Bite Marks

The voice I’d come to know as “Johnson” said, “That’s common knowledge, dumbass, otherwise we wouldn’t be following you.”

A grunt from Ruvin. I wished they wouldn’t keep pushing him. It was already getting tough to control my temper. And the last thing this country needed was another bushfire.

Vayl and I followed their trail, a series of signposts ranging from crushed grass to white scars where the bark had been brushed off the remains of fire-blackened pines.

“Explain this,” I whispered, mostly to calm myself down. “How is it better for them to walk than to drive on a spare? And you still haven’t answered my ambush question. Is Cole up there? Or have you called in even more reinforcements?” The thought chilled me. My people I could trust not to blab about my current condition. Strangers—never.

“No, we have not requested extra help. Yes, Cole is in position higher up the hill. Ruvin and the Odeam team are walking because the Jeep’s spare is back at the rental house.”

“Okay. But why not stay on the road?”

“Ruvin produced a map that he told them the original carrier had given him in case of emergency. It proves that the Ufranites have a tunnel leading directly from the rock shelter to the Space Complex, so they will still be able to get inside and hatch the larvae without interference. By the way, remind me to praise Bergman for his quick work in drawing that up. It looks remarkably authentic.” As I made the ascent, moving carefully past rocks that would gleefully snap an ankle if I stepped wrong, I said, “This should be a pretty quick hit, then. As long as we haven’t been followed.” Which was when I heard it. A scrabbling among the rocks. Not claws, like you might expect to hear from a foraging wombat or opossum. No, that was definitely the click of a heel.

“Call Astral,” whispered Vayl.

“Why? She’s stuck in the Wheezer.”

“No, she is not.”

He must’ve left its door cracked. Which means Jack’s loose too. Shit! Okay, worry later. I whispered, “Here, kitty. Make it fast, and give me video on your way to my location.” Astral’s view appeared in front of me. She’d leaped out of the car and come racing up the hill. I couldn’t tell where Jack’s curious nose had taken him, but I did see her pass a series of armed Ufranites. They were moving slowly, creeping along so the night noises, mostly crickets and the occasional hooting owl, covered their advance.

“I count ten gnomes at our backs,” I whispered. I drew Grief as I looked ahead. Could they be trying to herd us into another crowd waiting up the tree-dotted hill? Probably not if Cole was already there. Which meant they just wanted us to move too far from the road to consider escaping by car.

Vayl paused, checking the trail, considering our options. He tapped his ear. “Are you both in position?” he asked.

When Vayl nodded at a conversation I couldn’t hear, I said, “You didn’t tell me about a second sniper up here. Which means you’re still hiding stuff from me. And while I understand why, I’m about to risk my life without knowing the whole picture. Which is pissing me off.”

“Will you ever fully trust me?”

“I have no idea. I’m trying, but people close to me have been jerking me around my whole life. It’s hard to put your next breath in another person’s hands after that.”

“But I am not another person,” he said. “I am your sverhamin. ” The first of the gnomes had almost reached Grief’s range. Which meant I’d be a clear target for his weapon as well. I sighed. “What do you want me to do?”

“Kiss me.”

My supervisor had just been killed. My dog was missing. A radical fringe group of gnomes had partnered with a bunch of Weres to destroy one of my country’s most precious resources. And suddenly that was all I wanted to do. I rose on tiptoe, felt him lean down and wrap his arms around me. Our lips met, a mix of despair and promise in their tender touch. What an odd time to feel home.

Vayl moved his caress down to my neck. “You must survive this,” he murmured against my throat.

“Promise me you will live on.” Like I was crushed inside, where even surgeons couldn’t reach.

“I promise,” I said. Because we both needed me to, though I didn’t understand the source of his request until he kissed me again, and I felt his fangs pierce my bottom lip.

Cold shot through me, an icicle rocket threatening to rip off the top of my head. I screamed into his mouth as frost rimmed my teeth and tongue. The skin on my face and hands tightened painfully. My entire body felt like it had been buried in a snow bank. I jerked away, too cold even to shiver. I stared down at my arms. They were covered in ice.

“What have you done to me?” I demanded. It took a while to get the words out. My mouth didn’t want to work anymore.

He stared intently, his expression an odd mixture of triumph and dread. “I have lent you this, my greatest power, because I could not warn you that Cassandra had Seen this attack, embroiled as it had been in all her other visions of the shaman, the Weres, and Brude. If you had donned a bulletproof vest for this leg of our mission, we assumed Brude would have soon become suspicious and warned the shaman. So I have armored you.” He stopped, swallowed. “Are you all right?” I tried to shake my head. But it didn’t want to turn. So cold, right to my core, as if he’d pumped liquid nitrogen directly into my bloodstream. I could feel everything falling, failing. I wanted to shriek, but my mouth had frozen shut.

“Jasmine?” Cassandra could’ve been a mile beneath my feet, crouching behind an Ufranite sun generator, but her voice sounded close and urgent as she said, “Listen to me. Vayl only attempted this because of my vision. You can survive, but you must summon up that rage, the one that burns so hot in you that it catches your surroundings on fire when you release it.” I can’t! It’ll ash part of my soul!

Though it wasn’t one of her skills, it seemed like she could read my mind when she added, “The ice will keep it contained, Jaz. I Saw this. Call out your fury. Let it warm you.” I reached for the anger that always seemed to simmer right beneath my civilized surface. And found it, churning like liquid iron around a massive anvil engraved with the names of everyone I’d ever lost. The newest, pete, shone like silver next to the others, which had aged to