by Kim Faulks
I couldn’t remember the last time I ate flesh or drank blood. But, as I narrowed in on this pathetic excuse for a human, the need for both overwhelmed me.
The walls seemed to close in as I crossed the room. I slammed my palms on the edge of his desk. The wood splintered under the force. The thin sheeting crunched and cracked. I rode the fall as the desk collapsed. Somehow, under the forgotten pain and fresh anger, my dragon rose to the surface.
Need filled me, tasting like bitter water from rusted pipes. My top lip curled. The sound rumbled in the back of my throat.
Fear me, my dragon whispered, and so help me, I did.
The air stank of fear and sweat. I gulped the fetid smell and tried to keep the hunger from my voice. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that. You make one move against the wolves without coming to me and I’ll set fire to that squeaky wheel of yours. I’ll burn this entire town to the fucking ground. Do you hear me?”
His skin turned ashen. The heat of his breath washed over me as he exhaled with a shudder. I straightened from the shattered desk. “Two days. Do not move on them until you consult with me first.”
“Sure. Got it.” His whisper was all I needed.
I straightened and the desk crumbled to the floor. “My car. I’ll need the paperwork for the insurance.”
Morse dropped his gaze, then slid off the chair to the ground, searching the papers that now littered the floor. His fingers shook, scattering the pile as he went until he snagged a form from the rest. “Here, single car collision. A small fine for negligence… it’s automatic now. I can’t change it.”
I grasped the page, then straightened. “I’ll be in touch.”
His sudden exhale haunted my steps as I strode from the room. I’d never realized how estranged I’d become from this world, until now.
Let them die. Let them rot.
Who were the monsters now?
The deputy glared from the filing cabinets as I headed for the front door. His gaze irked like an itch I couldn’t reach.
The wolf’s tear-stained gaze haunted me as I shoved through the entrance. I didn’t know why, I only knew I couldn’t stand to see her in pain. The door hit something on the other side with a thud, then swung backwards, stopping at the tops of my shoes.
Through the glass another young deputy stumbled. His hands flapped wind-milling before he fell to the cement.
Anger and hatred leaked from the man. I eased the door open and slipped through. “Sorry about that.”
I extended my hand, earning a glare. Eschewing my offer of help, the deputy shoved himself from the sidewalk. Specks of dirt fell as he slapped his khaki trousers. “Watch where you’re going next time.”
I took a step forward and felt my dragon move under my skin. “Maybe it’s you who needs to watch where you’re going? And show a little goddamn respect.”
I dropped my gaze to his chest. Officer Goulding. He followed my focus, closing the distance with one smooth step. Teeth peeked out under his rising lip as he snarled. “Looks like you know my name. How about you tell me yours?”
I yanked my head up and my dragon smiled. “Marcus Kane.”
There was no reaction from the officer. No respect, not even fear. Did my name mean so little? The thought grazed like gravel on soft skin.
Easy.
I gave the mortal my back and strode toward the parking lot.
“I’ll be seeing you around, Marcus Kane.”
“Looking forward to it,” I muttered, heading for the road, remembering all too clearly why it’d been twenty years since I ventured into town. This is why I keep to myself. This is why mortals and I don’t mix.
My thighs strained. Long strides ate the distance. I folded the police report and placed it into the back pocket of my trousers. Cars whipped past, kicking dust into my eyes. I wiped away the grit with the swipe of my thumb and lifted my gaze. Hooded mountains, choked with green, surrounded the valley. Run. Fly. Urged my dragon. My shoulders ached with need. My bones ground against each other, eager to change.
We were more than flesh and blood. More than a name and more than a piece of paper. We were the guardians of the ancient gods. Before Rome, before Egypt. All the way back to creation of the universe and the quickening of Earth, there was only one place to call home. Babylon.
Live. Flourish, my mother, Inanna once whispered. Be the bull and the dragon. Be fierce. Be strong, and most of all, be brave.
I hadn’t thought of those words for so long. I’d forgotten how to be brave. I’d forgotten how to flourish. I’d lived thousands of lifetimes and what did I have to show for it?
A piece of paper that now meant nothing.
That thought lingered as I walked. The sun overhead couldn’t warm me and the breeze carried the faint smell of decay. I lifted my head and stared at the mountain. A useless piece of paper, that was it. My life consisted of waiting… and wanting slowly consumed me.
You’re dying. Have been for some time now.
The vision loomed over every thought as I left the supermarkets and the stores behind. All twelve of us had suffered the ultimatum. Your line starts and ends with you.
Could I simply step aside and let death take its course?
Death would be a mercy.
The thought hummed like a live wire through my mind as I strode along the main street until it turned into the highway. Could the Zodiac dragons simply disappear? Inside my head, I heard the wolf’s voice, whispering the answer I feared.
No.
The thud of my steps echoed the beat of my heart. Cars passed, some slowed. I was a stranger to these humans, but they were even stranger to me. Sweat broke out along the nape of my neck as I spied the familiar row of trees in the distance.
I scanned the edge of the road. My crushed Chrysler was in the impound lot, but there’d be more than enough damage to find the place where I’d crashed. And where I almost hit her.
Tire marks marred the blacktop. I peered through the trees and bulldozed through the underbrush, searching broken branches for any trace of her. Her scent was still here, lingering like a memory, calling me…. Marcus, she whispered.
One pack isn’t too big, forty, fifty at most. Most of them women and children, some old folks as well. The other one is more than seventy strong. Big bastards, too. There’s talk about an attack on one of their alphas. The sheriff’s voice broke through, filling me like a dark omen.
I waded through the grass, following her trail. Deep gouges scored the tree where the metal met wood. Sap ran like blood, still fresh on my fingers. The scent of blood and musk lingered. I snagged a low-lying branch and wrenched it to my nose.
I inhaled the remnant of her, then cast the pine needles aside. I left the scored tree behind as I moved deeper into the forest. Inhaling her fading scent wouldn’t help me find the wolf, or what remained of her pack.
I followed the trail through the shadows. With each step questions filled my head. How long had she been running? Why had one wolf pack come here, much less two? Why were the packs fighting each other? And how had I not noticed that so many wolves were practically on my doorstep?
I found a new rhythm and delved deeper into the woods, until I picked up the faint scent of smoke. The forest was silent. Too silent for a pack of fifty wolves. A pang of disappointment vibrated within as I caught sight of the trail of white smoke. The scent of wolves permeated the air—old, young, men and women.
The earth looked worn. I crouched to press my fingers to the ground. Not too worn… five days, six at most.
A pan lay upside down on the ground. The scent of fat lingered. Adult clothing and a child’s doll lay discarded next to a fallen tree. They’d been in a hurry to leave. The snap of a branch rang out, stilling my hand against the dirt. The faint whiff of male and wolf wafted over me.
I straightened and glanced at the ground.
“What are you doing out here?”
The gravely voice was distinctly male, but which pack? I raised my hands as he circled,
coming up on my right.
“I asked you a question. What are you doing out here?”
The heavy thud echoed as he leapt into view. He was big, almost as big as Zadoc. He moved like a wolf, his steps slow and deliberate. Shaggy brown hair skirted his shoulders. He dropped his head, keeping me fixed in his gaze. I inhaled his thick musk and muttered, “Hiking.”
His gaze drifted over my trousers and collared shirt, “In those shoes?”
My veins jumped like a damn nerve, pulsing as my heart sped. I licked my lips and flayed this sonofabitch inside my mind. Kill him, my dragon whispered. Kill him and let’s be done with it. I swallowed hard as beads of sweat ran between my shoulders. Not yet. He knows what happened. He knows where they are. Find the wolf. “They’re an all-day wear. I paid good money for the comfort. Let me guess. Echo pack. Am I right?”
I caught the flinch. His gaze met mine. “You a cop?”
“No. No cop.”
He moved ahead of me, kicking the pan on the ground, then taking in what remained of the camp. “Then what are you doing here?”
“Looking, same as you.”
He straightened. “This is pack business.”
I flinched. “What do you want with them?”
The smile stilled. His eyes now sparkled for a different reason as he turned to face me. “What’s it to you?”
“One is a friend.”
“They attacked my pack in the middle of the night. Sneaked past twenty of us asleep.”
“Wow, passed twenty of you. That’s impressive, how many were there?”
“One, as far as we can tell.”
I arched my brow. “One wolf sauntered past twenty. I’d hate to go up against him.”
His brow furrowed. One corner of his lip rose in a sneer. “You trying to say something?”
“Your pack is camped to the west, isn’t it?” My mind raced, struggling to see the puzzle, even though, deep down, I knew the pieces already fit.
“How do you know that?”
I replayed the accident. She’d been running east—I turned, glancing back through the trees—covered in someone else’s blood—the blood of a male wolf. The pine needles crackled underfoot, but the sound didn’t come from my feet.
“You’re not out here hiking and you’re not a cop. Why’s a human interested in pack business?”
He couldn’t scent me. He didn’t know.
“How do you know the attack came from these wolves?”
The asshole burrowed into his pocket and yanked something free. Between his fingers I stared at the broken piece of the crystal. Vibrant green splattered with red. Bloodstone. The air left my lungs, and for a second none replaced it. I stared at the broken piece of stone as the wolf edged closer. The tapered end would fit perfectly with her necklace. “Bloodstone, from a member of the Bloodstone pack. I won’t ask again. What do you want with them?”
“Not my problem.” I whispered. The words tasted like bile in my mouth.
The prophecy and the flame-haired wolf collided. We were connected to the very fabric of this world. We’d veered off-course and now were were given an ultimatum—return as a Guardian, or perish. Each one of my family were give the same conditions, in the same horrific vision.
In my mind, the wolf was the one in flames, screaming, reaching for me. I stared at the broken piece of crystal, then lifted my gaze. “You will not harm them—any of them.”
“And how does a mortal intend to stop me?”
I can’t let him hurt her… I won’t let him hurt her. “I can’t answer that as a mortal….”
The bull roared in my belly and my dragon filled me with fire. Agony ripped through my head. I grasped my forehead as horns broke the surface, driving me to my knees. Sticks and rocks bit into my palms.
Bones snapped. The pain stole my breath. I stared at the ground as my spine bulged, stretching my skin until it could stretch no more. Flames licked with razored tongues, splitting my skin. I wrenched my head up, sweat dripped to the ground, glistening with blood.
“Jesus. What are you, man?”
The wolf blurred, then sharpened. Kill, my dragon whispered. Kill him or he’ll kill her. I pierced the ground with claws. Agony sliced like daggers down my spine, tearing tree limbs free.
Bloody wings trembled like a newborn, spreading up and out.
Free. The dragon howled.
I missed you, dragon.
Inside my mind, my dragon smiled, revealing rows of sharp teeth. Show me, he whispered. Show me how much.
I tensed. Thick tendons on my arms tightened, straining until every shudder ravaged my body. The sting lashed like a thousand whips. Flayed nerves pulsed as one wave of agony after another paralyzed me.
Fresh skin split. The air to my wounds stung like acid, spreading through the webbed wings like wildfire. The underbrush scraped my tender new appendages. My horns snapped small branches as I yanked my gaze left, searching for the wolf.
I lunged forward, slamming my palms against the ground. My nails lengthened into talons, and slowly turned my head to glance over my shoulder. The power waned inside me, like a faded memory of something that’d once been great.
A pathetic sound slipped from my lips at the sight. What was once vibrant and red, now looked like clotted old blood. Fluid seeped from the fragile skin of my wings, widening like a thousand hungry mouths. My wings hung like damp towels on a hook.
Screaming… my wings were screaming.
So I screamed.
The fire surged. Flames licked the air from my mouth, then were gone along with the sound, leaving the deafening silence to swallowed me.
“Fuck me.” The wolf choked.
I wrenched my head up at the sound. My arms trembled. My knees locked and released as I climbed to my feet. The wolf’s eyes widened as I swayed, half-man, half-beast. I couldn’t complete the shift.
In his eyes I saw the hideous creature I’d become.
My horns looked like brittle trunks, shattered… fragile. Mottled brown scales on my face swallowed the light. I blinked, trying to see the blood red, but it was gone. No. My dragon. Where was my dragon?
Right where you left me.
To die!
The roar shattered my mind. I stumbled. My knee gave way. Sticks pierced my leg like spears as I hit the ground. Dead inside. All of you, dead.
I clawed for an anchor. Victor. Bastian. Zadoc… Xael. They slipped from my hold. They couldn’t help me.
Your line starts and ends with you.
Green eyes echoed from the darkness, coming closer. The smile from those beautiful lips quietened the flames.
Bloodstone was my salvation. Bloodstone and green eyes.
I drove my foot against the ground, stumbling, clawing the dirt to get to my feet. Branches snapped in the distance, leaves scattered under frantic steps. I narrowed in on the sound.
I won’t let him hurt you, my dragon whispered.
I dragged my wings behind me. Broken branches opened my flesh as I barged through thick underbrush. Protect her. Protect. Her.
I drove my body forward, gaining speed. Frantic eyes stared back at me as he glanced over his shoulder, then surged ahead, pulling away.
No.
My muscles shrieked, shaking under the hundreds of years I lived as a human and not a beast. My cry burned my chest as I drove my useless limbs into the air. The air held under the membrane of my wings, and for a second, I felt free.
Wind buffeted my body as I swept forward, snagging the end of his boot as the tender skin of my wings shredded. I swallowed the pain as the wolf tumbled, falling to land on his back under me.
“No!” The wolf shoved his hands in front of his face as I settled over him.
But my dragon knew no mercy.
And he was ravenous.
Abrial
Nails punctured my skin as the rest of the pack disappeared between the trees. Maddy held on, gripping me with one hand and her swollen belly with the other. I stared down at the bright red smear that
soaked through her crotch, then found her terrified gaze.
“My baby,” she whispered through bloodless lips. “Please, don’t let me lose my baby.”
Fear gripped me tighter than her hands ever could. Maddy wobbled for a second before her knees let go and she crumbled. I caught her fall and held her tight against my chest as I eased her to the ground. “I’ll run, get the healer.”
Her backpack spilled. Tins of food rolled, stopped by a foot at the edge of my vision. I flung the heavy sack from my shoulders and fumbled to remove the elk fur jacket. “You’re going to be okay. You hear me? You’ll be okay. I’ll get Buck.”
“Wait.” Her grip slid to my wrist as I shoved the fur under her raised head. Bloody fingers left a mark. “Don’t leave me.”
“I’ll wait with her.” I jerked my head up at the sound. The lone wolf who’d walked behind our pack for the last few months came close. She stared at Maddy’s swollen stomach, then turned to me.
I spun to the trees as the last of the men disappeared. “Hey! Wait,” then turned to the strange, newest member of our pack. “Odessa, right?”
She nodded, shaking blonde hair from her shoulders.
I lifted Maddy’s hand toward her. “Stay with her. Hold her hand. Don’t let go. I’ll be as fast as I can.”
I didn’t wait for the tagalong’s response, driving my feet into the dirt as I lunged. Don’t let Maddy die. Don’t let her die. Don’t let her die. The words mingled with the frantic beat of my heart.
We’d walked for hours, circling the town to get south. But we weren’t far enough—we could never be far enough. Running and sacrificing, that’s all we knew—that was all we had.
I beat my way through the thick-set bushes, forcing my aching feet faster, passing the long trail of other women in our pack. I felt every stare, every hope, and every fear. The younger ones glared with defiance in their eyes. I could hear their thoughts. That won’t be me. I won’t let it.
