Wolf Tracks - Bianca D'Arc Page 0,15

light up. She just prayed whatever it was that was attacking Jim would get scared and run away—and not attack her. It was going to be pretty obvious where she was once the fireworks went off.

Maybe they’d just think it was teenagers out to have some fun. Maybe they’d get spooked about being discovered and just leave. That was her fervent hope. She decided to shoot off the first rockets toward the sky, just over where she thought the fight was happening. The flash of light might give her an idea of what Jim—and she—was up against.

Putting action to her thoughts, she stuck the little sticks of five rockets into the sand at the top of the low dune and lit the fuses before backing away and going a short distance down the beach. She could aim the sticks, to a certain extent, and when they went off, she wasn’t looking at the fireworks display, but rather at the beach.

What she saw made her gasp. Thankfully, the bangs and booms of the fireworks hid the sound. Shifters had really good hearing, and she was in enough danger just being nearby as it was. Setting up her next round, even before the last sparkle faded from the sky, she lit those and moved again.

She could see more each time a shell exploded overhead. There were at least five figures on the beach. One was in the center. He was enormous. Furry. Not a man, but not quite a wolf. He looked like the werewolves in the old movies—half-and-half. He was bleeding profusely, but still standing.

Around him circled a pack of…hyenas? In Virginia? It didn’t seem possible, but she thought that’s what they were. The inhuman cackling made sense as they communicated with each other. Three of them were full-on animal form while one engaged Jim in that half-and-half state. She hadn’t realized they could hold that shape, and it certainly was effective for fighting.

Even as she realized all this, she saw the nervous glances of the hyenas at the fireworks. They were pacing, probably wanting to kill Jim before they left but getting antsy about the possibility of discovery. That was good for her. She just had to get a little bolder before they managed to hurt Jim so badly that even her powers couldn’t heal him.

She aimed her next rockets carefully, even as the last embers of the previous round faded in the sky. This time, she wasn’t aiming for the sky. No, this time, she was going to singe some hyena fur, Goddess willing. Sending up a prayer for protection, she lit the fuses and moved again, knowing she didn’t have much time.

She was headed down the beach, toward the hotel each time she moved. Just a few yards, but enough to change her viewpoint. There was a parking lot behind her now, and she decided to raise the stakes again. Picking up some of the rocks around her as soon as she lit the fuses, she threw them as hard as she could at the cars most distant to her position, setting off at least five car alarms as she moved position yet again.

Then, the rockets flew, and the cackling laughter of the aggressive hyenas turned to screams and whimpers as the rockets flashed past them, singeing their fur. Her aim had been true, and in the light of the rockets, she saw the hyenas scatter. The one who was fighting with Jim paused, looked over at the parking lot and all the flashing lights and honking horns and let itself shift to full-on hyena form before running after its packmates, up the dark beach, into the night.

People were milling around the far end of the parking lot now. Helen didn’t have much time. She had to get Jim to safety while the darkness on the beach covered them and the people wondering about their cars were looking elsewhere. She slung her bag over one shoulder and ran out to where she’d last seen Jim in the darkness.

She almost stumbled over him, but he was still breathing when she found him, kneeling on the sand. He looked bad. Even she could smell the copper of blood all over him. He raised his head, and his eyes widened when he saw her.

“Did I die?” he asked in a ragged whisper.

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” she muttered. “Can you stand?” She reached out to him, putting one arm under his, trying to help him without hurting