Midnight Magic, page 119
I realized that I was being shot at from inside the building. The top floor of the building had a series of slits through which the muzzle of a gun could fit. Whatever this place was, it was a fucking fortress.
My luck ran out when one of their bullets hit pay dirt. The hood of the Town Car was pierced, and the vehicle came to a lurching stop. I was terrified, realizing that I was now a sitting duck. I spun as fast as I could in my terror, making almost none of my shots. I saw a man in a gray uniform snatch up one of my darts and stab it into the shoulder of a leopard that was already wounded.
I screamed every cuss word I had ever heard and fired a dart right at him. I realized that he must have a bulletproof vest on, since the dart merely bounced off his chest.
I took a deep breath, aimed for his forearm, and let out a cheer when I nailed the son of a bitch. He looked surprised, but only made it a step or two before dropping onto the driveway.
The reality of my situation hit me. I was stranded in a car that had stopped running. For all the guns in the vehicle, I wasn’t sure if there were anywhere near enough for me to just hang out indefinitely and shoot anyone who came near.
The Town Car gave a ratchety shake. The damaged hood began to slide forward rapidly. I was thinking that my situation was even worse than I had thought if the car was going to fall to pieces around me, but then I saw a new hood emerge from under the windshield. It was like a tank with a track that circled around. During the brief second during which I could see the engine, before the new hood slid over it, I saw the new engine somehow assembling itself. I gave a hoarse shout of joy when the Town Car resumed its movement.
The time I spent watching the car had been a mistake. Tigers were surrounding me, and one of them leaped up onto my turret. The roof sagged under its weight, and through the glass, I got a full view of the very male, private parts of the big cat. A fierce paw swiped at my dart gun, and I felt the delicate muzzle bend.
Dammit. I pulled a dart out of the belt and made eye contact with the tiger. Its golden eyes watched me like a cat watches a mouse before it delivers its final spine-crushing blow. He swiped at the hole that was thankfully sized for the dart gun and found that his paw was much too big.
I felt the Town Car slow from the weight of the tigers that were now on the trunk, on the hood, and fiercely swiping at the doors. I was very thankful for the armor on the windows.
Suddenly, a loud voice filled the air. Someone was on a speaker.
“Your gun is damaged. Just surrender, and I won’t let them eat you slowly.”
“Let me think!” I yelled sarcastically. “Let’s go with Fuck No!” I jabbed the dart through the hole and straight into the fleshy part of the lead tiger’s cheek. He gave a furious snarl and reared back. His body crashing down onto the hood knocked off the tiger that had stationed itself there.
As the weight lessened, the Town Car began to move faster. Now it was going fast enough to run right into a tiger that didn’t have time to get out of its way. The cat was tossed onto my hood and then careened off. I ducked down and grabbed the other dart-loaded machine gun. This time, I just fired wildly at anything with stripes and teeth. Soon, with enough of them lolling helplessly on the ground, Nate’s forces were able to turn the tide of the fight.
Not at all sure how to control the vehicle, I tried talking to it. “Hey, umm, car… is it Kitt or God? What was the name of the car on the Dukes of Hazzard? General Lee? No, it’s probably something Russian! Hey, car, you are going the wrong damn way!”
The vehicle nearly flipped over as it turned too fast. In a flash, Boris and a much smaller man were running towards the car. Somehow, Boris had summoned it. I couldn’t see any other humans, and the tigers were all snoring loudly. We had done it. The passenger door sprang open, and Boris shoved my dad into the waiting Town Car.
“I am so glad to see you, Filly.”
“You too, Daddy.”
THE SPECIST SANCTUARY
The terror that I had lived with for three days broke free within my chest. I reached for my dad with two trembling hands. He dropped a kiss on my forehead.
“I’m fine, just fine,” he assured me, taking my hand. “There’s a tiger in there, about to deliver at least two cubs. Definitely a C-section. She needs your help.”
I looked helplessly at the battle still going on around us. The car seemed to curl up tight within its armor.
“Nate killed the tiger… man… shifter… the one who attacked me. He was trying to retrieve his claw.”
“I prefer the term extraspecist. So, Nate tracked him down?”
“Umm, no.” A big salty tear ran down my cheek and plopped off my chin. “Nate took me to his cabin, and I was in the woods and…”
Dad cringed. “You be careful, young lady. There’s something I need to tell you about Ignatius Sands. He- “
I finished for him, “He’s imprinted on me.”
“I made him promise to keep his distance. I didn’t want you tangled up in this world. It’s dangerous.”
His point was driven home when a grizzly bear fighting a tiger slammed against the Town Car, making it rock like a paper boat in an ocean. Boris’s creation held firm, though. I reached for my dad’s hand, and then had a thought.
“But wait, if he couldn’t come near me and couldn’t ever love anyone else… that would suck for him.”
Zeb raised an eyebrow at me. “He’s not my Filly.”
“If we get out of this, you have to tell me everything.”
With a hand squeeze, he said, “Oh, we are getting out of this.”
He was correct. With Rome releasing all his trapped comrades, the colony’s forces soon prevailed. As soon as the last tigers we could see slunk back into the woods, my dad tried to throw open the car door. We watched while the colony’s warriors entered the lab. Only when Boris typed a code onto the windowpane did the car agree to open itself up.
Dad grabbed my arm, and we ran up the ramp and into the facility. “Why do you think she needs a C-section?” I asked as we veered around a corner and stopped at a cage containing an emaciated tigress, too weak even to pace.
“Because she’s carrying liger cubs.” We found ourselves in a room surrounded by shifters who were shocked into silence.
“Ligers?” I gasped.
Rome stepped forward. “Yes, Marissa is carrying my cubs.”
“That’s how you knew she wasn’t using drugs,” I said.
My dad opened the lock on her cage. “Why have they starved her?” I said desperately.
“So, she wouldn’t have the energy to shift. They were very excited about a mixed Felidae.”
I could see some surgical trays, but not any anesthesia. The exhausted tigress allowed Rome to lift her out of the cage. I gasped at his amazing strength, although after what I’d seen his brother do, I shouldn't have been so surprised. I trotted closer and gave a cursory exam. I could see some contractions moving through the abdominal wall, but it didn’t look like her water had broken. “Still early, we have time. We need to let her family know.”
Rome shook his head and resolutely started towards the outside.
My dad interjected, “They know where she is, Filly. They sold her.”
“They what?” I asked as I moved through the door behind them.
“It’s like an honor killing,” my dad said. “She chose a man they didn’t approve of, and they punished her for it.”
“I am going to kill every one of them,” Rome said, and I had no problem believing him.
“Let’s get her to your clinic. We have time.” The tigress in Rome’s arms snarled as a man appeared behind us. A shot resounded. I jerked my head around and saw Boris fall to the ground. A man in a lab coat had shot him in the back. My scream reverberated amongst the trees. Boris fell in the driveway, and the man casually strode towards him, gun extended. I didn’t recognize the words in Russian, but I had a hunch that he was calling our friend a traitor.
Dad and I both reached for one of the guns scattered on the driveway, but neither of us succeeded in grabbing one. We both tried again. It was like when you are in a supermarket aisle, and another person keeps stepping the same way you are when you are both trying to get out of each other’s path. Only a lot more horrible.
Before I could get a gun up, there was a sickening sound of teeth on human bone. The dark-maned lion had Dr. Volchok by the throat and shook him until the man went limp, his blood pouring onto the driveway. Nate’s furious roar shook the trees.
Dad and I ran as fast as we could, desperate to get to Boris.
I crouched beside my loyal friend. “Boris, it's going to be OK,” I said, staunching his wound with my hands.
Nate came running with my dad right behind him. He had shifted back and was naked and covered in evil scientist blood. I heard Nate giving orders, but he sounded far away. “Chiruthai, sweep the building. See if they have any human survivors. Get his army in those cages before they wake up.”
There was so much blood.
“Dad, what do we do?” I asked like a helpless child. “Should we get him airlifted?”
Al pointed upwards. Heavy wires ran from pole to pole, creating a sort of net over the compound. “Those are booby traps. No chopper can get in here.”
“Well, then we will take him someplace they can get to!” I said frantically, digging my fingers under Boris’s shoulders as if I could somehow lift him myself. Over my shoulder, I yelled, “We need a truck over here, right fucking now!”
Someone handed me a shirt and some bandages, and I rigged up something to slow the frightful bleeding. We were being lifted into a makeshift ambulance. It had an IV kit, oxygen, and some bandages. The Sweetwater colony had come equipped for trench warfare. I put Boris on O2. Solstice climbed in beside me and started an IV of saline solution for Boris to tide him over until we got some blood.
“Hey, are you hurt?” I asked while my hands frantically started an IV in the tigress. With Rome pressed against the laboring cat, she stayed calm enough for me to thread a needle into her paw. Her breathing was becoming more regular. I was relieved. A little.
“We’ll get me bandaged up at the clinic,” Solstice said. I could see blood on her shoulder seeping through her shirt. I knew then that she was the lioness I’d seen get mauled.
“You are a motherfucking superhero, “I whispered to her.
“You don’t suck either, “she said with a wink. “Shit, his blood pressure is dropping.” There was no doubting the skills Solstice had as her hands moved over her patient. She looked up at me. "I’m really sorry. I know you care about him, but I can barely find a pulse. He's clearly going into systems failure.”
I choked back a sob. Brave, sad Boris, who had spent years trying to make up for actions he had taken so many years ago, was going to die and I was helpless.
“As soon as we are clear of these wires, we need to get him airlifted.”
“It’s too far, Filly,” my dad said as gently as he could.
Solstice said,” …and it’s a gunshot wound…”
“I know it’s a bullet wound, I saw him get shot,” I snapped at her.
She struggled to say what she was thinking. “Gunshots all have to be investigated.”
The realization of the situation hit me. If there was no hope for Boris, then we would be exposing the shifters of Sweetwater colony for nothing.
“You do not stop trying, “I ordered her.
“Of course not,” she responded. As the van careened over back roads, I watched my own patient carefully.
“It is going to be OK,” I assured Rome.
He did not look convinced. I hoped I looked more confident than I felt.
We had arrived and the van doors flew open. Rome lifted the tigress, and without budging from the vehicle, yelled, “I ask for sanctuary.”
That struck me as not the most important thing we had to worry about. Everyone else apparently disagreed. Nate lifted a hand and solemnly intoned, “The Sweetwater Colony offers sanctuary to you and yours.”
Lupe and Solstice, in human form, expertly swiveled a gurney up to us, and Nate lifted Boris onto it.
As if I had not only known they existed for two days, I jumped out of the van and confidently led my army of heroic shifter medics. “Lupe... her name is Marissa. Boris will need blood,” before I could finish my sentence, she lifted up a bag of blood with the clear label “O universal donor.”
“Great, push that,” I ordered Solstice.
I turned to see Nate gently reach over to close Boris’s eyes.
Wait!” I cried, desperate for any solution. “Is it like in vampire movies?”
“Is what like vampire movies?” Nate asked.
“Shifters are stronger than humans. Can you turn him into a shifter and save him?”
Nate shook his head. “No.”
“What else can he do to prove to you how sorry he is about Anastasia? Will you just let my friend die? He didn’t have to try and save you all, but he did.”
Nate looked stricken. “I can’t turn him into a shifter. It doesn’t happen anymore. That’s why we are going extinct. Modern people don’t get turned into shifters.”
“Dad?”
“It’s true, Filly.” He shook his head sorrowfully, but I could see the merest hint of something in his eyes.
“You have an idea,” I said. “Dad?”
“It hasn’t been done like this before.”
“So don’t care.”
“It depends upon a few factors.”
“Depends on what, Dad?”
He was talking to himself more than to me. “Being turned into a shifter depends on a certain bacterium being present in the skin, specific viruses in the bloodstream. We can’t even be sure that a seriously wounded person can be transformed. A shifter can’t turn a man. Only the monospecies can.”
“Do you have that bacterium?” I had a glimmer of an idea of my own.
Clementine, were you listening? Even if we knew what we were doing, which we didn't...”
I was angry at his capitulation. “Don’t give me that bullshit. You delivered a litter of Sri Lankan leopards. You do the things you don’t know how to do all the damn time.”
“In desperate circumstances, yes, but...”
I looked down at Boris’ still face. “Isn’t this a desperate situation?”
Dad sighed. “Yes, I have the viruses and bacteria isolated. But even if he wanted to, Nate can’t turn him.”
“I can. Dad, get what you need!”
“Doctor,” Solstice said, and my dad and I both said, “Yes?” Dad graciously held up a hand and said, “This is your wheelhouse, Filly.”
“Dr. Clementine,” a questioning voice began.
“What is it, Solstice?”
“I’ve cut his coat off, but there is something in his hand. It’s clenched so tight I can’t get it.”
“We will figure that out later,” I assured her.
“I think it’s sharp. It’s making his hand bleed.”
“Not important right now,” I bellowed.
Figuring out what Boris was clutching was going to have to wait. The two of us did everything we could to somehow stabilize the enormous, sad Russian while my dad rubbed a colony of bacteria on his arm and handed me the hypodermic. With a cold fist tightened around my heart, I did something I never would have imagined myself doing. I deliberately infected a patient with a virus.
“Clementine, we need a living monospecies of the same gender. At least I believe so. This hasn’t been done before.” My dad sounded less sure of himself than I had ever heard him.
“I’ve got one. Nate, go get me a mountain lion.”
Dad continued to fret.
“I can’t imagine we have time to go capture a wild animal.”
“Dad, trust me,” I said with confidence that I suddenly felt. It was impossible, but all of this was impossible. If Boris could be saved somehow, we were going to have to try. I thought of the years he had secretly looked after me, and I swore to myself that we would make this right.
At that moment, Nate burst through the swinging doors, holding one of Mama Kitty’s cubs.
“It has to be a non-fatal mauling,” Dad stated, as if that was a perfectly reasonable thing to say. I squeezed the little guy's paw to force one of his claws to emerge. Nervously, I wielded the cub as if he was the world’s largest scalpel, gritting my teeth and forcing myself to break Boris’s skin.
The skin of his arm opened easily under the mountain lion claw.
“Remember, I am not sure this will work. I know that shifters are stronger than humans, but I haven’t read anything about a mortally wounded person being transformed into a shifter.”
My response was swift. “Pre real medicine, anyone who got savaged by an apex predator would have been at death’s door. Face it, no one who has been attacked by a Barbary lion would be in the bloom of health.”
Boris gave a shudder as a dribble of blood ran down his arm, and then his breathing slowed down even further.
I stood nearby, not sure what to expect. “Are there any descriptions of the process?” I asked.
“There’s one. When a wolf in Gevaudan turned a child...”
“Wait, there was an actual shifter in Gevaudan? I thought it was a pack of wolves, or a serial killer?”
Dad shook his head at me. “I have one written description. And it’s from Gevaudan in 1766. The priest who wrote it describes the victim falling into a deep slumber that lasted 24 hours. While still in human form, the victim’s coloring changed to light gray. They thought he was in a coma. However, he opened his eyes the next day. Pere Benet wrote that the young man had been miraculously restored. Of course, we know that the trait for shifting was imparted then.”
“I’m guessing the Catholic Church didn’t exactly have a ‘live and let live' attitude about shifters,” I said.
No one did.”
While Solstice ran another bag of blood, I held Boris’s hand. If I wasn’t going to get another chance to thank him, I needed to do it right now.
My voice was shaky. ” Boris, thank you for watching out for me,” I whispered. “Thank you for helping my dad with Anastasia. And there aren’t enough words to say thank you for rescuing my dad.”
