Suddenly, Daniel jumped in front of us and crowded us backwards until we were pressed against the brick wall of the club. He stayed in front of us with his arms out while his head swiveled one way and another, trying to keep an eye out for all manner of vampires who might come near. And it was strange looking at him. Feeling like he was some powerful force charged with keeping us safe from anything and everything in this world.
I closed my eyes and focused my powers on him. He might have the strength to keep us safe, but karma would do its part in helping to protect this amazing man, this man who seemed time and time again to be willing to step in front of a train for me.
My magic moved out in a different way, and I felt it crackle along my skin for a moment, like electricity. Like I'd been struck by lightning. I was continually amazed by how little I'd figured out about my powers sometimes. No matter how I used it, it always felt different.
And I never knew what it would do.
“Enough of this,” Daniel growled, then stepped away from us. He yanked off his shirt and the next thing I knew, his pants and shoes went flying and fur erupted where skin had been only seconds before. Daniel was suddenly a massive grizzly bear, shifting from man to bear right in front of us.
And even though I knew he was a bear shifter, knowing it and seeing it were two entirely different things. Because my Daniel... he was huge. And dangerous looking. So dangerous looking that my knees actually shook.
As if to drive home the point that he was a badass, he threw back his head and roared so loudly I imagined the ground shook beneath our feet. Or maybe it did.
All of the vampires froze and turned to look at the enormous grizzly bear with the same looks of horror that I was pretty sure was painted across my own face. Only, this angry bear wasn't coming for me.
If these vampires were smart, they'd be running the other way.
Daniel lunged forward and plowed straight into Jeffrey, knocking him to the ground and hovering over him. Hot, moist breath, I could imagine how it felt, erupted from Daniel’s maw as he roared into Jeffrey’s face. Spittle went flying, and a mouth filled with sharp teeth, big enough to tear off Jeffrey's head sat inches from his face.
My teeth were chattering. If this guy wasn't wetting himself, I'd be shocked.
The vampires scattered, a couple of them even screaming in terror. Lysa backed away from Daniel and Jeffrey until she was nearly behind Carol, Beth, and me. There seemed to be a general sense of, whatever we were fighting about is now way less important than not being eaten by a bear, which I agreed whole-heartedly with.
"Talk to him," Deva whispered beside me.
"Me?" I asked, my voice coming out a shriek.
She rolled her eyes. "He's still Daniel."
"He'll know it's me?" I asked, somehow having a hard time picturing my gentle Daniel inside of that scary beast.
She gave me a hard look. "Of course he will! He's Daniel! Think about it!"
And, I did. Giant bear or giant man, this was my Daniel. My boyfriend. My lover. And, apparently, my pissed off protector. I had absolutely no reason to be scared of him, I just needed to treat him like human Daniel.
I could do that.
With a sigh, I walked forward and put my hand on Daniel’s big hairy shoulder, even though I was still trembling. “Hey, big guy. You got everyone’s attention now. You don’t have to eat Jeffrey.”
He glanced back at me, his green eyes eerie in the bear.
And, somehow, I knew what he was wondering. "None of us are hurt. They didn't hurt us. They didn't hurtme. Everything is okay."
After a long moment of him staring at me, Daniel lumbered backward and chuffed at me before sitting on his haunches. He looked at Jeffrey, then at me, then chuffed again. I crouched down beside the still cowering Jeffrey and sighed. “Jeffrey. You look like a football player. Do you know that?”
He nodded quickly, looking back and forth between me and Daniel. As I stared down at him, I let a little strand of my power fill him. I don't know why, but it was like some deep instinct was telling me. Telling me that my powers had a way to help this situation.
"I-I am a football player." Okay, yeah, I was kind of just asking to get him focused on me and not freaking out. I hadn't really been sure what he would say, but I was glad I guessed right.
“Jeffrey, your friends look like football players too.”
He kept nodding. “We are. We were. We played for the Mystic Hollow Wolves.”
And it all clicked! Daniel had told me about what he'd learned from the wolf pack. That the way Bryan was kidnapped was similar to what football players did to new recruits. I hadn't even put two and two together when I was asking him about being a football player, but I guess in the back of my overwhelmed mind I'd already know the way these guys fought, and their sheer sizes, marked them as athletes.
It was all making sense. I hoped. This whole stupid situation.
I sighed, stood, and looked back at my girls. “Daniel told me that the way Bryan was kidnapped was the same way the football players around here mess with their new recruits. I wasn't sure if the two things were actually connected, because I wasn't sure how many vampire football players there were..."
