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What am I doing? I’m human. Grab chips, a soda, and a package of cookies and get out of here.
He gathered the items he had listed in his head and approached the counter, and then held up a finger to the cashier and returned for the buns. Couldn’t hurt anything. Before he reached the car, he devoured two of the buns and was about to tear into the sour cream and onion potato chips. The acrid stench of fear overpowered the snack, and he glanced up from them to scan the area. He spotted Sakura, standing beside the car rather than in it, and a man stood beside her watching him.
Adam had seconds to take in the fact that the fear came off this person and that he couldn’t see where he had put his left hand—before he blanked. One minute he stood closer to the convenience store than to the car. The next instant, he bore down on the man, sure he had begun to turn. The metallic taste of blood coated his tongue when his canines thickened, elongated, and sharpened to points. Shirtsleeves ripped as his biceps expanded. He curled clawed fingers, ready to rip his enemy to ribbons and opened his mouth to let out a growl fit to make the man piss himself.
Adam raised a hand, seeing the destroyed face already in his mind.
“Adam, no!”
How the hell did he form words? They would not come, but Sakura’s warning stopped him cold. He stared at the two of them, from her to the man and back again. Another try produced, “He touched you.”
“Only my hair, baby. Not a big deal, okay? We don’t want to do this here.” The soothing quality to her voice was not her. He didn’t like it. She should have already stomped this human into the ground. Adam didn’t know he took another, threatening step until she spoke again, trying to get him to calm down.
“W-what is he?” the man stuttered.
“You shut up,” Sakura ordered.
The man laughed. “I think you forgot who has the gun, Sakura.”
At first, Adam didn’t know why, but when the man called her Sakura, it calmed him down. The bear stirred but just a little. His teeth returned to normal, and so did his claws, but he kept his gaze on the man. Once his mind cleared, he figured it out. This was no random mugging. The human targeted Sakura. He knew who she was, but by his stance, the scent of fear, and the way he held his weapon, Adam concluded the man did not work for Sakura’s dad. He must have come to kill or retrieve the daughter who had been foolish enough to become one of the enemy.
For a heartbeat, Adam flipped his gaze to Sakura. Her slight nod told him she had come to the same conclusion, and she wanted to see where this led, maybe get a bit more information, like who sent this idiota. The second man did not catch Adam unaware. He smelled and heard him coming, but he waited for contact. When the point of a knife touched him mid-back, he stiffened.
“Okay, we’re going for a little ride,” came the heavily accented English. Adam recognized the Mexican accent. Although the knife cut into his skin, he refused to budge until Sakura got into the car with her assailant in the back seat, still holding onto her hair and pointing the gun at her.
Adam ground his teeth. “I’m going to take the arm in payment.”
The man sneered, revealing a garish grill. “Qué?”
“You heard me.” Adam walked around the car and slid behind the wheel. The second man sat behind him and directed him to start the car. “Where?” Adam demanded.
“Just drive,” was the reply. “Southwest One Eighty Fourth.”
Adam tightened his hands on the steering wheel. He could guess the next direction. Eventually, they would arrive at the Everglades. Miles and miles to do whatever they wanted under cover of night—well, as long as no one happened upon them before they were done with their business. He knew authorities patrolled as much of the area as possible, but that didn’t stop incidents from happening. Adam didn’t care. He didn’t need long. When he was done, he would feed these men to a croc, and there would be no evidence left.
Adam stopped the car on a lonely stretch of road with only the moonlight and stars to illuminate the night. The man behind him directed him to turn off the headlights. “We don’t want anyone seeing what we’re up to.”
The other man laughed as he exited the vehicle. “These some nice wheels you have here. I’ll be happy to take the car off your hands after we kill you.”
A bit of gravel or a rock caught under his foot, and he tripped. With a hold still on Sakura’s hair, he gave it a yank as he stumbled, and Sakura cried out, raising her hands to her head.
“You dumbass,” Sakura shrieked. “Don’t you know how to walk?”
The words were the last Adam heard. A roar split the night air, and it took a moment or two to realize the sound came from his mouth. He launched onto the man before anyone could react, including Sakura. He held a scrawny wrist between his jaws and crunched down. The howl of pain only fueled his rage. Adam reared back on two legs and swiped long claws across the man’s chest. The jacket, shirt under it, and flesh, all shredded, and the scent of blood filled Adam’s nostrils. The man fell down dead on the ground, and Adam swung toward his next prey. The man who’d just finished threatening to kill them squealed like a girl, backing away until he fell on his ass. He scooted along the road whimpering and begging for his life. Adam stalked closer, but Sakura moved in front of Adam and grabbed hold of one of his ears.
“I think you better start talking before I let him kill you,” she told the man. “You’ve already seen what he did to your friend.”
The man babbled. Adam gave a half growl and wagged his head, but Sakura held on, giving his ear a rough squeeze that stung. He nosed her leg, but she seemed unimpressed.
“Well?” she demanded, hand on her hip. “Who hired you?”
“No sé nada, hombre,” he whined.
“Oh, you don?
?t know anything, huh? Nothing?” She released Adam, and he sprang forward. The man’s voice vibrated on Adam’s eardrums. He raised a paw. The man shrank in on himself.
“Okay, okay. I’ll talk!”
