Page 29 of Wonder
Tucker adjusted his grip on the baseball bat again. “The tree Cal mentioned is more toward the right, so I vote we start there.”
“Agreed.”
We waited while Cal removed his bat’leth and tucked the case behind a shrub. I loosened my mek’leth but didn’t pull it out. If we ran into that rabbit shifter, I didn’t want to frighten her more than necessary.
A woman screamed up ahead. We hadn’t gotten here soon enough.
“I’m going. The rest of you, stay together!” I didn’t wait for acknowledgement; just ran in the direction the scream had come from. My claws were out, and my eyes changed to their battle mode, enhancing my field of vision and depth perception. I went at my top speed, witnesses be damned, but for some reason I felt faster than usual.
No time to dwell on that. Up ahead I could see the huge tree with a twisting scar down its trunk. In front of it, Roibeart had his fangs in the rabbit shifter’s neck. Shit. I couldn’t knock him away without him tearing her throat out. And where was Marcas?
I drew my mek’leth and came to a stop right next to Roibeart. I put the tip of the blade next to his eye. “Release her.” I felt more than saw movement from my right, and I barely turned and got my blade up in time to block Marcas’ knife. I didn’t even see his gun until the bullet tore into my side.
“Fuck!” I spun away, mek’leth down to guard the wound. Roibeart dropped the woman and ran toward Reno and the others. I hoped they were ready.
Marcas leveled his gun at my head. “I told Kinnon we should kill you before the portal closed. That bastard never listened to good advice.”
I tried for a bored expression and affected a casual tone. “WhereisKinnon? I expected to run into him before now.” Marcas only had one connection, which had to be to Roibeart, so was Kinnon dead?
Marcas snarled, but it wasn’t aimed at me. “Ran off after we set up the first safe house. He was all on board with drinking from Wonders, but he couldn’t abide us keeping them. Hypocritical fucker.” He gave a harsh laugh. “Hell, we thought he was the one killing us off until Saudi Arabia.”
I’d pick that apart later. Shouts came from back along the path. Marcas grinned and aimed the gun again. I changed to mist form, and the transformation happened faster than I was expecting, faster than the bullet Marcas shot at me. In that instant I was even able to expel the first bullet, sectioning off only those molecules and sending it to the ground. I’d never had that ability before, never knew it could be done. I'd worry about how I'd gained these new skills later. I was only slightly surprised to find my bullet wound had healed when I reformed to my human shape, chest-to-chest with Marcas.
Before he could react, I stabbed him in the gut and yanked away his gun with my other hand.
“Cal!” Greg’s shout came from the path behind us.
Reno yelled, “No guns! If you miss it could hit civilians!”
Time to end this. Marcas staggered back as I lifted the mek’leth to cut off his head, but he misted and moved swiftly toward where Roibeart was fighting the others.
Dammit. I spun around and raced ahead of him, arriving just in time to slam into Roibeart, who had a short sword and a knife and was easily fighting off Greg, Tucker, and Reno. Each of them had cuts here and there. They were arrayed in a line in front of Cal, who was on the ground, lying still.
I slashed at Roibeart’s throat as he recovered from my hit, but he ducked and I only got his shoulder. Marcas’ mist form hovered nearby, and Roibeart wasted no time misting himself, and they sped away.
“Fuck!” I spun and drove the mek’leth into the soft soil next to the path, both to clean it off and express my frustration. Then I put it back in the case on my back as I jogged over to the others. “Is Cal okay?”
Greg was kneeling next to Cal’s head. “He’s unconscious, and he’s got a nasty head wound. The vampire blocked his bat’leth and drove the handle into his temple.”
Fuck, that could’ve gone so much worse, but I didn’t say it. “Let me go get the rabbit shifter and we’ll figure out what to do.” I let go of the barrier I’d created in Reno’s and my connection, but no emotions came through immediately.
I didn’t see any civilians on my way back to the girl, which was fortunate. She was alive, but she’d lost quite a bit of blood. I picked her up, hoping no one would notice the bloodstained grass before it rained, and we were back to the others in seconds.
Cal was awake, blinking but appearing aware of himself. His eyes opened wide when he saw me. “Is she okay?”
“She will be.” I hoped.
Reno and Tucker were packing Cal’s bat’leth into its case. Reno scowled at me. “Are you injured?” He pointed at my side, where my shirt was coated in blood. Damn, I hadn’t thought to try cleaning my shirt while I was in mist form. I could do it, I knew.
“Not anymore.” I regarded Cal, then I turned to Tucker. “If you’ll carry her, I can carry Cal to the car.”
“The hell you can! I’ll walk.” Cal struggled to sit up as Greg tried to keep him prone.
I gave him an exasperated look. “Cal, I promise you, I can.” Sure, he was heavier than the average human male, but Tucker could carry him, though for a shorter distance. With my new abilities, however I had gained them, I was pretty sure I’d be able to lift two of him without an issue.
I set the rabbit shifter down while Tucker removed his Kevlar vest and took off his t-shirt. I helped him dress the woman in it, which hid most of the blood covering her neck and chest.
Shane’s grandmother popped into view. I couldn’t stop my reflexive snarl as I rushed to put myself between Reno and the perceived threat.
