Page 79 of Werewolves Don't Howl
Loren spat out, “I set it in the church doorway. It was simple enough, targeting your essence like I did in Zephin’s office. I knew you’d go back to him, even after you stole the Senator’s heart.”
“Clay is her boss,” Forsythia pointed out. “Not that he isn’t disturbingly obsessed with Delphi, but she’s never led him on.”
I shook my head, because the idea of me and Zephin was so bizarre. “Why did you set a spell to make me try to kill the Senator?”
Loren raised her brows, apparently surprised. “I didn’t. It was supposed to make you afraid, to make you run, to get you away from here and never come back. But you tried to kill him instead? Your fear turned to violence?” She frowned. “That makes me almost like you.”
Forsythia snorted. “It would. You’re clearly unhinged.”
“Forsythia,” I hissed at her before turning a reassuring smile on Loren. “I’ve always admired your courage and unflinching determination to uncover whatever’s hidden. Why was your face on the body of that missing girl? Why did you want me to find it?”
Loren smiled, slow and evil. “You weren’t the one who was meant to find it. That was me. It was a warning from them.”
“Lynx,” I breathed.
Distant screams filled the air, sending chills down my spine, particularly when Loren kept smiling, like the screams were expected.
“What’s that?” Forsythia snapped, looking in the direction of the screams.
“A few more successful experiments that Lynx doesn’t approve of,” Loren said, snapping her fingers. “They’ll take care of you nicely. No more adorable Delphi or fabulous Forsythia.”
Glowing eyes suddenly surrounded her in the shifting shadows, then the glint of serrated teeth and a ripple of dark fur.
I backed up until I was almost on top of Forsythia. “What are you doing?” I demanded of Loren. “Is this supposed to be a random wild animal attack? No one’s going to believe it.”
“Of course they will. Everyone always believes what the media tells them, except for a few crazy conspiracy theorists, but they don’t matter. If they get too bothersome, it’s not difficult to erase their memory, like Forsythia did to poor Elodie. Not that I have that skill. Mine is communing with animals. My pets.”
Loren snapped her fingers and a rush of beasts came from the trees. None of them were very identifiable since they were a terrifying blend of animal and infernal. There was creepy intelligence in their eyes as they analyzed their prey and spread out to take us down more securely. Maybe that was Loren in their heads. Controlling that many animals, after she’d turned them into monsters, was pretty impressive.
I gestured my hand and a row of vines blocked their attack as well as Loren. I turned and ripped the vines off Forsythia while she studied me expressionlessly until she was free.
“How long do you think vines will keep them out?”
“They have thorns. Let’s go!” I grabbed her hand and ran towards the wall of bushes behind us. Once we pressed through them, we came out in a clearing above an animal pen, with a railing to keep anyone from falling in.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Forsythia said, frowning at me in her askew costume.
I climbed the rail and shrugged at her. “If you could make Loren forget about us, that would be helpful.”
She frowned thoughtfully. “Maybe I can. I’ll need to be close enough to her to work on her while her beasts are chasing you. This platform has some excellent shadows.” She gave me a serene smile and then flickered and became unnoticeable, practically invisible. That’s how she’d followed Cross and gotten into the lab without anyone noticing. Tricky.
I nodded at her and then the beasts broke through the vines and poured into the clearing with me.
I leapt off the rail, shifting into my beast as I went, so I landed the twenty feet drop without killing myself. I shook it off and then turned to swipe at the first beast who followed me over the rail. It was a raccoon with a pig snout and a spiked tail. Weirdly cute.
I didn’t want to hurt it. I dove out of the way and then swiped it back, sending it tumbling over with a squeal of pain. Poor thing. Three more creatures came over the edge, falling on me with teeth and claws. I was bigger, but their teeth were very sharp, and they didn’t know they should run away from me. I didn’t want to hurt any of them. It wasn’t their fault that Loren was a psycho.
Seven more came over, then a dozen after that, until I was buried in a mass of fur and claws. Ow, ow, ow! A roar echoed through the night, and then the creatures scattered. I sat up and found an enormous gray beast in front of me, arched back, long tail sticking out, fur puffed up like a giant, nine-foot fluff ball.
I blinked at it while my mind spun. It looked like an oversize kitten, but how was that possible?
It leapt and clawed exactly how Lynx went after a ball of yarn, shredding bellies before lunging at another target. Okay. The kitten was more special than I expected. Also surprisingly bloodthirsty.
Loren sprang over the rail, but shifted mid-leap, shredding her sensible suit and landing heavy. Heavy was an understatement. She was twelve feet tall and proportionally just that huge.
My beast was such a delicate, cute, adorable creature compared to this molting monster. Loren’s beast didn’t smell great, either. She was as vicious a beast as she’d been a reporter, and I was a society journalist who avoided conflict. Except when I hunted down evil werewolves. And except when I staked Cross in the library. My beast wasn’t as mighty as hers, but I had something she’d never have. Coziness in the face of decimation.
At least I’d die happy.
