The entrance to the mine was three quarters blocked. Enough to stop the creature? They had to get to the car. Jude’s heart thudded hard as he waited for the glowing eyes to appear above the rubble.
Maybe he’d killed it? With his next breath he knew he wasn’t that lucky, ever. He glanced around, the truck still too far away if the thing came after them. They needed to move.
“Are you all right?” He put a hand on Mack’s back, and Mack drew away from him as though his touch hurt.
“You electrocuted me.” Mack glanced up.
Was that shock or fear in his eyes? Jude didn’t like it either way.
“I’m sorry.” He hadn’t meant to.
Mack regarded him cautiously. “I was touching you. Your whole body became charged…like…like an electric eel.”
Jude glanced again at the opening to the mine. Glowing eyes watched them. Could it slip through the gap if it got small again? How small could it get? “Can you walk?”
Mack grunted and pushed himself up on to his knees. Then he stopped and stared at his hands. Or where his hands should be. Instead of hands, he had paws. Large hairy, claw-tipped bear paws.
Jude took a step back. “Does that usually happen?”
“No.” Mack’s eyes were wide, and his face had gone pale. He shook his hands as though he could shake off the dark fur. Nothing happened. “What the fuck?” He shook his hands harder.
“I’ll drive. It’s fine.”
“What part of this is fine?” His voice got louder with each word. “I’m not a bear and I’m not human.” He held up his paws.
Jude wanted to run and lock himself in the car, but Mack had the keys. He swallowed, unsure what to do.
Then Mack lifted his head and sniffed. Jude glanced at the mine entrance. The creature hadn’t moved. It was still watching. Now he knew what it was. An aufhocker. Just the name filled him with dread. Of all the things he’d read about, it had to be that. If it had stayed small and dog-like, he wouldn’t have known. It could’ve been any number of hellhounds or hellhound related creatures.
“The truck keys are in my pocket.” Mack stood, and Jude slipped his hand into Mack’s front pocket where the keys bulged.
Jude unlocked the truck, and without another word, they both ran the last few yards and got in.
Jude stared at Mack with his paws. “You opened the door.”
“Do you really think I haven’t gotten into my truck as a bear before?” He snarled, his gaze on his paws.
“I don’t know. Did you want to drive?”
“Can’t. I’ve tried that.” Mack almost smiled.
Jude tried to imagine Mack in full shift and failed. He was a big man, and he wouldn’t be any smaller as a bear.
“But you can put my seat belt on for me.”
“Right.” Because a seat belt would matter when there was an aufhocker in the abandoned mine. But he leaned over to help anyway. For a few seconds they were close. Really close.
“Thank you for helping me out of the mine.”
“That’s okay. Must have had an adrenaline burst or something.” Jude didn’t want to think too much about it. He’d done what anyone would do after accidentally electrocuting their familiar.
“Yeah. Or something.” Mack’s breath was on Jude’s lips.
They both knew it was the ‘or something’. He shouldn’t have been that strong. Mack shouldn’t have bear paws. He dragged the seat belt across Mack’s body and clipped it into place, then did his own.
It was only as he started the car that he glanced up. Halfway up the hill above the mine was a dark shadow with glowing eyes. He nudged Mack.
“I see it.”
Above the rockfall in the mine entrance was another set of eyes. “Glad we didn’t make a run for the truck before the rockfall.”
The rockfall had bought them a little time while the aufhockers considered how dangerous they were. Maybe they had decided they weren’t worth eating.
“Yeah.”
Neither set of eyes moved. They weren’t behaving the way wild animals should, or the way Jude thought wild animals should. “Two aufhockers. That is not good.”
And that was an understatement and a half. The magic in the mine had been used to put them to sleep. Now they were awake, hungry and hunting.
“Or fuckers?” Mack glanced at him.
“That’s what they’re called. They were discovered by a German.” Jude kept his voice low as though speaking loudly would startle the creatures into action.
“Why don’t you turn the key and drive us out of here,” Mack said.
Jude didn’t need to be asked twice, but it took two goes for him to get the truck into reverse. He did a messy five-point turn and drove out of North as fast he thought was safe. Mack watched out the back. Jude was pretty sure that Mack would’ve told him to floor it if the aufhockers were following.
He gripped the steering wheel, and his gaze darted to the rearview mirror. As twilight faded to night, the shadows deepened. The eyes remained like fixed stars in the dark. He was never going to sleep again while he was in Mercy.
Did those things have his scent? Could they now hunt him? He tried to recall everything he’d read about aufhockers. There hadn’t been much, except they were hard to kill. ‘Hard to kill’ rolled around his head. No one had been able to kill them when they’d obliterated North, so they’d been put to sleep.
When North was well behind them, Mack turned and faced forward. “At least we know what is killing the cows.”
“You don’t realize how bad that is.”
Mack lifted his paws. “Really? I have no idea? I don’t have opposable thumbs!”
That was another problem. “I’ll take you home.”
“Yeah.” Mack tipped his head back against the headrest. “Then
