by MJ Caan
“Stay here!” I said to Hope. I jumped up and bolted out from behind the couch. Magic or no, I wasn’t going out hiding behind an oversized sofa. I tried to block out the horrible sounds of Cody trying to fight off his attacker as I raced for it and grabbed one of the iron pokers. Before I could turn around, I felt arms clamp around me from behind, and a man pressed his face next to mine, locking me in a perverse reversal of a loving embrace.
“We just want the stone,” he grunted into my ear. His breath was hot and foul across my face, like he’d been chewing on used, days-old trucker socks. I suppressed a gag and let my head slump forward before slamming it back with all my strength to smash the back of my skull against his face. He swore loudly, but the blow made him release my arms so he could cup cupped his broken nose. I spun around to face him, and swung the fire poker up and around, connecting with the side of his head. He went down in a heap, and that was when I realized he was dressed exactly like the smaller man that had attacked Gar and me at the Falls.
I turned to see the second man advancing on me, also wearing the same pants and shirt.
Shit! Did that mean the crazed-looking one that Cody was struggling with was another Shifter? I reached for my magic, and again came up empty.
“All we want is the stone,” said the second creeper, taking a step toward me.
“Well, come and get it,” I said, gripping the iron poker tighter and raising it like a baseball bat. Not that I had ever held a bat, but I had seen it done enough at Gar’s games that I had a pretty good idea how to swing one.
I heard a grunt followed by a cry of pain and looked over to see Cody standing toe-to-toe with his attacker. He kneed the man in the groin, and followed up with a right cross that landed on the man’s jaw with a loud pop. It didn’t seem to matter to the attacker; if anything it just pissed him off even more. He once again lunged at Cody, this time taking him to the ground and pinning him there. Cody placed his forearm on the man’s neck to keep him as far from his face as possible. Jesus, that thing was trying to bite Cody! And was it growling as it gnashed his teeth at the officer?
My distraction, quick as it was, had given the creeper time to take another couple steps toward me. His eyes went from me, to my fire poker, and then back to me. Then the fucker smiled at me, and his lips started moving. No words came out—at least none that I could hear, but his lips were moving incredibly fast. I started to get dizzy, and suddenly the poker I held in my hands started to get heavier. It felt as heavy as a bowling ball, and then double that. I let it drop to the floor as the room spun around me.
Magic. He was using some type of incantation and it was totally fucking me up.
The creeper moved closer until he was standing over me.
“Give us the stone, and I’ll let the policeman live. And your cute little friend.”
Fuck. I noticed he didn’t say anything about sparing me. Whatever—I wasn’t about to go down like this. My stomach was churning, but it wasn’t from the mystically induced vertigo attack. It felt more like a visceral reaction to something. Whatever spell he was using on me, I could feel it clawing away at my insides, invading all the little nooks and crannies in my mind. It was making me ill. It was also pissing me off.
Just then, a loud bang caught both of us by surprise. I looked to the side just in time to see the crazed man—the one that had been trying to make a meal out of Cody’s face—flung to the side. A large, gaping wound had appeared in the side of his chest. Standing next to him was Hope. Her arms trembled as she struggled to hold onto Cody’s gun. It was still pointed at the man as Cody struggled to his feet. I felt myself start to recover slightly. The sound of the gunfire had been just the distraction I needed to shake the spell.
The anger I felt at being violated tore its way out of me. It felt like I was being hit by a hot wind that was blowing across a construction site, picking up bits of debris to scour my skin. My rage was stronger than whatever magic he had used on me and I shrugged the spell off. I picked up the poker and swung it knee height to strike his left leg. I wasn’t sure if the yelp I received was from the pain of the blow or the surprise that I shook off his raggedy-ass spell. Either way, I was not in any mood to play.
The creeper collapsed to the floor and was rocking back and forth holding his busted knee. I stood over him, and held out my necklace in front of his watery eyes.
“This is what you want?” I said, my anger again flaring up. I threw the necklace down onto the marble in front of the fireplace.
“No!” the creeper shouted, sensing what I was about to do.
I raised the poker over my head and brought it down in a two-handed blow onto the pink stone, shattering it into a million pieces. The sound of breaking rock was masked by the violent explosion accompanying it. Eldritch shards of light in green, blue and red burst out of the broken necklace in all directions. A shockwave of pure magical energy bloomed forth, spiraling outward and knocking everyone off their feet. The house rocked violently as the wave of energy passed through it like a thunderhead.
I staggered to my feet. My head felt numb and there was a roaring in my ears. What the fuck had I just done? I looked around to take in the damage and was amazed at what I saw. Other than the broken furniture caused by Cody’s fight, and the busted back door, everything else seemed to be all right. From the mystical explosion, I had expected to see the roof of my friend’s house completely blown away.
I looked for Hope and saw her lying on her side, still trying to recover from blast. The gun lay beside her and she was desperately feeling for it with one hand as she forced herself to a sitting position with the other. I made my way over to her to help her up.
Suddenly I froze in place. Every instinct I had flared to life, warning me of danger. Spinning around to face the couch, I clinched my fists. I didn’t have a weapon on me, but something had pushed me into fight or flight mode. A deep growl emanated from behind the couch, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. A hand reach up to grasp the back of the couch in a shaky grip, the fingers stretching and elongating as the nails became inch-long claws. I could feel Hope’s terror as she scrambled away from the couch to brace herself against the wall. Creeping slowly, I moved with her, trying to stand slightly in front of her protectively.
The hand that gripped the couch dug into the fabric, first shredding the top of it, finally exerting enough pressure to toss the four-hundred-pound piece of furniture end over end into the great room and away from the crouching figure.
My voice caught in my throat and I could feel my eyes widening as Cody stood up, his jaws elongated into a snout, complete with razor-sharp fangs. He stood defiantly and he threw his head back, howling in rage at the ceiling as his clothing tore away from his rapidly expanding body. His howl became a mix of anger and confusion as his eyes glowed yellow and fixated on the two of us. He dropped to all fours as the man disappeared and the Shift to wolf became complete.
14
I stood there dumbfounded while Hope screamed.
I wasn’t exactly sure what I thought a werewolf would look like. But whatever I had imagined did not match the great shaggy beast that stood before us. Cody no longer stood on two legs. He also didn’t have a furry, snarling, fang-filled face, and he wasn’t waving his arms around menacingly like Lon Chaney in the classic movies. What stood in front of us was a five-foot-tall black wolf. It looked incredibly powerful: its haunches rippled with muscles, and its dark hair was long and thick. All capped off by a set of gleaming yellow eyes.
Yellow eyes that were fixated on the two of us.
Hope swung the gun up, pointing the barrel right at the beast’s face. I managed to knock her arm to the side just as she squeezed the trigger. The bullet ricocheted off the far wall, and I was barely able to stop her from to shooting another round.
“Hope, no!” I said.
Not that I blamed her; the wolf in front of us was a terrifying sight. But now I felt different than I had before. I could feel the magic in the room; I could
feel it all around us. Whatever it was that had been blocking me before was gone. It felt like all my senses had just awakened for the first time, and I could smell and taste the magic on the tip of my tongue. I reached out, probing at Cody with my new senses.
But Cody wasn’t there. There was only the wolf and an animalistic hunger that I had never before imagined. But beyond the hunger I could also sense confusion. Cody may have been gone, swallowed up by the beast that stood before us, but I also sensed that the wolf didn’t know its own self; it wasn’t sure what it was and why it was here. It was as unsure as Hope and I were of its purpose and the reason it had been called forth. Maybe I would be able use this to my advantage—provided, of course, that I could keep Hope from shooting the damn thing.
The wolf let out a low, rumbling growl. It began to circle, never once taking its yellow eyes off of the two of us. I called up some magic, channeling it into my right hand in the form of a blue sphere, just in case he decided to pounce. Calling on the magic like this was new and instinctive. I wasn’t exactly sure what to do with it, but tapping into it felt like the right thing to do at the moment.
It also triggered a change in the wolf’s body language. It was as if the wolf could sense the magic, and its demeanor changed accordingly. Saliva began to drip from its mouth in long silver strands. Yes, there was no doubt I was being perceived as a threat. It stopped pacing and squared up, facing us directly. The muscles in its haunches tensed as it prepared to spring, and in a flash it leapt into the air, claws and two-inch fangs aimed directly at us. I barely had time to raise my hand and hurl a bolt of magic at the dark blur. Blue fire struck it in the center of its chest and sent it flying it backward into the center of the room. The snarl emanating from the creature told me that it was more angry than it was hurt.
Jesus, is it even possible to hurt a werewolf?
“I know you came here with that thing,” said Hope, “but whoever he was, he now wants to eat us. And not in a good way.” She cowered farther behind me and I could sense her looking around for the gun. She was right. This wolf would definitely be the end of us both if given the chance.
Once again, the wolf stalked toward us, this time more cautiously, but fangs bared nonetheless. It seemed to be focused on the glowing sphere surrounding my hand. I held up my other hand, palm out, and slowly recalled the magic. Once there was no glow, I held up both hands and slowly took a step toward the creature.
“Cody,” I said. I spoke in hushed terms the way I’d seen Caesar do on The Dog Whisperer. “Are you in there? I don’t want to hurt you any more than you want to hurt us.” I was advancing on the wolf, keeping my tone and my body language open and non-threatening. “If you’re in there, you have to stop this. I don’t know what is happening, but you have to fight this.”
Even though I didn’t want to, I could feel my magic snaking out and probing gently at the wolf. It wasn’t something that I was in control of, but at least it wasn’t as aggressive as before. I could feel it; whatever had triggered Cody to become this wolf seemed somehow familiar to me. I pushed that feeling aside as I focused on trying to soothe the savage beast. I took a tentative step forward and he mirrored my actions by taking a small step backward. The sheer size of the wolf was impressive—I could hear the wood floors creaking under his massive weight.
His head lowered, and he put his ears back just a little. I could see his nostrils flare as he sampled the air between us. I made sure to keep my magic shielded, trying not to provoke another attack.
“That’s it, that’s it, just relax. No one wants to hurt you.”
“What are you doing?” said Hope in a whisper. “That thing can take your arm off at the shoulder if it wants to.”
“Be quiet,” I said without turning around. I never once took my eyes off Cody, but his eyes seem to break contact the more I stared. If I could just somehow reach the man inside the wolf, maybe, just maybe, I could get him to Shift back. Course, I had no idea how Shifting worked, so Hope could be right. Maybe I was about to lose my hand.
As I got closer, I stretched one hand out. Instinct told me that, like any animal, he needed to inhale my scent to realize I could be trusted, and maybe if I touched him he would know that I didn’t mean any harm.
I almost had him. But then the click of the gun cocking cut the sliver of tension between us. Hope might as well have thrown scalding water on him. Instantly, his growl became an inhuman roar, and once again he lunged. But this time I was ready. Again, I called on my magic and formed a shield. Cody struck the glowing bubble and bounced off, careening toward the far wall. This time, I reached out with my mind and commanded the bubble to become an extension of my arm. I pinned him against the wall in a grip against which he struggled and howled. He flailed with his claws and gnashed with his teeth at the invisible barrier that held him in place. I knew I couldn’t maintain this for long. His strength was unimaginable, and I had no idea how long a first-time-conjured shield would hold up. Sweat was soaking my forehead, and I finally dropped my arms and fell to my knees.
Turns out newbie shields don’t last long at all. It felt like a freight train was running through my brain. I looked up just in time to see Cody charging me. He leapt through the air and landed straddling me, his jaws mere inches from my face.
I reacted instinctively, grabbing the sides of his neck with my hands. Surprisingly, his fur was very soft. I was sure he was about to bite me, and part of me felt guilty for hoping that the blood splatter from my carotid would at least ruin that fine pelt. But as the fates would have it, that wasn’t meant to be.
As soon as I made contact with Cody, something changed. I imagined that the shock that ran through me was what it would feel like if I grabbed a live wire. The jolt of energy that coursed through both of us was palpable. My eyes closed as my brain was suddenly flooded with a myriad of images. There were too many to decipher, and the sudden onset felt like the start of a migraine. Apparently Cody felt the same thing. He howled, this time in real pain, and fell away from me.
I forced myself to open my eyes just in time to see Cody writhing in pain next to me. Just as I didn’t understand what I had just seen, whatever Cody was seeing was having an even greater impact. It was forcing him to Shift. I watched in awe as fur melted off of him in glowing clumps, the skin beneath becoming smooth and once again taking on Cody’s olive Mediterranean hue. His form began to contort and shrink, returning to the more familiar human aspect. Cody’s paws became hands and feet, his fanged snout receded back into his face, and tall, pointed black ears dissolved into human lobes. The sound of his bones contracting and retreating sounded like little pops of breaking glass. A few spasms later and the more recognizable human form of Cody Hunter was lying on the floor next to me.
My knees wobbled as I stood up and looked down at him. Cody was curled in the fetal position and small moans escaped his lips. I reached for the blanket that had been knocked off the couch and used it to cover his nakedness. The room was warm but he was shivering wildly. His teeth chattered even though Hope and I could both see the heat rising from his body. We stared as he slowly started to come around. Sitting up he clutching the blanket around his shoulders and cleared his throat. It looked like he was having trouble forming words and his voice was scratchy and deep when he finally spoke.
“What happened?” he whispered.
Hope and I looked at one another.
“You really don’t remember?” I said.
“I remember fighting with that crazy man. I remember Hope picking up my gun and shooting him,” he said. “Oh God! You shot a man. With my gun!” He looked at Hope. “But you also saved my life, so thank you.”
“Well,” said Hope, “I may have shot a man, but you just tried to eat…”
I jabbed her in the ribs just hard enough to shut her up before turning my attention to Cody. He was adjusting the blanket around his shoulders, and looked down. For the first time, he noticed that he was naked.
“What the…?” he said.
/> “We have a lot to discuss,” I said. “But we also don’t have a lot of time right now.”
A scraping sound, like someone dragging themselves through glass, caught our attention. Turns out that was exactly what it was, as one of the men dressed in black tried to drag himself across the back of the room through the broken French doors. It was the one I had taken down with the iron poker. I walked over to him and placed the sole of my boot on the back of his crippled knee. He screamed out in pain, rolling over onto his back.
“And just where do you think you’re going?” I said. “We’ve got some questions, and I’m thinking you might have some answers.”
His pursed lips and the set of his jaw made it clear that he wasn’t going to talk. That was until I dug the heel of my boot into the front of his knee and gave a little grind. The yelp of pain it elicited told me that his resolve might not be as firm as he pretended. I removed my foot and squatted down so I was closer to his teary face.
“Who are you?” I said.
The hate blazed in his eyes, but to my surprise he opened his mouth and smiled.
“It doesn’t matter if I tell you who I am or if I don’t,” he said. “They know who you are and they know where you are. Do you really think I’ll be the last one to come for you?”
“What do you want with her?” said Cody. He stood up, wrapping the blanket around him, and stared down at the man who was clenching his teeth to hold back the pain. “Who sent you to do this?”
At Cody’s approach, the creeper’s entire demeanor changed. I saw his eyes widen in fear—real fear. It was as if he was looking past Cody’s face and seeing something deep inside the officer. That gave me an idea. I looked from one man to the other I stood up.
