“You have to help me!” the man bellowed. He was still going for a grappling hold, his arms spread and his hands extended like claws. Easy to avoid assuming Simon kept well out of reach. Then Alyssa’s voice cut through the room.
“Vic, calm down. He’s right here.”
Vic swung his head around, the movement including shoulders and torso. It looked like a bear pulling his massive body to the side more than a man twisting. “Don’t talk to me, you bitch. You did this to me.”
Hell. Alyssa’s face tightened, her expression flattening down as she set her feet. “Calm down. I did what you wanted. I brought him here.”
Vic wasn’t listening. Instead, he was lumbering toward his sister and Simon watched with detached surprise as the man’s profile seemed to elongate. Maybe. It was hard to tell and no time to evaluate. But it raised enough of a question that Simon accepted the grim reality of what he had to do. If Vic was indeed turning into a bear—and his rational mind could barely fathom the concept—then Simon had to force the full change. He had to see it for himself to understand what was going on and prove that this wasn’t some elaborate, incomprehensible hoax. And the only way to do that was to push the man into a blind fury.
But first he had to get Vic’s attention.
“I’m over here, you idiot,” he taunted. “You want my help? Come and take it.”
Vic swung back, but Alyssa didn’t keep quiet. “Don’t be a fool, Simon. He’s dangerous.”
Maybe. Maybe not. But she sure as hell couldn’t defend herself from her brother. Not at his current size and strength.
“Look at me, moron,” he taunted. And when Vic turned, Simon struck. Two quick jabs to the face, hard enough to snap Vic’s head back. Also hard enough to make Simon’s hand pound. The bones of Vic’s face were hard as hell. And not shaped right.
Vic roared and charged, still going for the grappling hold. His friend had always been more of a wrestler than a boxer. Simon danced around, punching as hard as he could in rapid fire. His blows weren’t meant to take Vic down. The only safe space in this tight basement was inside Vic’s cage. He had to maneuver them there. That meant quick jabs and fast feet as he backed into the cage. Vic would follow because that’s what angry bears did. The plan was to get Vic inside the cage, then dance around to get himself out.
That was the plan and it started to work. But he hadn’t counted on the smell. Worse than a dozen terrified skunks because at least those scents were natural. This smelled like industrial waste mixed with decaying flesh. And every time he took a breath, he wanted to gag. It destroyed his timing, shorted out his oxygen, and definitely gave Vic the upper hand.
“Simon, get back! Get out of the way!”
Alyssa’s voice rang with command, but Simon had no intention of obeying. He had a plan that was working if only he could keep from choking on the stench. And all the while, Vic’s body seemed to grow bigger and a little faster. Every time Simon connected, the impact seemed to strike against harder and harder flesh. Like pounding a wall that only got stronger the more times you hit it. Or perhaps his own hands were swelling. Had he damaged them?
Jab, jab, jab. Pause. Jab, jab, jab.
He set up a rhythm, pacing everything to an internal metronome. He even measured his breathing and picked out his targets with mathematical precision. The only random element in his attack was where he put his feet. In and out of reach, forward and back, stronger, slower, all at random and according to whatever opportunities Vic gave him.
When he couldn’t punch Vic in the direction he wanted, Simon slipped into that location and lured the man forward. And step by smelly step, he drew Vic into the cage.
At least Alyssa was safely outside the cage. Now all he had to do was dance around his bloodied friend and get out. Except he hadn’t expected Vic to change. True shifters change in a kind of glow. They suck temperature from the air, pull life from the ground, some seem to take the power out of the wind. Everyone was different, but they all had a soft yellow shimmer as the body changed from one state to another, often too fast for the human eye to catch. But back when he was a kid, he’d filmed himself changing just to watch it frame by frame.
Vic did none of that. His change was instantaneous, and though there might have been a dip in temperature, Simon was too busy scrambling backward to really notice.
Vic became huge. Like grizzly bear huge, but as a man. And he had thick fur on his torso and arms, bear claws for hands, and a large mouth. And the stench was horrendous.
Simon gasped in shock as he scrambled backward, but he was inside the cage. There wasn’t anywhere to go and he banged backward into the cot. The impact caused him to suck in air, and that set off his gag reflex. He started choking, fighting to keep from vomiting while Vic roared forward. Simon’s mind was still reeling, unable to process what had happened. That was not a normal shift. Vic wasn’t a bear but he sure as hell wasn’t human, either. And while his mind stuttered and his breath choked off, Vic attacked.
Simon rolled, able to do that much despite the way his body rebelled. Inside his mind, his own grizzly surged. It needed to fight and it wanted to kill. He held it back by sheer will. He could not shift here. Not against Vic, not with Alyssa just a few feet away. It was too dangerous for all of them.
But that meant it was him against a monster double his size inside an eight-foot cage.
CHAPTER 6
Alyssa couldn’t stop screaming. At least not inside her head. It truth, her one and only scream had drawn in enough of the stench that she’d gagged. Holy hell, that…thing stunk. And that thing was her brother.
That was horrifying enough, but now Simon was trapped inside the cage with it. No way could he fight. He was scrambling and choking just like she was. Even Malik stumbled the moment his feet hit the floor, a gun lax in his hand as he gagged from the stench.
“Don’t shoot,” Alyssa managed to wheeze. It was too dangerous with Simon in there. Malik was a great shot, but she couldn’t risk he’d hit the wrong man. And she sure as hell didn’t want to clip the right one and just make it more angry. “I have . . . plan.”
And she did. Sort of. But her mind was still screaming from the sight of her brother turned monster. He was the size of a bear with fur and claws. And he was in a killing frenzy. He was roaring as he lunged for Simon who just barely managed to roll aside, his own breath ragged from the stench.
Her brother turned and swung thick hairy arms at Simon, but he was off balance. It took her a moment to realize that his pants were hobbling him. The jeans were too tight and hadn’t ripped like the tee had. The seams on the legs were splitting and the button had popped, loosening the waist. But the groin had to be squeezing Vic’s balls hard enough to make him sing soprano. It sure as hell was hampering his movements, which was the only reason Simon was still alive.
Vic’s roar came out again, this time higher in pitch. He tore at the denim, ripping it easily with his claws and drawing enough blood to make Alyssa whimper. Whatever this thing was, her brother was inside it. She didn’t want it bleeding out.
