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The tentacles that made up the thing’s mouth rose up like snakes, and a wet, guttural scream erupted from the depths of its mouth. Inside the lipless mouth, rows of shark-like teeth gleamed, ready to shred my flesh. Screams from the others echoed my fear, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the thing as it rose to its feet.
Moving faster than it had any right to, it leaped at me, swiping the air with taloned hands. I lashed out with my jaws, catching one of its arms by the wrist. I twisted my head, biting down as hard as I could until the bone snapped between my jaws. With one savage twist of my head, I tore the hand clean off. The beast yowled, but it sounded more like anger than pain.
In another burst of speed that made my head spin, the changeling flipped me onto my back and straddled me. My hind legs were useless, so I pawed at its chest, trying to push it away. Lighting quick, it slammed the one good hand it had left into my shoulder and chest. The talons speared the flesh and skin. Even in my panicked agony, I noticed a hovering camera position itself directly above my head, a perfect spot to catch a close-up shot of me getting my throat ripped out.
Blood spurted from the wounds in my shoulder, sending a spray of it across my face. The coppery tang of my own blood sent a surge of adrenaline through me. I thrust my paws up, shoving the monster away from me, even as its face tentacles tried to clutch at my throat. Finally gaining purchase on the monster’s ass with my back legs, I pushed at it with all my remaining strength.
The beast tumbled over my head and slammed into the ground. Adrenaline had me flipping onto all fours and lunging at the creature. I sank my teeth into the flesh behind its neck. The thing tasted like rotten fish, brackish water, and mud. Shaking my head violently back and forth, I did my best to break its spine. My strength wasn’t where it needed to be, with my shoulder and chest still in agonizing pain.
A clawed hand swung toward my face, and I released the thing just in time to roll away. The talon missed my eyes by an inch. Righting myself again, I snarled at the creature as it lumbered to its feet. The others had backed away, pressing themselves against the walls, staring at the battle with wide-eyed horror.
The changeling’s feet had no claws or talons; they were flat and almost frog-like. They slapped against the floor as it rushed toward me. My body trembled, but I didn’t move. I waited for my chance. I needed this to be over soon. This thing was too powerful and fast, and I wasn’t sure how long I’d survive.
The changeling opened its arms wide as it moved closer, one arm ruined, one glittering with my own blood. Holding myself steady until the last second, I sprang forward. I angled my jaws to hit beneath the writhing mass of tentacles and closed my jaws on its throat. Knowing it was caught, the beast’s steps faltered. With the sound of cracking tendons, breaking cartilage, and tearing flesh, I bit down hard and yanked my head to the side. A massive wad of flesh tore free, and inky black blood spurted through the air.
Hitting the ground, I spat out the hunk of flesh and shifted to my human form in time to see the changeling twisting and thrashing on the floor. In seconds, the black puddle had grown massive, and after several minutes, the thing twitched one last time and then stilled.
As it did, though, it changed into the last thing it had been before the fight. For one moment, I saw Kira, her eyes glazed and sightless, her throat a shredded, bloody ruin. I gasped in horror at the sight.
Blessedly, the image vanished when, at last, the entire body sank into itself with a hiss of greenish steam. Then the body was gone, leaving nothing behind but a bubbling green and black puddle. It smelled like shit. I backed away, covering my nose, trying not to gag.
“Holy shit, man,” Abel said. “That thing was crazy. Are you okay?”
I clutched my wounded chest. My fingers went slippery and wet with blood, but my body had already begun healing. “I’ll be fine,” I growled. Then I lifted my head and screamed at the door, “Von! Get your ass in here.”
J.D. walked over and put my uninjured arm around his shoulders to help me stand. A moment later, the double doors to the ballroom opened and Von swept in with a cadre of other staffers—a healing witch, a security guy, and two men who looked like butlers. The two men went to work cleaning up the mess that had been the changeling. The healing witch helped J.D. get me to a couch set against the back side of the ballroom. She began casting healing spells on me while Von addressed the cameras.
“I hope everyone at home enjoyed that. It’s not often anyone gets to see a changeling in action, especially not in their natural form. Wyatt Rivers must have really made that one mad. A pity it didn’t survive.” He frowned, and I thought he might be serious.
“Where’s Kira?” I barked at him. I couldn’t get the image of her corpse on the floor out of my mind.
Von turned to smile at me. “Ah, yes, the question of the hour. You know, Wyatt, we let the folks at home in on the secret. We thought it was juicier that way. They all knew that wasn’t the real Kira.”
The witch finished her spell, and the relief at having the wound gone was nothing compared to the anger raging inside me. I jumped off the couch and stalked toward Von.
“That was horseshit. You picked me to die, didn’t you? You said that thing already had a target.”
Von rolled his eyes. “Of course we did. But as with the boat teams earlier, it was all randomly chosen and—”
“Bullshit. Shut the fuck up and tell me where Kira is. Now.”
Von gave me a huffy, affronted look. “No need to be so angry. You did manage to win. Sweet Miss Durst was knocked out. Her vial was filled with a sleeping potion rather than a shifter-sense nullifier. We took her to her room for a little nap.”
Before I could do something I regretted, I shoved past him and stomped out of the ballroom. All I could think of was seeing Kira. The image of her transforming into that monster wouldn’t stop flashing through my mind. Nothing would help until I was with her again. Therealher.
Chapter11
Kira
“Kira? Oh, gods, Kira, are you okay?”
Muffled words swirled through my head. Someone was calling out to me. Where was I? Why did I feel hungover? When I opened my eyes, everything looked blurry and shadowy. Hands probed at me, checking me for something.
The last thing I could remember was the witch leading me to a pair of double doors. She’d given me something to drink and then… nothing. Whatever they’d given me must have knocked me out cold. Some sort of sleeping potion, probably.
After blinking a few more times, my eyes cleared enough to see a hulking form standing over me. The form slid up my sleeves and gently tilted my chin to the side. The room was dark, but enough light filtered through the curtains for me to make out the face.
“Wyatt?” my voice croaked. I felt like I’d swallowed fireplace ashes. “Water. Please,” I rasped.
