by C. T. Adams
Digging her feet into open air, she hurtled forward, searching for the bird. It took every ounce of her concentration to ignore the fast approaching cliff face, but it was worth the effort. The owl was too busy trying to rise away from Adam’s powerful leaps from below to notice her attack from the air. She slammed into the bird with enough force to send all three of them careening toward the rock wall.
“Catch the girl!” She screamed the words without seeing if Adam was in a position to do so, but she prayed he was. While a five-story drop might shatter her bones or the owl’s, they would heal. It could easily kill the human. She tumbled through the air, clinging to the back of the bird with teeth and claws, trying desperately to avoid the owl’s snapping beak and powerful wings as it tried to unseat her.
Her stomach lurched as they abruptly dropped toward the ground and it took her a moment to realize that Adam was standing on a tall rock, only his back legs still touching. He’d managed to grab hold of one of the gloves on the bird’s talons with his teeth. He was pulling with all his might, steadily dragging them toward the ground, while trying to avoid injuring the girl held in the other talon. But the owl wasn’t to be denied that easily. It relaxed both feet and the gloves dropped off, causing Adam and the girl to tumble off the boulder to the ground.
Cara bit at the owl in a frenzy, but couldn’t get through the thick layer of feathers to do any serious damage to the huge Sazi bird. And then they started to rise again. Without the extra weight of the girl, she realized it would be child’s play for the owl to fly up and scrape her off against an overhang.
Apparently, Adam thought of the same thing. “Jump! It’s going to slam you into the cliff.”
She wished it could have been a graceful, intentional leap, but she didn’t know how. Her gymnastics coach had never anticipated a need for her to dismount an owl while in wolf form. All she could do was let go and allow gravity to take over. She slid off the bird’s back and tumbled once before getting her bearings again. Adam leaped out of the way, and they both winced in unison when she hit the rock and the shock crumpled one leg with an audible snap.
A fast-moving shadow and a whoosh of air was all the notice either of them got. Then Adam was on the ground, screaming as the owl’s talons raked through fur and skin. Blood splattered across the white caleche limestone, filling the air with the smell of fresh copper pennies. The pained howl both terrified and angered her. Lucas had said Adam was a powerful fighter but now he seemed to be out cold. She could still hear him breathing—but raggedly, with a faint whistling that told her his lungs might be punctured. Ignoring the pain that shot through her as she jumped down onto her wounded leg, she rushed to help. White flowers erupted in her vision with each step as she surged forward with fangs bared.
But her help wasn’t needed. With a piercing screech, she watched as a second bird dove into battle. Will had arrived and was streaking toward the ground with talons bared. The owl spotted him and twisted at the last second, forcing Will to turn in midair to make a second pass.
“Get Adam to safety, Cara! I’ll deal with this asshole.”
Something white flashed from the corner of her eye. She remembered what Will had said about there being more than one. “Look out, Will! I think there’s another one coming.” He spun his head almost completely around while still aiming toward the owl and barely dodged a well-placed grab for his left wing. She could feel a sudden flow of stinging magic from Will, but the owl shrugged it off as though it were nothing. He tried again, this time aiming for individual body parts, which made sense. If he could hold one wing, it wouldn’t be able to maneuver and would fall. That time, it almost worked, but again the bird shrugged off the magic and kept attacking.
She leaped up on one low swoop and grabbed the owl’s leg with her teeth. It was enough to distract it and her weight made it drop a few feet. Will grabbed onto the owl by the chest while tearing at the neck with his beak. It screeched and clawed and tried to break away.
Part of her reveled in the taste of its blood, and she desperately wanted to bring it down, rip it into shreds—fill her belly. But she couldn’t give into the need the moon was forcing on her. She wouldn’t stoop to their level. No, they needed to capture one of the birds—find out its identity and why they were attacking humans. Will might win a battle with two birds, but she doubted he’d worry about keeping them alive.
What they needed now was help. She raised her muzzle and let out a low, long howl, hoping Lucas and Vivian were within hearing distance. A quick glance ensured that Adam was still breathing. But she didn’t see the girl, and wondered what Adam might have done to hide her. A few sniffs was all it took for her to find the girl’s position. She was tucked into a small crevice in the cliff face, staring out at the battle with an open mouth and eyes showing too much white. There was so much blood, hate, and anger in the air that she couldn’t learn anything more than that she was fully human and not from around here.
Damn.
Another opportunity at the owl presented itself and her mind returned to the battle. She leaped again and caught the owl’s other leg, this time higher up, and tasted arterial blood. She shook her head, growling and forcing her teeth in deeper while Will ripped at the wings. But even then it wasn’t enough. The other bird… no, make that two birds—one golden eagle and a second owl—arrived and began to dive at Adam, ripping at his still form, forcing them to choose between the battle and letting him die.
She let go of the owl and hopped on three legs to Adam’s side, leaping at the birds to force them away. He might not be pack yet, but he was still a wolf and a friend of Will’s. She stood over him, crouched, with teeth bared, the pain in her foreleg only spurring her on. Her position effectively blocked the way to the girl as well and the birds all fluttered and swooped around, trying to decide what to do, while avoiding Will’s constant attacks.
At last Will broke off and landed right next to her. He made a brave show of their small number… or maybe it wasn’t a show at all considering what Lucas had said about him. Maybe he hadn’t been trying as hard as it appeared, although she couldn’t imagine why that might be. “Leave now and we won’t kill you outright here and now. If you turn yourself in to your flock leader for the deaths of the humans, and show good cause at a Wolven inquiry hearing, you might survive. Otherwise, I’ll track you down and take you in to answer for your crimes here. I’ve tasted you, smelled you. You can’t hide.”
The golden eagle swooped once more and let out a sharp sound that was close to a crow’s caw. His deep voice bore an accent—not quite Mexican, but definitely from one of the South American countries. “The good cause for killing the humans was… we were hungry. Your laws mean nothing to us, Sazi, and you won’t find us so easy to harm again. Eat worms, little fledgling!” The eagle circled the wounded owl as it flew crookedly away, and never looked back, apparently not in the least concerned that Will might follow.
Cara watched as the sizeable bald eagle beside her lowered his head and the scent of his anger burst into the air. He lifted his wings slightly, as though to give chase, but a clatter of small rocks behind a stand of mesquite was followed by Lucas and Vivian. She was panting from exertion, but Lucas looked ready for anything. It had startled her when he’d changed form at the motel before they came here. He didn’t seem a large enough man to transform into the massive white wolf which dwarfed both Vivian and Adam. Of course, everybody was larger than her. Timber wolves just… well, were larger than red wolves. She’d gotten accustomed to it since meeting the visitors.
“What’s going on? Where’s Ada—” The voice from the lovely, sleek black-and-silver wolf, who made her struggle not to growl, cut off abruptly when she spotted her pack mate’s still form. She faltered and took a shaky breath. “Is he—?”
Cara shook her head. She had a difficult time pulling her eyes away from the vicious wounds the talons had inflicted. They reminded her far too much of the ones that had ended the lives of the men she and Will had just viewed.
“But he needs to get to a healer… fast. I’m not quite sure how he’s still alive even now.”
“Adam’s tough. He’s been through worse. He’ll heal eventually on his own, but you’re right… we don’t have the time for that. People have noticed him, and he has to get back to Minneapolis for his last two weeks on the job.” Will’s concern made her turn her head. She had to raise her head until her neck popped to see his face. He’d turned back human and apparently had given himself the illusion of wearing clothes, for which she was thankful. No matter how calm she’d tried to appear before Adam, she still wasn’t completely comfortable being naked around strangers—especially ones who found her attractive.
Vivian had approached and was now sniffing Adam’s face. Cara was a little befuddled at the woman’s scent. There was no worry, no fear. In fact, if Cara didn’t know better, she would swear the wolf was wearing Wolven cologne. But whatever the Minnesota wolf was thinking or feeling was going to remain a mystery.
“Agreed.” Lucas’s firm voice startled her back to the situation. “We need a healer, and I think Cara’s our best shot in the time available.” He turned his head and caught her eye. “I know it’s one of your lesser talents, but I presume your mentor showed you how to focus the magic of another alpha or pack member to increase your power?”
The hot wind gusted stronger. She could tell because her open jaw got filled with dust. She coughed and looked down at Adam, and then back up into Lucas’s lightly glowing golden eyes. “Um… no. It makes sense to me that it should be possible, but I never had a… what did you call it? A mentor?”
This time, both Will and Lucas looked surprised, but Will was the one who asked a question. “You were a known healer in Wolven academy and were never assigned a mentor to train your talent?”
She was spared answering when the sound of pebbles disturbing in the background made all heads turn toward the cliff face. Shit! She’d completely forgotten about the human! Naturally, the girl was trying to quietly escape… and who wouldn’t want to flee three talking wolves and an eagle who had just transformed into a naked man.
“I am such an idiot!” She said it low, but of course everyone heard. “Adam and I were trying to protect the girl from the birds. I completely forgot Adam hid her in the crevice.”
Lucas lifted his nose into the air and sniffed, then turned angry eyes, but not to her. They focused on Will as the girl abruptly froze in place. Again, she could feel her skin stinging from the wave of magic flowing from the white wolf. Even Vivian took a few steps back to get out of the direct path of the energy. “You encountered the birds we were here to find and didn’t follow them, Agent? Why?”
She felt compelled to come to Will’s defense. “There were three of them, sir. Each one must have been very powerful, because he couldn’t hold any of them with magic. They started to attack Adam and… well—”
Will’s voice sounded proud, but pained. “Thanks, but I don’t need you to protect me, Cara. You’re right, Lucas. I should have followed them, no matter what the potential consequences might be. I might have captured one, or found their hideout.”
Lucas stopped and shook his furred head. With a breath of magic, he was just suddenly human again and fully clothed in the same outfit waiting back in the car for him. There was no blurring of form or time lapse. He was just… poof… one minute wolf, and the next an elder, silver-templed man with warm brown skin. Wow.
“No. You’re right, Cara. If there were three of them with equal abilities to yours, Will, then you did the right thing. Wolven can’t afford to lose any agents to grandstanding at this point. We need every agent in the field to use caution.” He stepped over and squatted next to Adam, taking in the wounds with a glance. Then he stood and walked over to the girl and looked her over just as carefully. She looked young, probably no more than fifteen, but that might have been because she was short. Her straight black hair was braided and reached the middle of her back and her face, frozen while looking over her shoulder to check their positions, was pretty, with a broad nose and full lips and skin a little darker than Will’s. The clothing was… unusual—perhaps even a party costume. The long skirt and top were obviously handwoven wool in a colorful geometric pattern. The sandals on her feet were likewise handwoven, with tiny bells and colored beads mingled in the sturdy green-gray fibers.
“All right,” Lucas proclaimed after a few seconds of thought and a deep sigh. “So, we have two problems here. We need to get Adam healed, and we need to question the girl about what happened to the men you found. I can’t think of any other explanation for her presence here.” He turned his eyes to her. “Cara, you and I will work on Adam. Will and Vivian will talk with the girl. Remember that she’s seen some strange things today, so treat her with kid gloves. I doubt we can come up with any plausible explanations for talking animals, so don’t bother to try. Will, I know you’ve got a basic understanding of most of the common languages so just get what you can and keep her calm and focused.”
Will nodded and replaced Lucas at the girl’s side as he released his hold on her. As the elder man approached, Cara knew she was going to have to become human again to do hands-on healing. “Sir,” she said in a quiet voice once Will and Vivian were leading the panicked, babbling girl to a rock to sit. “My illusion magic isn’t the best, and if I have to concentrate on healing—” She let the thought trail off, hoping he’d get the point.
“Understood, Agent.” He raised his voice slightly and turned his head while pointing to a lichen-encrusted boulder, which had fallen off the cliff in a long-past time. “Will, give us a little more room over here. Maybe walk her around behind that rock?”
Will nodded and he and Vivian, still in wolf form, moved toward the spot. She winced internally. It wasn’t quite what she’d been hoping for, but it would have to do. Lucas chuckled lightly. “Don’t worry, Cara. I knew what you meant. But it reminded me I didn’t want the girl to watch the healing process. She’s already seen enough. I’ll make sure you’re wearing clothes by the time Adam revives, and I’m fully mated to my wife. I won’t even notice you.”
That made her look at him because the scents of his love for his wife—cinnamon, nutmeg, citrus, and warm sugar, were so compelling that she abruptly wondered what it would be like to feel like that for another Sazi. She’d only heard of a few true matings, but they were seldom happy ones. One person mated to another… magically compelled to forever love a person who might or might not ever love you in return. It was a terrifying prospect. Alpha males often had multiple women mated to them—women who were devoted as slaves, while the men enjoyed the freedom of variety. It hardly seemed fair. But to be the woman who captured the absolute devotion of a male of Lucas’s power… she couldn’t even imagine it.
Cara nodded. “Thank you, sir.” As she was taught from her childhood, she concentrated on her human form and willed her body to shift. It wasn’t as fast a process as normal, and it hurt like blazes, because her healing magic needed to first mend the bones in her broken front leg in order to make it a human arm again. She was breathing hard and sweating, halfway between forms, until she felt a warm energy surround her. Magic filled her and the pain washed away in a rush of cool golden light. In seconds, she was human again, without the accompanying stiff muscles and stuffed head. She also appeared to be fully clothed, wearing her uniform—probably because he’d never seen her in anything else.
Cara glanced at him with what was probably shock on her face. He shrugged and knelt down on the bloody white rock next to Adam’s mangled form. “Looked like you could use a little help and we need to speed this along.”
She lowered herself to her knees, her body betraying her eyes as coarse sand and pebbles embedded in her knees hard enough to make her wince. She might look like she was wearing clothes but it was, after all, only illusion.
Adam was breathing, but it was ragged and still whistled lightly when he inhaled. She could feel the fluttering of his heart when she gently touched his fur. There was
so much to do, even though she could see his body trying to heal. But the gashes which opened his flesh were wide enough to see bone, crisscrossed his body. They would leave nasty scars if she wasn’t careful. Unfortunately, she wasn’t a trained physician, so she could only add to his own abilities and hope his body knew what to do. She raised her eyes from the cursory inspection that bloodied her hands and made worry and nearpanic fill her. She’d never tried to save a Sazi’s life. Not like this. “I’m not very good at this, sir. Maybe it would be better to call someone in—”
He rested a hand lightly on her shoulder and stared at her with calm eyes. “There’s no time. You know that. But healing magic is instinctive. You’ll know what to do once you start. At worst, my wife Tatya is one of our finest healers and I’m mentally connected to her. I’ll have her instruct you through me if you need it. But I’d like to get some sense of your abilities, so let’s see what you’ve got first. If you look like you’re having trouble, I’ll step in.”
She nodded tensely, closed her eyes, and let her magic flow outward. Healing two people in two days was more than she’d done in a very long time, but maybe it was time to start pushing herself again. She’d gotten out of shape in more ways than one. Her magic surrounded Adam, felt the outline of his body, touched every hair… memorized the curve of each claw and the shape of his ear. Pressing inward, the wounds appeared before her in the blackness like a jigsaw puzzle waiting to be assembled. She heard a noise and it startled her for a moment, threatened to pull her back to the baked, sunlit day. But then she felt a golden light fill her mind, overlain on the darkness.
