Once Bitten

I could feel Nathanial and Gil's stares boring into me, but looking down let me avoid meeting all but Bobby's gaze. He studied me, unable to voice anything in the conversation. The weak light from the streetlamp caught in his eyes, turning them into green, glowing orbs. I had the distinct impression he knew I was lying—they probably all did.

Without breaking eye contact, Bobby planted one his front paws on my tennis shoe. His claws extended, not enough to pierce the fabric, but enough to convey the fact he didn't plan to let me leave without him. He hadn't been conscious when the judge and I made our deal, but apparently he'd pieced together the details from the current conversation. I tried to nudge Bobby loose, but stopped as I felt the top of my shoe tearing—good sneakers were hard to come by. Of course, I might not have to worry about that too much longer. Okay, that's a morbidly depressing thought.

Well, a little help couldn't hurt. Cats can't actually grin; their facial structure wasn't made to, but when I stopped trying to shake him off, Bobby expressed his triumph with the angle of his eyes. I'd snatched him back from death's claws, so we might as well go down trying to find the rogue. Either way, we were demon food. Nathanial too, though I tried not to care. After all, he'd chosen to get involved, not to mention being responsible for whatever he'd done to me.

I ran my tongue over my teeth. They were flat again, the fangs retracted and hiding.

With the fangs gone, I could almost convince myself the last few hours hadn't happened. Except that Gil was standing across from me, her scroll in hand again, and Nathanial's cool grey eyes were watching me, waiting, not a movement betraying he was animate. Yesterday I would have claimed shifters were the only supernaturals. Tonight, I was apparently a vampire. Was I even alive anymore? Maybe I didn't need to worry about being executed by the judge. A cold shiver of panic crawled over my skin as I thought back to the demons. They wanted my soul, no matter what I'd become.

Tugging the front of my coat tighter around me, I met Nathanial's eyes. “How will you help?"

"Any way I can."

He smiled. I didn't.

That wasn't an answer, but then I doubted he knew what it took to hunt a rogue. Hell, I didn't know, either. But he was fast and strong, which might come in handy. And if he got in the way it would be easier to lose him later, when he didn't expect it.

I nodded at Nathanial and then down at Bobby. “Let's go."

"Wait!” Gil jolted forward like she would grab my shoulder, but her hand fell short of touching me. She shuffled from foot to foot, her gaze meeting mine and then flickering past my head. “I'll assist you, as well,” she finally muttered.

"I don't need a spy for the judge keeping tabs on me."

"Spy?” Her jaw dropped and she shook her head a little too vigorously. “I'm here to study, not spy, and I'll gather a lot more data working beside you than tailing you. Besides,” she said, glancing at her hands and tugging her sleeves again. “If my hypothesis is correct, the judge can find you anywhere. He doesn't need my help. Did he...” She peered at me, her gaze searching. “Did he mark you?"

"The only thing he did was hand down a death sentence."

Her eyes continued studying me. “He would have had to press it directly into your flesh."

Nathanial took a step forward, reaching for my waist. I stepped away. “Don't come near me."

Nathanial stopped, but didn't back off. He gestured toward my middle. “The judge touched your back. If he marked you, it would have been there. Turn around."

I glared at him, but he waited, his face patient. I glanced at Gil. The fear in her face had given way to excitement. How had I gotten tied up in being this chick's class project?

I turned reluctantly and dropped my coat in the snow. I expected the cold air to attack me, but the chill emanated from inside my skin; my lack of coat made little difference. As I lifted the back of my shirt, Nathanial sucked in his breath. At the same time, Bobby made an ugly hiss. Gil gave a delighted cry.

"Amazing! It's even more remarkable than I've heard. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone I saw it.” She clapped her hands together.

Straining to twist around, I learned it was impossible to look at my own back. That, of course, didn't stop me from trying. I explored my lower back with my fingers, but my skin felt as smooth and unchanged as ever.

"Stop that.” Nathanial brushed my hands away. “The mark is a group of snakes twisting around each other like a Celtic knot. Two swords bisect the mass of serpents. It is quite lovely. You could probably pass it off as a tattoo, if the snakes were not actively slithering around."

Spinning on my heel, I gaped at him. “You're kidding, right?"

He shook his head.

I turned to Gil. “What is this thing?"

"The judge's mark, of course.” She beamed at me. “I can hardly believe it. Marking is so rare. I'm working on my own but—"

"What does it do?"

"Oh, lots of things. The reason he gave it to you is so he doesn't have to be bothered with tracking you down again. Your existence is like a ghost in his mind now. All he has to do is follow that psychic track and find you. Of course, there are drawbacks. You mark someone and you tie a bit of your life to them. That's probably why I was told to be sure you don't die before he returns. That's how I guessed about the mark. I mean, why else would anyone care if a fugitive shifter died?"

I glared at her, but Nathanial spoke before I could. “And if she dies?"

She studied the plastic of her boots. “It would be inconvenient for the judge."

My glare deepened. “Wonderful, but my death would be a little more than a minor inconvenience to me. By the way, does this judge guy have a name?"

"Yes, but I wouldn't want to draw his attention by saying it. You know, I've read that he wiped out an entire race single-handedly in one of the great wars. Aside from the members of the High Assembly of Mages, he's one of the most powerful beings in Sabin's history."

I rubbed my forehead. Until tonight I'd only feared the hunters. If they'd have caught me, I would have been dragged back to Firth in chains and presented to the elders for punishment. Not pleasant, but the punishment for running stray in the human world wouldn't have lasted forever. I would have been returned to my clan eventually, and I would have survived. But no, I couldn't let myself get captured by hunters. Instead, I had to stumble into a city controlled by some kind of mage mob boss and get stamped with a death sentence. Brilliant.

"Fascinating, really. If he's so powerful, why does he need demons to kill me? Why can't he just do it himself?"

"Well...” She danced from one foot to the other. “I'm told he's trying to repair his karma, so he doesn't want to get his hands dirty by killing anyone else, even criminals.” Pulling at her coat sleeves, she mumbled, “Like working with demons will keep his karma all squeaky clean."

"Bobby almost died from the judge slamming him into the wall. The judge didn't seem too concerned about karma then."

Gil shrugged, not looking surprised to learn the judge had caused Bobby's injuries. She didn't even apologize for accusing me of hurting him.

I tossed up my hands. “Okay, fine, I'm stuck with you, so you can make sure I survive until he can removed the mark and execute me.” I looked at the awkward woman. What she could possibly do to help?

I reclaimed my coat from the snow and shook it hard before shrugging back into it. “Now can we go?"

"Go where?” Gil asked.

I didn't answer. Right now my only plan was to prowl the streets until I either found the rogue's scent or came up with a better plan.

"Before we do anything else, I need to take Kita to the vampiric council,” Nathanial said.

I shook my head. “Veto. I've had enough of vampires and weird creepies tonight."

"Kita, this is not a suggestion, it is a requirement."

"No way. You're supposed to help find the rogue, not boss me around."

"If the council finds you on the streets without their permission, they will kill you."

"They'll have to get in line.” I showed some teeth, and he started another warning about the council. I cut him off. “Any ideas that don't involve the supernatural underbelly of the city? Because I'm pretty sure the rogue isn't there. Should we talk with the human police? Find out what they know about the murders?"

Nathanial shook his head quickly, his eyes perhaps a little too wide for the calm look on his face. “I know someone in the loop with the police. I will contact him and see what information he can give us. You should not go near any police stations."

"The police won't have found usable evidence,” Gil said. “We had people go through and destroy any trace as soon as we found out about the crimes."

I raised my eyebrow. “Why?"

"That's part of our job."

"Your job is to help cover the tracks of murderers?"

"No, no. It's the job of my kind to hide the evidence of supernaturals from humans."

"Says who?"

Gil looked surprised. “Us, I guess. It's been our primary occupation for five hundred years. We are, after all, the most intelligent of the supernaturals. Someone has to clean up after your mess."

Bobby growled and I gaped at her. Only then did Gil's mouth snap shut like she'd thought about what she'd said.

She cleared her throat. “What's relevant is that the human authorities can't help us."

"Well, then what am I supposed to do? I'm no investigator, or hunter, or anything. I'm just a runaway who can't shift and has a brand new fixation with blood. I mean really, where do we even start? Are you sure there's nowhere I can hide from this judge guy? Some place out of range of this mark?"

"Nope, hiding won't do you any good, but I do know a place to start gathering information on the murderer.” Gil walked toward the mouth of the alley. “The last girl attacked, survived. She's at Saint Mary's hospital."