The Shadow Wolf (11 page)

P
anic sliced through Megan as she saw her cousin.

Jennifer was on the ground, trying to shake the tree. Her sister was on the outstretched limb, struggling to free herself from the grip of…

Pure terror seized Megan.

The green-scaled creature was nine feet long, its pointed teeth sinking into Jillian's ankle. Her cousin screamed in fear and pain as she tried to pull free.

“Jillian, stay there, don't move! I'm coming up. If you move, sweetheart, you'll hurt yourself more.”

Gabriel began to climb. From limb to limb he moved, strong and sure. Megan ran over to Jennifer, hugged her cousin.

Blood began to drip from the tree limb holding Jillian.

Sickened, Megan wished she could do something. She could not shift into wolf, only Shadow. And being invisible would not help her cousin.

She could only hold Jennifer as Gabriel approached the scaled beast. Jillian screamed in pain.

“Hang on, Jilly,” Gabriel told her softly. “I need for you to be still. I know it hurts like the dickens, sweetie, but in order to free you, you have to be still.”

“Okay,” she sobbed.

“That's my brave girl. Megan, get under that branch and be ready to catch her when I give the word.”

As she blinked, Gabriel pounced on the creature. He landed on its back and with his hands, forced open the powerful jaws.

“Now, Jilly, drop!”

Trusting in him, Jillian fell to the ground. Megan caught her little cousin. Her right ankle was bleeding badly.

They glanced up to see Gabriel wrestling with the creature, his hands locked as he broke its neck with a single, sickly crack.

She shuddered at the killing power of those hands, hands that had been so gentle on her body just hours ago.

“Stand back. I'm coming down.”

Gabriel dropped to the ground fifteen feet below, landing on his feet like a cat.

“What was it?” Megan asked, gripping the weeping Jillian.

“A damned alligator. Here, give her to me. I'll carry her.”

She handed over his injured niece. “They don't climb trees!”

“Morphs in gator form do.”

He hurried into the house with the crying Jillian, hushing her as he cradled her close. “It's okay, sweetheart. I've got you. You're okay now.”

On the sofa, Gabriel gently laid down Jillian and carefully examined her ankle. “Not broken, but she's got some deep cuts.”

Megan cleaned her cousin's wounds, worried that Jillian didn't protest as usual with her “Ow, that hurts!”

She applied the healing liniment, bound her bleeding ankle. Gabriel handed her cousin an aspirin and Jillian gulped it down with the water her twin handed her.

Pack up, Megan. We're leaving as soon as we can. It's not safe here any longer.

How did the Morph get on the property? You shielded it against Morphs.

Against them breaking in. These were already here.

A hollow ache settled on her chest as she tossed things into her large backpack. The fragile, pretty Dresden figurine sat on the bureau. Megan picked it up, stroking the china face. It was all she had of her mother's.

For two precious days, this place had been a home where children played and a family gathered at the dinner table. She'd imagined making a life in such a place with Gabriel, where she wouldn't have to run anymore.

Megan folded the figurine into a towel and stuffed it carefully into her knapsack.

She was homeless once more.

Gabriel stomped inside. “I grabbed all the girls' stuff and mine, threw everything in the trunk. You almost ready?”

She handed him her pack. “Just this. Oh, and I wanted to bring some of those fresh bananas and strawberries you bought. The girls love them.”

“Hurry up.”

The kitchen was cozy and neat. She tasted tears in the back of her throat as she touched the gingham curtains, the matching tablecloth. “I'm so damn tired of running. Will it ever stop? Will we ever be safe?”

A hissing sounded close to the kitchen door. Gas leak? Megan inhaled and caught an odor of decaying flesh. Edging aside the checked curtain, she peered out the backdoor window.

Nothing. Megan unlocked the door to go outside. Something plopped to the hardwood floor besides her.

The hissing grew louder. Terror seized her heart as her palms grew cold and clammy.

A scream tore from her throat as the rattler lifted its head to strike. Instinctively she went into Shadow and sidestepped. Megan danced away. Horrified, she saw another snake poke a hole in the ceiling and drop through.

They were coming through the roof.

Shifting out of Shadow, she ran into the living room, yanked Jennifer off the sofa. “Run for the car.”

As she picked up Jillian in her arms, she glanced over her shoulder.

Hundreds of snakes and spiders dropped into the kitchen,
slithering and crawling toward them. Megan dashed outside the front door with the twins and ground to an abrupt halt.

The yard was filled with snakes. Jenny screamed as she ran, barely missing a cobra snapping at her heels. Gabriel swept her up into his arms and all but threw her into the car.

By the time he turned back, snakes covered the yard. Megan and Jillian were trapped between the porch and the car.

Megan could feel a spider climb up her bare ankle, pause delicately with its whisper thin legs. She shook it off.

Gabriel advanced toward the house. Determination etched his face.

“I'm coming out.” The snakes would bite her, but Jillian would stay safe.

“Stay there, Megan, until I give the word.”

Astonishment filled her as she watched him stretch out his hands. Could he mind control hundreds of Morph snakes?

In the midst of the mass of writhing reptiles, something began growing. Sensing a predator larger than themselves, the snakes backed away.

Dust and earth swirled in a violent vortex, clogging the air. Then the cloud cleared. Gabriel walked forward, wind whipping back his hair as he held out his hands. Power radiated from him.

A python as big as a palm tree raised itself until its triangular head reached the rooftop. Out of a huge, yawning mouth flicked a forked tongue as the snake hissed at the intruding Morphs.

The rattlers and cobras retreated, clearing a small pathway.

Gabriel reached the porch, swept Megan and Jillian into his arms. She gripped Jilly tighter as her cousin buried her head against her neck. It was real, yet it wasn't.

His arms were strong and secure. Skin stretched tightly over his cheekbones in harsh relief as he marched toward the car. Megan's heart gave a sickening lurch as they skirted the python.
It's just his magick, his magick, not real…

When he set them down, Megan settled Jillian inside the car
and watched from the safety of the vehicle as the python illusion vanished. Amber ignited Gabriel's gaze as he held out his hands. Streaks of blackness began flowing from the snakes and spiders. Flowing into him.

A cruel, icy smile touched his mouth. “Go to hell,” he ordered.

A blast of white-hot light shot from his outstretched hands. The Morphs shattered in a boiling black explosion. She shielded her eyes against it.

When she opened her eyes, all that was left were piles of gray ash.

He had siphoned the energy from the Morphs, reversed it and turned it against them. Never had she witnessed such power. Megan shrank back in awe.

Gabriel was far more lethal than she'd realized.

 

No one spoke as Gabriel drove west on Highway 60. Her face blanched, Megan sat in the front seat, gripping the door handle. As if she were ready to spring out, or break it off and use it as a weapon.

He swore silently. Knew how scary it was to others when he used all his powers, but he'd had no choice. If he shifted, he knew he could not control the beast. The beast would have made short work of all the snakes, but its savagery would have terrified Megan and the twins more than the energy reversal.

Glancing over, he was startled to realize Megan was invisible. A hollow ache settled in his chest. Shadows did that when they felt frightened and trapped.

It wasn't his wolf intimidating her. It was him.

Gabriel turned at a small, hesitant tap on his right shoulder.

“Uncle Gabriel? You left this on the backseat. I thought you'd want it.”

The black Stetson pushed between the seat opening.

A half smile touched his mouth. “Thanks, hon.” He clapped it
on his head, saw her awed expression. “Now, see? I'm the same Gabriel, the one who takes you fishing on the lake and makes you take baths.”

Tension on their faces eased the slightest bit.

But Megan remained in Shadow. Had to show her there was nothing scary about him….

Liar,
the voice inside him whispered.

“It's just me, Megan,” he said gently. “I'm not the one who would ever hurt you.”

Form shimmered and then took shape. Megan pressed against the door, but at least she was visible once more.

“How…” She cleared her throat. “How did you do that?”

“Something I learned from Emily, my sister-in-law. She has special abilities. Emily showed me to harness my powers to destroy Morphs. I siphon their negative energy, take it into my body, create white light to destroy them.”

“Reverse energy transmutation. It takes a very powerful Draicon to do that. I've never seen anything like it,” she whispered.

Fear leeched from her pores. “I did it to protect you, Megan.”

“What else are you capable of, Gabriel? What kind of Draicon are you? When we fully bond, what powers will we exchange?”

The closeness they'd shared while making love vanished like water in the desert. He could not answer her.

He did not dare.

Opening his senses, he smelled Megan's floral fragrance, his own scent wrapped possessively around hers now that they'd made love. The fresh vanilla scent of the twins. Gasoline, and a faint odor of something darker, nasty lying underneath. His nostrils flared.

“Megan, do you smell that? Burning plastic and sour wine.”

Closing her eyes, she inhaled. “Something spilled in the car?”

“Or worse. Someone was in here.”

He kept an eye on the rearview mirror. Traffic was light, except for a sleek silver pickup truck gaining on them fast.

Gabriel pressed down the gas pedal. The speedometer inched up. Megan craned her neck and looked back. Her fingers gripped the headrest. “That truck wants to pass us.”

Now the truck filled his rearview mirror. He caught sight of the driver's face.

A driver with silver hair.

“Oh God, Gabriel. It's him.”

Panic flared on Megan's face. The taste of it burned in his mouth, along with the acid triumph of the man chasing them.

The truck banged into his bumper, jerking them forward. The girls cried out.

Behind them, the truck pulled off the road. Waiting, like a giant black spider. Gabriel swore and pressed the gas pedal to the floor, but the vehicle only slowed. The pungent odor of spilt gasoline filled the air as the gauge flipped down to empty. The car had been sabotaged. They were screwed.

“Not on my watch, you bastard,” he muttered.

The stench grew thick and oily. Their pursuer wanted to make damn sure they were paralyzed.

The Chevy slowed to a crawl. Gabriel coaxed the engine to keep going, then pulled off the roadside. The engine died with a cough. The odor of gasoline clogged his nostrils as he got out. He slid under the car and swore.

Gravel and dirt coated the back of his jeans and T-shirt as he slid out. Dusting them off, Gabriel got inside the vehicle.

“Fuel line's loosened, enough to let us get away. The bastard's toying with us.” He swung his head around, saw the truck pull onto the road again. Toward them. The enemy was gaining.

“Megan, cloak the car.”

The glamour turned the vehicle and its occupants invisible.

In the rearview mirror, confusion filled the expression of their pursuer. Buying them a little time. Just a little.

“We can't stay here forever.” Megan stared at the approaching truck.

“I know. Jilly, Jenny, remember what I said about using your powers? Listen carefully,
mes petites.
I need your help.”

The truck slowed and passed them. Chasing an invisible car.
Good luck, you bastard.

“Just until we reach the turnpike, honey. There's a motel there where I can find another car. Can you do it?”

Blood drained from Jenny's face but she gave a brave nod.

“Hang tight, everyone.”

Power hummed. The car still cloaked in Shadow inched out onto the road and then moved forward. The engine remained shut off. Jenny was now its motor.

Gabriel tensed as they gained on the truck. Strain lined Jenny's face as she corralled her magick to propel them forward.

“Keep her steady forward, Jenny. Faster. I'm going to pass him.”

Gabriel eased the Chevy into the other lane. As they began to pass the truck, he studied the face of his enemy, imprinting it into his mind.

The pale features were etched with hatred. The silver-haired man raised a hand. Claws erupted from the fingertips. Snarling, the man reached out and shredded the seat beside him.

They pulled in front of the truck and Jenny pushed the car faster. Megan watched in the mirror as the truck pulled off the side of the road.

“Draicon,” Gabriel said in a low voice. “One of us. He'll follow our scent trail, so we're not free yet. But we have enough of a start because he's searching for us back there.”

He praised Jenny for her talents, coaxing her to keep up the constant flow of magick. Eyes closed, Jenny held out her hands as she pushed the car to eighty.

“No one on the road. Now, Megan. Uncloak the car.”

When they reached the motel by the Florida Turnpike en
trance, he steered the car toward the back parking lot. “Stay here,” he ordered.