“I hate you,” I muttered to the collar, myself, and hell, him as well. Pushing off the ground, my vaguely new pants were blackened and my top in pieces. Being a shifter alone was hard on clothing, but this would mean shopping again. “What the hell was that?”
“A spell; they are smart.” He pulled off the remains of his shirt and looked around at the floor now covered in blood and ash. “Remember to send me a bill or something for your clean up. This looks bad.”
“You think?” I hadn’t yet figured out how well my legs were working; just enough to get the remains of clothing off and dusting off the layers of dying skin for the new regenerated parts coming through.
“It’s not like I knew it would have lightning in it.”
“Of course not, nothing is ever your fault.” Shaking out my hair, I notice that the tips are burnt but not to the point of waiting for it to regrow. I can chop the ends later.
“Really, now?”
“Look, I am tired, regenerating damage that would kill a human, and I need to eat before I get cranky. You and I aren’t on buddy terms, and I think I am still mad at you.” I pushed up, facing my opponent. The cat within too close to the front to show the weakness of any kind. Logic began to fuzz at the edges, instinct wanted to take over, shift to sniff out those who did this, hurt us, and return the favor. I pushed down, keeping my jaguar within, taking deep breaths even if I could barely stand on my own two feet.
“Are you changing?” he asked, holding a towel to his neck to stop the blood. Fresh wounds leaked, adding the scents of fear, pain, and confusion.
“Yes, I have food in the fridge. I will get it and eat, just don’t act like prey. And for the love of God, pretend you remember the rules about shifters.” He thankfully shut the hell up. Staggering to the kitchen, I pulled out the ground beef and pork I had prepared for breakfast. Adding several pieces of chicken and fish, I got the platter down before the shift came on. I was too hungry, too tired and hurt to hold back but this would feed us and maybe we wouldn’t maul the ex in the living area.
When I had first been bitten, the change had been horribly painful, long, and torturous. But over the years and with training, it came over smoothly, causing nearly no pain as my skin shifted into golds and black, my vision changed as did all my senses. I dropped to all fours to gulp down the platter of meats and fish. Ripping through the tray of raw flesh, I licked the blood and remains clean.
Blood, there was fresh blood. Following the trail, the magic human stared at me, not prone but injured. The mixture of scents, old and new. The past, familiar and comforting but faded from memory. The fresh, wrong, and dark, something had touched my person, hurt them, and made them trapped like a dog. One of his hands came out, allowing me to sniff the old human scent; I knew the smell, the smell of mine. Not around of late but still mine. Licking the blood from his fingers, he held firm, barely a shift of jitters as I began to groom his hand. He brought the other hand to be groomed as the first one touched the side of my face. I gave his head a bump, startling him. He touched the edge of my head, allowing me to rub against him, adding my scent back to his skin.
Chapter Seventy-Four
The staircase has several footfalls, so I’m not attempting to be silent. Turning to the door, Caleb grabbed his collar as it began to pulse with a steady silver glow, calling to who was using the invisible leash to pull them to their lost mage. My human jerked, sliding entirely to the floor without fresh blood, just spasms of pain over his body. Listening to the soft murmurs of the human coming for us, I could make out bits and pieces that didn’t make any sort of sense. We were in danger; they were here for my mage, and I would deal with them. Magic began to build outside, leaking into the vast personal territory. Hissing, I trotted away from his body toward the higher shelf that could hold my considerable weight.
The door slammed opened with the force of magic with smoke and lights flashing from stones tossed in. Simple spells attached to simple tools that would not signal the normal humans that something magical was happening. The first pair entered, both with higher technology than a spell with firearms and laser pointers. Flickering an eye to a couple of red dots over the walls, I chose to ignore them for the time being. I focused back on the other man entering the room with
