Night World : Witchlight Chapter 2

Theyd got ecstasy a dragon.Kellers centre was pounding.Somehow, virtu entirelyywhere, the people of the Night field had found nonpareil and awakened him. And theyd paid him-bribed him-to join their side. Keller didnt even neediness to imagine what the price might live with been. Bile rose in her throat, and she swallowed hard.Dragons were the oldest and about powerful of the shapeshifters, and the most evil. They had all gone to sleep thirty thousand years ago-or, rather, they had been put to sleep by the witches. Keller didnt set forth exactly how it had been done, but all the old legends said the world had been better off since.And now one was rachis.But he might not be fully awake yet. From the glimpse shed had, his ashes was calm down cold, not much heat radiating from it. Hed be sluggish, not mentally alert.It was the chance of a lifetime.Kellers finding was do in that instant. There was no time to think about it-and no need. The inhabitants of the Night World wante d to destroy the valet de chambre world. And at that place were plenty of them to do it, vampires and dark witches and ghouls. But this was someaffair in other league altogether. With a dragon on their side, the Night World would easily crush Circle forenoon and all other forces that wanted to save the humans from the end of the world that was coming. It would be no contest.And as for that little girl in there, Iliana the Witch Child, the Wild Power meant to help save humankind-she would get swatted desire a bug if she didnt obey the dragon.Keller couldnt let that happen. heretofore as Keller was thinking it, she was changing. It was strange to do it in a public place, in front of people. It went against all her most deeply ingrained training. But she didnt have time to dwell on that.It felt good. It always did. Painful in a nice way, care the feeling of having a tight bandage removed. A release.Her clay was changing. For a moment, she didnt feel ilk eachthing-she nigh ha d no body. She was fluid, a being of pure energy, with no more fixed form than a atomic number 48 flame. She was utterly free.And therefore her bring ups were pulling in, and her arms were becoming more sinewy. Her fingers were retracting, but in their place long, turn claws were extending. Her legs were twisting, the joints changing. And from the sensitive place at the end of her spine, the place that always felt unfinished when she was in human form, something long and flexible was springing. It lashed behind her with fierce joy.Her jumpsuit was gone. The reason was simple she wore only clothes made out of the hair of other shapeshifters. Even her boots were made of the hide of a dead shifter. Now both(prenominal) were being replaced by her own fur, thick black velvet with darker black rosettes. She felt complete and building block in it.Her arms-now her front legs-dropped to the ground, her paws hitting with a soft but heavy thump. Her face prickled with sensitivity there w ere long, slender whiskers extending from her cheeks. Her tufted ears twitched alertly.A rasping growl rose in her chest, severe to fly from her throat. She held it back-that was easy and instinctive. A jaguar was by nature the best stalker in the world.The next thing she did was instinctive, too. She took a moment to gauge the distance from herself to the black-haired son. She took a step or two forward, her shoulders low. And then she jumped.Swift. Supple. Silent. Her body was in motion. It was a high, bounding leap designed to take a victim without an instant of warning. She get on the dark boys back, clinging with razor claws.Her jaws clamped on the back of his neck. It was the way panthers killed, by biting through the spine. The boy yelled in rage and imposition, grabbing at her as her weight knocked him to the ground. It didnt do any good. Her claws were too deep in his flesh to be shaken off, and her jaws were tightening with bone-crushing pressure. A little blood spill ed into her mouth, and she licked it up automatically with a rough, pointed tongue.More yelling. She was dimly aware that the vampires were attacking her, trying to wrench her away, and that the security guards were yelling. She snub it all. Nothing mattered but taking the life under her claws.She heard a sudden rumble from the body to a lower place her. It was lower in pitch than anything human ears could pick up, but to Keller it was both soft and scarily gaudy.Then the world exploded in agony.The dragon had caught hold of her fur just above the mightily shoulder. Dark energy was crackling into her, searing her. It was the same black power hed used against Winnie, except that now he had direct contact.The pain was scalding, nauseating. Every nerve ending in Kellers body seemed to be on fire, and her shoulder was a solid red blaze. It made her muscles convulse involuntarily and spread a metallic sense of taste through her mouth, but it didnt concur her let go. She held on gri mly, letting the waves of energy roll through her, trying to detach her mind from the pain.What was frightening was not just the power butthe sense of the dragons mind beneath it Keller could feel a terrible coldness. A core of mindless hatred and evil that seemed to reach back into the mists of time. This creature was old. And although Keller couldnt tell what he wanted with the present age, she knew what he was focused on right now. cleanup spot her. That was all he cared about.And of course he was going to succeed. Keller had known that from the beginning.But not before I kill you, she thought.She had to hurry, though. There almost certainly were other Night People in the mall. These guys could call for reinforcements, and they would likely get them.You cant make me let go, she thought.She was fighting to close her jaws. He was much tougher than a normal human. cougar jaws could crush the skull of a young buffalo. And right now, she could hear muscle crunching, but thus far s he couldnt finish him. menstruate on hang onBlack pain blindingShe was losing consciousness. For Winnie, she thought.Sudden strength filled her. The pain didnt matter anymore. She tossed her head, trying to break his neck, wrenching it back and forth.The body underneath her convulsed violently. She could feel the little atavism in it, the weakening that meant death was close. Keller felt a surge of fierce joy.And then she was aware of something else. person was pulling her off the dragon. Not in the fumbling way the thugs had. This person was doing it skillfully, touching pressure points to make her claws retract, even getting a finger into her mouth, under the short front teeth between the fatal canines.No Keller thought. From her panther throat came a short, choking snarl. She lashed out with her back legs, trying to rip the persons grit out.Afo. The vocalize didnt come in through Kellers ears. It was in her mind. A boys voice. And it wasnt afraid, despite the fact that she w as now scrabbling weakly, still trying to turn his stomach to spaghetti. It was concerned and anxious but not afraid. Please-you have to let go.Even as he said it, he was pushing more pressure points. Keller was already weak. Now, all at once, she saw stars. She felt her hold on the dragon loosen.And then she was being jerked backward, and she was falling. A hundred and ten pounds of black panther was landing on whoever had yanked her free.DizzyHer vision was blurred, and her body felt like rubber. She just now had enough strength to twist her head toward the boy who had pulled her away.Who was he? Who?Her eyeball met blazing green-gold ones.Almost the eyes of a leopard. It gave Keller a jolt. But the rest of the boy was different. Dark gold hair over a rather pale and strained face with perfectly sculpted features. Human, of course. And those eyes seemed to be blazing with take and intensity rather than animal ferocity.Not many people could look at an angry panther like that.She heard his mental voice again. Are you all right?And then, for just an instant, something happened. It was as if some barrier had been punctured. Keller felt not just his voice but his worry inside her head. She could feel him.His take a leak Galen. And hes someone born to command, she thought. He understands animals.Another shapeshifter?But I cant feel what animal he turns into. And theres no bloodtbirstiness at all.She didnt understand it, and her panther brain wasnt in the mood to try. It was grounded in the here and now, and all it wanted was to finish what she had started.She wrenched her eyes away from Galen and looked at the dragon.Yes, he was still alive but gravely wounded. A little snarl worked out of Kellers throat. The vampire thugs were still alive, too one was picking up the injured dragon and hauling him away.Come on he was shouting in a voice sharp with panic. Before that cat recovers-But the girl the second vampire said. We dont have the girl. He looked around. Di ana was standing(a) by a display of porcelain figures, looking just as pale and graceful as any of them. She had both hands at her throat and seemed to be in shock.The second vampire started toward her.Afo, Keller thought. But she couldnt get her legs to move. She could only lie helplessly and stare with burning eyes.No a voice beside her said, out loud this time. Galen was jumping up. He got between the vampire and Diana.The vampire grinned, a particularly nasty grin. You dont look like a fighter to me, pretty boy.It wasnt exactly true, Keller thought. Galen wasnt pretty he was beautiful. With that gold hair and his coloring, he looked like a prince from a storybook. A rather young and inexperienced prince. He stood his ground, his expression grim and determined.I wont let you get to her, he said steadily.Who the hell is this guy? Keller thoughtIliana, pale and wide-eyed, glanced up at him, too. And then Keller saw her melt. Her drawn features softened her lips parted. Her eyes see med to quiver with light. She had been cowering away from the vampire, but now her body relaxed just a little.He certainly looked more like a champion defender than Keller had. He was clean, for one thing.Kellers fur was matted with her own blood and the dragons. More, she couldnt help the little raspy snarls of rage and desperation she was making, showing dripping teeth in a red-stained muzzle.Too bad he was about to be slaughtered.He wasnt a fighter. Keller had seen the inside of his mind, and she knew he didnt have the tiger instinct.The vampire was going to massacre him.The vampire started forward.And a voice from the front of the store said, Hold it right there.