Page 24 of Fatality on the Field

“Okay, do you have it?”

Kat nods, murmuring, “I have three—as far as I know—and the demon. Does the demon need one?”

“I don’t know, actually,” I admit as I rub the back of my neck. “Let’s focus on the animals, shall we?”

Standing up straighter, the dark-haired girl plants her feet and nods. “Don’t laugh at me; I didn’t have much time. Got it?” I gesture at her to go on as I smother a chuckle, and she says, “One is Kiara because of a movie that fits. The next is Lola, ‘cause she’s definitely a showgirl. And the last is Kaliyah.”

As if I can’t deduce what her animals are based on that—pffft.

“Great. Now close your eyes, Kat. Focus inside of you until you see the shapes or colors or songs… whatever delineates your beings for you. I know it’s different for everyone, so find yours and see them clearly enough that everything out here fades away, even me. Once you do that, call for the one you want by the name you have given them and tell them what you’ve done. If they respond, use the name to call it forth with firm, polite asks.”

I don’t add that if I’m right about one of them being a dragon, she will have to get a lot rougher with it, especially if it’s powerful. Dragons are stubborn as hell and very resentful of being part of a supe that has others within. They prefer to be jealous, greedy hoarders who can command all the attention and praise, which hers cannot. The prince’s dragon is certainly a trial for him; I can tell by how much distance he’s put between himself and the others, including his caliphate. Having a sadist asshole father who probably tortured him didn’t help, but it likely bonded the demon and the lizard in a way Kat’s sides will struggle to achieve for a while.

Blowing out a breath, the demon does as I ask, and I let her work on talking to her beings as I check out the rest of the group again. Morgana looks a little shocked and pleased as she meets my gaze; it makes my dragon preen happily, and I roll my eyes at him internally. Next, I see Liam using magic to hopefully reveal things as the lumbering panda tumbles about nearby. Those damn animals are so ridiculous that it’s amazing humans have kept the non-shifter ones alive, and Salem is just as social media video-worthy as he works with my charge. My eyes dart to the feline predator and his big white buddy afterward, noting that they are doing a more methodical check than I would have surmised. I guess it’s the hunter inside them, but I’m glad they’re being serious.

My last two checks are with the grumpy dragon, and I have to smother another laugh as he stomps around, probably scaring everything he can’t see as he pretends not to be paying attention to my area. Jasper is useless in this effort until Kat can shift, and I want to shake the idiot until he realizes that he can’t be a good leader until he gets his head out of his ass. I take a deep breath to calm my internal creature when it gets riled and then finally glance at the beautiful golden birdman. He’s frowning at something, but I don’t see or feel any danger coming from his section. I don’t know what his problem is, but since he’s the least emotional of the caliphate, I figure it’s okay to let that go.

Kat is safe to shift if she can coax one of the forms to do it, so all we need now is for her new method to work.

“You can do this, Kat. Talk to them like a friend, but also like someone who is in charge. You don’t have to be a dick, just firm and in control. Tell your shift to start now and when it finishes, praise the animal for helping. I believe you can do this if you could with the big shark. Focus.”

My words seem to jolt her a bit, and her face squeezes tighter as if she’s trying to give birth to a damn shift rather than transform. The expression is hysterical, but I don’t laugh; I only keep repeating the encouragement. She’s not the first new shifter I’ve seen look like they’re taking a shit when they’re fighting their beast, nor will it be the last, I suppose. No matter how humorous it is, letting that slip will only bruise her ego, and she needs it to get this done.

It takes another few moments of silly faces and a few dumb poses, but suddenly, I feel the air change. Hair sprouts on her arms and at her wrists, and then it spreads up her neck to her face. I arch a brow as the golden-toned fur continues to cover exposed skin, realizing that she must have a lioness inside. The kitty from the Bay will be excited, but I don’t want him to distract her. I dart my eyes to Morgana’s, tilting my head at Lucas and Archie so she knows to get over there to keep them in place.

The transformation continues slowly until Kat drops to the ground on all fours, a tail popping out as the final stages of the shift take hold. After a few more minutes, there’s a large female lion looking at me as if she’d like to take a hunk out of my ass. Letting the dragon bleed back into my eyes as I stare at her, I try to warn the newly shifted feline off before she bites off more than she can chew. Humiliatingly enough, the golden cat eyes me for a second before tossing her head and trotting off toward the bird demon without the slightest hint of fear.

Oh, right. Her animals have a built-in sneer for dragons because of the pissy prince.

Staying in place as the apex predator lopes over to the fancy bird, I let myself relax finally. I know that I have the skill and power level to force a newbie like her to shift unwillingly, but I’ve never had to use it in my many centuries with Li. The technique I used for Kat is far gentler than I would have for Fae soldiers and whatever others my commanders presented, but I did not want to break my streak to help Morgana’s friend. I knew it would be a bad idea, and make dragons and men an even bigger threat to the kid.

“You did a good thing.”

The voice startles me out of my thoughts, and I blink as I look at Morgana. For a big-ass mythical creature, the woman moves like a fucking cheetah in that form. I’ve never seen a gargoyle move with such fleet footing, not even in Faerie. “The kid needs more help than her men know how to give. They’re not withholding, but they weren’t trained right, either. I figured this would be less traumatising.”

Her lips curve up as she murmurs, “You’re not there yet, Kaspar, but you’re certainly working your way into the circle. Keep it up.”

I’m about to say something when a loud roar and a shriek come from the area that Kat and Anton are now searching.

Motherfucker, can’t we catch a goddamn break for once?!

fifteen

MORGANA

I’m so proud of my new friend. Despite her issues, Kat was able to work with Kaspar to shift in public, and she didn’t even lose her mind when I moved away to distract the boys. Her focus was on point, and it tells me she’s going to be such a fucking powerhouse when she’s really in control of herself.

But my puffed-up chest and reluctant praise for my grumpy dragon didn’t last when the air split with a screech of… fear? Upset? Anger? I don’t even know because it was so odd in tone and quality. It took me the entire distance I rushed toward where Kat and her frilly peacock demon to realize the scream wigged me out because it came from the bird and not a person. Anton’s only half-shifted, but his animal definitely just had a major episode and made it known to everyone as fast as possible. Kat’s lion is standing in a defensive position, looking around with the precision of a predator aching to fuck someone up for scaring someone that belongs to them.

I doubt either of them realizes that, though. They’re all still so damn clueless in human form.

Kaspar is right behind me, scales rippling as he unleashes his wings and looks ready to beat someone’s ass. I doubt that is about the peacock; no, my guess is he’s feeling protective of the new shifter who worried him enough to break his hard outer shell. That’s kinda cute and I have to disguise the tiny smile that comes over my face as we approach the golden cat carefully. I’m not sure exactly how conscious Kat is in this form since she’s so new to shifting, and I don’t want to spook her, nor does the dragon standing next to me.

“What’s wrong? Did you guys find something?” I ask hopefully. The screech didn’t sound like an ‘ah-ha’; it sounded like an alert, so I doubt this is a good thing.

Before Kas can weigh in or CatKat can respond, the fancy demon shifts to his human form, eyes wide with what seems to be fear. The only problem is that I see nothing that he should be afraid of, and I can’t imagine that his bird got scared of Kat. They’re all in some phase of falling for the girl, and she’s certainly shown them at least some of what she can do from what she said.

“You don’t see it!”