Bitten to Death

Holy freaking crap! Dave’s gone ballistic!

Part of me wanted to pick him up and shake him till his teeth fell out. The rest couldn’t blame him. Because he’d recently been the victim of a necromancer called the Wizard. This terror broker had killed and then reanimated him, only in such a way that his soul had remained trapped inside his body, slave to the Wizard’s whim. We’d rescued him, only to have him die for real. Which was where my Spirit Guide had stepped in.

Raoul recruits people like Dave and me to fight the extra-creepies. Those others regular humans can’t quite perceive and don’t have the power to combat. We have the edge because we’ve died at least once already. And having been brought back by Raoul, we’ve developed special abilities that give us a leg up. Unfortunately, the hell we go through afterward also has a tendency to tear through our sanity like a California wildfire. I should’ve known Dave would identify with anything that had been forced into service against its will. But I never would’ve guessed he’d resort to mercy killings to fix what was broken.

Before anyone had time to react, Vayl lunged to his feet, his chair flying back into the wall as he rose. “Nobody move!” he snapped, his power billowing through the room like the fog from dry ice. Though I could hear the hypnotic command in his voice, I was surprised the vamps in the room obeyed. “This entertainment has voided our contract!”

I stood beside him, making sure my presence and the fact that I’d pulled Grief let everyone know they should think carefully before they reacted.

Disa’s lips stretched so far back her snarl might actually leave wrinkles. The Vitem looked equally annoyed. Genti jumped up on the table. “Fine with me!” he shouted. He pointed a long-nailed finger at Dave. “That bastard has spoiled our Sonrhain. Kill him!”

Niall and Admes stood as one. “Genti, no!” they yelled in concert. Almost in harmony. If I hadn’t been so worried, I’d have suggested they try out for their local talent show.

Genti, who’d kicked his furry hat onto the floor in his rush to kill my brother, bared his fangs. But he did hop down.

“What did you mean by that statement, Vayl?” asked Niall.

“Precisely what I said. Lucille and I are agents of the United States government. We would not work with Hamon unless he agreed to curtail all illegal activities while we sheltered in the Trust.”

“Funny time to bring up that detail,” snapped Disa.

Vayl’s look could’ve frozen lava. “I did just suggest a review of the contract. However, you required me to attend the Sonrhain. As your guest, I could hardly refuse.” And, as her outnumbered guest, he couldn’t object to the horror show. Until Dave had done it for him, and then he’d had to take it to the finish.

An agonized whimper from the middle of the room caught everyone’s attention. “They’re not dead,” I whispered.

“David’s gun is not loaded with silver?” asked Vayl.

“He wasn’t expecting to battle Weres on this mission.” We stared at the fallen beasts, who’d both taken full animal form. I’d heard they healed better that way. But I didn’t much care for sharing the same space with them, unchained and wounded as they were. “Do you suppose they’re still enspelled?” I asked.

“I doubt it,” Vayl answered. “Ending the fight should have effectively canceled the charm.”

“Which means?”

“It is hard to say. They are already struggling to stand, and as soon as they are able, they will no doubt attack. They may choose one another, as before. Or they may go for easier game.”

“But . . . the fence.” I looked up at the ceiling, as if to command the hooks it hung from to hold.

“It is more to keep them from stumbling into the audience than to provide true protection. The power that half changed them was what prevented them from leaving the ring to begin with.”

Goddammit! “Dave! Get over here!” He looked my way without really seeing me. Still stuck in his own nightmare.

The wolf got to its feet first, stood unsteadily, and glared around the room. Was it looking for the weapon that had taken it down? Or the vamp whose influence had forced it into battle?

“Get those Weres out of here!” shouted Disa.

“Would it not be smarter to get us out and secure the room until they transform?” suggested Vayl. I’d begun nodding before he even finished his sentence. Sounded like a solid plan to me.

But Disa stuck out her jaw. “I am the Deyrar!” she yelled, her eyes bleeding to black as the rage took hold.

I opened my mouth to tell her she was also the Idiot, but Vayl put a hand on my arm. No time. He slanted his gaze toward the ring. The bear had risen as well. And he was headed for my brother.

“Dave!” I yelled. He didn’t respond, though he was looking straight at me. “You’re about to get eaten by a bear, ya dumbass!” I shouted.

That got his attention. As he turned to face the coming threat, I jumped on the table, figuring darting around all the pushed-out chairs and potentially uncooperative Trustees would cause fatal delays. I raced toward my brother as the bear attacked, charging at him with eye-popping speed.

The old Dave would’ve emptied his clip into the beast. But now, having freed it from bondage, the last thing he wanted to do was put it down again. Even temporarily.

I didn’t have that problem.

I shot the bear at least five times before it reached Dave, and still I was too late. Its momentum tore the fencing from the ceiling as if it was a shower curtain. Beneath a cloud of dust and tile it surged forward, the sweep of its giant claws nearly taking his head off as it swung its massive forearm at him.