Petting Them: An Anthology of Claw-ver Tails

by Tate James

  6

  “There has to be a way to warn her.” Cassian glanced to Lorcan. “Isn’t there?”

  “You call the sheriff’s department and warn them about an abduction on the Senator and they’ll be knocking on your door in a heartbeat. You’ll be locked away in an asylum and never see the light of day again.”

  “Not if we call from a phone booth,” I murmured and lifted my gaze. “Don’t you think?”

  “With no cameras.” Cassian glanced at the power lines above. “If we tell them what happened at the Marriott, then they’d have to investigate. They’d have to call her home. They’d have to send a car.”

  I nodded as purpose slipped in. “They would.”

  We looked to Renegade.

  “Well, we’re fresh out of options.” He glanced toward the street. “But it’s not you, Shield. I don’t want your voice anywhere near those goddamn bastards.”

  Heat rushed with his words. “They can’t track my voice…”

  “Wanna bet your life on that?” he snarled and stepped closer. “‘Cause I sure as Hell don’t.”

  “He’s right,” Cassian murmured. “It has to be me. I can get in and out without being seen.”

  And if they were waiting for him? Just like they were waiting at the rear of the door…Just like they were waiting for us before? We were nothing more than rats in a maze, scrambling to get ahead of the game. But we never truly were…were we?

  “Let’s get back in the damn car before I freeze my nuts off.” Cassian blew on his hands. “We’ll find a phone booth, and keep going until we’re far enough away, we’re out of sight. Then I can double back on foot.”

  They moved, lunging for the warmth and the comfort of the Jeep. But I didn’t feel it, not comfort, not warmth, even as I slipped onto the seat and yanked the door closed behind me. The Jeep lurched forward, skidding on the ice before the tread caught. Dark streets and shop lights were a blur.

  I was a prisoner inside my own mind, taunted and trapped. My shield no longer protected me. No, instead it was a shroud over my skin.

  Can you keep a secret?

  I gripped the door handle. “Please go away…”

  “You okay?” Lorcan murmured.

  Black Dog dropped his head and nuzzled my hand. I sank my fingers into his matted fur, and nodded. “Yeah.”

  The pup whimpered, and the piercing sound tore through the inside of the car.

  “There’s one,” Cassian murmured drawing my gaze.

  The lonely phone booth was illuminated in yellow and white, smashed lights above the handset spilling the colors all over the ground.

  Cassian slowed the car and leaned forward, scanning higher and crept the car along the street until he hit the indicator.

  We pulled into a parking lot and stopped. A small seven eleven was the only bright light amongst abandoned shops on either side. I didn’t like this. I scanned the empty car spaces and the snow drifts on the other side of the road. “Maybe we should come up with a different plan. Stick together, that’s what’s important, right?”

  Silence. That’s all there was as I glanced at Lorcan, and then Cassian.

  “It’s the right thing, Gabe. It’s the only thing we can do. Spark’s in trouble, and if it were you…don’t you think she’d do the same?”

  I winced and glanced out of the window. I barely knew her. Met her once, everything else I’d learned had been through Momma. It wasn’t like that place anymore. I didn’t want to see her, didn’t want to know her.

  I’d built a wall.

  And that wall became my shield.

  My shield kept them all out, every single one of them…I turned my head to the driver’s seat…until Cassian had crashed into my life and Renegade followed.

  “Stay together,” he murmured and looked at me. “Gready might be gone, but that doesn’t mean the wolves have moved on, feel me?”

  I nodded as Renegade answered, “We’ll be here.”

  The driver’s door cracked open and the cold rushed in. I felt it now, the gnawing at my bones, the shudders so deep inside, parts of me clinked like fragile shards. Cassian shoved the door closed before he curled his shoulders and yanked his collar high.

  He took a step, glanced at me through the window and then in an instant he faded into nothing and was gone.

  The engine ticked, filling the car with the grating sound.

  Tick…tick…tick…

  I swallowed hard and glanced out of the window. Black Dog gave a huff, and then a moan, and the mastiff shifted on the seat and then shook her head. Ears flapped hard against her skull; even Lorcan winced.

  “We need coffee,” Renegade growled and glanced over his shoulder. “Big monstrous cups of coffee. Stay still, I’ll be right back.”

  He shoved open the door and was out in a heartbeat, leaving me with Lorcan. The pressure in my head was a touch, before it was gone.

  “I’m fine,” I answered.

  “No, you’re not. You’re not anywhere near fine. You don’t have to lie to me.”

  A shudder tore free. It was always like this with him. I felt peeled back, exposed. There were boundaries between us, lines that had once been crossed—but never again. “You promised.”

  “And I’ve kept that promise. I only brushed your mind, never delved into your thoughts. I wouldn’t do that, not again.”

  The mastiff whimpered and whined, shifting nervously on the seat.

  “Maybe she needs to go for a short walk?” Lorcan patted her head and grabbed her lead. “Stay here in the warm, I’ll be right outside.”

  He opened the door, and slipped out, taking the dog with him. She shuddered and whined, edging closer to the end of the seat before she rose and with one swift motion leapt from the car.

  Lorcan shoved the door closed. I glanced over my left shoulder in the direction Cassian had disappeared. Something felt wrong.

  Can you keep a secret?

  I sucked in a breath and tried to shoved the voice aside. Where are you? Why isn’t this working? I skirted the echoes of my past and tried to search for my power. It was there, embedded in the dark, rising with just a hint of a thought, just like it had done before.

  It staved off the snow and the cold.

  It kept us protected.

  So why wasn’t it protecting me now?

  Black Dog gave a growl and then pawed at the pup.

  “What?” I stared into his eyes. “What do you want?”

  He whined, curling black lips and exposed fangs as he snarled. “Are we back to that? Don’t tell me you want to go out as well?”

  I grabbed the leads and reached for the handle.

  Can you keep a secret?

  Agony pierced my temple as I yanked the handle and stepped out. Worn leather leads slapped the side of my face, my finger danced at the edge of my vision.

  Sunbursts of darkness swallowing my sight before they were gone. Black Dog shouldered me from behind. I stumbled forward and slammed into the door.

  Savage snarls erupted as he snapped at the lead, grabbing the leather between his teeth as the pup thrashed and jumped, tearing free of its harness and taking off.

  “Hey, no!” I screamed.

  He was a blur in the night, little legs pumping as he raced through the parking lot toward the pavement.

  I lunged forward, dragging Black Dog as I ran.

  “Gabe, no!” Lorcan screamed, but it was too late…far too late to stop me.

  The pup was gone in a heartbeat. My heart plummeted as I lost sight. Heavy boots slammed onto the asphalt. Paws pounded on the ground beside me as Black Dog kept up. I lunged over the concrete barrier and skidded, windmilling my arms.

  There in the distance. A tiny shape blurred, running…running…running…

  7

  Headlights bounced off the snow covered asphalt, blinding me. I blinked into the glare and stumbled forward. “Come back!”

  The ting…ting…ting…of the metal clasp as it hit the ground haunted me. My eyes burned, wateri
ng with the sting of the cold. I reached out my hand, catching tiny frantic movements in the distance and sent a surge of power through the air.

  My fingers tingled, heart lunged. He was almost gone…nothing more than a tiny blur in the distance as the faint sound of his harness hitting the concrete was snatched away in the wind.

  Blinding lights washed over me. I jerked up my hand, shielding my eyes as the massive dark blur came from out of nowhere.

  Black Dog lunged as the four-wheel drive skidded sideways. Heavy paws punched my waist, knocking me backwards.

  I stumbled, skidded as my boots lost grip and then fell.

  The brutal jolt as I hit the asphalt gnashed my teeth. My hands slipped and my shoulders hit the road. A sickening crunch filled my ears. But it wasn’t me…

  There was a yelp, and then the shriek of skidding tires filled the night.

  Brake lights flared red in the dark ahead of me. I blinked into the blur as white sparks danced behind my eyes.

  Jesus that was close. My ears rang, the thunder of my heart all I could hear as I turned back to the empty street where the pup had disappeared. Starbursts in my eyes detonated on a dark shape on the ground. I stared, trying to make out the image. “Black Dog?”

  The blur didn’t move.

  I shoved forward. “Black Dog?”

  My knees hit the ground hard. Fingers sank into fur, and came away warm and slick, stained red with blood.

  His chest rose and sank in labored breaths.

  But he didn’t whimper. He didn’t bark.

  An ache flared on my side, in the place he pushed me.

  My tears blurred the sight of his face. Wide dark eyes glistening like obsidian marbles.

  The growl of the car’s engine quietened as the four wheel pulled to the side of the road.

  Black paint glistened on the Explorer, catching streetlights as the driver’s door cracked open, and someone stepped out.

  White smoke billowed from the exhaust, covering their face as they turned.

  “You fucking hit him!” The shrill scream ripped free. I cradled his body, rocking without wanting to. “You fucking hit him…”

  Snow and asphalt crunched as the driver stepped closer. But they said nothing, just kept on walking, until the dark outline cut through the white fumes.

  “What are you?”

  I stilled at the sound of his voice.

  My heart lunged. Pulse hammered, filling my head with the roar as I slowly lifted my gaze to Gready.

  The glint of steel shone in the night as he lifted the pistol. Dark eyes bored through me as his hand started to shake. “I said, what the fuck are you?”

  And for a second, we were back there, in the hallway of the Marriott as chaos descended. He stared at me now as he’d stared at me then, top lips curled, hate spewing like a volcano from his eyes.

  I pushed away, leaving bloody handprints on the ground, and glanced at Black Dog. He was still…barely breathing.

  Power trembled inside me. Fingers danced as I lifted my hand into the air.

  “Get the fuck out of my head,” he snarled. His finger curled around the trigger. “And stay out.”

  I opened myself to my shield and closed my eyes. I’d stopped fire, stopped snow…stopped the faces inside my head, but there was no way I could stop a bullet.

  I waited for the bang, waited for the silence…

  Waited for the end with the rush of my breath in my ears.

  Seconds felt like hours.

  Until I heard the heavy steps thumping against the ground, racing toward me.

  “Gabe…” Lorcan barked. “Gabe, what the Hell!”

  I cracked open my eyes to stare at the empty street.

  There was no Explorer, no billowing fumes.

  No Gready.

  And no gun.

  Lorcan skidded to a stop beside me. His breath a rush of white as he leaned down, and grabbed my arm. “Are you okay?”

  His fingers slid along my arm, searching. “I’m fine,” I murmured and then turned back to Black Dog in the middle of the road. “I’m fine.”

  8

  I leaned forward and slid my hand under Black Dog’s head. He was heavy in my arms, so goddamn heavy. “You’re going to be okay.”

  A tiny whimper, so small it was a jagged breath.

  I cradled him, lifted and pulled him onto my lap. Thick words tore from my chest. “You’re going to be okay…please. Please, you’re going to be okay.”

  “Jesus Christ,” Lorcan skidded to a stop beside me.

  His face was a blur behind the sheen of tears as I lifted my head. “He’s going to be okay.”

  There was a flinch in Lorcan’s eyes. He touched Black Dog’s head and leaned down, before straightening. “Gabe, he…”

  “He’s going to be okay!” I roared, and the sound slipped away just like the car.

  Can you keep a secret?

  I closed my eyes as the words filled me. Panic slipped between my ribs to pierce my heart. The past moved in like a silent predator. I shook my head, tears fell to splatter on my hand. A harsh wheeze filled my ears as I pulled him close.

  He saved me…he saved me…

  I squeezed my eyes closed.

  Can you keep a secret?

  My body jerked with the words. “Get the fuck away from me.”

  “Gabe…” Lorcan murmured.

  “Get out of my head…get out of my head…get out of my head!”

  “Gabe, honey. I’m not—” Lorcan started.

  I jerked my head up. “They won’t get out…she won’t get out. I can’t stop it…I can’t…”

  They were all there…all their faces…the names…Spark…Oleander…Chasm…Pulse….Cure…

  Fail Safe.

  But they weren’t children, not anymore. They were women, purple hair, blue eyes, soft lips, skinny, strong…beautiful. They swirled around inside my head. Pulling me like a tether…like a lead.

  “Get out of my head.” I cradled Black Dog as he lay silent.

  There were no labored breaths now. No tiny whimpers against my palm. Only silence. Cold, cleaving silence.

  I can help him…

  My breaths stilled. Silence was a pressure in my lungs, filling my head with white noise. I exhaled and felt the rush. “What did you say?”

  “I didn’t say anything,” Lorcan brushed his fingers along my arm.

  I can help him.

  I turned toward that voice, and her face filled my mind. Strawberry freckles on pale skin. Her hair captured the moonlight, shining.

  If you let me, I can heal him.

  “How?”

  Connect with you, your mind actually. I can try, anyway.

  I placed my hand on Black Dog’s chest. There was barely movement now, just a tiny shudder where a rush of life used to be.

  “Do it.”

  Are you sure? The connection will need to be strong…you could connect with all of us...

  I trembled with the thought and closed my eyes. I’d fought my entire life to keep them out…keep them way—hidden behind the shield. And now I was asking…Hell, I don’t know what I’m asking.

  It’s okay, she whispered. We take this as slow as you want…

  I waited…waited for the pain—waited for the pressure.

  But there was nothing but a flicker. A tiny spark of light in the dark.

  A woman floated to the surface, and purple hair filled my mind. She lifted her hand toward me, pleading with silent whispers before she slipped away.

  Lightning coursed and Spark was there, her blue eyes vivid in the night. And then another, standing strong as the ground beneath her cracked and then widened.

  One of us, the words quaked.

  One of us…

  They faded, leaving one to take their place. She smiled at me, and then whispered…Cure, they call me cure. A hum filled my head, shuddering my bones…sliding through my veins.

  “Ah, Gabe,” Lorcan murmured. “What’s going on?”

  I opened my eyes
as light coursed from the middle of my palm. Soft white light smothered matted black fur and sank into his body. I could feel him, feel his body, his bones…feel his life and as Cure moved closer and the hum turned loud, I felt his spirit.

  So soft, so weak, like a tiny thread. Strained. One tug and it’d be over, one snap and it’d be done. Black Dog would be gone forever, and there was no power that’d bring him back.

  He’s hurting, she whispered. Can you feel it…the pain?

  Cold sank fangs into the white light of her power. The touch cruel, and painful. I flinched with the bite, and pulled away…

  No, you pull away now and you’ve lost him.

  The darkness stuck against my power, seeping and infecting. Dark tendrils curled around the white light. Resistance pushed me away.

  It was death.

  Death wanted his pound of flesh.

  Regardless if it was human, or hound.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Renegade barked behind me. “I thought something had happened…”

  I closed my eyes and opened myself to her power, feeling a rush of strength. They were all there. So many…so many…tall women, short women, thin women and bigger women, all beautiful—all perfect.

  All off them here for me.

  You are one of us, they whispered, and energy filled the air.

  “Jesus fucking Christ, can you feel that?” Renegade groaned.

  “Yes,” Lorcan whispered beside me. “I can feel them all.”

  We were a stone on a string, falling through the middle of existence. Lightning coursed arching my spine, and the ground trembled beneath my body. Somewhere in the distance, thunder growled in obedience.

  My shield rose without warning, surging out of my hands to surround the dog in my arms. Inside the barrier, the power grew. White light was iridescent, like a second sun in the palm of my hands. It swallowed him, leeching away black fur until he was nothing more than the light.

  Until he was nothing more than our perfection.

  And that darkness pulled away.

  “What the fuck,” Renegade growled behind me. “Are you seeing this?”

  There was no answer, only stunned silence as I felt a twitch of movement against my hand. Power pulsed to a beat, one that pressed against my palm.