“Revelation.” I waved it away as if it weren't important. “What have you got?”
“Elgin had a bunch of snake attacks awhile back but nothing for weeks. Nothing until tonight.”
“There's been an attack in Elgintonight?” I went still.
“Yep,” Austin confirmed. “A guy was just found dead.”
“Pop-Tarts!” I snarled.
Austin snorted a laugh.
I glared at him.
“Sorry. I know you're big on trying to find alternative curse words, but that one was hilarious.”
“Thank you. So glad that I could amuse you,” I growled. “Now, let's get to Elgin.”
“They're probably not going to attack again tonight,” Austin warned us. “Their MO seems to be one a night.”
“I'm not just going for them; I need to find Viper.”
“Oh, yeah. Uh, should I go with you?” Austin offered warily.
“No, stay here and keep an eye on your town. You never know what might happen,” Odin said.
“The Feds are keeping a pretty good watch on things.” Austin shrugged. “But it's probably best that I stay put.”
Before I could reply, the ground started to shake. Tremble, really, but it was enough to make the house shimmy and Austin's belongings rattle. We froze until everything went still.
I looked at Austin. “Does Texas get earthquakes?”
“Very rarely,” Austin said with a wary look.
“Godhunter,” an ominous voice came from outside.
We swiveled toward the front door.
“I guess that explains it,” I muttered as I headed outside.
“Hold on.” Azrael grabbed my arm. “We don't know who or what's out there.”
“That's why I'm goingto look,” I said as if it were obvious.
“Perhaps we should do so carefully,” Odin suggested as he slipped in front of me.
Odin opened the door as he shifted. Dragon scales rose from his skin, forming a natural—or rather, magical—armor. It was shiny, deep blue with a purple and green sheen, and made him look as if he were about to get beamed up to his spaceship. It was especially odd beneath his clothes—straining his pants to bulging. I'd seen him do this trick before but never when he wasn't in need of clothing. Still, it made sense, especially the gorget that covered his throat.
I followed Odin outside as I shot a, “Stay here,” over my shoulder at Austin. I didn't bother going dragony myself, I'd save that trick for when I was sure I needed it. Mainly because I didn't want to scare Austin any more than he already was.
Trevor, Azrael, and Re took up the rear, but when we stepped onto Austin's porch, we spread out to face the threat. Austin flipped on the porch light for us, though most of us wouldn't need it. I scanned the shadows around the sparsely-wooded yard as I stretched my shoulders. Azrael was right, I'd been short-tempered ever since Viper left. I was raring for a fight and if this god wanted to help me out with that, I'd—as Austin might say—be obliged.
“I'm the Godhunter,” I called out. “Who are you and what do you want?”
Something moved around the trunk of a tree. I saw the outline of a man. Well, half of one since the coward was only leaning out from behind his cover to peek at me. He was darker than the shadows—darker than midnight. I probably wouldn't have spotted him without my animal eyesight. But then his body changed shape—elongating as it dropped to the ground. I knew what that meant, I'd just watched Odin make a similar transformation earlier that day. The guy was going snaky.
“Incoming,” I whispered. “He's shifted into a snake.”
“I see him,” Trevor said.
