Dez

 

Every cell in my body was fighting to get free.

The collar was heavy, dragging on my trachea and I gasped for air. On my knees, my hands were scrabbling uselessly over it as every instinct of injustice screamed out inside of me.

Above me, I heard Parasite laughing and saying something about a test drive. Bracing myself for the shock, I waited…

But it never came.

Instead, a hand was hauling me to my feet and Andrei’s green eyes flashed at me. “I got you, brother,” he said, holding up the remote and glaring down at Parasite.

He was unconscious, a dart sticking out of his neck.

“I see we’re playing at their game,” I said, jokingly.

He pressed the remote into my hand. “Keep this safe. We’ll get that off of you later.”

At that moment, there was a roar as Preston and Henri came charging at us, fully shifted. Screams erupted as smoke billowed through the room. Andrei hauled me back as other shifters swooped in, distracting the two brothers.

At that moment, there was a horrible screech of static in my ear and we both winced.

“Hello!” Andrei shouted. “Damn, the coms are out. I knew this would happen.”

“Where’s the drug runner?” I coughed. “Brissett?”

“I don’t know! We have to find him!” he shouted. “Can you shift?”

I tried, but the metal on my neck was disorienting me and I couldn’t focus. Then Preston was charging down on us and Andrei shifted into a great white tiger, snarling at him.

Running, I peered through the smoke, trying to see if I could spot the man who could bring the TLO to its knees. Outside, I could hear fighting and I knew they wouldn’t have been able to get him out that way.

The boat! I realized and I shouted it out loud, hoping Andrei would hear.

Then I began running forward, pushing through the boxes and trying to get outside. But the collar seemed to be choking me and without thinking, I tugged on it again. My fingers hit a button.

A shock went through me and I fell to my knees, gasping my vision blurring.

“Dez!” came a shout and Obi was there, patting my back. “Are you – oh shit!”

“What is it?” Finni asked urgently, then he swore.

“Come on, Dez, get up, get up,” Dara urged. “We have to get this thing off of him.”

Obi was livid, his hands shaking as he stared at me. “How dare they – how dare they put a collar on you – on anyone!” He roared and both of his teammates glanced at him.

But I knew where Obi was coming from and I nodded stiffly. “I know, but the drug-runner, I think he’s trying to escape on the boat. We have to stop him, first.”

“Let’s go, then,” Obi said, smoothly shifting and shooting off.

“Dez, try to breathe,” Andrei was saying, suddenly appearing. “The collar is meant to mess with you, but you can still shift – you can still do this. Focus.”

Nodding, I managed to shift and follow after him. Dara and Finni were ahead, two dark wolves bursting into the night. The fresh air outside revived me as we followed.

There was a shout in a different language, then Andrei shoved me aside as bullets rained down. He shifted back and peered out. “Damn, Brissett is on the boat.” A sharp whistle went through his teeth. I heard a snarl and then a splash. “Let’s go! Don’t let him get away.”

In an instant, the five of us were converging on the boat. Weaving through men with guns, I marveled as the Shifters of Anubis changed forms, taking all of the guards out easily. Finni ran at one guy as a wolf, then dropkicked him. Dara flashed back and forth so much, it made me dizzy.

Finally, we were on board. All of Brissett’s men were either in the water or had fled. In no time, we found the hold.

And inside was the man we wanted, shaking as he held a gun up.

Andrei glared at him, moving forward as a tiger and snarled in his face. Brissett gasped, the gun dropping and he slid to the floor in a dead faint.

Shifting back, Andrei grinned a little. “While I was on his tail, I found out he has a terrible fear of tigers. Who knew?” He glanced at me. “Got that flash-drive still?”

Reaching into my pocket, I found it and handed it over. Andrei slipped it into Brissett’s pocket with a grin. Dara and Obi left, with the stated intention of dismantling the boat’s steering. Finni was tying up the drug runner and heaved him over a shoulder.

“Where should I put him, Drei?” he asked.

“In the office,” Andrei replied, then he cocked his ear. “Shit, the fighting out front is getting worse. It’s the Valspar siblings.” He looked at me. “Dez, why don’t you head back–”

We all heard it then, the distant wail of sirens. They’d be here in twenty minutes.

“Move!” Andrei shouted.

In another second, we were running back into the warehouse, which had mostly been cleared of the smoke. Bursting into the office, we heard a squawk and to my shock, Dr. Crane was there, holding up his arms and cowering.

Without thinking, I strode forward and yanked him to his feet.

“You bastard,” I snarled. “You’re going back to where you belong.”

His hands fluttered along my jacket in a pleading way. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, here I’ll go quietly, please, please…”

“You better,” I spat.

Letting him go, Crane slid to the floor with his balled-up hands over his face. Andrei silently handed me a rope and I yanked those fists behind him as I tied him up.

“We have to take Crane with us, if he winds up in inanis prison, he’d just smooth talk his way out of it. I already had someone pick up Parasite,” Andrei said.

“Move,” I snarled and the Doctor got to his feet.

The three of us led him out, his head hanging and Finni had just opened his mouth to say something when Crane suddenly ran.

“What the hell!” Andrei shouted, sprinting after him.

Crane was fast, he leaped over the boxes with ease and he was out the front door, calling for the Valspar siblings, saying he had something.

We burst out after him, onto what looked like some shifter rendition of a cage match. There was a circle of Shifters of Anubis, most of them looking worse for the wear, surrounding the Valspar siblings. Evie had her gun cocked, keeping anyone from getting too close. Meanwhile, the two bear shifters were fighting with anyone else who dared approach her from the rear.

Dr. Crane was running right at them and Andrei shouted, “Stop him!”

Several shifters leaped towards them, but I saw them fall, darts in their sides and Crane seemed to wriggle through. I ran forward, past the fallen shifters, anger roaring in my veins.

Evie cut him free.

And I stopped short as Dr. Crane held up the remote to my collar.

“Should have put this in a better place, Professor Devoy,” he panted, looking over at me and laughing. “Oh, yes, I heard all about you. The Vigilante. The King Cheetah. I knew you’d come tonight. And it was I who told Parasite you’d come as no meek, humble ally, but a blind servant of the Order of Anubis.”

“King Cheetah?” I heard murmur behind me.

"You were a miracle of Frost's creation, as I was," he said, his voice suddenly kind and I blinked, then he became sibilant and pretentious again. “But alas, there is no substitute for pain.”

He hit one of the buttons on the remote and I fell to my knees, hugging my middle and screaming in agony. The screams bounced off the warehouses and the shifters around me were crying out. A sudden surging mass of fury.

“Stop it!” came Obi’s shout above the rest.

“I swear, Crane, hand that thing over and maybe I won’t make every one of your days a living torment,” Andrei’s growl cut through the hubbub.

The pain stopped and I took a shuddering gasp.

“Well done, Crane,” Evie purred. “Who knew you had it in you?”

I looked up in time to see him smiling over at her and she was smiling back. My stomach lurched with foreboding as her hand shot out and snapped his neck. There were a few gasps as his body heavily hit the ground, the remote bouncing free and Evie picked it up.

“Guess we don’t have to fight our way out of here, boys,” she said and her brothers shifted back. A few shifters stepped forward and she waved a finger. “Nuh-uh. There’s a button on this here remote that will kill that man, the King Cheetah, in a mere sixty seconds.”

“Stand down, team,” Andrei barked.

“No,” I groaned. “You have to get them…”

“We don’t sacrifice our own,” Andrei said. “How about we let you go in exchange for that remote, Valspar?”

“I don’t think so, Zima. No, he’ll have to come with us.” Evie said, her eyes flashing. “Frost won’t consider this a complete loss if we bring back you, King Cheetah.”

Staggering to my feet, I glared at them and then shook my head at Andrei and Obi who stepped forward. “I’d rather die.”

“Don’t make this difficult, Desmond,” she said with a sigh, her finger inching towards a button and I flinched. “Oh, see, you’re already learning.”

More than one shifter in the circle was growling. “This is disgusting,” I heard someone whisper. “The TLO has sunk to a new low.”

“Let’s go,” Henrik hissed, eyeing the Shifters of Anubis. The sirens were getting closer.

“We’re taking you with us, Desmond Devoy,” Evie said.

“How about you take me instead?” A clear, ringing voice asked.

My mind went blank with horror as Soraya appeared, the Shifters of Anubis stepping back as she walked forward. Her eyes found me.

Then she smiled.

I lost it and tried to charge forward. “Soraya! No! No! Don’t do this! I’d rather die!” Obi and Andrei grabbed me, holding me back and I struggled to get free, my voice raw in my throat.

“I won’t let that happen,” Soraya said. “How about it, Valspar?”

The three of them were staring at her with unmistakable appetite and her chin lifted higher. The dim, orange light swirled down around her as it began to snow lightly, the sparkling lights making it seem as though an ancient goddess of fire was facing off with three demons of shadows.

“That’s a fair trade,” Evie said quietly, her grin terrible as she stared Soraya down. “Oh, we’re going to have fun with you.”

With that, she hit Soraya in the stomach, hard. Soraya staggered, clutching her stomach and a whimper of pain escaped her, even as her jaw grit. I tore free and was a few steps closer when Evie lifted the remote and hit a button.

Again, I was crying out in agony, only Soraya was there, her cool fingers frantic on my skin and trying to pull the collar off. Tears hit the back of my neck.

“Stop it,” she screamed at them. “I said I would go. My life for his.”

“Well, he’s not dead,” Preston pointed out.

The sirens were loud – the police and fire trucks weren’t far away.

“We have to go! Now!” Henrik urged.

Soraya lifted my head and pressed her hands into my face. “I love you, Dez. Please be happy. I’m sorry, I couldn’t let them take you…”

“Soraya, no,” I begged, my hands on her arms, holding her as Evie yanked her away. “No, don’t do this, take me instead, take me!”

“Hold on, there’s time for this,” Preston said and he hit Soraya in the face. She crumpled, landing in a heap at Evie’s feet and Henrik kicked her. “To hell with the Lafi family!”

The three of them laughed and Soraya glared up at them.

“Stop!” I said, energy surging through me and I was on my feet.

“Kill ‘em both, Evie,” Henrik said in a bored voice. “But the professor first – let the Lafi girl feel some pain for a change.”

Evie grinned and I saw her finger move towards the button in my peripheral vision. But I was focusing on Soraya, who was curled on the ground, her face in pain as Preston moved towards her. I reached up, gripping the collar on either side.

Gold fire spiraled through my veins like gunpowder. With a roar that seemed to come from the depths of my soul, I pulled and it came apart.

Evie’s finger depressed the button as I held up the two pieces. And she stumbled back, stunned and I saw fear cross her face. 

I shifted. Moving faster than I ever had before, feeling almost like lightning, I took her out, then crashed into Preston before he could shift. Henrik snarled at me, shifting and running straight at me. I leaped over him, landing on his back and raking claws down it.

He let out a roar of pain, losing his grip on his shifted form.

Falling to his knees, he whimpered in pain and I yanked him up to his feet.

“Stay away from the Lafis,” I hissed, landing a blow on his chin that sent him flying.

Cheers burst out around the circle, as other shifters ran forward to take them into custody.

I wasn’t paying attention to that. Frantic, I turned and then my shoulders slumped as I saw Soraya sitting up, her braids slipping over her shoulders. Her smile was huge and her eyes were shining. In another second, I was by her side and she was in my arms.

“I’m okay,” she said, leaning back and gazing up at me. Then she sucked in a breath.

“What is it?” I asked her urgently. “What’s wrong?”

“Dez, your eyes – the sanctus ignis. A flash of gold!” My heart was throbbing at her words. “I saw it. I knew it.” She paused and put a hand on my face. “There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re a shifter. A King Cheetah! Only you could have taken out those three on your own.”

“Well, I’ll still get checked out by Dr. Hakedo,” I said modestly, even as I grinned.

I knew I didn’t need to. I’d known I was never incomplete from the second I’d torn off the collar. It was in that moment, I’d fully accepted being a shifter.

I had been holding myself back all along.

“Good – hey!” Her expression changed to one of fury as she looked beyond me.

Before I could turn, hands had grabbed me and pinned me to the ground. Someone else was dragging Soraya away and she was screaming at them.

“No! Stop! What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

The black-clad figures had yanked my arms behind my back and I heard the click of metal.

Cuffs encircled my wrists.

“By the Order of Anubis, you’re under arrest, Desmond Devoy,” said a harsh voice in my ear.