Twice Dead

I stumbled back. I could feel the poison, cold, a creeping deadness. “Nathanial!”

As if to combat the seeping cold of the poison, heat boiled out of my center. A spreading, growing, skin-tightening heat.

Nathanial landed beside me, wrapped me in his arms. “I have you.”

He pulled me tighter to him, but the heat in my body kept expanding. It jittered through my muscles, sparked through my flesh. Pain shot down my back, and the skin over my spine tore open.

My skin was slipping.

Chapter Thirty-Four

“Let go.” I shoved at Nathanial, but his arms only tightened around me.

“Kita?” Bobby crept toward me, his eyes wide.

He can feel the energy pouring off me.

I shook my head. “Her, get her.”

I pointed where Elizabeth had been. I could barely see anymore. Pain radiated through my body, some the poison, some the change. My gown vanished, my clothes always disappeared when I shifted. It’s really going to happen. But Nathanial couldn’t be touching me as I shifted.

He jerked as his hands touched my suddenly bare skin—skin that was ripping away, trying to reverse itself. When I shoved him again, he let go, and I backpedaled. I stumbled over something and hit the ground with a thud. Whatever I tripped on tangled in my legs. A body. No, not a body. It moved. And it was covered in fur.

Steven.

I couldn’t move. Couldn’t push away. It was too late. My skin slipped off as my muscles rearranged. My joints popped.

A yelp tore from my throat. It was matched by a howl—a howl that morphed into a hoarse human scream.

My shift is forcing Steven to shift.

It was the last thought I had. Then I passed into the moment of the shift when I had no hearing, no vision, no thought. Just pain.

Then it was over.

My skin sealed around me, and my dress reappeared. I looked down. I was in human form again. I hadn’t changed.

Well, my claws are gone, but… I hadn’t become my other form, a calico cat, and I hadn’t even reached mid-form. There was no shift.

But there was also no poison in me anymore. I could smell it on the stone, but my non-shift had purged it from my body.

I pushed off the floor, detangling my legs from Steven’s as I moved. He was in fully human form as well. My shift had carried his along, pulled his wolf body apart and reconstructed it in seconds, and he was left naked and healed from his encounter with the silver. Well, his body is healed, at least.

Once I stood, he hugged his legs to his chest and curled into a ball. His eyes squeezed shut, but tears slipped through them anyway. Chunks of the vamps Steven had shredded surrounded us. Blood soaked into my dress and Steven’s hair.

Soft, pained sounds escaped him—pain that had nothing to do with his body.

I turned away. I couldn’t deal with him yet.

Friend and foe alike stared at me like I’d just sprung a second head—or rearranged my body. I focused on Elizabeth.

“You wasted one of my nine lives,” I smiled. “My turn. How many lives do you have?”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened until her pale-blue irises swam in a sea of white. Not that I knew how I’d back up my threat. My claws were gone, and I was shivering. Not just cold-shivering, but starving shivering—slipping my skin had taken a lot out of me.

“Aaric, travel to us,” Nathanial called, his voice echoing in the room.

The giant’s scentless form stepped into the space in front of Nathanial.

“Did you call, Hermit?” he asked before he was completely solid. Then he looked around, his large jaw dropping. “What is this? What happened?” His body went stiff, his gaze freezing.

“No. Marina?”

I twisted, following his line of sight straight to the Collector’s head. Marina.

The Traveler rounded on Nathanial, his large fists clenching. “What happened?”

“Your companion happened.” Nathanial nodded to Elizabeth.

She startled and blinked at the Traveler before vigorously shaking her head. “No. No, Aaric. He lies. Look for yourself.”

She extended her arm and seemed to realize too late she still clutched the dagger.

“That’s the Collector’s blood,” I said. “On her dress, too.”

Elizabeth dropped the dagger, and it clattered to the floor.

“No. I… I…” Her lips pursed. Then she dropped her hands.

“It’s true. But I did it for you. All for you. You’re free of her now. We all are.”

The Traveler looked around the room, his eyes pinching as his gaze trailed over the blood, the twisted bodies. He turned back to Elizabeth.

“My companion,” he whispered. He held out his arms, and she rushed to him. His hands moved to her face, and his fingers stroked her cheeks. “My lovely, gentle companion.”

He kissed her lips, a tender kiss, and I looked away. Is that it? She’s a hero now? My stomach twisted.

A blur of movement caught in my peripheral vision. My gaze shot up as the sound of bones snapping filled the room.

The Traveler still had his hands on either side of Elizabeth’s face, and he twisted until her head ripped from her shoulders.

He caught her body before it hit the ground. He lowered her slowly, a tear slipping from the corner of his eye. Pressing a kiss to her forehead, he placed her head above her shoulders, as if her neck were still connected.

She was beautiful in death. A small porcelain doll covered in blood. A broken, deadly doll.

He knelt beside her, staring at her still body. I backed away, my feet moving without thought. My arm brushed Nathanial’s, and his hand locked around mine, his fingers gripping mine. But he didn’t say anything. None of us said anything.

The Traveler straightened.

“This is an ill-fated place of death and darkness.” The Traveler looked away as if he gazed at something the rest of us couldn’t see. Then he turned to Nathanial again. “Take no offense, Hermit, but I hope to never see you again.” He faded from the room.

“That’s it?” I asked, knowing it wasn’t. We were surrounded by blood. By bodies. Even if we left now, I’d have new nightmares, and these wouldn’t belong to the rogues I’d created.

Speaking of… I turned to Steven. He was still curled in a ball in the gore. Small, mewling sounds fell from his mouth.

“He’s gone,” Bobby whispered, the words distorted through his half-cat mouth.

Bobby was right. I knew he was, but I still crept closer and knelt beside the curled man.

“Steven?”

He didn’t respond. I reached out and laid a tentative hand on his shoulder. He rolled from my touch, and then sprang into motion, lunging forward to tackle me. I hadn’t expected the move, and I slammed backward, my shoulders and head hitting the floor.

Steven straddled my chest. His hands locked around my throat, strangling out air I didn’t need.

“See what you made me do?” he yelled, squeezing tighter.

“See!”

His flat nails dug into my neck. Then they were ripped away, his weight lifting off me. Nathanial held the struggling shifter by his throat.

“Put him down. He can’t breathe.” My voice was hoarse after the abuse to my throat, but the words came out clear enough.

Nathanial’s eyes flickered to me. He lowered Steven, but he didn’t release him. The shifter whined, a sob ripping through his chest. His eyes squeezed shut. “Please. Please just make the nightmare stop. Kill me. Don’t make me do that again.”

“Kita, you heard him,” Bobby whispered. “I’m your second. I will do it, if you can’t.”

I shook my head. I’d tagged Steven, he was my responsibility. Besides, Bobby and I were all the clan Steven had known, and I was his surrogate Torin.

What would my father do if a tagged shifter begged for death?

He’d grant it. Especially if the shifter were as unstable as Steven. Hell, my father would never have hesitated. He knew a Torin’s responsibility to every shifter in his clan. Steven was a danger to himself and everyone around him. My father would have already found a way to quickly and humanely end his suffering.

I pressed my lips together and took a deep breath. Let it out. “I’ll do it.”

I stepped forward, and then stopped. An idea bubbled at the edge of my mind. An idea I hated, but… “Steven, what do you want done with your body?”

The shifter rolled his eyes to look at me. “Bury it, burn it, leave it to rot. The hell would I care? I’ll be dead.”

I nodded and untied the small pouch on my necklace containing Avin’s ring. My hand went numb as soon as I slid the ring on, but I ignored the pain. Nathanial stepped forward, but I shook my head. “Trust me.” Then I called, “Avin.”

Magic chilled the air, and Avin popped into the room. He looked around, torn eyebrow lifting. “Babe, this better not be a double-cross.” The bauble of my blood appeared in his hand.

I pointed at Steven. “Will this body do?”

Avin stepped closer. He nodded. “Yeah, I like the look. Let me cast my circle and prepare.”

Avin walked the room, chanting and stepping over scattered bodies. Samantha started to interrupt, but Nathanial stopped her with a raised hand. He was watching me, his eyes measuring.

When Avin indicated it was time, Nathanial released the city-shifter and backed out of the circle, but only as far as Avin made him. He hovered around the edge, ready to burst in if anything went wrong. Bobby appeared to agree.

“Will this hurt?” Steven asked, shuffling his feet.

“No,” I whispered. Then I sank my fangs into his throat.

I needed the blood. I didn’t realize how very cold I was until the heat of his blood filled me. Then his mind opened and I fell into his memories. I experienced bits of his life as him, knowing all the while he’d never again remember the football tournament we won, the first girl we kissed, or how much we looked up to our older brother, Tyler. Once the blood flow slowed, the memories faded, and I was left holding an empty body.

I lowered Steven to the ground. Then I turned to Avin.