Beast thought, Teach males cat lesson?
I don’t know. What do you have in mind? Jane-thought sounded suspicious.
Beast is alpha. Beast will teach cat lesson. Beast held Jane down, pricking Jane thoughts with claws. Padded to kitchen. To cold-place, what Eli called com-mer-cial fridge. Slid paw under handle and pulled. Door opened.
Do not, Jane warned.
Beast chuffed.
Back door opened. Beast whirled, holding cold-place door open with haunch. Snarled at door.
Koun stood in open door. Cool hunting air blew in. Koun was good-smelling vampire. Smelled of woods and winter wind. Had strange pelt-skin, pale and black and blue, what Jane called Celtic tattoos. Was most beautiful vampire with much magic. Strong magic danced from him across Beast pelt like sleet in air.
“And what are you doing, little cat?”
Beast chuffed, showing killing-teeth. Am not little cat. Am Big-Cat.
“Are you going to wreak havoc and release the hounds of war?”
Jane tried to speak to Beast. Beast shoved harder with claws. Jane made mouse squeak of pain. Beast turned back to cold-place and sniffed raw cow meat inside plastic. Grabbed meat and pulled onto floor. Landed with thud. Beast pulled meat to middle of kitchen, dragging same way Beast pulled dead deer. Cold-place door closed.
Beast stared at Koun, holding Koun in place with hunter-killer eyes. Ripped plastic with killing teeth. Water-blood spilled everywhere.
Koun chuckled softly, his magic tickling across Beast pelt. “You are making a mess on purpose, aren’t you? You are angry with . . . Ahhh. They went vampire hunting without you. And they didn’t even tell you.”
Beast growled low, showed killing teeth again, eyes still on Koun. Sat with cow meat between claws. Ripped cover off meat and spat to floor. Tore meat off. Ate. Swallowed. Ate chunks. Water-blood ran across floor.
“So, the kitchen is a lesson for Eli. What are you going to do to George? Hack up a hairball onto his pillow?”
Beast chuffed. Ate more meat. Belly was full. Dead cow meat was gone.
“Tell me, Vengeful Cat. Would you like to join the vampire hunters? The Chief Strategist of Clan Yellowrock would be happy to follow you into battle.”
Beast ear tabs perked high. Venge-ful Cat. Was good name. Beast nodded as human does.
“Do you go in cat form, or do you shift into Jane?”
Most vampires and humans in Winter Court of the Dark Queen did not know the I/we of Beast was not always Jane. Most did not know how to talk to not-human-forms. Koun knew how to talk but did not always act with knowledge. Koun asked two questions at one time. Could only ask one. Beast waited. Stared at Koun.
Koun pursed lips, thinking. “Do you hunt vampires in cat form?”
Beast licked paws and muzzle free of blood, rough tongue getting all blood and meat-bits from paws and toes and off pelt. Shook head no.
“Shift then. I’ll weapon up.” Koun turned and left kitchen, closing door softly.
Beast looked at office area. Met Brute eyes, blue as sun on ice. Brute shook head and went back to big mattress in office corner. Turned three times and curled into ball with lizard. Beast raced up stairs and into sleeping room. Went to place where Bruiser kept clothes. Nosed open door. Found Bruiser best shoes for dancing. Carried one to empty room and hid in empty closet. Could bite holes in dead-cow-skin-shoes with killing teeth, but did not want to make Bruiser sigh. Hiding shoe was enough. Chuffed. Padded back to bedroom, to bathroom, and leaped into place where humans lay in hot water. Was cold on Beast belly. Took claws off of Jane.
What the heck are you doing? Jane shouted at Beast.
Beast reached into Jane skinwalker magics and thought about Jane half-form. Did not know what would happen when shifted. Did not know what form I/we would be. Most of Jane people did not know of Jane shifting problems. Some knew secret. Beast liked secrets. All cats liked secrets.
Silver mist rose, shot through with dark motes of skinwalker power. Let muscles go limp on cold white tub. Pelt shivered hard as magics rose. Pain quivered through Beast. Painpainpain . . .
* * *
* * *
I don’t cuss out loud. Mostly never. But if anything in life deserved cussing, shifting deserved cussing. There were times when shifting was painless, but it didn’t happen often. I figured that was because I learned to shift by trial and error instead of over years with a teacher. This time the pain was so bad that when the shift ended, my lungs were stuck in the exhale position.
Panic clawed at me, and I fought through the pain, forcing my lungs to expand. Air whooshed in with a sucking judder. I gasped in several breaths.
“Dang cat,” I wheezed. “This tub is freaking cold!”
Inside me, Beast whistled with laughter. Which was a new sound. I had a feeling it portended nothing but trouble.
I reached a hand to the tub’s edge and saw my knobby knuckles. I was in half-form. Which was pretty brilliant, actually. I could stay in half-form longer than human. My belly gripped my insides in hungry claws and growled. I patted it. “Gimme a minute,” I said to it.
I pulled myself out of the tub and into our room, closing the bedroom door. Bruiser and I had this wing to ourselves most of the time, but I was fairly prudish. Nudity was not one of my comfort zones.
I opened my closet and turned on the light. Smart lights had been an option, but if we wanted to move around in the dark, with bad guys outside, then smart lights were stupid. The bright lights illuminated the mirror and the hanging rack for my brand-new armored leather. Seven sets, four in different shades of matte black, and three sets in colors. There was more armor in New Orleans, with and without leather exteriors; I had an extensive armor wardrobe. I chose a charcoal camo set. The moon was nearly full, making pure black foolish.
I held the armor up in front of me and studied myself in the cheval mirror. I never turned out the same way twice when I shifted into half-form. This time I was a six-foot-tall monster with human-looking amber eyes, furred cat ears placed high on my head, a half-human / half-cat nose on a cat snout, extralong canines, and my black hair to my waist. I had a mixture of skin and pelt on my face, human boobs with skin, pelt down my back, thighs, lower belly, and legs. I’d never win a beauty contest, not even in a cat show. I grinned at my reflection, and I was horrible to look at. Yeah. I was enough to make even a vamp pause in fear. I was the shapeshifting, skinwalker, Dark Queen of the Mithrans.
I dressed fast and pulled on the special boots that expanded to the sides to fit both human and half-form paws. I strapped on the Benelli spine harness, a double-thigh holster rig in case I shifted back to human and needed the nine-mils, and slid my blades into the blade sheathes. I debated on the sword, but I still sucked at swordplay, even with the last six months of practice. I braided my hair and twisted it into a sloppy bun. If an enemy got close enough to grab my hair, I was already dead. Into a pocket, I stuffed the Glob, a magical thingamabob that sometimes did things to protect me. I was scary and armed to the teeth. Literally. I snarled, seeing my fangs. I was at war, and I needed every weapon I had.