Tuxy ran up to the window that faced Pandora’s house and put his little hands on it. He meowed back. What in the Black Forest was going on?
He turned to me, animated. “What’s wrong, Tuxy?”
I glanced out the window. Pandora’s three cats were on the property line howling up at us. Why?
My heart thundered. Something had to be wrong. That’s why they were trying to get my attention.
“Tuxy, I’ll be right back.” Whatever the trouble was, I wouldn’t get him involved. I flung open the door and bounded down the stairs. Shit. Once I reached the bottom door, I realized I hadn’t shut the one upstairs, and Tuxy had followed me. I shut the exterior door to keep him safe.
It didn’t take long to run next door, but each second stretched like weeks. The cats continued to howl at me, urging me to follow them to the back door. As I did, something flew at me. All I saw were eyes before it screeched and attacked me. I swatted the batlike creature. What the hell was it?
More of these creatures soared out of the darkness with glowing eyes. I made out the black wings flapping in the shadows.
“Get off me!” I swung at them. These must have been what I’d seen with Pandora. They weren’t like any bats I’d ever seen. There were too many. More and more and more.
The cats howled louder. The orange one, Cleo, entered the cat door. As I fought off these tiny howling creatures with sharp claws and teeth, I moved toward the window. The other two cats entered.
I glanced inside. The man who I’d seen enter her house was in the kitchen. He was preparing some sort of purple, bubbling potion. Where was Pandora?
I ran down the side of the house and glanced inside her living room. The curtains were now drawn, so I couldn’t see a damn thing. The beings continued to harass me.
Tuxy meowed. I turned around and glanced up. He’d returned to the window upstairs.
“It’s okay,” I assured him although I had no idea if that was indeed the case.
A little furry paw with black and white appeared in one of the windows. It pushed the curtain aside long enough for me to see Pandora. Her hands were bound behind her. My blood thundered. My bear roared. Our mate was in trouble.
She caught my gaze and her eyes widened. “Austin?” she mouthed.
The curtain closed. I swallowed hard. Under my breath, I muttered, “I’m coming for you, Pandora.”
I didn’t know who this guy was, but he was dangerous. With my mate threatened, I’d do anything and face anyone who hurt her. The little monsters continued to peck at me. I shouted back, my voice deepening to a roar as I shifted to bear form. When I smacked at one biting my fur, I knocked it to the deck, rendering it unconscious or dead. I didn’t care. Nobody would keep me from Pandora.
Then I crashed through her back door, shattering glass from the panes as I went to rescue my mate.
PANDORA
The sound of breaking glass jostled me. I had been working through the magical bindings on the rope and had loosened them somewhat. But it wasn’t enough.
In the next heartbeat, a gigantic bear tackled Marius to the ground in my living room. Austin! I gasped as Marius slid toward me and bumped against my leg.
Marius recovered quickly and pulled himself up. He pulled out his wand from his cape and released a high-pitched laugh as he aimed it at Austin.
“No!” I kicked his hand, knocking the wand loose.
Austin roared and rushed toward Marius with outstretched claws. Marius ran into my bedroom and closed the door.
Austin glanced at the door and then turned to me. Goddess, he was even more massive as a bear and with a ferocious growl. His fur was a sleek chestnut brown. His teeth were sharp and threatening. I would have felt terrified had I not recognized his eyes. Although they glinted with furious determination when he’d pursued Marius, when they searched me, they turned concerned. They appeared more like human eyes, indicating that Austin was in there and would do whatever he could to protect me. He stepped behind me and used his claws to cut through the rope.
“Be careful,” I warned. I didn’t trust Marius in there. Who knew what the coward was doing.
The threads were loosened and almost severed. I untangled the rest of the magical bindings to help untie me as fast as possible.
It wasn’t fast enough. Marius threw open the bedroom door. He had a red and purple flaming sphere floating in his cupped hands. He raised one hand and bellowed as he aimed it at Austin.
“No!” I used a burst of magic to break through the final threads of the bindings and threw a protective barrier to shield Austin.
It prevented the bulk of whatever spell Marius had hurled at Austin but not all of it. Austin howled and then stumbled.
