Page 65 of The Tracker's Rage
Yet, Jake appeared behind Loud Mouth, ready to attack—except a fourth vampire flew out of nowhere and crashed into him. They rolled away in a snarling pile, knocking down chairs and tables like bowling pins.
Loud Mouth cracked his neck and prepared to jump me. An image flashed before my eyes: my body limp on the floor, my wolf head in one of Loud Mouth’s hands as he licked the fingers of the other, one at a time.
I was about to die, and it wouldn’t be pretty.
My vision snapped back into focus and—as the vamp blurred before my eyes, his hands outstretched, ready to twist my head off its perch—I instinctively went for one of my favorite tricks.
I shifted into my human form.
Chapter 23
It was madness to abandonmy wolf in favor of my human form. I couldn’t tell what prompted me to do it, but it felt right.
My body unfurled, elongating, changing shapes. The hands that held me down lost their grip, fingers slipping on blood-slippery skin. Loud Mouth was taken aback for an instant, but as he got over his surprise and adjusted his attack to my new shape, I thrust my hands forward, meeting his palms with mine, interlacing my fingers with his, and squeezing with all my strength.
He scrunched up his face, confused, an expression of “what the hell?” shaping his features. I was asking myself the same question when, purely on reflex, I conjured back all the overwhelming colors, sounds, and sensations of my earlier vision and pushed them forward, using my alpha communication ability as if it were a ramrod.
Energy coursed through my body, surging from my mind, traveling up my arms, and flowing into Loud Mouth like high-voltage electricity. He screamed, throwing his head back, and thrashing as if he was having a seizure. The two vamps that held me jumped back, crying out, and shaking their hands as if they’d been burned.
Red, shimmering energy flowed down my hands and passed into the vampire until he went limp and moved no more.
I let go of his hands and, still glowing, rose to my feet. As if possessed, I glanced back and forth between the remaining attackers. One of them stared at the fallen vamp, then back at me, his eyes brimming with fear and infinite questions. I made as if to grab him, and he turned tail, ran toward one of the front windows, and crashed through it. Shards of glass sprayed all around as he disappeared down the sidewalk. I turned to my remaining attacker, and it only took one look from me to send him running the way of his leech friend.
Feeling the way I did in a trance, I glanced all around me. The music sounded distant. The strobing lights twirled and danced all around, drawing my eyes this way and that. Broken bodies and smashed furniture littered the floor. Puddles of dark blood reflected the light, looking like bottomless wells.
I caught sight of my toes. They were shining from within. I lifted my hands. They glowed, too.
Wow, I’m a light bulb, I mused.
My skin tingled as the energy slowly sputtered out, then disappeared.
At the sound of police sirens, the remaining vampires escaped in a blur of movement. Several wolves took chase, and the sounds of battle quickly died out, leaving behind only the thumping of the music.
I knew I should hunker down behind a table to hide my naked body, but all I could do was stare at a fixed point on the floor, my mind a kaleidoscope of pretty colors.
The music suddenly died with a whine of feedback. Jake ran to my side in his wolf form, his eyes dark with the aftermath of the battle. He checked me up and down, looking for injuries.
