Read Online Highland Shapeshifter by Clover Autrey - Free Book Online
Authors: Clover Autrey
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out the other side in full flight, flapping wings as a hawk and streaked out the broken window.
He wasn’t above a little goading himself. Shrieking, he back-flapped, hovering in the air, taunting the beasts to follow him.
They did not disappoint, catapulting after him, clambering out the windows, down the walls, and launching through the air to clasp upon tall poles topped with the strange glowing lanterns.
Col darted low, keeping himself in easy sight to lead them on a merry chase.
Chapter Eight
Something wasn’t right. Lenore was halfway to Starch’s rendezvous, when she turned the corvette back toward Gabe’s. Her stomach clenched on nauseous roiling foreboding, the kind that grips you so hard you’ll choke before it can be ignored.
She pulled onto the curb in front of his townhouse and spilled out of the door. Everything looked fine. Scratch that. The blue blinds billowed out of the living room window, clanking against the iron sill. Every window in the townhouse was shattered.
Gabe. Oh no. She’d brought this to him. She ran up the steps and tried the door. Locked. “Gabe!” She pounded on the lacquered wood and poured on the bell. Not waiting, she ran down the steps, jerked open his car and yanked the garage remote from the visor, running and pressing the button at the same time. She ducked under the rumbling garage door while it was still lifting and ran up the stairs.
“Gabe!” She flung the door open so hard it smacked the wall. “Gabe!”
“In here.”
Relief smacked her upside the head, making her suddenly woozy. She ran into the kitchen and stopped short.
A powerful stink assaulted her.
Gabe was on the floor, trying to right an overturned chair and push himself up. Trails of thick mucousy gray goo coated everything, including Gabe. His hair was plastered to his head with it and it ran down his face. He grinned up at her like a five-year-old caught licking icing off the cake. The angle of his leg was wrong, clearly broken.
“What happened?” She ducked inside his bedroom, heart plunging at the rumpled empty bed and glass from the broken window covering it. “He’s gone?”
“Flew out the window as a little bird.” Gabe fluttered his fingers in the air and snorted. “He became a bird.”
“A bird?”
Lenore pulled a handful of dish cloths from the drawer and knelt in front of Gabe. Sticky smelly whatever soaked into the knees of her denim. She gave the cloths to Gabe and turned her attention to his leg.
He flinched. “Ow.”
“It’s broken.”
“I’ll file that in my no shit folder.”
She glanced up at him. He was gray-faced, literally from all the crap on him, but stoic and she felt guilty as crap for dragging him into this. “Gabe, what happened? What is this stuff?” The pile of ropey gray matter beside them looked uncannily like sausage. She doubted she’d ever be able to eat a good bratwurst again.
Leaning forward, he grabbed her shoulders. “I’m not sure even you would believe it. Monsters, Nor, hand-to-God monsters crashed through the windows. It was incredible.”
“Monsters?” Gabe hadn’t had any previous contact with the supernatural world that he knew about at any rate. Monsters could describe a lot of things. “What were they? Did you get a good look?”
He gave her a you’ve-got-to-be-kidding glare. “I got a good look, believe me. They were…I don’t know…like Morlocks.”
“Morlocks?”
“Blind. Leathery. Toothy. Morlocks. Come on, you know what I’m talking about. The misshapen cannibals from The Time Machine . Ring any bells?”
Yeah, she knew what Morlocks from the movie were, but no, she had no idea what real mythical creatures Gabe could have described as a Morlock. Ghouls maybe, but blind? How would he know they were blind? What, they came in, feeling their way around? Shock, Gabe was in shock.
“And the shifter…I thought they had him, but he comes up all teeth and claws.” Gabe grinned. He busted his leg and was
He wasn’t above a little goading himself. Shrieking, he back-flapped, hovering in the air, taunting the beasts to follow him.
They did not disappoint, catapulting after him, clambering out the windows, down the walls, and launching through the air to clasp upon tall poles topped with the strange glowing lanterns.
Col darted low, keeping himself in easy sight to lead them on a merry chase.
Chapter Eight
Something wasn’t right. Lenore was halfway to Starch’s rendezvous, when she turned the corvette back toward Gabe’s. Her stomach clenched on nauseous roiling foreboding, the kind that grips you so hard you’ll choke before it can be ignored.
She pulled onto the curb in front of his townhouse and spilled out of the door. Everything looked fine. Scratch that. The blue blinds billowed out of the living room window, clanking against the iron sill. Every window in the townhouse was shattered.
Gabe. Oh no. She’d brought this to him. She ran up the steps and tried the door. Locked. “Gabe!” She pounded on the lacquered wood and poured on the bell. Not waiting, she ran down the steps, jerked open his car and yanked the garage remote from the visor, running and pressing the button at the same time. She ducked under the rumbling garage door while it was still lifting and ran up the stairs.
“Gabe!” She flung the door open so hard it smacked the wall. “Gabe!”
“In here.”
Relief smacked her upside the head, making her suddenly woozy. She ran into the kitchen and stopped short.
A powerful stink assaulted her.
Gabe was on the floor, trying to right an overturned chair and push himself up. Trails of thick mucousy gray goo coated everything, including Gabe. His hair was plastered to his head with it and it ran down his face. He grinned up at her like a five-year-old caught licking icing off the cake. The angle of his leg was wrong, clearly broken.
“What happened?” She ducked inside his bedroom, heart plunging at the rumpled empty bed and glass from the broken window covering it. “He’s gone?”
“Flew out the window as a little bird.” Gabe fluttered his fingers in the air and snorted. “He became a bird.”
“A bird?”
Lenore pulled a handful of dish cloths from the drawer and knelt in front of Gabe. Sticky smelly whatever soaked into the knees of her denim. She gave the cloths to Gabe and turned her attention to his leg.
He flinched. “Ow.”
“It’s broken.”
“I’ll file that in my no shit folder.”
She glanced up at him. He was gray-faced, literally from all the crap on him, but stoic and she felt guilty as crap for dragging him into this. “Gabe, what happened? What is this stuff?” The pile of ropey gray matter beside them looked uncannily like sausage. She doubted she’d ever be able to eat a good bratwurst again.
Leaning forward, he grabbed her shoulders. “I’m not sure even you would believe it. Monsters, Nor, hand-to-God monsters crashed through the windows. It was incredible.”
“Monsters?” Gabe hadn’t had any previous contact with the supernatural world that he knew about at any rate. Monsters could describe a lot of things. “What were they? Did you get a good look?”
He gave her a you’ve-got-to-be-kidding glare. “I got a good look, believe me. They were…I don’t know…like Morlocks.”
“Morlocks?”
“Blind. Leathery. Toothy. Morlocks. Come on, you know what I’m talking about. The misshapen cannibals from The Time Machine . Ring any bells?”
Yeah, she knew what Morlocks from the movie were, but no, she had no idea what real mythical creatures Gabe could have described as a Morlock. Ghouls maybe, but blind? How would he know they were blind? What, they came in, feeling their way around? Shock, Gabe was in shock.
“And the shifter…I thought they had him, but he comes up all teeth and claws.” Gabe grinned. He busted his leg and was
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