Chapter 25
ISAAC
Iblocked him with my hand, his lips meeting my knuckles.
He pulled back, confusion all over his face.
“I…I can’t,” I said.
He cocked his head, frowning. “You’re rejecting me?”
Did he have to put it like that? “I’m sorry.”
He blinked, eyes still clouded by bemusement.
“Don’t be mad,” I tried. “This isn’t the time for any of this. I have to get home.”
Tony stood up, slowly walking over to the foot of the bed. “Rejecting me. He’s rejecting me.” He started pacing.
Oh shit. This was about to take a creepy turn, right? The way he moved like a caged animal, the strange glint in his eyes, they were leading to something.
I shuffled across the bed, summoning as much as energy as I could to help me launch myself at the door.
Let’s try the peaceful route first. Good plan by me. Because Hecate only knew what this guy was capable of.
“I’m not rejecting you,” I said. “Not in the bad way. It’s just that the timing is bad.”
He kept pacing. “Like those idiots on The Sands of Love. Think they’re so high and mighty to tell me I’m wrong. Well, I’m not the one who’s wrong. They are. They’re wrong, Isaac.” He paused, grinning. “That’s why I found a new path.” His eyes moved to me, full of malice. “A better path.”
My breath hitched, the hair on my arms sticking up. “Tony—”
“Do you pray, babe?”
Don’t call me that. “What?”
“Do you pray to our beloved goddess? The one who gave you power?”
I swallowed, hints of scratchiness back in my throat. “Of course.”
“Good. You should thank her. Just like you should thank me when the time comes.”
Ice flooded my veins while my neck itched with rising stress heat. “What did you just say?”
He smiled, his darn gold tooth flashing again. “Don’t leave, babe. Stay with me. Be mine again. Be by my side when the change comes.”
My stomach dropped, picked itself back off the floor, then dropped again. “What…what…” Words solidified in my mouth, almost choking me. “Who are you?”
“Tony, babe. I’m Tony.”
This wasn’t the Tony I remembered. He never spoke like this, and never looked so insane.
I activated my aura lenses on a hunch, expecting to see the yellow glow of a human, and I did, but also saw the orange of a were-creature.
“By Hecate!” I rasped sharpy. “What…what happened to you?”
“I changed. I changed.”
The blue aura of a witch appeared around the edges of the other colors, making my brain somersault and my stomach do the repetitive dropping thing again, only harder this time, my heartbeat thumping erratically.
Orange and blue? How was that possible? Had there ever been a case of hybrid colors before?
Were-creatures and vampires could sire humans through biting or doing a blood swap thing.
As a result, the aura color would change, not stay yellow.
But never like this. You couldn’t be multiple things at once.
Unless I was wrong.
I didn’t want to hang around to find out. I called to my magic only to find it…restrained. It wouldn’t come out, trapped beneath the surface.
Shit, shit, shit. “What did you give me?”
He came to the side of the bed. “I’m changing, babe.
I’m full of power like you. Great power those at the High Coven can’t read on the little systems. I’m on the edge of greatness beyond your wildest dreams. Beyond mine.
” He laughed, running a hand through his hair.
Part of it broke free from the back sweep, falling across his face.
“Can’t you feel the change on the wind?”
From the fae hag, but not you. “I have to go.”
Okay, time to make a break for it.
Don’t you dare trip, I told myself.
“I’m hiding you,” he said. “No one is coming.”
What about Drake?
When he can, I heard the hag’s voice whisper inside my head.
“I gave you a new invention, babe,” he continued. “Helped with your healing and wrapped you in cotton wool. I’m helping you.”
“Tony, you’ve…” I took a breath. “Is this about you being fired?”
His grin dropped. “Huh?”
“You’ve taken it badly,” I said, knowing full well I walked on eggshells. But fuck it. “I’m sorry things went wrong. But you’re a talented actor. There’s got to be more jobs out there for you.”
Although he was a drunk-driving piece of shit who deserved to wear the shame.
He smacked his lips. “Says who?”
I didn’t know how to answer.
“People hate me now. I went from there,” he pointed at the ceiling, “to here,” he jabbed his finger at the floor.
“No one wants me. I’m tainted goods, babe.
They say I should do some reality stuff to boost my profile in a year or so.
Let things cool down for bit first.” His nostrils flared.
“No way.” The smile returned. “I’m answering a spiritual calling. You’ll see. Everyone will see.”
Fuck. This was bad. “What calling?”
“If you stay, you’ll have ringside seats to the action. And you’ll have the best life. I’ll give you everything you’ve ever dreamed of.”
Oh, I wouldn’t be staying here any longer than necessary. My ex was unhinged, wounded by his firing, and all my temptation had been tossed into an incinerator.
But one more question. “How are you a were-creature and a witch?”
He chuckled. “Because I made it possible.”
My anxiety did the Tango. “Care to tell me how?”
He looked up at the ceiling. “Don’t leave me.
I want you with me on this.” Eyes back to me.
“Unless you want to do things the hard way. You always liked things hard, didn’t you?
Fucked me hard, whipped me hard. Just how I liked it.
” His flesh began to ripple, his eyes widening along with his grin.
Fangs burst form his gums as his mouth spread, flesh tearing bloodlessly, his head changing shape.
Oh. Fuck.
He fell onto his hands and knees, crying out in pain, clothes tearing open, his entire body shifting and growing, fur bursting from his skin.
Time to go.
I launched myself off the bed, feeding off a surge in adrenaline. I expected to find the door locked, but it came open.
“Don’t go!” Tony cried, his voice distorted. “Don’t go!”
My heart felt like a gong on drugs. I barreled into a dimly lit hallway of more peeling wallpaper and windows so filthy they kept the outside at bay.
I hurried across the bare floorboards, passing closed doors, reaching a stairway and a bolted front door.
“Isaac!” Tony wailed, voice filled with agony. “Come back! Come back! Come back!” His screams practically shook the house.
Terrified out of my fucking mind, my powers still on lockdown, I slid the bolt away and yanked the door open, sprinting into the rain.
I ran through an overgrown garden, surrounded by darkness aside from lampposts beyond the hedge lining a quiet street.
From what I could make out, there were no other houses around.
Where was I? And did I go left or right?
“Isaac!” Tony roared as a series of crashes came from the house.
I glanced over my shoulder, already soaked to the skin. Most of the house was hidden by the night, only hints of its dilapidated state on show.
Like I gave a fuck. I went left, picking up my pace, thankful to still be wearing my shoes.
Okay. The plan was to get home, spill the details to my people, figure it all out, and come back here to kick Tony’s ass from here to outer space.
If only.
I tried my powers again and again, getting nowhere.
What had he done to me?
Gathering speed, I ran around a corner, trapped between high hedges, no other buildings in sight. When I reached the last lamppost, I faced the thick darkness of the road ahead.
What now? Make a run for it and hope for a passing car or another house to be tucked away somewhere up ahead?
Better yet, hope hard for Drake to locate me.
When he can.
That hag knew too much and spoke in too many riddles. She’d be joining my ex in outer space, too.
The wind whistled behind me, a shiver vibrating up and down my spine.
There was no sign of Tony, and no more screaming.
But I felt like I was being watched, stalked in the night with nothing to fight back with at my disposal.
Being capable of throwing punches and delivering kicks wouldn’t be enough to combat whatever creature he’d turned into.
He’d have a tooth and claw advantage to start with.
I swallowed more fear, forcing my feet to carry me forward. The road would have to do until I found civilization or a telephone.
Come on, Drake!
Movement sounded behind me. I spun to face it, braced to fight.
Nothing there.
I pushed my wet hair off my forehead, nothing more than a trembling autumn leaf all by myself on my tree’s branch. Weak, vulnerable, cold as fuck, staring down the barrel of the end.
Hecate give me the strength to rip Tony’s head off…
A rustling to my left, followed by a growl.
Nope!
I broke into a run, the rustling getting louder along with the pounding of my heart in my ears.
Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.
I heard the padding sound of an animal at full speed too late, its bite connecting with my backside before I could react.
I let out a wail from the hot sting of pain, falling forward onto my hands and knees. The asphalt scraped my skin, and I struggled to get up again, slipping as the creature darted past me.
A growl, a silhouette in the dark with eyes a blazing orange, casting faint light over the face of what I discerned was a big cat of some kind.
Were those the markings of a leopard around his eyes?
Darn it! My kingdom for a flashlight!
I backed off, jumped to my feet, and ran back the way I’d come, getting myself back into the light of a lamppost.
What the fuck am I doing?
The creature shot past me, turning to bare its vicious rows of teeth.
Yes. Definitely a leopard, its golden fur soaked, its expression hungry.
“Tony…” I said, holding my bleeding hands in the air. “I… I…”
A figure crashed through a hedge and fired a gun, the sound of the crack like a firework exploding in my skull.
“Get away from him!” a man bellowed.
With my hands over my ears, I saw him cock the shotgun, aiming it at the hissing Tony.
Daniel Croft.
Daniel Croft in a long black raincoat.
“D-Dad?” I whispered.