Page 42 of Waifs And Strays
‘A friend.’ She bared her teeth. I wasn’t impressed. She’d need to do more than show me her pearly lupine whites if she wanted to intimidate me.
‘Did thisfriendalso give you these supposed aphrodisiac herbs?’
She nodded. Thane and I exchanged glances. ‘Who?’ I asked. ‘Who was it?’
‘It was just maca and gingko!’ she protested. ‘It wouldn’t have hurt him!’
‘I can assure you it was not maca and gingko that you dropped into his coffee,’ I told her firmly. ‘Not to mention that you spat in the pot first.’
Quack swallowed. ‘I shouldn’t have done that. I was pissed off that he’d bawled me out and I wasn’t thinking straight. But I definitely didn’t try to poison him. I wouldn’t – I couldn’t!’
My voice was flat. ‘You did.’ There was nothing concrete to link this apparent poisoning with Nick’s abduction, but the two events could easily be related. ‘Who gave you the powder?’
She stared at me. ‘It was really death cap?’ she whispered.
‘Yes.’
I hadn’t thought it was possible for Quack to go even paler but she did. ‘Oh shit.’ And then some.
Thane shook her. ‘We need a name.’
Quack finally found the words. ‘I met him in a pub a few weeks ago. We got on well. He listened to me, paid me attention. He…’ Her expression altered and her voice dropped, as well as the proverbial penny. ‘Bastard. He manipulated me from the beginning. It was a set up.’
Yeah, yeah. I was growing irritated even though she’d finally seen the light. ‘Who is he?’ I demanded.
She looked defeated now. ‘A druid,’ she said. ‘His name is?—’
A sharp crack rang out and Quack’s body went rigid. Her jaw worked, she blinked twice, then her knees buckled and she collapsed in Thane’s arms as bright red blossomed across her chest.
Chapter
Seventeen
It took me a fraction of a second to react. I lurched towards Thane and knocked him to the ground as another shot rang out. Fortunately this one hit the wall rather than our far more vulnerable bodies.
I rolled. I had more than enough experience to know the trajectory of the bullet that had hit Quack: the shooter, whoever they were, was situated up to the right, probably less than fifty metres away.
As soon as I knew I was shielded from any further hits, I reached for Thane and yanked him next to me. His nostrils flared and I felt the thud of his heart, but other than that he displayed no signs of panic.
He stretched out his hand to grab Quack but I shook my head. ‘She’s already dead,’ I said grimly. I didn’t need to check her pulse to know that because the bullet had struck her directly in the heart. Even if it weren’t silver, she had already passed out of this life. Not even a werewolf could escape such a hit.
Thane’s jaw tightened but he nodded. He pointed upwardsand raised an eyebrow. I indicated agreement; we couldn’t allow whoever had fired that shot to get away.
He knelt and made a foothold for me with his cupped hands, then lifted me so I could scale the wall and reach the rooftop. I paused for a moment, taking the time to look around and double-check we weren’t about to be shot again.
When I saw the back of a black-clad figure sprinting over the nearby rooftops, I reached down and extended a hand to Thane to help him up. As soon as he saw the shooter, he took off in pursuit.
I started to follow but stopped when the killer sailed across a wide gap that no normal person could cross. It might have been a temporary magic spell or naturally enchanted ability, but either way we wouldn’t catch the assassin without a little enhancement of our own.
I turned back and spotted the tabby, still in the same position and still with the same frank curiosity in his gaze. The shot had startled him but he was brave enough to hold his ground.
‘Sorry about this, mate,’ I said. I strode over and plucked a tuft of fur from his side. He gave a startled miaow and blinked at me. ‘I appreciate it,’ I told him. ‘Come visit me in Danksville and I’ll repay you.’ The cat emitted a brief purr.
There was no time to waste. Both Thane and Quack’s killer were already some distance away so I swallowed the clump of fur and waited for the painful magic to take hold. Mercifully, the transformation was swift and within seconds, now in feline form, I was springing forward in their wake. I was quite some distance behind them but in this body I could catch them up; I might be small, but I had the power and the ability to jump a long way without fear of falling. I could do this.
My claws skittered across the roof tiles and I leapt to the next building. I veered around a narrow chimney stack and startled a bird pecking at something in a gutter. I paid it noattention as it squawked in surprise but maintained my momentum, flashing forward with far more grace and poise than I could ever produce in my human body.
Thankfully I was soon nipping at Thane’s heels on the flat roof of what appeared to be a supermarket. He was breathing hard and leaving a vetiver-scented cloud behind him – but then he came to a stuttering halt.
