Page 44 of An Anomaly of Sunlight

Amethyst is in trouble.

Pressing the triangle to turn the flashers on, I dart back onto the road. Desperately clicking the buttons on my steering wheel to pull up my call log. I finally find Sage’s contact.

Come on, Sage, pick up. My heart is racing. How could I have been so blind? That message was a cry for help. Goddess, please tell me that my idiotic self-pity didn’t cause Amethyst to pay the price.

“Well, well. Call to tell me about your sleepover?” Sage’s voice comes through the speakers. “Sage,” I plead, desperate. My tone gets the message across. “Oh shit, what is it?” I can hear her keys rustling through the phone. “Amethyst. Something’s wrong. I’m on my way, but I need you too.” Sirens blare through the speakers, “Where? I’m outside GGs.”

“Get to Highway 18. We should be there around the same time, and you can follow me.” Neither of us says anything after that. Just stay on the phone in tense silence. After a few minutes that feels like an eternity, a car dips to the right, letting me pass. I see the turn to 18 and Sage sits at the intersection with her blinker on.

“I’m cutting the sirens, don’t want to give our position away.” Smart. I have no idea what we’re speeding to. Trying not to sling rocks, I ease into Amethyst’s driveway. I rush to the door with Sage on my heels. Not bothering to knock, I slide the door open.

“Amethyst?” I call out, fear for her edging my voice. Nothing. No sounds, no sign of her. We tread further into the house, turning the corner to the living room. A sound unlike anything I’ve ever produced before rips up my throat. There, against the wall, lay Amethyst. That fucking vampire drinking from her thigh.

“Ah.” The fucker turns toward us. “I was beginning to think you wouldn’t show.” He stands, wiping the back of his hand across his lips. “Sorry to start without you.”

Red clouds my vision, limbs reshaping. Halfway through the shift, I bunch my muscles preparing to jump. In the same heartbeat Sage yells, “Shit!” A strong jab to my ribs knocks me off balance. And as I fall to the side, the bullet whizzes past my ear — straight into Sage’s chest.

Twenty-Nine

Amethyst

“SKYLER!”

The scream tears up my throat. I frantically try to free my arms as the ropes bite into my wrists. Desperately trying to do something. Anything. But fail. I reach inside myself, searching for any kind of connection to the wolf I know lives within my veins. I can imagine myself becoming the wolf, but I don’t know how to make it reality.

I will my bones to change, my skin to sprout fur. All to no avail.

Everything moves in slow motion around me. Sage shoves Skyler out of the path of the bullet Enzo fired — releasing one of her own just before taking a hit to the chest. Skyler completes his shift, hesitating for half a second to glance at Sage.

“I’m fine, secure the target!” I hear Sage snip just as Skyler leaps into action. Enzo hits the floor a beat later clutching at his chest. “Mirixia’s fangs!” He chokes out the curse. In one swift motion, Skyler is on him. Even in an injured state, Enzo manages to toss Skyler across the room.

He lands on his paws, claws scraping across the hardwood for purchase. Enzo, now dripping blood from his chest, flits across the space. His movements are less graceful than Skyler’s.

Skyler cries out, and a cool sense of dread spreads across my chest. Enzo has bitten him and now he’s trying desperately to wrap his arms around Skyler’s neck. My blood stills, a new sensation washing over me. The fierce desire to protect.

Testing the ropes again, I grit against the pain and to my surprise, they give. Maybe I can use my wolf’s strength after all. Getting to a sitting position, I hold my hands in front of my face. Angry red lines lick up my wrists, bleeding in some parts. “Shit, Amethyst.” A sympathetic voice says behind me. “I’m so fucking sorry this happened.”

Sage moves to sit beside me, taking my hands in hers. “This will heal when you shift.” I don’t have the heart to tell her that her enthusiasm is misplaced. I’m not sure I’ll ever figure out the shift. Much less quickly enough to heal these wounds.

Instead I ask, “You’re okay, do bullets not harm you?” She pats her chest. “Bullet proof vest. Finally making itself useful.” She winks and a grin pulls at my lips. “I’m glad for it.” My head snaps back in the direction of the fight.

Skyler gets the upper hand. Bucking up on his hand legs and snaring Enzo between the wall and his shoulders with such force my canvas art falls with a thud. Without hesitation, Skyler twists, closing his jaws around Enzo’s arm. With a sickening crack, the limb breaks in half.

“I need to do something,” I tell Sage as I get to my feet. I rush toward the kitchen with Sage on my heels. The pain in my wrists and thigh forgotten. I know exactly what I’m after. Nestled in the back of the silverware drawer is the jeweled dagger. Years ago, I didn’t understand where she could’ve gotten a weapon like that. Now, knowing she’s a witch, the pieces fall into place.

Prowling toward them with cool, calculated steps, a satisfied growl rumbles in my chest as Skyler pins Enzo to the floor. His large brown paw is like a boulder, crushing and unforgiving. More of that cracking sound floods my ears as he presses harder into Enzo’s chest. I reach Skyler’s tail and hesitate. Suddenly feeling woefully unprepared for any kind of fight.

Enzo laughs maniacally. A very different reaction than I’d expected from someone on the brink of death. “We could have shared her, wolf. You greedy bastard. I never needed her cunt, just her blood.” With no hesitation of his own, Skyler unleashes a roar. His maw closes around Enzo’s neck, pulling until the head is severed.

It should terrify me — the violence, the gore. Instead, I regret that I wasn’t the one to do it.

Skyler turns to me. He plops down and places a massive paw on my shoulder, pulling me into him. I breathe in that whiskey scent and send a prayer to the Goddess, thanking her for his safety. Pulling back to inspect him a whine slips out as I see the blood dripping down his neck.

“My beautiful Sunlight, I will be all right.” His eyes are the same dreamy hazel, just brighter. I tear my gaze away, wearily glancing Enzo’s way. “She doesn’t know how to use the mind link, genius.” Sage’s voice filters through my mind again. Skyler makes a distinctly human, humorous sound.

He shifts to his human form, and I greedily drink in the sight of him. Trailing my eyes down his body, I notice thankfully there is no longer any blood on him. His eyes hold mine and for a moment our surroundings fade away.

“For fuck’s sake, Sky!” Sage revolts. “You haven’t had someone spell your clothes not to rip yet?”