She rolled forward, gripped the side of the cage and screamed as loud as she could.
“Simon!”
His head snapped up, and his fist froze midair. He stood there, his breath coming in heaving pants and his body taut with sweat, blood, and raw fury.
“Stop!”
No movement. Just his breath and his eyes burning into hers. Dark green, red flushing through the white. And his breath as rhythmic as his blows had been. Harsh sounds, but with a regular beat. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.
“Simon,” she said, her voice no longer a scream. Now she spoke with the bite of command. “Come out of there now.”
Would he respond to the command? Did she want him to? If he did, then he’d be on the outside with her. Vic would be safe, but would she?
She shoved that thought away. Her brother was the monster. Simon had been protecting her.
She softened her tone again until it was almost conversational. “You need to come out so we can lock him in.”
She didn’t know if he could understand her. He was still poised there with his fist raised. But after two full breaths, he slowly lowered it. His hands went to his sides and his shoulders dropped down as he straightened to his full height. It took him a moment to twist and walk in a stiff gait out the cage door. Then he stepped aside as she closed and locked it. The door was bent, the entire chain-link fencing was twisted, but she managed to get the thing shut and the padlock in place.
And all the while, Simon stood beside her, his breath harsh, still at that steady beat. It was Malik who broke the silence. Malik the scrawny kid who was a dead shot and had been no help whatsoever. At least he hadn’t vomited.
Hell. She’d had the thought too soon. The moment the padlock clanged in place, Malik stumbled to the side. He rushed to the garbage can and lost the contents of his stomach. She could hardly blame him. The stench in here was awful. And yet she did. She’d hired him to protect her and her business, but he’d been useless. What good was a dead shot when she’d told him not to do it? Which made it her fault, not his.
Simon had saved her. But what had he done to her brother? The monster was immobile, its face bloody and body collapsed like a discarded rag doll. A huge, furry, disgusting rag doll.
“Is he dead?” she whispered.
“He’s breathing,” Simon said, his tone flat. “He’ll probably heal when he reverts to human.”
She spun to look at him. “He’s a shifter, then. He was right.”
“No.” Simon’s dark green eyes burned into hers. “He’s a monster.” Then he turned and walked to the stairs.
She was going to call him back. She was going to demand he explain what he meant. Her brother might look like a monster, but he was sick. And Simon was here to fix that. Vic was an irresponsible doofus who was just starting to get his act together. Simon had to save him.
Except the gouges of dark red on Simon’s back told a different story. Her brother had done that with massive claws. And had his nose been a snout? And he’d been about to bite Simon with a mouth filled with cutting teeth. Not a molar in there as far as she could remember. She didn’t want to look back to see.
So she focused on Simon. She had to say something to him. She had to get him to help fix this. He was their Hail Mary pass and he was leaving.
“Help us,” she said. Not a command. Not even a prayer. Just a simple plea from the heart.
He paused with a foot on the stairs. “I can’t,” he said. Then he left.
CHAPTER 7
Simon walked steadily outside. He needed fresh air on his face and the smell of trees. He needed clean water gurgling nearby. But most of all, he needed away from Alyssa with her chocolate-brown eyes and her tight jaw. Her shoulders were broad for a woman, but they fit her perfectly as she Tasered her brother in one breath and then begged him for help in the next. No frail flower her, but also not a woman filled with pride. She would do whatever was needed to save her brother.
He admired her for that. But that didn’t mean he could help her.
He stopped walking in the parking lot. The air here wasn’t remotely clean and the stagnant pools of water nearby smelled of urban waste. How did people live like this? Fortunately, the pollution did have one good side effect. His grizzly that had been clawing to spring free, now quieted with a nauseated grumble. It didn’t want out in this urban wasteland. It needed the silence in the UP and the cool darkness of a sky lit only by stars. Here, every neon light, every honking horn reminded him that being a man was not so great a thing.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have a choice. He had no way to get back to the UP just yet. At least not until he remembered how to access his money without being able to read. Or failing that, jack a car and drive.
So he stood in the middle of the parking lot and glared at the nearby stop sign. He knew what it was by shape and placement. Knew, too, that it read “stop.” But the shifting white lines made no sense to him unless it was the bend and curve of a very white, very strange plant. Which, of course, it wasn’t.
“Thinking about walking back to the UP?” Alyssa asked.
He hadn’t heard her come outside and her voice should have startled him. Instead, it helped him breathe. He could understand her words and when her scent hit him, he inhaled deeply.
