EJ scrunched up his face in thought, still pouting. “No.”
Eli waited. Patient. EJ scrunched his face up tighter. I drooled a little more.
The scrunched pout turned into curiosity. “How?” Little Evan demanded.
“It’s called martial arts. Your aunt Jane was hurting and so she was practicing martial arts.”
“In a How’oween costume?” He bent over Eli’s arm and stared hard at me. “Dat’s a reawy good costume, Ant Jane.”
“Uh-huh.” Molly was gonna kill me for ruining her kid. I shoved up to my hands and knees and stopped to catch my breath. My pants were about to fall off. I’d lost a lot of weight. Stretching out the hem of my tee, I smeared the spit off the mat. “Show EJ a few moves, Ranger man. I need to see how much stamina I have in this form.”
“Hope it’s more than you have in human form, Janie, because right now you’re dead meat.”
“Dead meat! Dead meat! Dead meat!” EJ shouted.
Eli snickered, a sound he tried to hide and somehow didn’t manage. “So,” my partner said to my godson, “let’s talk about balance...”
I gripped my pants at my navel and made it to my feet and out the door toward the elevator. “Being sick sucks,” I muttered.
“Sick suck! Sick suck!” EJ’s voice trailed away as I entered the elevator and the doors closed.
I fell against the elevator wall. Silent, thoughtful, I examined my body as the elevator took me upstairs. I pushed on my middle. No tumor. No pain.Holy crap.The tumor was gone. Well, gone in this form.Meet and greet the biggest, baddest vamp still alive and fight him too. Why not? It’s how I killed the emperor.I made a fist. I wondered if I could put on weight and muscle in this form. Wondered if I could reliably shift from Beast to half-form. Wonderedif I’d shift to human form if I fell asleep or was knocked out while in this form or if I could hold this shape. “Yeah,” I whispered. “Stuff to learn. This might do.”
I had expected a visit from my new Cherokee Elder at dawn, but she hadn’t made it through the snow. We hadn’t heard from Shimon Bar-Judas. I had time to work on things.
CHAPTER 6
Beat Ya Butt! Beat Ya Butt!
I changed into clothes that fit my new body shape better—wider at the shoulders and more narrow at the waist and upper hips. I felt good. Better than good.You knew I’d feel okay in this form, didn’t you?I asked Beast. She didn’t answer.Any reason you didn’t tell me?Again with the no answer. Beast had wanted to come home to the mountains and live and hunt and be a mountain lion for a while. Or forever. Beast had ulterior motives. I felt her move deeper into my mind at that thought, as if seeking protection in the back of a den.That’s it, isn’t it? You kept me from thinking about this shape.
Beast chuffed, deep inside.Did not know that Jane was not sick in half-form. Was not fact. Have been thinking about fact. Fact is life. Fact is... ex-per-’ence. Did notknowbeing half-Beast with no sickness was fact.
Uh-huh.But I hadn’t thought about the possibility either, which was dang stupid.
I studied myself in the mirror and liked what I saw: tall, muscular, maybe a little mean, and totally badass.
I considered pulling on the battle boots, not becauseI’d be fighting anyone, but because they had expandable panels at the sides to fit my paw-feet and had room for the claws that used to be toenails. But I decided to go bare-pawed. And wondered what the hard, thick nails would look like painted. Bloodred and sparkly, maybe. Or gold and sparkly to match my eyes. I held out my knobby-knuckled hands and figured it would take a whole bottle of polish to cover all twenty nails.Worth it. Totally worth it.I dug in a drawer for polish and found the sparkly red. “Oh yeah. So perfect.”
Want kits,Beast thought at me, her tone fierce.Cannot have kits if Jane is Jane. Can only have kits if Beast is Beast.
Shaking the polish, I headed toward the kitchen and calories and protein as Beast’s truth moved through me, slow and powerful, like a mudslide. “Okay,” I said aloud, taking the stairs slowly. “You’re right. I guess... I’ve been selfish for a long time.”
Now Jane has mate. Jane will never let Beast have kits. Jane will stay Jane for mate.
Ummm. Not necessarily?
Beast’s mental ears perked high.
I needed to talk to Bruiser about this. Because Beast was right. I had made no plans to let her live her life until I got sick.Let’s take care of the SOD and then we can plan for you. We might have to go out west or to Canada to find you territory close to a possible mate.
Beast perked up.Kits?
Sure. Why not.
Want strong, big mate. Want fast mate. Want mate with—
Yeah. I got it.
