I turned to see what had caused him to scream like that. What looked back at us was not a little boy anymore, but something pulled from the nightmare of a madman. Standing seven feet tall, a thing of all odd angles and limbs glared at us. It moved like something between a spider and a lizard, twitchy and chaotic. My eyes hurt looking at it. I couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong about the thing, but it waswrong. Like a shuddering and morphing monster, its limbs flashed in and out of existence: first three arms, then two, then five. The eyes were the worst, flashing around its body each time I blinked. Two on its face.Blink. Four on its chest.Blink. Three on its stomach and one right on the left shoulder. A jagged wad of short tentacles writhed where its sex organs should have been. Leering at me, it opened its jaws. Those flashed and changed while I looked too. First, severalrows of sharklike teeth, then a set of massive vampire canines, followed by the sharp, twisting spines of dragon teeth.
Declan grabbed me by the shoulder and hauled me away from the door. I hit the ground and lost control of the scrying window, which vanished a second later.
“Changeling!” Declan screamed right as the reinforced door slammed inward with an earth-shakingbang.
8
DECLAN
The steel door pinwheeled like a frisbee, nearly cutting me in two as I leapt aside. It slammed into the wall beside me, burying itself deep in the wood and drywall.
The changeling rushed into the apartment, skittering like a spider, jerky and spastic movements that gave it a surreal, terrifying quality. Scrambling to my knees, I clawed at the ground, searching for my gun, only to find nothing near me. I looked up, right into the malevolent red eyes of the changeling. Tearing my gaze away from the beast, I glanced past it.
“Fuck!” The gun was on the other side of the room.
The changeling took two quick steps toward me, its head tilting to the side like a curious nightmare bird.
In a mimic of my own voice, it said, “You’ll scream while I feast on your innards.”
“Screw you,” I growled and leapt to my feet. Heedless of the danger, I rushed the monster.
Rising up and belting out a screech of rage, the changeling opened its clawed morphing arms a moment before I dived forward, slamming my shoulder into its midsection. As we fell to the ground, I heard Veronica screaming my name, but I didn’t have time to look at her. Not when I was fighting for my life.
The monster slammed three fists onto my back. My breath exploded out of me, but I managed to reach up and shove my fingers into one of its eyes, trying to blind it. The second my fingers found purchase, the thing's face morphed once again, and the eye vanished, reappearing on its chest.
Claws raked down my back, sharp and needle-like. They would have torn through the fabric and down to my bones had my clothes not been enchanted. It had cost damn near every penny I’d made for a year, but at times like these, I deemed it a good investment.
I shoved off the creature and jumped to my feet. With all the force I could muster, I kicked at its head. The changeling’s face snapped back, and it barked like a rabid dog.
It scurried back, walking on its arms and legs like a crab, its jaws opening and closing with asnap-snap-snapsound that sent chills up my spine. Eyes reappeared on its face, and they jerked toward Veronica, where she stood behind the small kitchen bar.
It opened its nightmare mouth and spoke in Veronica’s voice. “I’m going to enjoy skinning you alive.”
“Declan?” Veronica said, her voice shaking with terror.
“Not today, asshole,” I growled, balling my hands into fists as I stepped between the changeling and Veronica. “Come on, you littlebitch.”
A laugh trickled up from the thing’s throat, high-pitched and childlike at first, then deep and booming, followed by a high, keening cackle. It lunged at me, appearing and disappearing, arms and hands flailing at me. One clawed fist caught me in the side, sending a burst of white-hot pain through my ribs. Rather than collapsing, I used the opening to send two fast jabs to its face, catching it in one eye and shattering the strange lump of a nose. It cried out, calling backward and clutching its face.
Using the opening, I sprinted around it and dived for the ground, hand outstretched, reaching for my gun. I skidded to a stop only feet away, my fingers grazing the grip when iron bands wrapped around my ankle and hauled me back. I rolled, raising my hands with an instant to spare, catching the arm that would have sliced through my throat. The thing’s arm felt both hot and cold beneath my fingers, oily and slick while also rough and dry, the sensation made my brain hurt and also caused my gorge to rise. It feltwrong, and touching it made me feel unclean.
The monster put all its weight behind the arm I held and tried to shove its talons toward my eyes, ready to pierce the delicate orbs and shove them all the way into my brain. It still held my left leg, but my right was free, and I kicked upward, the toe of my boot crashing into the wad of wiggling tentacles in its crotch. For one horrifying instant, I actuallyfeltthe things writhing against my shoe. The changeling released a bloodcurdling cry and rolled away, twisting and screaming, morphing so fast it became a blur.
I clawed my way to my gun, finally wrapping my hand around the grip. The magic runes along the barrel and handle glowed orange and purple as soon as I touched it. Baring my teeth, I turned and raised the barrel. What I saw nearly caused me to drop the gun. The beast, recovered from the blow, had risen to its full height, and now had the head of a massive grizzly bearwith white foam dripping from its massive teeth. The body was that of a scaled and wicked dragon, but it was rotting, the scales weeping pus that sizzled and popped as it dripped down its body. Rather than the wad of tentacles in its crotch, a three-foot barbed scorpion tail jutted out from between its legs. A single drop of venom glistened at the tip.
“You nasty fuck.” I pulled the trigger.
The gun bucked twice in my hand as the silver bullets rocketed from the enchanted barrel, absorbing the magic imbued in the weapon. The tip of the scorpion stinger tore off with a spray of venom and cracking carapace as the first bullet hit it. The second obliterated the outstretched dragon claw, turning it to nothing but strings of sinew and ruined bone.
The changeling screamed, losing control of its form. It reverted back to the gray-skinned form of odd angles and morphing limbs. I fired again, but instead of blowing its brains out like I wanted, the bullet hit the wall where the monster had been seconds ago. Even injured, it still moved so goddamn fast.
It swept its one good hand at my gun, sending it pinwheeling away, and jumped on me. A third, uninjured arm appeared out of nowhere, joining the other in pinning me to the ground. The bulk of its weight sat on my stomach, effectively incapacitating me. I grunted with exertion, trying to rip my arms free and bucking my hips to throw it off. It probably looked like we were engaging in a disgusting parody of sexual coupling.
The changeling’s eyes appeared on its face again, all four of them glaring at me with malefic hunger. Its mouth split into a manic grin rimmed with jagged teeth, and I gagged as hot, fetid breath washed over my face.
This was it. There was nowhere else to run, no way to fight. I was done. In a second, those monstrous teeth would sink into the soft flesh of my throat, pierce my skin and cartilage, and tear away my life. I’d be done with this world. No one would scream and cry out for my passing. I would vanish with no one to mourn me.
Fine.If it’s going to happen, then let it fucking happen.
