The Killing Dance - Laurell K. Hamilton [147]
The top of Sebastian’s head exploded. I had a fraction of a second to wonder what ammunition Edward had put in the gun. The body started to fall backwards. Marcus’s claw came sweeping down, and Richard drove his hand under the arm, into Marcus’s upper stomach. Marcus stopped, froze for a second, as the claws dug into his stomach, up under his ribs. Richard’s hand went into Marcus’s body past the wrist.
I kept the Browning pointed at Raina in case she got any ideas about picking up the knife.
Marcus drove his claws into Richard’s back. Richard tucked his face and neck against the other man’s body, protecting himself from the claws. Marcus shuddered. Richard broke away from him, bringing his bloody hand out of Marcus’s chest. He tore the still-beating heart out of his chest and flung it to the wolves. They fell on the morsel with small yips and growling.
Richard collapsed to his knees beside Marcus’s body. Blood poured down his lower back where the knife had gone in. I walked to him, the gun still pointed at Raina. I knelt, still keeping a bead on her. “Richard, are you all right?” It was a stupid thing to ask, but what else was I supposed to say?
“Put up the gun, Anita. It’s over.”
“She tried to kill you,” I said.
“It’s over.” He turned his face to me, and his eyes were already gone. His voice fell towards a growl. “Put it away.”
I stared up at Raina and knew if I didn’t kill her now, I’d have to kill her later. “She’ll see us dead, Richard.”
Richard’s hand was suddenly there, faster than I could see. He hit my hand, and the gun went spinning. My hand was numb. I tried to back away, but he grabbed me, wrapping his clawed hands around my upper arms. “No more killing . . . tonight.” He threw back his head and howled. His mouth was full of fangs.
I screamed.
“Ride the power, Anita. Ride it or run.” His hands convulsed around my arms. I backpedaled, dug my heels in, and tried to get loose. He collapsed on top of me, too hurt for the struggle, too far gone to fight the change. His power roared over me, into me. I couldn’t see anything but the glow of power behind my eyes. If I could have breathed, I’d have screamed again, but there was nothing but the force of his power, and it spread outward from him like a rock in water. The waves touched the pack, and where it touched, fur flowed. Richard shifted and took everyone with him. Everyone. I felt Raina struggle next to us. I felt her fight it. Heard her shriek, but in the end she fell to the ground and changed.
I held onto Richard’s arms, and fur flowed under my hands like water. Muscle formed and shifted, bones broke and reknit. My lower body was trapped underneath him. Clear liquid gushed from his body, pouring over me in a near scalding wave. I screamed and struggled to get out from underneath him. And the power rode me down, filled me up, until I thought my skin wouldn’t hold, couldn’t hold it.
Finally, he rose off me, not a wolf, but man-wolf, covered in fur the color of cinnamon and gold. His genitalia hung large and full underneath him. He stared at me with amber eyes and offered me a clawed hand as he rose on two slightly bent legs.
I ignored the hand and scooted backwards. I got to my feet, a little unsteady, and stared. The wolf form was actually taller than his human shape, about seven feet, muscled, and monstrous. There was nothing left of Richard. But I knew how good it had felt to let loose the beast. I had felt it rise out of him like a second mind, soul, rising upward, outward, filling him, spilling out of his skin.
My body was still tingling with the brush of his beast. I could feel the thick softness of his fur under my fingertips like a sensory memory that would haunt me.
Marcus’s very human-looking body lay on the ground at Richard’s feet. The scent of fresh blood ran through him, ran through them all. I felt it thrill