Page 6 of Faerie Fate
I pushed against the wall of dizziness from the zombie curse. My stomach churned, making it almost impossible to harness the change. A sob burned my throat and the sorrow of all those kids helped me pry apart the wall.
The patrolling wolf roared as my body doubled in size. The change ripped through me, my wolf attempting to gain control.
My muscles tensed, my bones breaking and reforming in a transformation I’d done thousands of times in my life. In my weakened state I was slow to move through it now, and the shifter on patrol caught me in one arm, dragging me against his chest until I had a face full of fur to breathe through.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he seethed. “Shifting isn’t going to help you.”
“Fighting for my damn life, clearly,” I muttered.
My mouth became crowded with sharp teeth. Being this close left me without maneuvering room so I pushed my elbows into his ribs. Pushing harder, deeper, between the bones until the man jerked backward with a yelp.
The change sputtered and stalled, with my body poised between halfling warrior form and human. Muscles protested, screamed at being frozen in this unnatural progression.
The wolf in me cried out for a control neither of us had. I opened the gates for her but…I hadn’t had a lot of opportunities to shift into my pure wolf in Faerie. I’d done it only a few times since I moved, and the zombie curse made things much harder.
The patrol wolf recovered, hurling himself at me, his arms swiping to band around my legs.
I stepped to the side and brought my knee up on his way past, using his momentum against him. His face slammed into my thigh bone and with a yelp, the wolf skidded to a halt. He rose, snapping his teeth in the air in front of my face.
He fought for Kendrick and the orders given to him. I had higher stakes. Panic made me desperate. I had to go for the soft underbelly, for any part of him that would make him bleed and slow him down.
Turning, I dropped on all fours, rushing the change. Forcing my body into pure wolf form instead of the halfling warrior shape. With a cry, the wolf slid free, sleek black hair furring over the rest of my body.
The patrol wolf did the same.
I took off down the hallway, away from the black cloud of death, and he gave chase. At the last second, I turned, my back legs pressing to the wall.
Kendrick’s man slammed into me and the wall, cracking the side of his skull to the stone.
I rounded on him with my teeth bared, snapping on his front leg hard enough to break the bone.
Unfortunately, it seemed that not all of my teeth were changed. Several of them were still human and peg-like. Ineffective. He recovered quickly from the lack of pain from a broken bone and his eyes narrowed on mine.
The wolf was much larger than me, more muscled, and stronger. Thinking fast, I released my hold on his leg and ran off. The same trick wasn’t going to work twice. Rather than chase after me, the shifter turned and straightened, allowing the change to bring him into his stronger halfling form.
Faster. I needed to be faster. I pushed my body to its limit and the shifter closed the distance between us in three bounds, every landing shaking the foundations. He jumped, tickling the hair on my back, before he landed in front of me.
Muscled shoulders blocked out the exit. He gave a roar that bristled every hair on my body and then he charged.
Think, Tavi. Panic made it all but impossible. I snagged on a spell Melia had taught me.
I’d never attempted it before. Did I have the power to make it work?
I nudged my head to the wall and thoughtElaphrium. The word would open the secret passage, if I remembered it correctly. I drew my magic to my skull and cast it out
The wall dissolved in a wave of darkness.
But I wasn’t going through.
The distraction worked and the shifter paused to stare at the new opening. Half a second, no longer. In the hesitation, I lunged, calling my halfling form to the surface. The small burst of magic used to open the secret passage would openme.
I rose, chest height with the warrior, and dug my claws into his stomach to tear through sinew and muscle. I fought dirty when I had no choice. The hot drip of blood painted the floor in tones of crimson and the shifter yelped in surprise, reaching up to keep his intestines where they belonged.
I kept going, through my disgust and nausea, through everything, until his body shuddered and fell backward.
He landed on his haunches before toppling over to his side, his features slowly melding back into those of a startled and pale human with his gut ripped open. Entrails decorated the sides of his torso and I stood over him, staring, until he fell still.
I finally pulled myself together enough to shift back. Human me felt weaker than before, the blood leaching from my face and heat pooling in my stomach.
