Wish (Supernaturals of Las Vegas Book 3)

by Carina Cook

  He knelt down to examine the tires. The knife marks were visible on the right driver’s side, where the perpetrators slashed the tire to shreds. But the rear tire bore no visible marks. Maybe someone had come along before the punks could finish the deed. The truck was parked at the edge of the lot, making it an ideal candidate for such a spur-of-the-moment bit of vandalism.

  “If I change the front tire, I think a can of Fix-a-Flat might handle the other one enough to get us to your place. We could pick up your car and head on from there,” Darius said, frowning. “I don’t like the delay, but I think it’s the best we can do. What do you think?”

  “I don’t have anything better. What can I do to help?”

  He directed her to get the jack out of the back and made relatively quick work of the tire. He was a competent mechanic, efficient and careful. Every bolt was tightened to precise measurements that Audra didn’t exactly understand, but she appreciated the precision.

  She was handing him the last bolt when he suddenly stiffened. His nostrils flared as he scented the air, and red embers burned in the depths of his eyes. For the first time since she’d met him, Audra felt like she was in the presence of a shifter. He always kept the animal part of him locked down so tight, but now it swam to the surface.

  The back of her neck prickled, and she froze instinctively. Something was very wrong. She wanted to ask him what was happening, but she didn’t want to make a noise. It felt like an incredibly bad idea to do so.

  He gestured toward the truck, like he wanted her to get inside, and she shook her head. Instead, she readied a ball of air between her hands, looking around to try and figure out what had them both so spooked. Once she saw it, she was throwing that ball of air at them. Getting hit by one was like taking a fastball to the face. She might not turn into a giant animal, but she could still be a formidable opponent. Even if her hands wouldn’t stop shaking with adrenaline and fear.

  The truck was parked at the edge of the lot, near the black emptiness of an overgrown field. From the opposite side of the vehicle, off in the dark expanse of the field, she heard an ominous skittering sound, like something with too many legs.

  With deliberate movements, Darius stood up and set down his tools. His fingers made quick work of the buttons on his shirt, and he shrugged it off, followed quickly by his pants. Silk boxers followed suit, exposing a delightful amount of tanned, muscled skin. She was too afraid to appreciate the view properly, but she made a mental note to do so later.

  “Stay behind me,” he said, and his voice hummed with an almost alien like tone.

  She nodded, and he stepped out from behind the truck, out into the darkness beyond. Then he shifted. One moment, he stood there motionless, naked and muscled, and the next moment, black chiton boiled out of his pores. His entire form swelled, gaining at least a foot in height. Extra limbs sprouted from his ribs, segmented and alien. His hands grew, solidifying into claws.

  When the transformation was over, a seven-foot scorpion stood before her. It let out an alien shriek of defiance, and Audra had a moment to wonder if real scorpions also made that kind of noise. Then, something from the field responded with a shriek of its own.

  A wave of instinctive, primal fear came over her, and she ducked behind the truck, losing the concentration necessary to maintain her magic. Her breath came in ragged, frightened gasps. But she couldn’t just sit here and do nothing. She drummed up every ounce of bravery she had and stuck her head out from around the bumper of the truck. She could summon another ball of air, but that felt suddenly insufficient. Hiding in the truck didn’t feel much better, though. The thing lumbering out of the darkness at Darius was just as big as he was, and it had even more limbs.

  It was a giant spider. It stood eye to eye with Darius in his scorpion form. But it looked wrong somehow. Its body was peeling and moldy. One of its legs ended too short in a truncated knob. It lurched unsteadily, but was no less intimidating for its awkward motion.

  To Audra’s eyes, it looked sick. Did spiders get rabies? She wasn’t an expert by far. All she knew for sure was that the creature scared the crap out of her.

  Darius didn’t shirk from it, though. He reared up on his back legs, stinger poised and at the ready. The spider lurched forward, legs ticking audibly. He met it halfway, ducking down to gain leverage on it. Claws tore at the delicate underside of the beast, spraying ichor. The spider bore down on him, mandible darting toward one of his delicate legs, but missed by inches. His stinger darted toward the spider, which shied away, turning its back.

  Was it retreating already? It seemed like a prime opportunity to Audra, and Darius didn’t miss it either. The giant scorpion darted forward, claws at the ready. But she quickly realized that the spider hadn’t been fleeing after all, but readying another attack. She opened her mouth to call out a warning, but it was too late. The spider’s body contracted, and out came a long strand of moldy smelling, gooey spider silk. It hit the scorpion smack in the face, and Darius reared up, letting out another of those angry shrieks.

  The spider spun around, wobbled, and pressed its advantage with a swift attack. Although Darius tried to parry, the spider had too many legs to keep track of, and his head was covered in sticky goo. He tried retreating, to buy some time, but the spider pressed its advantage.

  A long leg tipped with a sharp point darted up and then plunged down into Darius’s side. He shrieked again, and so did the spider. It sounded triumphant, as it should. Darius was pinned and unable to move.

  Audra finally shook free of her shocked stupor, stepped out from behind the truck, and yelled, “Hey!” A ball of air appeared in her hands with ease, fueled by her anger and fear. The spider swung around to face her, and she flung the ball with every ounce of strength she possessed. It whacked the giant arachnid in the face, ripping it free of Darius.

  The scorpion didn’t waste any time. It picked the spider up with its claws and threw it to the ground with bone crushing force. Before the spider could move a muscle, his stinger darted down and through the spider’s body, imbedding into the ground beneath. As Audra watched in horrified fascination, Darius impaled it again and again.

  The spider exploded in a flash of green ichor and moldy smelling goo. It went everywhere, covering Darius, Audra, the truck, and a good portion of the field. But just as quickly as it landed, it began to dissolve away until nothing was left but the stink.

  Darius’s form wavered and shrank into human skin. A wicked puncture wound leaked red blood down his right side. He went down to one knee, coughed painfully, and said, “Well, that was weird.”

  Audra thought that was a terrible understatement. Before she could observe as much, he staggered toward her and promptly fell over. Any smart comments she was going to make were forgotten as she hurried over to help him.

  CHAPTER 14

  Darius felt a bit sheepish about his need to sit in the parking lot for a few minutes after he fought the giant spider and wriggled back into his clothes. Wasn’t he supposed to be big and strong and at least semi-unflappable? For some reason, he felt like he should just waltz away from a fight like that without pause, or maybe at the most, he should look down at the puncture wound on his side and put a Band Aid on it with stoic composure. His overactive metabolism made quick work of injuries like that, and he could handle pain. Sitting down for a breather made him feel like he was milking the situation. Wussing out. Being silly.

  Honestly, the thing that bothered him the most wasn’t the strain of fighting the giant creature, or the injury he’d gotten when it stabbed him, or the strain of changing back and forth into his scorpion form. Those things taxed his body for sure, but it was already recovering. He could feel it, an itching deep in the wound where he couldn’t scratch. That was uncomfortable, but he wasn’t about to complain. No, the worst thing about it all was the smell. When the spider went kablooie, some of the goo went up his nose, and it smelled like fried ass. He’d gone down, not because he was hurt, but because he was trying not to vomit.
There was no escaping the smell, and even now, minutes later, his stomach threatened to revolt.

  Audra didn’t seem to understand this, maybe because he hadn’t told her. She kept asking over and over again if he was okay and threatening to take him to the doctor, even though he knew that would be a waste of time. But he hadn’t really answered because he was afraid if he opened his mouth for more than words of one syllable, puke might come out of it.

  “Are you sure, Darius?” she said worriedly. Her hand was on his back, a light and comforting touch. He really didn’t want to pay back her concern by emptying his stomach on her shoes. It was all he could think about. Just a constant internal monologue of don’t vomit don’t vomit don’t vomit. “I think I should take you to the doctor. That puncture wound went deep.”

  He shook his head, his mouth clamped shut.

  Then she cocked her head and folded her arms, giving him an exasperated look. “Don’t tell me you’re one of those strong guys who won’t see a doctor because it’s too emasculating. I know you’re better than that.”

  He shook his head, looked down at his belly, and decided to risk a couple of words. “Blood. Stopping.” Then his stomach heaved, and he shut his mouth again quickly before something tragic could happen. His innards roiled, but he managed to keep them under control.

  “Oh.” She leaned down to take a look herself and seemed to calm down a bit after seeing that he was correct. The opening in his side was already starting to coagulate. There would be no need to sew him up or anything that conventional doctors did. He just had to eat a truckload—if he could manage to do so without yarking—and not rip the wound open. Shifting would be a bad idea until it was fully healed. He would have explained all of this to her if he could have. She was easy to talk to, which was strange for such a taciturn guy like him. He didn’t like talking to people much, except Rebecca, who pulled him out of his shell whether he liked it or not.

  “I’m glad.” She sat next to him on the curb that bordered the parking lot, not far from where the spider had appeared. She hugged her knees to her chest and hung her head. “I’m sorry I wasn’t more help. I’m sorry you got hurt. I wasn’t sure what to do. I’ve been in fights before, but nothing like that, and I feel like I let you down.”

  Don’t vomit. Don’t vomit. Don’t vomit.

  He put his arm around her shoulder, and his stomach heaved again. But he needed to say something. Anything so she would know that of course it wasn’t her fault, that he would be fine, and that he considered fighting this kind of thing his job. He wanted to tell her that he appreciated her distracting the beast to buy him time. If not for that, he would have been hurt much worse. And then he wanted to say that he didn’t doubt her strength. That in a magical fight, he would be useless, but he would stand at her back anyway, because he trusted her.

  She seemed really upset about what had happened. He had to tell her, and damn the consequences.

  He opened his mouth and said, “Urp.” Then everything in him came out. Calamari and all.

  To her credit, Audra didn’t seem all that upset, even though the contents of his stomach splashed on her shoes and the hem of her fluttery dress. She said one of those nonsensical, comforting things that people say when someone they care about is sick—like “You poor thing”—and then she put her hand on his back again while he heaved and shook. Her hand rubbed soothing whorls on his back. There was no reason it should make him feel better, but it did.

  After he was done, he said, “It takes a special kind of woman to not complain when you puke on her shoes. I don’t think you give yourself enough credit, Audra.”

  She froze as he looked up into her face. Her hand was still on his back.

  “You don’t know half the mistakes I’ve made,” she said. “But thank you anyway.”

  “You know what’s worse than making a lot of mistakes? Not trying in the first place. I tend to hide from things. I don’t talk to people. I don’t step out of my comfort zone. But from moment one, you’ve been able to pull me out of it. I wonder why that is.”

  “I don’t know either, but I’m glad,” she said quietly.

  “I really want to kiss you right now.”

  The moment he said it, he automatically wished he could take it back, because who would want to kiss a vomity, spider-goo covered man in a wrinkled suit? She was a special woman, but there were limits over which no one should go, and that was one of them. But she smiled and leaned toward him ever so slightly, an invitation written clearly on her face.

  He held out a hand to stall her, and for a moment, he saw a wave of embarrassment and rejection in her eyes.

  “I really mean that, but I should brush my teeth first. And maybe take a shower. That spider stunk like nothing I’ve ever smelled before.”

  Her expression relaxed. “I know! Do you think it was sick or something?”

  “Something. I’ve never smelled or seen anything like that. I mean, I’ve seen a giant spider before. Rebecca’s mom used to turn into one, although she died a long time ago, when we were kids. She looked kind of like that thing did, but not so…moldy.”

  Audra put her hand to her mouth.

  “Oh my god. Rebecca. I forgot about her and Chad in all the chaos. We’re supposed to be tailing them, remember?” She gave him a critical look. “Although I’m not sure you should be anywhere but in bed, now that you’re hurt.”

  He lifted his shirt to show her the wound and the red, puckered skin that already had begun to grow over it.

  “It’s already closing up. I’ll be fine so long as I’m not stupid and don’t injure myself again. Let’s stick to the plan. The random spider doesn’t need cleaning up. Let’s stop by your place. Get your car. Maybe you can let me use some mouthwash?”

  “I’ll do you one better. I keep spare toothbrushes in the guest bathroom just in case. You can even speed shower if that’ll help you feel less queasy, although I’m not sure I have anything you could wear.”

  “I have gym clothes in the back. They’re not sweaty, either. I mostly keep them there so I can tell myself I’m going to work out even when I know it’s a lie.”

  She chuckled a little. “I’m not sure whether to empathize with you or be pissed off that you can look like that and still avoid the gym.”

  “Can you think it over on the way? I think I can manage to get up, if there’s a shower and food in my future.”

  She agreed, and he did just that. It wasn’t painful at all, and he was very happy to leave the scene of the proverbial crime behind. It could have been much worse, he reflected as he pulled carefully out of the parking lot. Someone could have been walking across that field. Someone could have come out of the restaurant. The spider could have shown up just a few minutes earlier and attacked Chad and Rebecca. It could have sat there, dead and stinking, and they would have had to clean it all up before someone saw it. He’d seen plenty of random creature attacks in his day, and this one had turned out better than most.

  Audra needed a new pair of shoes, and he’d need to get the interior of his truck cleaned now that he’d sat in it and got it all gooey. He’d have to eat a boatload of food to regenerate the damage he’d taken. Given the alternative, it seemed like a small price to pay.

  Once he’d cleaned his mouth out and had a shower, Darius felt human again. Or as close to human as a werescorpion can get. He’d stood beneath the spray longer than he’d intended, cleaning out the wound on his side as best as he could until the water ran clear and no longer smelled so foul. Then he’d snorted it up into his nostrils, a stinging operation that nonetheless made him feel so much better. He no longer smelled that sick creature every time he breathed in.

  Now that he’d had time to think it over, he realized he would have to call Derek and the few other shifters still left in Vegas to arrange a hunting pack. That spider might not have been alone. Perhaps now there were others like it, sick and disoriented, wandering from the desert into the populated areas they usually shunned, unable to control them
selves. It had gotten far into town without being spotted, but hopefully if there were more of them hiding out there, they wouldn’t be so lucky. Or maybe they were in the sewers? That made a lot of sense—they’d have to search belowground as well. But that could wait just a while longer until they got the lamp. He was ready to shake it out of Chad, if the boy wouldn’t give it up.

  Once he dressed himself in his gym clothes, he went to Audra’s kitchen. She had a nice set up, but it was the kind of kitchen that clearly wasn’t used very much. The pots hanging above the island looked almost brand new. But even if she didn’t cook, she’d taken the care to make the place feel like home. Framed pictures hung on the wall alongside bright paintings of flowers and sunsets. He stopped by one, a bird flying amidst a rainfall of splattered paint.

  “I like this,” he said.

  She handed him a sandwich, and he immediately stuffed it into his mouth. Turkey and mayo, lettuce and tomato. Good bread. Nothing too crazy, but appreciated nonetheless.

  “I did it myself. One of those paint and pour things. I painted most of these.”

  She gestured at the walls.

  “I’ve never been to one of those. We should go together,” he said impulsively. “Once this is all over.”

  She met his eyes, and an ember began to burn at the bottom of his belly. Not the sickening feeling from earlier, but a warm and comfortable sensation. Something he’d never felt before and didn’t understand except to know that he wanted more of it.

  “I’d like that,” she said softly.

  He grinned and stuffed the rest of the sandwich in his mouth. It wasn’t the most romantic thing he could have done, but he was just so hungry. And it made her laugh.

  “Let’s go check on Rebecca and knock some sense into Chad,” she said. “You want another sandwich to go?”