The Shifter's Choice (7 page)

She wanted to. She hated the cages and the needles and the smell of this place. Fear roiled in her stomach. She couldn’t look at the cages without breaking into a sweat. Johnny noticed and grasped her elbow, giving it a squeeze. His brows lifted as he stared.

“I’m all right. This place...bad memories,” she whispered. She wondered if the dogs were in the dark as she had been. She was trembling now, but she lifted her chin and met the doctor’s gaze. It was his smile that tipped the scales. He expected her to run. She blew out a breath, still feeling nauseated.

“I’ll stay.” She spoke with a determination that she did not feel. She inched closer to Johnny who wrapped an arm about her.

She glanced at the captain who was staring at her with a strange look on his face. Zharov lifted a metal stick that had a short needle in the tip. He approached the were-dog’s cage and opened the door. The dog lunged. Zharov was fast and efficient making a quick thrust with the pole which the dog immediately bit onto. Then he jabbed forward. Blood and saliva foamed from the creature’s mouth. The animal fell back and went slack. The foaming got worse and the creature began to writhe and shake. The movements became less organized and grew into full-fledged convulsions. Sonia covered her mouth to stifle a cry.

“I warned you,” said Zharov.

The creature went slack.

“Is it dead?” she whispered.

“No. Transition phase,” said Zharov.

The dog now began to twitch as if in the throws of some bad dream, but its eyes had rolled back in its head showing white bloodshot balls. The fur began to change with the size of the dog. It was shrinking before her eyes, deflating like a helium balloon. The claws retracted. The teeth drew back into the pink gums. Johnny stepped forward, peering at the dog that now seemed just an ordinary brown mutt. The whimpering started next and the sound broke Sonia’s heart. The creature was obviously suffering. Johnny leaned so close he nearly pressed his head to the bars of the cage.

“Careful, Johnny,” Sonia whispered.

Johnny reached in and touched its foot. The dog startled and its eyes popped open. It struggled to its feet and wobbled as it turned to bring its face near Johnny’s.

“Step back,” ordered Zharov.

The dog licked Johnny’s face. Johnny reached a claw between the bars and scratched behind the dog’s ears. He turned to MacConnelly, signing fast. The captain looked to her. What’s he saying?

“He says, ‘Now. Give me, now. Shot. Now.’”

Zharov threw up his hands and turned to the major. “I told you. What did you expect him to say?”

The commander stepped forward. “No, son. Not today. But soon. Mac here thought you should know how close we are, that all of us are working to bring you back. But we need a little more time. Can you give us that?”

Sonia held her breath. Did they know? Did they all know about that gun in his medicine cabinet?

All eyes turned to Johnny. His shoulders slumped and he signed to her.

“How long?” she repeated.

“I estimate a month,” said Zharov. “Transformation is still unstable. I have variables to control, dosage amount to calculate. Too little and there is no effect. But too much damages the—”

“That’s enough, Doc,” said MacConnelly.

The doctor nodded. Damages the what? Sonia wondered. The nervous system? The brain? The heart? The possibilities were endless and each carried a different horror. Her stomach churned and she glanced to Johnny. But he did not seem to hear.

Johnny pointed to the other doors.

“Seven has remained transformed for three weeks,” Zharov pointed to the next door as he continued speaking. “Six for four weeks and so forth.”

Ten weeks of experiments, she realized.

Johnny stepped past him and pressed all the buttons.

“No,” said Zharov.

“Johnny, wait,” said MacConnelly.

But it was too late, the doors whooshed open. Number seven stood and stretched as the neighboring doors opened. But her attention passed over to the reclining creature in cage number six. The animal seemed to be barely breathing and blood leaked from his ears, nose and mouth. The rest of the cages were empty. A shiver went down her spine. Where were the dogs from weeks one to five?

“Damn it,” said Zharov.

“Cover them!” ordered Scofield.

Mac scrambled to close the panel. All the doors swept down, dropping with the finality of a guillotine.

“Zharov, my office.” Scofield stormed away with the good doctor trailing past.

Johnny stared at the closed stainless-steel doors and then he looked at his captain.

“We’ll figure it out, Johnny. We’re close now. You have to believe me.”

Johnny growled and lifted the steel table cleanly from the floor as easily as she might lift an aluminum folding chair. Then he threw it with such violence that it sailed across the room, crashing through the glass panels. He turned to cast one look at Captain MacConnelly before bounding out through the gaping hole he’d created and pushed open the door without using the knob. The panel sprang from its position taking part of the frame along with it. And then he was gone.

Sonia turned to her commanding officer. She wanted to shout at him for his stupidity but instead she did what was best for Johnny.

“Captain,” Sonia said. He turned to her and she spilled her secret, about the drain cleaner and the gun. The captain’s expression darkened and he nodded grimly.

“I’ve been seeing the signs. That’s why we brought you in. Hoping a female could reach him.” He dragged a hand over his cheek. “What a mess.”

They stared at the wreckage Johnny had left.

The captain’s voice was quiet now. “He won’t even talk to me anymore. Does he talk to you?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Go after him. You know the trail to his place?”

She nodded.

“Get a radio from security before you leave and call me on channel four if you find him. I’ll follow in the Jeep.”

“Yes, sir.” Sonia hurried from the facility, stopping only to collect a new radio which she latched to her belt. Then she set off up the hill along the trail she knew. She pushed herself to hurry, praying that Johnny did not do anything to hurt himself.

Chapter 6

B
y the time Sonia made it up the hill in the damp, humid air of midday, she was slick with sweat and puffing like a steam engine. At the first turnoff she headed to the right, thinking Johnny might have gone to the swimming lagoon to cool off. But she had miscalculated and instead of breaking out onto the large green grotto and the shimmering cascade of silvery water, she stumbled into the private yard of Captain MacConnelly and his vampire wife.

She staggered off the trail and found the woman in question on her mobile phone on the bridge that spanned the stream. Sonia now realized that the stream was the runoff from the swimming area that lay between the two homes. Brianna’s gaze went to Sonia like a heat-seeking missile and Sonia heard her say, “She’s here.”

Sonia stilled as that prickling warning lifted the hairs on her neck. She started to back out of the yard as Brianna held up a hand to stop her. Sonia disregarded this and retreated to cover. When she turned to run she found that the captain’s wife stood on the path before her.

“Johnny told you about me, then.” Brianna regarded Sonia with a furrowed brow and a tight expression. Was that grief shimmering in her leaf-green eyes?

Sonia felt a trickle of remorse that she didn’t understand.

“I can see it in your eyes. Well, better that you know, I suppose.”

Sonia swallowed hard as her gaze flicked to the trail and her escape and then back to meet Brianna’s open stare.

Sonia’s skin prickled a warning, but she remained still, suddenly unwilling to run. She couldn’t out distance a vampire, that much was certain. Sonia had forgotten how beautiful this woman was. And now, at close range she could see the pure opal radiance of her skin and the sparkling clarity of her eyes. She’d pulled her fiery red hair back into a ponytail. The casual style only served to better reveal the perfect structure of her high cheekbones and heart-shaped face. Her lips were lush and full. Sonia stepped nearer.

“Close enough,” said Brianna.

Sonia jolted to a stop having just realized she was creeping forward as one does with some beautiful wild animal they do not want to frighten but are desperate to touch.

“You’re Sonia Touma, Johnny’s teacher.”

Sonia nodded, thinking Brianna’s voice perfect for speaking. She should be on television or the radio.

“I’m Brianna. They told you I don’t leave the house. That I don’t like company.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“A lie to protect humans, like you. I do like company and I work with humans, but for their safety my only contact with them is electronic.”

Sonia began to wonder if Brianna was really that pretty or if this attraction was one of her powers. Sonia stared at the slight flush on Brianna’s cheeks and took another step in her direction.

Brianna backed away. “You’re doing it again.”

Sonia stopped. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize.

“Happens all the time.” She lifted the phone. “Travis just called. Asked me to search the mountain. Please wait here. I’ll be right back.”

That made no sense. It would take hours to search the mountain. Sonia opened her mouth to say so and Brianna disappeared right before her eyes. One moment she was there and the next, gone.

Sonia turned a complete circle and found no sign of her. Finally she lifted the radio and called her commanding officer. When Captain MacConnelly picked up she explained that someone named Travis had called his wife and that she had vanished.

“I’m Travis.”

Of course he was. His real name wasn’t Mac MacConnelly, she realized.

“Permission to continue to Sergeant Lam’s quarters.”

“No. She would have searched there by now. Just wait. Out.” The radio when dead and she returned it to her belt.

Wait. Where? Should she go in and fix a sandwich or sit in the inviting hammock? Sonia crossed the bridge and had just set foot onto the grass on the opposite bank when Brianna MacConnelly reappeared.

Sonia clutched her heart and the bridge rail simultaneously. “Holy Mother of God!”

Brianna smiled. “Yeah, I get that from Travis, too. It’s jarring.”

“How do you disappear?”

“I don’t. I just move too fast for you to see. So I found Johnny. He’s at his place. He’s upset. I asked him if he wanted me to stay with him. He said he wanted you.”

Sonia felt that attraction for this woman stir again, the insistent pull to move closer. This time she resisted and it faded like smoke.

“He listened to me and nodded when I said you were on the way. He was signing but I can’t read sign, only the alphabet. Maybe you should teach me and Travis, too. Especially if they can’t change him back.”

The realization struck Sonia so hard she jolted. Brianna stopped speaking and stared with concern. Of course! That’s why Johnny didn’t want to learn sign language. Learning sign was an admission that he wasn’t turning back.

“It was so obvious,” she muttered.

“What was?”

“If he learns sign, he won’t turn back.

Brianna shook her head. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Yes, it does, because Lam only needs sign if he’s a werewolf. His captain’s insistence that he learn must have seemed like an admission that they can’t help him. But he’s stubborn. He’s not giving up even if everyone else is, so that’s why he has been so determined not to learn.”

Brianna nodded. “Mac should have figured that out.”

Sonia thought of the way the captain looked at Johnny when Johnny wasn’t looking back. It was an expression riddled with such guilt it made Sonia wince just recalling it. “Why is the captain so pushy about this?”

Brianna drew a long breath and then released it, turning on the bridge to stare at the water flowing below them. “Is that how he comes across?”

Sonia didn’t answer as she watched this vampire sweep a strand of copper-red hair from her pale face.

“They’re alike, you know?” said Brianna.

“Alike?” Her earlier assumption regarding her captain returned to Sonia and she hugged herself and hunched bracing for Brianna’s next words. Confirmation was quick.

“They are both werewolves.”

Sonia shook her head, denying what her gut told her was true.

Brianna waited until Sonia met her gaze before continuing. “The thing that attacked Johnny also attacked my husband. At the same time. It bit him, too. He still has the scars.” She made a circular sweep about her own shoulder and chest. “After that he began changing into the same thing that Johnny became, only his fur is gray like a timber wolf’s. Oh, and his eyes are blue, not yellow.”

“He’s changing into a werewolf, too?”

“He
is
a werewolf. That’s why he can be near me without suffering harm. He’s no longer human. But Mac can change shape at will. All werewolves can, except Johnny.”

“There are more of them?”

“Many. But none here. Just the two of them. The others work with various government agencies. Make perfect body guards as they are the only ones that can stop vampire assassins.”

“Vampire what?”

Brianna blew out a breath. “Assassins. I thought you should know. I don’t have security clearance to tell you things like the others, but you are up on this hillside and that means you’re in danger, too.”

“From Lam and your husband?”

“Not from them.”

“They’re after you? Male vampires?”

“Yes. They’re called chasers. They capture the females. Usually they know where to find them as the males are required to register any sexual encounter with human females that don’t result in a human’s death. But I’m unusual even by vampire standards.”

“Why do they want you?”

“They train their females as killers, too, though a different kind entirely. They’re all mercenaries, hiring to the highest bidder. A female’s kills are undetectable since the energy draw shows up as a stroke or heart attack. Sleeping with me is deadly, unless you’re a werewolf.”

Sonia found herself backing away.

“I know it’s terrible. Unlike the males, we are hard to spot. They are ugly as vampire bats. But we have some vulnerabilities. Werewolves for one. Wounds inflicted by shifters don’t heal. Neither do injuries caused by anything iron until the metal is removed. Then we regenerate zip-zap. I think that’s where the folklore about stakes and crosses started. Really what you need is an iron stake, like a section of rebar.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because they’re hunting me and they feed on human blood.”

“Do you drink blood?”

“I’m a vegetarian.”

“But you feed on energy.”

“Not exactly. I don’t need it. The draw is involuntary on my part. Just happens, like, uh...” She wiggled her fingers and glanced skyward as if searching for something. “Like oxygen. You don’t intentionally draw it from the air. You just do. Same with me and a person’s life force.”

“That’s terrible.”

Brianna’s smile faded. “Yes. It
is
terrible.”

Sonia wondered why Johnny wanted to keep her alive? Then her earlier thought returned to her.

“So Johnny’s up here to protect you?”

“No. That’s my husband’s job.”

“Then why doesn’t Johnny live down below with the rest of us?”

“He prefers it here on the hill.”

Sonia admitted she did, as well.

“Johnny’s mission is to keep fighting until they can get him to shift back voluntarily. Then he can have a more normal life, visit his family and...” She looked away.

“His son?”

“Johnny would like that. But he can’t.”

“They’ll make him into a bodyguard?”

“Assign him, yes. He wants that. It’s a prestigious post. Protecting the president or other vital American targets. He told me he’d be honored. And I know he hates vampires. It’s instinctive.”

“All vampires?”

“Yes, well, initially. He’s made me an exception, thankfully. Now you’d best go check on Johnny.”

Sonia was about to agree, but Brianna disappeared.

* * *

Sonia reached Johnny’s home a little after twelve-hundred, hot, thirsty and worried. Upon entering the clearing about his home, the first thing she noticed was one of the patio chairs lodged in the top of a palm tree at the side of the yard. The second thing was the eerie silence.

“Johnny?” she called but received no answer. Brianna’s earlier assurance did not relieve the tiny heartbeat of panic in her throat so she crossed the yard at a run. Her mind filled with terrible images of a pistol placed in Johnny’s mouth and liquid drain cleaner eating away the lining of his stomach. She hit a dead run as she charged up the porch stairs.

She heaved open the front door and stumbled in to find Johnny in the kitchen lifting a glass to his lips. Sonia charged across the room and slapped the glass from his hand. The plastic tumbler bounced as clear fluid splashed over the wide boards of his kitchen.

He lifted both his palms up with a clear question on his face.

“What is that?”

He reached for the faucet over the sink and turned the stream on and then off.

Water, she realized. Sonia grabbed the counter and dropped her forehead to her hand. “I’m sorry. I thought... I thought...” She turned her head and stared up at him. “It was horrible, wasn’t it?”

He nodded.

She told herself not to, but somehow she needed his touch. Sonia stepped forward arms extended and he opened for her, gathering her up and rocking her as she clung tight. She started talking, babbling about the dogs and the empty cages. But how they were making progress. They needed more time. Johnny held her close and rubbed her back.

A voice came from the open door. “Johnny!”

Sonia sprang from Johnny’s arms as if pulled by a bungee and snapped a salute. They both turned to see the captain standing in the door.

“Oh.” His eyes swept from her to Johnny and back to her again. He returned Sonia’s salute. “At ease, Touma. You both all right?”

“Yes. That is, I think so.” She deferred to Johnny.

The captain came forward. “I had no idea those dogs were dying. But Zharov says that it has something to do with their anatomy which is different than a man’s. I don’t know.” He rubbed his neck. “Anyway, we’re close. Really close. You have to hang in there, buddy.”

Johnny nodded.

“I’ll stop back if I have more information.” The captain turned to her. “You’re staying awhile?”

She wasn’t sure if it was an order or a suggestion but she nodded. “Yes.”

“I’ll tell them not to expect you. Call for a pickup if you need one.”

If?

Sonia’s brow furrowed. It wasn’t an order, but she got the impression the captain didn’t want Johnny left alone. “I’m heading out.” He thumbed over his shoulder and backed from the room as if it might be rigged with trip wires. Seeing him flustered made him seem more human to Sonia which was ironic because now she knew that he wasn’t human at all.

Did it hurt to change forms?

Johnny lifted a finger to her and then followed the captain, snatching the whiteboard from the counter as he went. He was gone long enough for Sonia to realize she had been hugging Johnny and the captain had seen them. She felt sick to her stomach wondering what would happen next. A reprimand at least. She was blowing it again. She felt it—getting too personal. Sonia looked to the back door and wondered if she should just leave. Johnny seemed all right. But what if he wasn’t?

Sonia grabbed a roll of paper towels from under the sink and began sopping up the spill. The door opened and closed. Sonia hoped Johnny was alone. She heard his huffing sound and realized he could not see her behind the counter.

“In here.”

A moment later he was squatting before her, dish towel in hand, helping her clean up.

“Is he gone?”

Johnny confirmed that with the sign for yes, rather than a nod.

“Am I in trouble?”

Why?

“He caught me hugging you.”

No trouble. More lab tomorrow at noon.

“Both of us?”

Yes.

She was squatting there before him when she spilled her other worry.

“I met her.”

Johnny fixed Sonia with his steady gaze and nodded. Had Brianna told him, then?

“She told me about the chasers. Johnny, do you think the captain is trying to help you or keep you like this as a watchdog for his wife?”