She recoiled in a slight cry, in part from the sudden wash of cold that came with the shift. She’d never noticed it before, but then again, she’d never been this close to someone as they changed. And so interesting to see it in action.
Her thoughts stuttered to a halt when she saw a dark blur of movement out of the corner of her eye. She’d been focused on Dr. Oltheten, so she missed Hank leaping to attack Travis. Just like her, the man had been watching Dr. Oltheten and hadn’t even realized what was happening until he was flying into the back wall.
The crash was loud as they banged into a worktable. Test tubes jiggled, a couple beakers crashed, but all was a flurry of motion and muscle power. Travis shifted into a wolf the same way as all the others. One second human, the next beast, and a large one at that. He snapped at Hank’s neck and scrabbled with paws and claws.
Dr. Oltheten spun around, his voice loud though garbled in his distorted mouth. “Stop this! Do you hear me? You’ll get us all killed!”
But all Cecilia could think was, not again. Not this again.
She grabbed Dr. Oltheten’s arm because he was gesturing and nearly clocked her with an elbow. It was pure adrenaline reaction that made her duck, then grab. But once she had a hold of him, she gripped the man hard. She didn’t want him interfering with Hank.
It happened so fast. She heard the awful sounds of a struggle. Bangs and growls. She’d just grabbed on to Dr. Oltheten when Hank threw the wolf to the side. The wolf was caught in his clothes, she saw, and fumbled to fight and get out of his shirt at the same time. Plus, it was hard to grapple hand to hand when all you had were paws.
But the beast wouldn’t stay down long. He was shedding clothes, and his mouth was open, baring long deadly teeth. A man couldn’t fight that and win. Not without getting hurt, not without getting—
Hank dove forward into the pile of clothing. Cecilia screamed. She didn’t want him going closer to the animal. Not now that the wolf had sprung up onto all four paws. Hank hit the floor, sliding slightly as he dug into the clothes. And then he twisted.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Sharp reports that had Cecilia dropping to her knees, bringing Dr. Oltheten with her. Gunshots, deafening in her ears. The smell of sulfur and bile, then the copper of blood. She had to see. She had to know if Hank was okay. Was he okay?
She pushed upright on shaky legs to see Hank coming to a stand as well. He had a pistol in his hand as he stared at the floor. “Rookie mistake,” he said to no one in particular. “They always shift first. Never think about the weapons at hand.”
Then he pushed the pistol into the back of his jeans.
“Why did you do that?” Dr. Oltheten screeched. “Why? We’re stuck in here! He’s the only one who gets us food. He tells them to open the door to our bedrooms.”
“Calm down, Doctor,” Hank said, his gaze going to her. “Cecilia? You okay?”
No. No, she wasn’t okay. Her heart was hammering in her throat and the smell was bad. Growing worse and worse, in fact. She started gagging. It was Dr. Oltheten.
Hell.He was upset and letting off the hybrid stench. She couldn’t breathe.
Hank’s eyes snapped into focus. “Calm down!” he bellowed at the doctor as he leapt around a lab table to get to her side. She had a hand pressed to her mouth and was reeling on her feet, but she was able to turn to the doctor.
“Get. Control,” she gasped.
His gaze swung to hers, and for the first time she saw how frightened he was. His eyes bulged white and his hand went to hers. No claws for him. Just a furry hand where he gripped her wrist. The other went to his chest, digging there in panic.
In panic, she realized. The scent came from panic.
“Breathe!” she ordered, but it was too late.
He collapsed down onto one knee, then two. Then his body went rigid and he dropped.
Heart attack. She was sure of it.
She tried to catch him, but he was too heavy. Hank was there, too, flipping the man creature over so that he lay slightly twisted on his back. Cecilia felt for his pulse.
None.
She pushed forward to start chest compressions.
“One, two, three…” she counted as she pushed on the man’s chest. But when the time came to give him breath, she didn’t know how to get her mouth in the right position. He still had a cat face and the smell this close made her light-headed.
Oh shit.It was worse than that. She reeled off sideways, scrambling for a waste can before she retched. Hank helped her, supporting her body as she heaved in choking gasps and convulsions.
Initially her mind remained on Dr. Oltheten. He was dying and without CPR there was no hope. But once her convulsions started in earnest, she lost track of the dying hybrid. Every part of her was consumed with the ravage of expelling everything inside her. And gratitude that Hank stood with her. That he helped her when her mind was whited out and her body was rejecting the very air she breathed.
