his face going white, high spots of color on his cheeks; his eyes were full of warning and he gave an almost infinitesimal shake of his head. "Boss?" he said, his voice too gentle, too wary.
What did I say? It couldn't be a big secret about devoveo, or drinking witch blood.Crap!
What else did I say?
Everything, even the air, went still and silent, so sharp it was almost cutting, for one awful moment. "You dare speak of the Sons of Darkness," he said, his voice the barest whisper of breath. Then Leo vanished. Phased into a blur. In the visible echo of the movement he reappeared, right in front of me, in a burst of vamp-scented air. Icy dead hands like steel bars embraced me, claws cutting into me. There wasn't time to gasp.
His fangs tore into my throat. Pain ripped through me, lightning agony. I heard Bruiser shouting, "No! Leo, no!"
Beast screamed, trying to shift, shift,shift now! Leo shook me as a dog shakes prey, shredding my throat. Teeth buried so deep I felt tendons snap and tear. My blood spurted across the room. Adrenaline shocked through me too late; I heard something heavy fall nearby, vibrating through the house. Beast screamed again. Her strength in my veins, I somehow got my hands up. Pulled two hair sticks, my motions slow as my own death. And buried them in Leo's body. The angles were all wrong. Nowhere near his heart. He shook me so hard my teeth clacked together. I tasted blood, salty and sweet. The world tilted at an odd angle.
I was falling. My blood fountained again. Landed in a bouncing heap, my blood a cascade. Drenching over a body on the floor. Spattering two legs at eye level. My carotids were severed. Again. My heart pumping out.
Beast heaved a breath that coated my lungs with blood. Screamed and tried to shift. Got my legs up under me. Spurting blood, I/we ran toward the back of the house. Past a downed George. Crashed through the back window in a shower of antique glass and more modern storm window. Stumbled across the lawn. Beast in control.
Darkness gathered at the edges of my vision. The world telescoped into a tiny spot of color and life. My pulse was fading. Cold clutched at me.
I staggered toward the rocks. Something red and burning swooped up behind me.
I sought for the snake buried in the cells of all life. I sought for Beast. But I was too injured. There was only that new emptiness at the heart of me. I managed a breath, sucking in blood mixed with the vital air. Choking. Drowning even as I bled out. I tried to cough. I fell. Landed. The rocks caught me, a cold, hard bed.
I couldn't remember how . . . how to shift. My hand fell on something hollow.
The box, Beast thought at me.The box . My fingers sought inside. Touched bone. The world went dark, Beast's voice the only sound.Mass to mass, stone to stone . . . mass to mass, stone to stone , Beast called to me, old words. Words of power. Words she knew and understood. Words she loved.Mass to mass, stone to stone . . . mass to mass, stone to stone. Beast will be big. Beast will be big!
Gray lights dancing with black motes floated over me. Beneath me the stones cracked and spat brittle, sharp shards into the air. The red thing at my back grew, crackling with sparks. I sank deep into the snake of the jaw I clutched. Saw the pattern. X and Y. So different. So alien.Wrong, wrong, wrong. I can't do this.
Beast wrenched control away.
And Ishifted . Became Beast. Bones popped and muscles twanged with agony. Nerves tore, flames and ice burned along my limbs. My back arched. My throat healed. Pelt sprouted, bristling. Clothes ripped and slid into tangled, twisted bonds. Claws broke the flesh of my fingertips. I threw back my head and screamed.
Tired, so tired. Huffing air. Panting breath. Hot.Tired . I rolled from broken stone, pulled haunches beneath me. Sitting on rocks surrounded by red light.Danger . Red light spilled around me. Beast was big. Sabertooth big. Colors were often grayed in my Beast eyes, but something ofher had shifted with me.
Hedge of thorns has been sprung, Jane thought.
I looked at Molly's protecting magic. Saw Jane-blood-soaked dirt and circle of red witch light.Hedge of thorns sparkled with nothingness, motes black like moonless night.
They swarmed like moths, never lighting. Like the