War laughed mirthlessly. “You actually think you have a chance. Poor Etta. I’m not some young pup you can take by surprise and overpower. I know you killed my son.”
Jo Jo had put the brass knuckles on and clicked open his switchblade. “Actually, I’m the one who offed the dumb bastard. It was easy. He didn’t even put up a fight. It was almost like he wanted to die.” I’m not sure poking the monster was a good idea, but it had shifted War’s attention off me, which had been Jo Jo’s goal.
War clenched his fists. His face was a mask of rage. “Sounds like he’s not the only one who wants to die.” He took a menacing step toward Jo Jo. “I’m going to gut you with a dull spoon and eat your liver with fried onions.”
What was with all the cannibalism? First, my heart, now Jo Jo’s liver. Gross. While he stalked Jo Jo, Chavvah made her way around to his back, taser in hand. I felt a swell of hope as she took aim and discharged the weapon. It hit War in the back, and however many volts were needed to take down a man his size, and with his fortitude, it was not enough. Hope waned.
War ripped the leads from his back but didn’t shift his focus away from Jo Jo. I drew my sword, the silvery blue metal reflected the moonlight, and it glowed as if magicked. I took out the dog whistle and gave it a hard blow.
War pivoted his gaze to me. “Come and get me, you ugly, oversized prick!”
Jo Jo gave me a look, and I nodded. I charged War from the side, and Jo Jo charged him from the front. War side-stepped our double assault and then spun like a helicopter. His baton catching me under the chin sent me flying. Chavvah jumped on his back and sprayed him squarely in the face with pepper spray. As much damage as it did to War, he wasn’t the sprays only victim. My eyes instantly started burning. Jo Jo and Chavvah stumbled back, blinking as they got their own secondhand doses.
“Don’t rub your eyes,” Chavvah said. “It just makes it worse.”
Too late for War. He was already smashing his eyes with the balls of his palms. “I’ll kill you,” he roared, swinging blindly and hitting a tree. He roared again. Slowly but surely, fur began to sprout from his skin, and his muscles got larger.
Uh oh. “He’s turning!” I hollered.
Jo Jo, with strength and speed, burst out of his clothing as his half-form replaced his human, and without hesitation, he lunged at War, clamped an arm around the partially shifted lycan, then used the switchblade to slice the man wide open.
I watched with shock as the life drained from War’s eyes. Could it be? Was the boogeyman dead?
Jo Jo, almost War’s size in his half-form, threw the man‘s limp body to the ground. He staggered to a tree as he transitioned back. “I…I couldn’t hold it,” he panted.
“Holy crap, kid,” Chavvah said. “I can barely get a claw out, and you just…” she made some zipping noises and articulated gestures to indicate his shift. “Who knew you had that in you?”
“I knew.” I scrambled to him, my eyes still burning but not as bad. “That was amazing.”
“Nooo!” came a bellow from the other side of the house.
Chavvah’s face screwed up with worry. “That’s Doc.” She didn’t wait for us as she sprinted toward the danger.
Jo Jo was still bracing himself against the tree, his breath fast and hard.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m sorry, Etta. That took about all I had.”
“I don’t want to leave you like this.” He was vulnerable to attack from any of William’s other lackeys. “But I have to go. As long as William’s alive, I won’t be safe.”
“Go,” he said. “I’ll catch up.”
When I heard another shout, I gave him a last look. “I love you.”
“This isn’t the end,” Jo Jo said. “Go take care of business.”
I brandished my sword high and ran around the front of the house. William was holding Bette from behind, a knife at her neck. “Don’t give me cause, Son,” he said to Doc. “I will kill her.”
Our easy plan had gone to complete shit.
CHAPTERFOURTEEN
Etta – good riddance to bad alphas.
Doc looked anguished. He might have been angry with her leaving him behind as a child, but it was plain, he also loved his mom. He’d just found out she was alive. He couldn’t lose her now. I wouldn’t allow it.
I stepped out of the shadows. “Let her go,” I demanded.
