walked up the ramp toward the exit level.
The human studied my bike long enough to make me uneasy, then spun on his heel and walked after the panther. I followed, an unseen force of energy that crept along the roofline, flinching at the dust that rained through the pieces of me and hoping like hell they didn’t stick to the particles. Re-forming when grimy was never a pleasant experience, and it usually took days for the muck to work its way out of my system.
The human ran up the stairs and out into the street. Frankie—the cat—was half a block away, climbing into a black Toyota SUV. It wasn’t exactly a nondescript car, but I guess that wouldn’t have mattered, because under normal circumstances I wouldn’t have paid it much attention. And at least now that I knew who was driving it, it made an easier target to spot.
I glanced down at the plate, rolling the numbers through my mind to memorize them, then headed for the rear exit. The other two men were standing near an old gray Ute, one casually smoking, the other drinking a can of Pepsi. Like they had all the time in the world and hadn’t just tried to attack me.
I noted their plate number, then made my way back up to my bike. After making sure no one was on the level, I reached for the Aedh again, re-forming and rebuilding my body particle by particle, until I was once more flesh and blood.
I released my grip on my phone and keys, and dropped to the concrete on my hands and knees, my body shaking and my breath wheezing past my throat. For several seconds it was all I could do to stay upright, and if those men had chosen that moment to come back, I would have been theirs.
Becoming Aedh had its price for those of us who weren’t full blood—and, for me, it was a complete inability to do anything other than breathe for several minutes after re-formation.
When the debilitation finally started to ease, I cautiously rocked back on my heels. And that was when the headache hit like a knife through my brain and I closed my eyes, fighting not to cry out. I had no idea just how keen my attackers’ hearing was, and the last thing I wanted to do was give them warning I was back.
At least my arm had stopped bleeding, even if the wound was still raw and it hurt like hell.
Several more minutes passed, and the stabbing pain settled to a more durable ache behind my left eye. I took a deep, shuddering breath, then climbed carefully to my feet. The pain remained, constant yet bearable.
The other bad thing about becoming Aedh was its effect on my clothes. They disintegrated just fine, but re-forming them was trickier, as the magic didn’t always delineate bits of me from other particles. And like the dirt that clung to my atoms when in Aedh form, I often ended up with a dust-like sheen covering my skin rather than fully formed pieces of clothing.
This time, the leather jacket had come back almost complete—aside from the hole under my right elbow and the slashes caused by the cat’s claws—but the dust from the missing elbow clung like second skin to my arm, and the sweater underneath all but fell around me in shredded bits. My jeans were also a mess, peppered with holes. My boots, like my leather jacket, had basically come through unscathed, although the Kevlar lining showed through in patches. Once I hit any sort of speed on my bike, I was going to end up half naked. And wouldn’t that thrill the passing motorists. I guess it was just as well I had a change of clothes with me.
Of course, before I went anywhere I needed to check my bike. Those men were intent on following me, and I was pretty damn sure they would have ensured they had a means of tracking me if they lost sight.
There had to be a bug on my bike. Had to be.
And the thought that those bastards had dared to put their grubby little hands on her had anger rolling though me.
A pretty useless reaction, really, but I still couldn’t help it. I might be rich enough to buy anything I liked, but this bike had
The human studied my bike long enough to make me uneasy, then spun on his heel and walked after the panther. I followed, an unseen force of energy that crept along the roofline, flinching at the dust that rained through the pieces of me and hoping like hell they didn’t stick to the particles. Re-forming when grimy was never a pleasant experience, and it usually took days for the muck to work its way out of my system.
The human ran up the stairs and out into the street. Frankie—the cat—was half a block away, climbing into a black Toyota SUV. It wasn’t exactly a nondescript car, but I guess that wouldn’t have mattered, because under normal circumstances I wouldn’t have paid it much attention. And at least now that I knew who was driving it, it made an easier target to spot.
I glanced down at the plate, rolling the numbers through my mind to memorize them, then headed for the rear exit. The other two men were standing near an old gray Ute, one casually smoking, the other drinking a can of Pepsi. Like they had all the time in the world and hadn’t just tried to attack me.
I noted their plate number, then made my way back up to my bike. After making sure no one was on the level, I reached for the Aedh again, re-forming and rebuilding my body particle by particle, until I was once more flesh and blood.
I released my grip on my phone and keys, and dropped to the concrete on my hands and knees, my body shaking and my breath wheezing past my throat. For several seconds it was all I could do to stay upright, and if those men had chosen that moment to come back, I would have been theirs.
Becoming Aedh had its price for those of us who weren’t full blood—and, for me, it was a complete inability to do anything other than breathe for several minutes after re-formation.
When the debilitation finally started to ease, I cautiously rocked back on my heels. And that was when the headache hit like a knife through my brain and I closed my eyes, fighting not to cry out. I had no idea just how keen my attackers’ hearing was, and the last thing I wanted to do was give them warning I was back.
At least my arm had stopped bleeding, even if the wound was still raw and it hurt like hell.
Several more minutes passed, and the stabbing pain settled to a more durable ache behind my left eye. I took a deep, shuddering breath, then climbed carefully to my feet. The pain remained, constant yet bearable.
The other bad thing about becoming Aedh was its effect on my clothes. They disintegrated just fine, but re-forming them was trickier, as the magic didn’t always delineate bits of me from other particles. And like the dirt that clung to my atoms when in Aedh form, I often ended up with a dust-like sheen covering my skin rather than fully formed pieces of clothing.
This time, the leather jacket had come back almost complete—aside from the hole under my right elbow and the slashes caused by the cat’s claws—but the dust from the missing elbow clung like second skin to my arm, and the sweater underneath all but fell around me in shredded bits. My jeans were also a mess, peppered with holes. My boots, like my leather jacket, had basically come through unscathed, although the Kevlar lining showed through in patches. Once I hit any sort of speed on my bike, I was going to end up half naked. And wouldn’t that thrill the passing motorists. I guess it was just as well I had a change of clothes with me.
Of course, before I went anywhere I needed to check my bike. Those men were intent on following me, and I was pretty damn sure they would have ensured they had a means of tracking me if they lost sight.
There had to be a bug on my bike. Had to be.
And the thought that those bastards had dared to put their grubby little hands on her had anger rolling though me.
A pretty useless reaction, really, but I still couldn’t help it. I might be rich enough to buy anything I liked, but this bike had
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