Bloodrose

Mason stalked back and forth whining as Gabriel pushed on Nev’s chest and breathed into his muzzle.

Breathe, Nev. Breathe.

Someone took my hand. I leaned into Ren, beyond grateful that he was here and alive. But when I looked up at him, I saw how pale he was as he watched Gabriel trying to bring Nev back to us.

Adne fell onto the ground beside me. “Tell me we saved him,” she gasped.

Even as she spoke, Nev’s jaws opened and water spewed out of his mouth. He coughed and shook his head, rolling onto his stomach with a whimper.

Mason yelped, scrambling close to Nev and covering his face and muzzle with licks. They both shifted to human form, clinging to each other fiercely.

Sabine sobbed while Ethan held her. Ren squeezed my hand before going to Nev and hugging him.

“Thank God,” Connor murmured. “Nice work, Gabriel.”

“A wolf.” Gabriel grinned. “CPR on a wolf. That’s a first for me.”

“All I can taste is fish.” Nev groaned, coughing up yet more water. “I will never eat fish for as long as I live.”

“Shut up,” Mason said. “Just shut up.” And he kissed Nev again.

FIFTEEN

WE TRUDGED THROUGH the jungle, sodden and dripping. The joy of saving Nev and retrieving Eydis were muted by losing Silas. As we came around the bend in the trail where the forest dropped down toward the sea, the dive shop peeked out through the cover of branches.

“There’s Inez waiting on the deck,” Gabriel said. “She’s got those mother-hen instincts big-time.”

Inez’s back was to us; she was lounging on a deck chair. Miguel was sitting in the shadow cast by the dive shop’s eaves. Two more chairs were pulled up between Miguel and Inez. A woman in a bikini stretched languidly in one. Next to her, a man in an open linen shirt and khaki shorts laughed, threading his fingers through hers.

“Who are they?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” Gabriel said. “I didn’t think we had any dive groups scheduled for today.”

He picked up his pace, not running, but taking swift strides toward the figures on the deck. The woman in the bikini saw him and began to wave. Her companion stood up, pushing back his sunglasses.

Ren’s nose crinkled up. “Hang on… Do you smell that?”

“Yeah… shit,” Nev snarled, glancing at the thick jungle that surrounded us.

“You smell shit?” Ethan asked. “Thanks for sharing.”

“No,” Nev said. “We smell cats.”

I sniffed the air. They were right. It was subtle but definitely there. An acrid scent like burning silk and dried sage. A growl rose in my throat.

Gabriel’s eyes widened. “Las sombras… no!”

“Gabriel, wait!” Ethan shouted. But the other man was bolting toward the hideout, yelling.

“Inez! Miguel!” Neither of the Searchers on the deck moved.

It happened in the space of a blink. Gabriel had just reached the deck and it dropped onto him-a shape descending like an ebony cloak. The panther screamed as it leapt from its hiding place on the other side of the roof. Then it was on Gabriel, who was screaming when the cat’s claws sank into his shoulders. His cry cut off abruptly when its jaws locked around his neck and twisted sharply, breaking the bones.

“Damn it!” Ethan glared as the panther darted off the deck and into the jungle’s shadows.

I waited for the woman on the deck to scream. But she rolled over, laughing. Her oiled, golden skin blurred into a sleek coat. The man beside her took two huge bounds and leapt, hitting the roof in cat form. They vanished into the dark vines just as the other panther had. Hisses and wicked purring filled the branches above us, drowning the air with their menacing sounds.

How many are up there?

The Guardians had all shifted form. Our pack huddled up, glancing into the forest canopy. But the cats seemed to be invisible, slinking among the branches, remaining out of sight.

“We’ve got to get out from under them,” Connor said. “Stay close. Head for the house. We need a defensible position we can hold while Adne weaves a door.”

Ethan took point, Sabine and Nev beside him, while Mason, Shay, and Ren stayed closed to Adne. I hung back with Connor, watching the trees as our group slowly moved forward.

We were ready when the next panther leapt. Its scream became a grunt when Ethan hurled his tank at it, catching the beast fully in the chest. It hit the ground, struggling to catch its breath. Mason and Ren took advantage of its momentary disorientation, charging the cat. It lashed out at them with its claws, but Mason held its attention while Ren tore at its flank with his teeth. When it finally turned to scream at Ren, Mason went for the kill, lunging at the cat’s throat and crushing its windpipe.

The trees came alive with rage-filled screams, and las sombras rained down on us in a torrent of sleek midnight fur and razor-sharp claws.

“Run!” Connor shouted.

Ethan took off toward the house with wolves at his heels. Connor cried out as a panther sprang on him, knocking him to his knees. I snarled and threw myself at the cat, forcing it to release Connor for the sake of fighting me. The force of my blow sent us rolling onto the beach. Our bodies were twisted around each other as we wrestled in the sand. I yelped when the panther’s claws sank into my back but answered immediately with my own ferocious bites into its chest. The cat screamed, rolling away from me. I scrambled to my feet, squaring off against it as I tried to brace myself in the soft sand. It hissed at me, bright green eyes filled with rage… and intelligence.

My heart skipped a beat. A Guardian-the cats were like us, slaves to the Keepers. For a moment I wanted to reach out, to see if I could somehow make a connection to this unwanted enemy. But such a thought belonged only to me. The cat bunched up and leapt at me. I went flat, rolling over on my back so the panther sailed past me. I kept tumbling until I was right-side up and without hesitation lunged at the cat’s unprotected back, tearing into its flesh. The cat screamed and bucked, trying to get away from my ripping teeth. But I was unrelenting; its blood- invisible against its black coat-stained the beach sand crimson. Desperate, the cat reared up and tipped over backward. I leapt off before it could crash down on top of me. Free of attack, the panther didn’t turn to face me again. Instead it bolted for the cover of the jungle.

“Calla!” Connor was waving at me. The others had made it to the deck. I shook sand from my coat and ran for the hideout.

You okay? Ren came to meet me. You’re bleeding.

The cuts aren’t deep. I nipped at his flank. We’ll deal with it once we’re out of here.

Ethan was at the door, flinging it open. Sabine and Nev bolted inside. I looked over my shoulder as I ran toward the house. The jungle had become still. No cats pursued us.

They aren’t giving chase. Ren snarled, sharing my anxiety.

I know. I bared my teeth at him. That can’t be good.

Connor swore as we passed the still forms of Inez and Miguel on the deck. They’d been propped up, throats torn out, and they stared at us with unseeing eyes.

“I swear I’m getting payback for this,” Connor said, slamming the door behind us. The Guardians stalked around the Searchers, bristling and snarling. Something was very, very wrong.

“Start weaving, Adne,” Connor said quietly. “As fast as you can.”

She nodded, moving toward the entrance to the kitchen to give herself more space. She had just pulled out her skeans when I caught the scent. It wasn’t las sombras but another, even more acrid odor. Like that of the panthers, it was burning and too sharp, but the cats had smelled unusual, new. This scent was old. One I knew all too well. A raw scent of boiling pitch and singed hair.

I was already moving when I saw the inky, formless creature looming behind Adne.