Page 82 of Secrets and Ruin

“Seen it? No. Can I recognize it?Absolutely.”

Rainer was entering his Last Change, becoming the impossible-to-leave form, which completely blurred the line between beast and human. The final price of being a moon cursed—losing complete control of the curse and forever being a monster with a killing urge that couldn’t be stopped.

“Where’s Niko?” Rainer the monster snarled, somehow still able to form words with his new jaw. They didn’t sound right, but they were understandable. “Give him to me!”

I looked around, not seeing Niko or Dirk anywhere.

“Gone, it seems,” I answered. “You’ll have to deal with us before you can have them.”

“So be it,” he growled, beginning to stalk toward us.

“Got any ammo left?” I asked Landon as we steadily backed up. The moment we moved any faster, Rainer would attack purely on instinct.

“Nope. None of it helped, anyway, and his Change just healed everything we did.”

“But he won’t Change anymore,” I pointed out. We were buying time. If we bolted, he would pick one of us, but by moving slowly and together, we still had options. I’d spent enough time with my werewolves to pick up some of their tricks. We kept our eyes on him, his gaze flicking between us, unable to decide which one he wanted to focus on, or maybe he was making sure we didn’t know.

“No. No, he won’t,” Landon agreed.

Rainer finally jumped, aiming directly at us. Landon and I split, running in different directions to let Rainer land where we once were. I grabbed my silver sword. I knew I could use the steel one, but I wanted to keep that one in reserve in case I well and truly lost the first. Across from me, Landon grabbed something more interesting—one of Niko’s claws.

Rainer went for him first, managing a sharp turn. I ran to cover the distance as Landon ran for me. Right as we met, Rainer began his leap from where Landon once stood. I shoved Landon to the side right before Rainer landed, knocking me down, but I kept my grip on my only weapon. Before he could do anything, Landon sliced the claw, raking across Rainer’s chest and throat. He pulled back with a howl of pain as blood sprayed on me.

With every bit of strength I had, I thrust upward, driving the blade deep into Rainer’s upper abdomen, right under his apparent rib cage beneath his tattered shirt. He reared back farther, twisting away and leaving the bloody blade still in my hand. Landon dove for him, sinking the silver claws into his chest as I got back to my feet, very tired of being knocked down. Rainer grabbed Landon, and I heard bone crack as he pulled the claws out. Rainer threw Landon, and I lost sight of him.

“Landon!” I screamed as Rainer turned to me. He was bleeding, and in reality, he should have been bleeding out, but I watched as the bleeding slowed, and he kept standing.

Landon didn’t reappear, and I snarled, feeling my bones crack as my nails became claws. My canines grew longer in my human mouth, and I hissed as Rainer started for me.

In a perfect world, Fenris would still be in there, and I could try to reason with him. I would have fought for him. Tonight, I was fighting just to keep the fragile world I had, and Rainer was going to destroy it.

Rainer lunged for me, and I met him, snarling as our hands met. I somehow held my feet, pushing deep into the earth. I kept my fingers locked as we met, and for a moment, I could have sworn I saw a sparkle of surprise.

That surprise made sense. I had learned this trick from him. It tapped into the power of the curse without taking it too far. He might have lost control, but I hadn’t—not yet. It terrified me, but tonight, I embraced it. We stayed in the stalemate until one of my legs went out, and he slammed me down. I was faster now, though, kicking him off my good leg before I touched the earth and drove into his knees, knocking him down.

We rolled on the ground, each trying to get the edge and be in control, kicking, punching, and clawing at each other. It felt like an endless struggle.

I was still the weaker of us, though. He finally got me on my back, hands on my throat. He wasn’t trying to strangle me. He was trying to break my neck. I strained, trying to maintain control, trying not to give that to him.

Suddenly, a sword swung out and met with the back of his neck. It didn’t get all the way through, meeting bone that refused to give way. With another howl of pain, he let go of me, staggering back. Landon was there, panting.

Standing, I followed Rainer as he tried to retreat, trying to ignore Landon. Rainer was stumbling from the injury that hadn’t killed him, but it certainly broke something. He looked at me, and for a flash, I knew it was Fenris, not Rainer.

“Rebel…I’m—”

That nearly stopped me. So nearly.

He gurgled, blood coming out of his mouth, unable to finish what he was going to say. Shaking his head violently and hitting himself caused him to stagger into a tree. He looked back up, snarling, and it was once again Rainer, trying to get ready to fight again.

Jumping on him, I grabbed him as Landon had previously. I remembered how the vampires had tried to kill me years before and grabbed Rainer’s bottom jaw for more control, ignoring the pain as he sank his fangs into my hand. He was weaker now. I kicked Rainer’s legs out from under him and held him to his knees.

Then I twisted as hard as I could as the monster screamed and howled. I twisted as bones cracked, then snapped.

Then it went silent.

Dropping the body, I stepped back, feeling as the Change pushed back, my hands returning to normal and my canines receding to a normal size. I was pretty certain the only things that didn’t return to their natural form were my eyes.

Starting to shake violently, I looked at Landon.

---