“Come on!” I bellowed, my spittle flying into its mouth. “Do it! Fucking take me, you goddamn pussy! Veronica, run! RUN!”
The changeling snarled and snapped its head forward. Closing my eyes, I waited for the pain. The sound of the jaw snapping shut burst through my mind louder than the gunshots earlier. I flinched, eyes still closed. The teeth never touched me.
Opening my eyes, I blinked in confusion when I realized that, instead of staring into the eyes and mouth of my doom, I was staring at the ceiling with nothing above me. That was when I heard the snarling and growling beside me. Turning, I grunted in surprise. Veronica, in her wolf form, thrashed about with the monster, biting and clawing at it.
Scrambling to my feet, I watched her bite into the thing’s leg, and tear away a small hunk of gray flesh. The changeling roared, clamping its already ruined hand on the wound. Veronica spat the putrid skin on the floor and threw her head back, belting out a howl of challenge.
9
VERONICA
The rancid, sour taste of rotten pork coated the inside of my mouth, and I had to suppress the urge to vomit. Bracing my feet on the ground, I unleashed a howl of rage and anger at the creature. Shame and vitriol surged within me as I again narrowed my eyes at the monster before me.
Lips peeled back from my teeth, I stared at the monstrosity. The thing had been seconds from killing Declan before I’d finally broken free of the terrified, frozen statue I’d become while he’d fought it. A human. Sure, an experienced, strong human with a few magical tricks, but a human, nonetheless. Due to my fear and indecision, he’d almost died. I waspissedat myself for that.
The changeling scrambled to its feet, transforming into a massive tiger, its orange-and-black stripes standing out in stark contrast to the gray wall behind it. It opened its jaws, revealing a forked tongue and rows of serrated teeth that looked a lot like that of a Great White’s.
With a howl, I bounded toward the beast. The changeling slashed out with its tiger paw, curved claws streaking throughthe air toward my face. A moment before they would have dug into the soft skin of my neck and torn my life away, I tucked into a ball, letting my entire weight slam into it.
Instead of a feline snarl or groan of pain, it released a lizard-like hiss and rolled aside. As I unfurled myself, I watched the changeling morph into another mishmash of animals: the ebony fur of a black bear, an alligator’s jaws but a panther’s head, legs like a wolf, and a long, serpentine tail that ended in a bone-spiked ball.
Releasing a sound between a wolf’s howl and the guttural grunt of a lizard, the thing swung its rear around, flinging its tail in my direction. Rather than dodging and going for its dangerous jaws, I did the opposite of what it expected and leaptontothe tail, wrapping my paws around it and sinking my teeth into the flesh. The changeling let out a confused grunt followed by a roar of pain as its disgusting blood oozed from the wound and coated my tongue.
“Veronica! Duck!”
Doing as he said, I let go of the tail and rolled aside, legs and body tumbling away as the roar of his pistol burst through the room.
“Shit!” Declan cried, and when I looked up, I watched as the changeling—having once more shifted shape—swung a heavy, scaled dragon tail. It connected with Declan’s chest, sending him flying across the room, crashing into the cabinets above the stove. Wood splintered, and the plates inside spilled out, crashing on the ground and shattering as he fell in a heap atop them.
Snarling, I rushed toward the changeling. Its dragon tail was joined by the body and mane of a lion, but the face was that of the little boy I’d seen through the scrying window. The mouth yawned open, revealing an entire row of lion incisors. It looked like something from the worst nightmare a person could ever have.
Instead of attacking it head-on, I leapt first to one side, then the other, bouncing quickly on my paws. The eyebrows of the little boy face furrowed as I bounded and rolled back and forth. Having gained my shifting powers as late as I had, and with The Scourge decimating my pack, I’d never really been taught how to fight, and this was all I had in the way of skills. Spastic unpredictability—sort of like my life in general.
Finally, when it was fully confused by what I was doing, I dived under its face and sank my teeth into the soft flesh of its chest. It roared out in agony and rage, but the sound stopped abruptly when the hollowclunkof metal on a skull interrupted the cry. Releasing my hold, I watched as Declan, blood smeared across the side of his face, brought a metal stool down for a second time on the monster’s head.
The changeling jerked back, aiming a clawed paw at Declan, but I managed to grab the offending limb with my jaws, holding it down, bracing my feet, and pulling down with every ounce of my strength. The beast tilted, overbalanced, ready to fall, but at the last second its whole body changed again, turning into the awful, angular, insectile, humanoid thing that was its true form. My jaws lost purchase, and Declan’s next blow went wild, the stool flying through open air. The momentum of his movement sent him tumbling to the ground beside me.
The changeling rose up on its legs, opened its arms, and glared at us as it screeched. Beside me, Declan rolled to his back, his hand clawing the inside of his jacket.
The changeling lunged at Declan, its right hand turning into a wicked crab claw. It was aiming right at Declan’s heart. Moving with all the speed I had, I scurried over and caught the claw in my teeth, my canines sliding across the carapace for a split second before finding purchase. The claw stopped mere inches from Declan’s sternum.
The changeling tried to jerk its arm away, but I held tight, panic rising inside me. How much longer could we hold this thing off?
Beneath me, Declan finally managed to free his right hand and raise his pistol again.
“Good night, motherfucker,” he growled and pulled the trigger twice.
The roar of the gun hurt my ears, but watching the two slugs slam into the creature’s head more than made up for that. A wad of black blood shot from the back of its skull, and all movement ceased. The monster went slack, and I released the claw I’d been holding as it slumped to the floor, unmoving.
I shifted back to my human form and collapsed onto Declan, both of us heaving in breaths, and dripping sweat.
“I think…” Declan panted. “We’re…gonna need…a new…safe house.”
“You think?” I said as my head flopped down on his chest.
10
DECLAN
