Chapter 16

Out of the immediate yard, wilderness reigned. Trees blocked the sky overhead, scrub tried to tangle with feet and the air was very chilly; I was definitely in Montana and my vest top wasn't much protection from the night.

I could hear the humans scrambling around in all directions, loud and obvious; the hunters would have no problem tracking their prey.

I mentally apologized to them as I passed beyond them, leaping and climbing over obstacles they had to detour around, if they could even see them. The only thing I could do for them was try to escape, as much as that galled me.

It wasn't long before I heard howling and shrieks of delight and knew our time was up. I kept myself under the trees and moved quickly, trying to make me as hard to track as possible.

The first screams startled me and I found myself turning back to help. I fought a quick, internal battle with myself as the screams echoed around me. I couldn't just leave them to be slaughtered, which is what would happen if I just ran. All of them would die, and probably me as well. Cursing, I turned around and headed back towards the house, circling wide of my trail, and thinking. Oh, well. With an old Demon after me, I probably wouldn't make it; I might as well extract a little revenge and take some of these bastards down with me.

The terrain I was covering was steep, lots of hills and cliffs the farther from the house I got. I stopped and stripped out of my clothes, using my bootlaces to tie the dagger to my upper arm before shifting fully into my panther form.

The night was suddenly more alive, my vision picking out objects better than my human eyes could in daylight, my nose and ears sensitive to every nuance of the night.

I ignored all the useless emotions surging through me, concentrating on what my senses were telling me. Fear was strong in me as I set off at an easy lope, silent and deadly, towards the nearest enemy I smelled. Death was the likely outcome this night and I didn't want to die, I really didn't want to die.

Just into the forest, a wolf was busy eating its kill, not paying any attention to its surroundings. My will sharpened and I knew what I had to do.

Leaping onto his back, I locked my powerful jaws on the back of his neck and crushed, my teeth tearing through skin a muscle like Jell-o. He was dead before he could yelp. One swipe of my paw took his head off, just to be safe.

His blood was both foul and thrilling, my predator instincts coming alive. I let them push aside my terror, revulsion and conscience; right now, it was kill or be killed, nothing else mattered.

With no time to lose, I picked up another trail, but found more than I could handle. Three more Werewolves were feasting on another poor soul, their bodies huge and snarls aggressive as they fought over their kill. Knowing there was no possible way I could take three grown wolves of that size down by myself without taking serious damage, I passed them by.

I wandered deeper into the wilderness, searching for another trail to follow when a Vampire appeared almost on top of me. I rolled away quickly, shifting to half-human as I moved and came up slashing with my knife, catching her reaching wrist.

Hissing, she backed away, her bleeding forearm clutched to her chest, allowing me to see that this was the Vampire who'd helped abduct me. I smiled and she hissed again, her arm smoking slightly.

The blade was crafted with magic and was very old, a gift from Marcus a couple of years ago. He'd given it to me because a group of Sups had been assaulting people in our area. He'd told me that it would cause serious harm to both Demons and the dead, with various spells crafted into the metal as well as silver to harm Weres. I'd never been as grateful to anyone in my life as I was right now.

The Vamp's approach was cautious this time, her eyes following the blade as she darted around, trying to get to me. Bright red eyes peered from her face, her fangs lengthening to hang over her lip and claws growing from her fingertips.

She feinted and I moved, but not fast enough. Her nails tour into my hip and carved a fiery path up my side. I grabbed her as I went down and plunged the blade in her eye.

Panting, shaking and bleeding, I rolled off her as she began to scream, smoke and blood pouring out of her punctured socket. A quick twist and I broke her neck, silencing the piercing shrieks.

I laid there for a moment, trying to gather my courage to stand, knowing that someone might come and investigate. Pulling my knife out of her smoldering head, I wiped it clean on her clothes, claimed my hair sticks and shifted to human, staunching the bleeding as my body began to heal.

Fear tore at me as I stumbled to lean against a tree, tying the blade to my leg this time. What am I doing? I asked myself. Surviving, that's what. I shook my head and shifted once again to my half-panther form, feeling a little dizzy with the effort as I stumbled quickly away. My leg hurt, but had stopped bleeding; luckily it wasn't much more than surface damage or I would be in real trouble. I caught the scent of water and made my way to a creek with the intention of washing the blood off and getting a drink.

It's too quiet, I thought as I quietly splashed water on myself. It hasn't been long enough for everyone but me to be dead. I only heard two more screams, which means some of them should still be alive.

The distinctive sound of a gun being cocked sent me rushing to my feet and into the shadows, my eyes and ears trying to pinpoint the sound. I heard a quietly drawn breath, a tiny rustle and found it.

"Jordan, it's me," I whispered and watched as the barely perceptible shape of her head bobbed as she started climbing out from under a rotten tree. "No, stay there, it's a good place. Stay still and quiet and don't shoot unless you have to; they may miss you." Considering I'd missed her entirely, she might have a chance. For her sake, I hoped she believed me. "I need to move on so they don't spot you. If there's a way, I'll come back. Take these," I moved quickly forward and handed her my hair sticks; they were silver and might just come in handy for her. She touched my hand briefly before burrowing farther under and I moved on.

Guilt ate at me as I quickly shifted to fully panther again and left the creek and Jordan behind. I didn't think the chances of anyone making it out of this alive even existed but I couldn't bring myself to give up hope. I refused to believe I would die here and used that belief to bolster my spirits enough to plan.

So far, two of the dozen or more enemies was down, not that that was a vast improvement, though it was better than nothing. I continued to skulk along, covering rougher terrain, idly wondering if and when the other mercs would notice that some of their numbers were dead. For being hired soldiers, they were rather dumb. I should not have been able to sneak up on a veteran soldier like that and I'd fought small children with better skills than that Vampire. That either meant these weren't mercenaries at all or they only attacked humans and had never been trained to fight another supernatural.

Which didn't make any sense at all.

Another thing occurred to me: I'd yet to come across any Demons. Choosing a good spot, I climbed under a rock ledge to rest and think. The slices on my side, despite the fresh covering of skin, weren't healed completely because I couldn't stay still long enough. I was exhausted from running, from my time in the cage and from changing so often; food would help, but there was nothing to hunt, nor could I take the risk to find anything.

My hiding place overlooked a thinned out space, allowing me to see the sky for the first time in a while. I kept my eyes up while my ears twitched to locate and identify every sound. My nerves were shot and I knew, if I were human, I'd be shaking violently and about ready to drop dead of a heart attack. As it was, I was jumpy as hell, fear trying to override my mind and body.

All I knew of Demons came from politically correct descriptions and my interaction with Talon and Marcus. I knew they were fast, stealthy, possessed of sharp senses and great strength. I knew Demons had wings and sharp talons, maybe even horns when in Demon form; I've never personally seen one that didn't appear human. So I kept my eyes and ears peeled for any sign of approaching enemies.

I shivered a little in the cool night air, staring up at the moon, most of which was hidden behind clouds, wondering what time it was. I hated not knowing the time, not because I had somewhere to be, but because it told me how far I've come. I would have wished for a clock tower or a church bell, but that would have meant we were too close to humanity and likely to get others killed.

Looking down briefly, I caught the tiniest hint of movement from the clearing below. Waiting, I held my breath and tried my hardest not to move, trying to spot whatever it was again.