The cat gathered herself and leaped over twenty-five feet across and more than ten feet up, landing in the Hummer’s elevated backseat. Alex made a sound worthy of a toddler. The cat chuffed and settled on the higher chair, like the cat queen she was. She batted the back of Alex’s head.
“Ow.” He rubbed his curls and said, “Stop that. Go, before she draws blood.”
Eli glared at him before positioning his low-light headgear in place. He pulled away, lights off, following Bronco Sam’s horse to the first pasture gate.
Beast
Beast sniffed air, smelling cows. Smelling manure and blood and... smelling bulls with trees on head. Pulled paws in tight. Nose in air, sniffing.
Will hunt with male human and vampire.
Beast had never hunted with adult males. Had always chased almost-adult-juvenile males from litter. Had hunted only with juvenile and fully adult female pumas. But never males. Human males acted like juvenile male pumas. Posturing. Beast had claws to stop that.
Beast wondered if she would have to swat humans. Beast chuffed with laughter.
Edmund
Softly, just for Bronco’s ears, Edmund said, “Now.”
In a single instant, the night erupted.
Bronco Sam dug his heels into the cow pony’s sides, fired his pistolinto the air, and yipped a Texas yell. He raced toward the longhorn bull, his high-pitched “Yiyiyiyiyiyiyi” shrill in the night.
Eli hit the horn. Hit the lights.
And the puma screamed.
The bull’s head came up.
The massive bull leaped, whirled in midair, and thundered away.
All in perhaps a half second.
Eli whipped the wheel and followed overland. He guided the Hummer on the trail of the bull. They bounced as hard as the bull himself. Eli pulled beside it. The big bull rammed the sidewall. The vehicle—built to withstand roadside bombs—rocked on its oversized tires.
The bull darted away. The cat leaped. In the headlights, Ed watched as she landed on the bull’s back. Dug in with claws and fangs. Snarling. The bull sprinted and bucked and whipped his body, a nearly boneless, snaking, corkscrew movement, hooves flying. He vanished into the night and down a ridge, the panther on his back.
Eli slowed the vehicle and rolled to a stop. The engine went silent. Edmund released his death grips on the roll bar and what Eli called an “oh-shit handle.” He was fairly certain he had bent them both. He was breathing hard, his heart pounding. It had been...exhilarating.
Alex opened the box on his lap, revealing a small drone, complete with camera. His computer screen came on, illuminating the Hummer seats. In seconds, he had the drone in the air, but it was too dark for him to see much even with the low-light camera it carried, and he grumbled beneath his breath, cursing in words he never used in front of Jane. Or in front of him, for that matter. Oddly that too made Edmund feel happy. Accepted among the men.
Bronco Sam came trotting back down the dirt road on his cow pony, the man hooting and hollering in glee. When he reached the Hummer, Bronco pulled out a flask and drank deeply, the scent of cheap bourbon on the air. He twisted in his seat, both legs on one side of the horse, and the cow pony leaned a hip onto the Hummer too in what looked like old habit.
The night sounds returned, the fight between bull and puma in the distance, the bull roaring with fury and pain. The puma snarling and hissing and making angry cat noises that had no name in human language.
The bull screamed and blew breath, snorting hard. The cat went silent. Then, so did the bull. Stillness settled on the land.
Edmund chuckled. It was a true laugh, not something any vampire experienced often. True laughter was something left over from being human, and it reminded all vampires that though they had gained power, they had lost something vital as well. He turned to Eli, still laughing. “Thank you. Thank you for this trip, for this experience. I am in your debt.”
Eli started at the sight of the smile and the sound of laughter. His eyes narrowed.
“Hey,” Alex said. “What about me. I made all the arrangements.”
Edmund smiled back at the human boy. “And I thank you as well. This has been... not precisely delightful. But... something I have not ever felt before, or not in a long, long time.”
Alex scowled, so like Jane Yellowrock that the sight of it surprised Edmund. The boy grumbled, “It was something new. Something you never did before. And it involved fighting and blood. Of course you like it. You’re a frickin’ fanghead.”
Edmund’s bright laughter sounded again, human, so very human. And exultant. “Yes. Yes. I am indeed.”
