. We need to have one of the doctors look at you.” Jen felt Rob's fever just when her hand touched his forehead.
“We're here for Ali. I'm just a little tired. I'm not going to let a doctor see me.” Rob said.
She saw such longing in his eyes when she touched his cheek, but Jen wasn't sure she was reading Rob right. Was it lust? Love? Illness? He was definitely hot, and this time that word had nothing to do with his looks. “You're running a fever.”
“Ali's in worse shape than I am. I can wait it out. Really, I'm fine.” Rob pulled Jen back into his arms and she rested against him.
* * *
An hour later, one of the doctors stopped in. Rob didn't quite catch everything that Jen and the doctor were saying to one another. At this point he was trying really hard not to look as bad as he felt. The longer he sat, the sharper his headache. Finally, Jen turned to him, “Are you ready to go.”
Vampires Bite: Book 2 (When, Were, & Howl Series) Page 4
