The Girl and the Lion (Sanctuary Book 1)

by Stella Night

  “Garrett, I’m not gonna fight you, man. There has to be another way.” The bear’s head shook in dissent, but his jerking motions stilled, no longer trying to throw Dimitri off his back. “No, keep pretending you’re fighting me. So we can talk.”

  Garrett renewed his struggling, moving so violently he flung Dimitri around like a rag doll.

  “Too much,” Dimitri said through gritted teeth.

  Garrett calmed down a bit, still putting on a show without almost snapping Dimitri’s neck in the process.

  “Okay, better. We can make it out of this if we work together. If we team up like old times, we can take out these guys and get away.”

  Garrett growled, obviously not sold on the idea.

  “Look, neither one of us has to die here. Even if one of us wins, we’ll still be slaves to this asshole. That’s not a life. But if we work together, we can escape.”

  Garrett made a grunting noise. Dimitri couldn’t tell if his friend was agreeing or not.

  “So here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to get off your back and I’m going to talk to Conrad.” The bear growled. “I know he won’t listen. It’s just a diversion. While I distract him, you get in close to us. Then when I give the signal we both attack him. Cut off the head of the snake and the body dies. It’s our only chance.”

  Garrett didn’t respond. Dimitri just hoped that deep down, his friend was the same man he’d known all these years. He’d been a good man. A just man. If he was wrong, he wouldn’t live long enough to regret his mistake.

  ***

  Sadie watched Dimitri slip off the bear’s back and approach her direction. Garrett stood stock still on his hind legs, watching the naked man intently. But he didn’t move in for a killing blow, much to her surprise.

  “This is over, Conrad,” Dimitri called out, moving closer to the criminal boss. “You’ve had your show. No one has to die.”

  The men scattered around the warehouse booed and hissed, angry that their fun had been interrupted. They reminded Sadie of rowdy school children instead of hardened criminals.

  Conrad faked a yawn. “Boring. We’ve been over this. One of you will die or both of you will. It’s that simple.”

  “You’re a smart guy, Conrad. Does it really make sense to lose one or both of your strongest assets just to put on a show? That’s just bad business.”

  Dimitri kept edging closer as he talked. Sadie wondered if he was going to make some kind of move. She’d seen him talking to Garrett while he was on his back. Maybe they had a plan.

  If so, she desperately wished she knew what it was. She wanted to help. To do something other than stand there like a lump on a log. But there was no way to communicate with Dimitri. She was just going to have to improvise.

  Conrad sighed theatrically. “You still don’t understand. Typical. All brawn, no brains. This isn’t just a show. It’s a test. And you’re failing. You’re also annoying me.” Conrad looked past Dimitri toward Garrett. “It seems Dimitri has given up. End this for me, Garrett.”

  The bear took a few steps forward, getting into striking distance of Dimitri. But then he stopped.

  Conrad rolled his eyes. “Ugh, not you, too.” He pulled the little black case out from his coat pocket, produced the syringe filled with blue liquid, and held it up for Garrett to see. “Remember what you’re fighting for, boy. Finish this and claim your prize.”

  The bear stared at the syringe intently. Sadie couldn’t make heads or tails of what he was thinking. Had he finally seen reason and turned against his slave master? Or was he still loyal to the man who held his leash?

  Sadie didn’t want to wait to find out. She had to do something. Make some kind of move that would tilt the scales in her and Dimitri’s favor.

  That’s when she had a really bad idea.

  There was no time to think. No time to second guess. She had to move.

  Sadie slammed her body sideways, tumbling into Conrad and knocking him off balance. He flailed about, and she snatched the antidote from his grasp.

  Time seemed to slow down. She heard shouting and she felt a hand reach out behind her and grab at her shirt. But she was already moving, focused on the man she loved.

  She closed the distance between them, raising the syringe over her head like a dagger about to strike. Then she plunged the needle into Dimitri’s arm and injected him.

  Then the world around her exploded in gunfire.

  Chapter 16

  Dimitri felt the effects immediately.

  The medicine jolted through his body like lightning. Each crackling bolt shattered the chains holding back his power. He felt energized and alive. Like he could take on the whole fucking world.

  Which was good because he was about to.

  The two gangs had opened fire on opposite sides of him. But they weren’t shooting at him. They were aiming at the massive bear rampaging through their ranks. Garrett had come through after all. And the bear had given Dimitri and Sadie a chance.

  He grabbed the woman beside him and pulled her out of the center of the warehouse. Bullets whizzed around them, but they stayed low and somehow avoided getting hit.

  Dimitri pulled Sadie behind a stack of crates, sheltering them from the chaos for the moment.

  “Are you alright?” he asked her, scanning her beautiful body for signs of damage.

  “Yeah, I’m good,” she said breathlessly. “I should be asking you that.”

  He grinned. “I’m great. That was a crazy stunt you pulled back there.”

  “I know. I know. I don’t need to hear a lecture—”

  He stopped her words with a kiss. The touch of her lips filled him with energy like the antidote had. It reminded him why he had to fight. Why he had to survive.

  He pulled away. “No lectures. You were amazing. But now I need you to stay safe.”

  “You’re going back out there?” she asked, frowning.

  He nodded. “I have to. Garrett can’t take all those guys alone. Besides, I need to find Conrad. Put an end to this once and for all.”

  “You be careful out there. If you die, I’ll kill you.”

  He smiled. “Yes, ma’am.”

  He shifted into lion form. It felt like heaven after the painful transformations caused by the poison. He felt stronger and faster than he’d ever felt before.

  Coming out from behind the boxes, he surveyed the fight. Garrett was wreaking havoc among the bad guys. Those men were finding out the hard way how ineffective handguns were against an angry bear.

  Garrett wasn’t exactly bulletproof but his tough hide and mammoth muscles meant he was hard as hell to hurt. Still, Dimitri needed to get out there and help him.

  He slid into the loose clusters of men like the shadow of death, taking them out silently and efficiently. They never saw him coming.

  Some of the men had already fled. The prospect of fighting two shapeshifters was enough to scatter the most hardened soldiers. And these men weren’t soldiers, as much as they pretended to be. They were unskilled thugs.

  Dimitri made his way to Garrett. The bear looked in his direction and Dimitri could have sworn he saw the son of a bitch wink at him. It felt like old times.

  They bounded toward the last group of armed thugs, making a last stand behind an upturned table. Like that was going to protect them from six hundred pounds of charging bear.

  Dimitri followed his raging friend. He felt a few of the bullets hit him, but they were glancing blows. Nothing he couldn’t handle. Nothing that would stop him.

  Garrett shredded through the table like it was made of tissue paper. The men behind it scattered in every direction. They didn’t make it very far.

  Dimitri shifted back to human form. He was a little bloodied but mostly unharmed. Medical treatment wouldn’t be necessary. And he wasn’t even out of breath.

  His renewed strength had made the fight trivial. Almost easy. It made him painfully aware of how much the poison had affected him.

  Garrett shifted beside him
. Blood dripped from a number of wounds, but they looked mostly superficial. He was smiling. “Goddamn, that felt good.”

  “Glad to have you back from the dark side,” Dimitri said.

  “Yeah, sorry about that.”

  “Save the apologies for later. Did you see Conrad? Did you get him?”

  Garrett shook his head. “Once things kicked off, I didn’t see him. I’m sure he ran like the coward he is.”

  A shot rang out in the silence. Blood bloomed on Garrett’s chest. He looked down at the wound, his eyes wide and his mouth working silently. He looked up at Dimitri, confused. Then he collapsed to the floor.

  Dimitri turned and saw Conrad standing there in the center of the carnage, smiling. “No one calls me a coward.”

  “You son of a bitch,” Dimitri snarled, advancing toward the man.

  Conrad pointed the pistol at Dimitri and shook his head. “Now, now, unless you want to end up like your friend there, you’ll stop right where you are.”

  “It’s over, Conrad. Just let us go.”

  “It’s over when I say it’s over!” the man yelled, spit flying from his lips. The hint of madness Dimitri had seen in his eyes earlier had blossomed into full blown mania. The man had become unhinged. That made him even more dangerous than he’d been before.

  Dimitri held his hands out, palms forward. “Alright, just relax.” He was stalling for time. He just needed to shift. Then he could finish this once and for all. But he couldn’t do that with a gun pointed at him. Shifting was quick, but Conrad would still have time to put a bullet in him before the change was complete.

  “You expect me to relax? It’s going to take me ages to undo the damage you’ve done. That’s bad for business. But you’re going to help me.”

  “Are you kidding? Why the hell would I help you?”

  “You may be back in fighting form, but your woman is still dying. I’m her only hope. Maybe you forgot that in all the excitement. It’s understandable. An animal like you only knows killing. So uncivilized and savage.”

  “You’re one to talk.”

  Conrad shrugged. “I do what I have to do. Now why don’t we stop this nonsense. Stop pretending you’re going to kill me.”

  “I am going to kill you.”

  “Not if it means killing your little girlfriend. Where is she by the way?”

  Sadie sprang up from behind a crate and clubbed Conrad with a broken board. The wood made a solid thud as it connected with Conrad’s skull. He dropped the gun and staggered, holding his head.

  Dimitri ran over beside Sadie.

  “I got tired of listening to him talk,” she said, smiling. “Besides, I thought you could use the help.”

  Dimitri grinned and shook his head. “I had everything under control.”

  “Sure, you did.”

  They turned their attention back to Conrad. Dimitri grabbed him by the lapels and shook him like a child. “Where’s the antidote? I know you have more. And we’re not leaving until we get it.”

  Conrad’s lips turned up in a sinister smile. “You think I need a gun to take you on?”

  “Yeah, I do,” Dimitri said.

  Conrad shook his head, chuckling. “You know, you asked me before how I knew so much about shifters. Here’s how.”

  The air shimmered in front of Dimitri and he was left holding an empty suit jacket. Conrad was gone. In his place was a massive silver tiger.

  Conrad was a shifter, too.

  ***

  Sadie’s jaw dropped when she saw Conrad shift. She’d always thought there was something predatory about the man, but she’d never expected him to be a shifter.

  His animal form was strangely elegant. Not unlike the crisp, tailored suits the man always wore. Black stripes lined silver fur. She’d never seen an animal like him. Then again, she’d never seen a black lion before meeting Dimitri.

  Conrad swiped a lethal looking claw at Dimitri. He shifted, saving himself from taking a fatal blow. Conrad’s claws scraped against Dimitri’s side, wounding him deeply nonetheless. His blood looked black against his fur.

  Sadie’s heart sank. There had to be something she could do to help, but she couldn’t think of anything. She thought about grabbing a gun, but she’d seen how ineffective bullets had been against Garrett and Dimitri.

  Dimitri was on his own. She knew he was strong and powerful. She just hoped he was strong enough for this.

  The two big cats circled around each other. The wound in Dimitri’s side bled freely. He limped a bit as he moved, obviously in pain.

  Conrad kept feinting blows at him, almost like he was toying with him. Anger burned in Sadie’s breast. Conrad truly was a sadist. Even now, he was taking joy in the suffering of the man she loved.

  Sadie had never been a violent person. Her life had been devoted to saving animals. But this was one animal she wanted dead more than anything in the world.

  “Kick his ass, Dimitri,” she shouted. “Make him pay for what he’s done.”

  Her voice seemed to break through whatever pain he was feeling. Dimitri sprang at Conrad, moving so fast he was almost a blur. Conrad was quick, too. He sidestepped the snapping jaws that would have crushed his throat.

  Conrad clawed at Dimitri again, but this time Dimitri moved into the blow instead of avoiding it. He took a hit, but he was able to close the gap between them. The two beasts rose up, clawing and biting at one another, neither giving ground.

  It was brutal and ugly. Sadie would have looked away if she wasn’t so worried about Dimitri. He was giving as good as he got, but she quickly realized that wasn’t good enough. They were going to kill each other. She had to put a stop to this somehow.

  The two cats tumbled over each other, a blur of claws and teeth. Then Sadie saw it. The answer to the problem. Their salvation.

  She ran and dropped to her knees beside Conrad’s crumpled up suit. She searched through the coat pockets, desperately hoping it was there. Her hands found a lump and she yanked the little black case out triumphantly.

  Please be in here, she begged silently. Please.

  She opened the case and saw what she was looking for. The syringe filled with green liquid.

  She pulled it out with trembling hands. It was the last syringe of the poison. She had to make it count. She noted that there was another dose of the antidote in there, too. But that could wait.

  The two animals were still locked in combat, a whirlwind of death. She edged in close to them, her limbs trembling with fear. One misstep and she’d be mauled before she could inject Conrad with the poison.

  She took a deep breath and steeled herself. Under her breath, she spoke the quiet prayer that had gotten her through the hardest times in her life. She just hoped it helped now.

  “Seraphina,” she whispered.

  Then she lunged at Conrad.

  ***

  Dimitri noticed Sadie on the edge of his vision slipping closer to the fight. All he could think was that she needed to stay away. This was his fight and his alone. She couldn’t help him. Not now.

  Then he saw her stab Conrad and he understood.

  Conrad reared in pain. The sound of his roar filled the warehouse like thunder. He turned and swiped at Sadie, catching her in the face with his deadly claws. She flew back from the blow, trailing blood behind her.

  Blind rage filled Dimitri. He didn’t even need to wait for the poison to weaken Conrad. The lion struck quickly. His jaws found the vulnerable spot at Conrad’s neck and snapped shut like a vise.

  He shook his head furiously, shaking Conrad until he stopped moving. He shifted back to human form and spat blood onto the floor, disgusted by the taste. Then he ran to Sadie.

  He dropped to his knees and cradled her in his arms. “Sadie? Come on, Sadie, wake up.”

  Three long claw marks raked down her face like war paint. It made her look fierce, even as she lay unmoving. His warrior woman. His lioness. She’d proven over and over again that she had more courage and more ferocity than anyone he’d e
ver met, man or woman.

  He couldn’t lose her now. “Sadie, please. Come back to me. I love you.”

  “Aww,” she said, smiling. “Aren’t you sweet?” Her eyes flickered open and she smiled. Her face twisted up with pain. “Okay, it hurts to smile.”

  “Sadie, thank god you’re alright.” Dimitri pulled her up in his arms, holding her tight like he never wanted to let her go.

  “I’m fine, I think. Although I think there’s something wrong with my face.”