I climbed the outside flight stairs and stepped inside the hatch. A human met me there and flinched only a little when he saw my furred and muscular self, all broad shoulders and knobby knuckles. And all the weapons. I did look kinda scary, so I didn’t fault him for it.
“Dave Hines,” the man said, bowing his head slightly—probably in lieu of a handshake with weird-looking me. “I’ll be your captain on this flight.” He was about five eight, with straight black hair all of an inch long, dark skin, and almond-shaped eyes with epicanthic folds, likely of a mixed ethnicity. I liked his self-contained calm. He seemed like someone who would handle himself well in an emergency, which was a good thing. Pilots on my jets tended to meet danger in firefights. “I’ll introduce the flight crew to you when you are all assembled.”
“That works,” I said, and then I drew on my children’s home background and said, “Pleased to meet you.”
He gestured me into the cabin, where there was beige leather everywhere, plush carpet, multiple video screens, and fold-down tables. “There are two sleeping cubicles in back,” Hines said, “and a full kitchen and bath.”
“Okaaay,” I said, drawing the word out. “I’m impressed, Captain.”
“In that case, we are fueled, preflight checks have beendone, and we are ready for the last of the luggage to be stowed and for passengers to board.” He stepped into the cockpit and closed the door. Hatch. Whatever.
I looked around again and saw the fully stocked bar, Russian-style samovar teapot, and espresso machine. “Perks,” I murmured to myself. I had to remember the perks of the DQ job. Money didn’t buy happiness, but it did let me have pretty things. And I’d get back to NOLA way faster than I would have on my bike, and not be crowded into the Lear.
Do not want to fly in belly of metal plane bird,Beast thought. Do not like to fly at all. Will make Jane regret flying. Will wake Jane in mud with al-li-gator.
Yeah. I figured. But if you’re really nice, we might hunt boar while we’re in NOLA.
Beast perked up.Big-boar?
Sure. Why not.
Beast is best hunter. Will fly, but will sleep when flying.
I was laughing softly when I stepped back down the flight stairs toward the ground and the group standing there. I spotted Monique on the ground piled with the last of the luggage. Halfway down, I met Bruiser’s lovely chocolate-brown eyes and said, “Nice. Very nice. I claim one of the beds in back. Captain Hines says we can board.”
Monique moved.Vamp-fast.
Everything went slow, like cold honey.
The night shot through with the green and silver of Beast-vision as she thrust my cat sight into me. Bright. Crystalline.
Monique lunged at Bruiser. Her hands went around his shoulders. She wrapped herself around him. They started to fall.
Eli dove for the falling two. Thema and Kojo sprang at Monique.
My hand moved before I thought. Drew a nine-mil. Aimed. Squeezed. The sound of gunfire echoed in the night. Monique fell and rolled away from Bruiser. Head shot. I shot her body again as it dropped to the ground. And again. Eli, Thema, and Kojo had stopped in midcharge. The vamps were preternaturally still. Eli turned to me.
No one else moved.
Beast is best hunter,Beast said in the back of my mind.
Shehad drawn the weapon and fired.
We’ll be chatting about this,I thought back.
Beast does notchat. And she was gone.
Bruiser spun to his feet in a crouch and scuttled back, his eyes wide and shocked.
Eli was laughing slightly, a battlefield laugh, all mocking mirth. “Go Janie.”
Kojo and Thema rushed to feed and heal the Onorio. I holstered the weapon. “This is getting old,” I said. “Let her die.”
“But she is necessary to finding the Firestarter,” Thema said. “The Consort explained all to us.”
I reached the ground and toed the body. Monique wasn’t breathing or blinking, her open eyes to the dark sky, her skull misshapen at the exit wound. It seemed that three silver composite rounds were all it took to kill an Onorio. Her bowels and bladder had relaxed again, and she smelled like filth to my enhanced nose. TV doesn’t show the really gross parts of death.
Beast had done this, taken those shots. I never would have. There had been zero margin for error. Too high a likelihood of killing my own people. Belatedly, adrenaline gushed into my bloodstream. My heart raced.
