Chapter 2.

 

Six Bears, fifteen Wolves, a dozen guys with assault rifles, plus one Witch Hare. Oh, and probably a sniper or two on that hillside taking a bead on me right now.

A slow, contented smile crept across Jamie Wolfe’s sharp face. The Fangs of Apophis were respectful – he had to give them that. They’d sent a small army of Shifters to this meeting. Hell, the humans might be even more dangerous. Back in the day, a Dragon like him could ignore most mortals. These days, they had weapons that took out tanks. And anything that could bring down a tank would set a Dragon back on his heels.

Nope. He was seriously outgunned. Even supposing the snipers on the hill didn’t have depleted uranium bullets.

Good.

A fierce elation swept through him. Colors grew brighter. His blood sang in his veins. His heart raced, drunk on adrenalin.

Only in the shadow of death did a man truly feel alive. Moments like this, where one false word spelled destruction, were what he lived for. Let other Dragons throw themselves into mindless battle. Jamie loved the games of wits. The delicate sparring of two brilliant minds.

One of the Bears shambled over to the picnic table where he sat. “Wolfe?”

“Well, yes. Or were you expecting to meet some other Dragon in this park?”

Okay, maybe this wasn’t going to be a cerebral chess match between two geniuses. Maybe the challenge would be one brilliant mind trying to keep a moron from doing something stupid.

Eh, good enough. That could be fun too. Besides, this was just a skirmish. The real battle would come later. The Fangs of Apophis were the enemies of all decent Shifters. For years, his Flight had battled them, and for years, all they’d won was a bloody stalemate.

Jamie intended to change that. Infiltrate the Fangs, learn their secrets, and give his Flight the intelligence it needed to destroy them, once and for all.

But to get to the creatures that controlled the Fangs – the Worms, fallen Dragons – he needed to convince Yogi Bear here that he was Falling himself.

Yogi hadn’t answered his question. Thinking seemed to be a long-term project for this guy.

“Let’s start with the basics, shall we?” Jamie smiled and let the lightest touch of his Dragon’s power set his eyes on fire. A move that made all of the gathered Fangs take a step back. “I can see you’re not a Worm, so you’re not Lucian Fowler. Want to tell me your name? Or should I call you ‘Yogi’?”

“Screw you, jackass!” Already a big man, the guy loomed another six inches as his Shifter soul seethed at the insult.

Poke the Bear, get the claw. But Jamie guessed he still had some wiggle room. “Strange, but okay. So, Mr. Jackass, I had a meeting with your boss. Where is he?”

“What did you call me?” the Bear roared.  Fur began to pop out along his arms and his fingers thickened into claws.

“Well, I thought it would be a little forward of me to call you ‘Screw You.’ I mean, we’re not on a first-name basis yet, are we?”

“What the hell are you talking about?” he screamed.

“Burke, wait.” Just as Jamie thought he’d gone too far, the Witch Hare spoke. Surely, she had more brains than this guy. There was no such thing as a Dumb Bunny in the Shifter world. “Mr. Fowler isn’t coming. Obviously, he doesn’t trust you.”

“Fair enough. There’s nothing a Worm cares more about than himself. Who’re you?”

“I’m Judith Little.” A strangely appropriate name. Like most Hares, she was small and willowy. Yet, she seemed even tinier than most. “The Bear is Ronan Burke. Mr. Fowler sent us to interview you.”

“Well, here I am.” He spread his arms wide, ignoring the mass of warriors and weapons that surrounded him. “Interview away.”

“Ronan?” The Hare took a step back and folded her arms across her chest.

Wonderful. The cretin was going to do the talking. Jamie waited, impatiently, as the Bear struggled to control his temper. When the last strands of fur vanished, he plunked himself down at the picnic table. “Why do you want to join the Fangs of Apophis?”

At last, the game began.

“Because I’m bored. My Alpha, Brandon Lorde, is a pompous, old-fashioned windbag and I’m tired of taking orders from him. I want to run my own life – not get sent around the world like some scaled messenger boy.”

He paused but saw no doubt in their faces. The best lies were built around a grain of truth. And honestly, there was a good sized pebble in that speech.

“Plus, I don’t have a future in the First Flight.”

“Why not?” Burke’s scowl hadn’t mellowed one bit.

“Because of the damned Wellsprings. That’s all anyone gives a shit about these days,” he sneered. “Little bitty springs that let magic come into this world. Well, apparently, they feed on love.”

The Witch Hare pursed her lips. “What are you talking about?”

“Okay, I put that badly. Love ‘nourishes’ them. So you don’t get to have one of these things unless you have a Mate.” A point that actually did annoy him. Jamie meditated on that grievance a second, letting his wounded pride fan it. Easier to feign outrage that way. “Do you know what that means? All the work I’ve done for this Flight – none of it matters. Shifters who aren’t fit to wipe my ass get Wellsprings. Bears, Wolves, even Warrens of damned Hares. And me? Nothing.”

Growls rumbled around him. Claws and fangs broke out; one Wolf even dropped to all four, Shifting fully, until his Alpha rounded on him.

Good. The madder they got, the less they’d question him.

“You think you’re hot shit,” Burke sneered, “but it’s us ‘scum’ he sent to take care of you.”

“Yeah. Thirty of you… for one of me.” Jamie scanned the forces that surrounded him, lips curled with disdain. “Makes it pretty clear your boss knows you’re not my equal.”

The Hare’s soft voice broke through the threatening chorus of snarls. “Why don’t you take a Mate, then, if promotion demands one?”

He turned his back on Burke – another calculated insult. “I can’t just pick some girl and say ‘Okay, she’s the One.’ Our Dragons choose them. Or Fate, or luck, or whatever. Supposedly, when you meet your soulmate,” he rolled his eyes, “you share some hot dream. The Rite of Claiming. Yeah, that thing. That fairy tale all little Shifter kids hear about. Supposedly, it’s becoming real, now that the Wellsprings are waking up.”

“Can’t you force the dream?”

“Nope. Best you can do is meet a lot of women. Something I do naturally anyway.” He let his eyes wander along the Hare’s slender form. A little too pale and stick-like for his tastes, but it wasn’t hard to fake lust. “No luck, despite my best efforts.”

Judith endured his gaze with complete indifference. “Can’t you fake a Claiming?”

“I’ve thought about it. But why? If my Flight cares more about ‘love’ than power, then they’re weak. The weak team loses in any contest. And I don’t intend to go down with the ship, mooning over some woman.”

The Bears and Wolves had finally got themselves under control (with the help of a few bites from the Alpha Wolves). And no sniper had put a bullet through his head.

Things were going well!

Or so he thought, until Burke’s eyes lit with outrage. “Hang on!” he howled, half-rising to his feet. “I can see your Dragon. Ain’t nothing wrong with it. It’s still got wings!”

The mark that distinguished a Dragon from a Worm. Of course, he was prepared for that accusation. “Just noticed that, did you? Wow, aren’t you smart? Tell me this, bright boy…” Jamie rose as well, letting the wrath of his Dragon summon scales along his muscled arms. “Do you think the First Flight would let me leave if I Fell?”

The sight of a furious Dragon, inches away, unnerved the Bear and he edged back. Though, Jamie noticed that the Hare never budged. She stood, eyes unfocused, rocking slightly. “Of course, I got out before my Dragon started chewing on itself. I want to live.”

Burke glanced at Judith. The Hare nodded, then pulled a pearly white shell from her pocket and held it up.

Seems like she’d been in charge all along. Missing that fact irritated Jamie. Sloppy. Mistakes like that could get you killed. Here, it hadn’t been critical.

Had it? He started to worry when Burke scowled in disappointment. “Seriously? The bastard passed?”

“He did.” The shell disappeared back into Judith’s pocket, then she held out her hand. “Welcome to the Fangs of Apophis, Mr. Wolfe.”

Elation bubbled up within him, but Jamie shoved it back. He wasn’t out of the woods yet. “Thanks. Can I ask what the Test of the Shell was?”

“A lie detector. Magic, one that can’t be tricked – unlike mechanical detectors.”

A… what? His heart skipped a beat as he scanned her face for any sign of deceit. He hadn’t told the truth. Why would she lie to protect him?

“You’re confused.” Damn, she was sharp. A helluva lot sharper than he’d given her credit for. “You didn’t tell us the full truth. You withheld information, twisted the facts. You wonder why I consider this success.”

“Yeah…,” he admitted.

Mismatched eyes, one blue, one green, regarded him unblinking. “We’re the Fangs of Apophis, sir. We don’t expect complete honesty from our members. Especially Worms. Or Worms-to-Be, in your case.”

Okay. But he’d lied. Flat-out lied. He’d said the exact opposite of what he felt.

Hadn’t he?

“My duty is to ensure that the essence of your words is true. That you do indeed hate your Flight and that your soul is ready to walk the Path of Ascension. What you call ‘Falling.’”

She thought he was ripe to Fall? That was crazy! Jamie fought to keep his confusion off his face – and worried that he didn’t succeed.

“I expect you’ll begin the process of shedding your wings shortly.”

His stomach dropped.

“If you wish to expedite the transformation, Mr. Fowler can advise you. As a Worm, he’s personally familiar with the process of ascending beyond your Shifter soul.”

Some days, his Flight and his Dragon annoyed him, deeply. But he didn’t hate them. How could she say that?

“Again, welcome to the Fangs. It is an honor to assist the birthing of a new Worm.”

None of the other Shifters seemed to share her sentiment. They growled and muttered, disappointed as the chance of a fight evaporated.

Jamie swallowed, fighting back a wave of nausea. This was a mistake. Her mistake. She’d mis-read her magic… she was a secret traitor… something was up.

He wasn’t a Worm or in danger of becoming a Worm. He knew that.

Jamie Wolfe had his flaws – but self-doubt wasn’t one of them. One moment of worry and then his natural confidence came bubbling back. Ms. Little had screwed up. A mistake that would cost her masters deeply.

That knowledge comforted him as he followed the Hare toward his new ‘life’ in the Fangs.