I let go of Patty’s hand and stood as well. The others followed suit.
I met everyone’s eyes for a moment and then let a savage grin spread slowly across my face.
Alright then.
“Callie. I’m gonna need you to fly this thing like we talked about.” She crossed her arms and nodded at me. I swept my gaze around. “Now ladies, I think the door scans them or something. So we need one to come in here.”
“Are you going to take one hostage?” Someone asked.
“No. I’m going to kill him and use his corpse to open the door.“
A few laughed, and I grinned back at the faces watching me. “Callie is gonna take his gun and stay here and shoot anything that isn’t me that comes through those doors after I leave. If they knock me out with drugs, keep fighting. In my shifted form, I should burn it off fast. Don’t give up. I’ll come get y’all when I’m done. Callie is gonna see if we can’t fly this thing back home.”
Callie nodded, “better keep one alive, just in case I can’t. Make him fly it.”
Good point.
“Alright. One gets to live. I’m gonna get out of this cage. Don’t freak out when I turn. Or do, actually. I need y’all to scream bloody murder when I say so.” I grabbed the bars with both hands.
Please work.
I pulled as hard and the metal groaned. They bent, but not enough. Alright. I let the change roil under my skin and heard Patty take a sharp breath and step away from me.
I was six foot six when I was a human. As a fully shifted Rijitera, I stood at seven and a half feet tall and at least a hundred pounds heavier.
Brown coarse fur rolled over me like a wave and muscle and bone slid into my new shape. It was smooth like butter and felt divine. I had always felt more like myself in this form. Humans got our descriptions mostly right, though some were better than others. Pointed, slightly curled ears. Big wolf’s muzzle filled with fangs, clawed fingers and toes.
The only difference was that I was armored over my vulnerable belly, throat and spine with brown scales, kinda like a pangolin. It was the only thing the myths got wrong. They blended seamlessly with my fur. My eyes were the same in either form. Brown and human looking. They burned with an inner light. Freaked people out.
It was a skill, really.
I hunched, avoiding the low ceiling and wrenched the bars with new strength. They snapped from their moorings.Yeah, baby!I tossed them aside. The deep clang of the bars hitting the metal floor echoed in the hold. I paused, listening. No sounds came from outside and I jerked two more out.
When I turned and looked down at Patty, she was grinning like a crazy person. I gave her a wolf smile, my teeth gleaming, and she laughed.
Not to be dramatic, but I would die for her.
Stepping out into the aisle, I looked around. The aisle was T shaped with the cages on either side. I needed somewhere to hide.
Mmm.
“Crush the lights and go back into the corner by the door,” Callie said, pointing at the running lights in the aisle.
Ah. Smart.
“Cover your eyes,” I said. My jaws didn’t work well for speech, so it came out garbled.
Callie cringed, “holy shit! You can talk like that?”
I snorted. I took my claws and started slashing at the lighting tubes along the aisle floor, walking as I went to get them all.
Sparks and bits of metal flew, and the hold plunged into darkness again.
I heard a few whimpers from the girls when the lights went out, but they stopped as soon as they started. Not very good for calling attention to ourselves. I backed into the corner between the wall of the hold and the front left cage and faced the door, crouching down, ready to spring. Silence that almost had an echo filled the room, and I rolled my eyes.
“Scream,” I growled out.
The girls delivered, letting out days and weeks’ worth of fear and anger with their combined voices.
