Page 80 of The Enforcers: KANE

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Rachelle’s fear and fury had been building since she’d woken up in this damn cage. So when Selina walked in with Kane, she was almost at the end of her rope.

And then that psycho cut him, and kissed him with his own blood on her lips, like that was supposed to get him off.

It hadn’t. But it had pissed her off to a point she’d never felt before. And then she’d seen how strong Selina was—how she’d thrown Kane, the biggest Enforcer in the pack, across the room like he was a rag doll.

That scared her.

Which pissed her off even more. She was done with being scared.

All her life she’d feared her animal, feared what people would think when they saw it. She’d feared her powers, and she’d feared loss and rejection.

But now that she was faced with losing Kane, none of that even compared. She could feel the power rising up in her, and she embraced it.

Whatever she was, she would be it.

All the pent-up energy holding her animal back rose up like a tsunami and broke over her. As Selina began shouting for the guards, a huge shock wave emanated from Rachelle and rolled across the room. The heavy metal door swung shut in the guards’ faces and buckled, jamming in the frame. The metal furniture bounced around like it was an earthquake. Computers smashed to the ground, and surgical instruments flew in all directions.

Rachelle fell forward on her hands and knees, and then she had black hooves and black horse legs with tufts of silky hair around the hocks.

Her head elongated and grew scales, perched at the end of a sinuous neck. Her eyes had vertical pupils. Huge black wings sprouted from her shoulders, sweeping back with a rush of wind and lifting her off the ground.

Alarms sounded, and Rachelle could hear the pounding of heavy boots in the hallway. Selina’s guards were shouting, pounding on the door.

And Selina was nowhere to be seen.

Kane was on the floor, protecting his head with his hands. The filing cabinet had toppled over in the shock wave, barely missing him. He scrambled to his feet, staring up at her in awe. “Selina’s cloaked!” he called out. “Can you see her?”

Rachelle rose into the air with one beat of her wings. She couldn’t see Selina, but she could feel her presence. The pieces of Selina that Rachelle had taken inside her tethered her to the other woman. She pinpointed her location, recognizing the shimmer in the air that indicated a cloaking spell.

Kane! she yelled. Behind you!

No sound came out of her mouth except a roar, but Kane must have heard her in his mind. He ducked to the side, and the scalpel Selina was holding missed him. He grabbed her arm and twisted, and the scalpel went flying, sparkling in the sunlight coming through the windows.

Selina snarled and flung herself at Kane’s legs, sweeping them out from under him. He rolled back to his feet, but she was on him again.

Rachelle watched, frantic. She couldn’t help him, not in this form. But she couldn’t change back. The Ki-rin’s power was still unfolding, filling her mind, taking over.

Kane and Selina battled across the floor. She couldn’t understand how Selina could hold her own with Kane. She must have enhanced herself with something. Drugs? Or some kind of genetic tampering? Whatever it was, she was tossing Kane around as if she were fighting someone her own size.

Could Kane take her down? Could he bring himself to kill her?

Kane came in for an attack, trying to pin Selina’s arms again. She spun and threw him. He flew across the room and his leg caught between two overturned desks. Kane twisted, but he was stuck. Blood began to pour down his leg. He must have hit something sharp.

Selina took one look at the blood and threw herself on Kane. Instead of attacking, though, she bathed her hands in the blood and ripped his shirt open, rubbing it on his chest. Then she grabbed both sides of his face and put her forehead on his. A muddy red glow began to emanate from her.

She was trying to bond with him. Rachelle could feel the energy

Even if I kill her, she wants to die with him bonded to her, Rachelle realized. And with all that blood, and her mental powers, she could do it. But I can’t kill her if they’re bonded. He’ll die too.

And since Rachelle carried a piece of Selina as well, she’d be dragged down with them.

She either had to let Selina live and bond with Kane, or risk killing them all. Selina had set up the ultimate obsessive psycho-stalker’s dream. Murder/suicide, with the murder of her victim’s lover thrown in for good measure.

Kane struggled against Selina, trying to get his hands around her neck. She elbowed his hands away, her forehead still glued to his.

Rachelle couldn’t get to him. There was too much tumbled furniture around him; she couldn’t land.