Ivory (Manhatten ten) (11 page)

Banquet waiter’s tux had been replaced by a few polar bears, and a limp snow fox wrapped his shoulders. He lifted a black plastic rectangle. I might’ve guessed remote car starter if not for the ring around my rosy.

“You will cooperate.”

Another growl. Without vocal cords, my repertoire was limited.

“We will bring you upstairs and you will get into the van that’s waiting outside.”

Like hell I would.

He dangled the device. “I will not hesitate to use this. But if you don’t make me, you may ride in the van with Lady Valdís.”

My growl cut. Shit.

“I see we are in agreement.” He slipped around me and bent to unlock the chain. His eyes shifted to focus and I had to give it a try.

I pounced.
 

Wham.

Current sizzled through my neck. My vision blanked and the scent of singed fur curled into my nose.

Hurt worse than when I’d tried to shift.

“No more warnings.” The chain jingled and slid loose. I would’ve kept snapping, but instead four of the icemen dragged me upstairs. My paws wouldn’t move in a line. I stumbled and cracked my nose against the doorframe. Didn’t help me see any straighter.

It was the same apartment where I’d been tranqed, so at least I still knew where we were. They hauled me out a different entrance, where a U-Haul backed up as close as it could get.

The thing was rigged out for big game, with a massive industrial strength cage crowding the back. Ivory sat on the other side of that thick wire mesh.

So I hopped in. Like a good kitty.

“Good cat.” The guy threw a series of bolts and slid down the grate, but I could eat his face off later.

I threw myself at the other side of the cage. Ivory was strapped into a modified bucket seat and a pool of brilliant blue light flowed from her hands. Was she hurt?

I roared. Nothing. She didn’t flinch. I hurled myself again and again, but no matter how hard I jangled the metal, she wouldn’t look away.

Whatever held her attention, it was almost too bright for my panther’s eyes. It swirled and flickered, coating her fingers in ice.

She was totally enthralled, and not because she wanted to be. Ivory would never volunteer to give up her control, and by the slack look on her face, her system was frozen.

Unfortunately, the van was mobile. We kicked into motion. It was stop and go through Manhattan, but we must’ve hit a bridge, because we picked up speed and started booking toward somewhere.

Long Island? Jersey? Where did they think they were going with a comatose ice princess and a super-sized panther?
 

I flopped down, but kept my eyes on Ivory. Whatever was controlling her, she’d fight. No doubt of that.

When we got somewhere, I’d have to do the same. I was a patient predator, and I’d be ready to pounce at the first opening.

Ivory

All was cold. Frigid.

The world that spread in front of me swirled in flakes of white, an expanse of snow that stretched to the horizon. Hints of blue glittered at the edge of my vision. Ice sheets drifting across the sea.

I wanted to run. To chase and hunt the creatures that carved their lives out of this icescape.

This was home.

Nothing else existed. Nothing else mattered.

Nothing?

Something clanged outside my hearing. There had been something…once. A long time ago.

It was…

An ice fox darted past and the thought slipped away. The hunt was everything.

A spear flowed from my fingers and I sprinted through dunes of snow. This was my place.

Panther

It might’ve been an hour up the highway. No more than two, so we weren’t that far from the city. The grate rattled up.

“Welcome to the Catskills.”

Farmland. Or woodland. We parked at the edge of a dirt road. A little town glittered in the distance. Could I get there?
 

No one unlocked my cage yet, but as soon as they did, I was making a break for it. Ice-boy rapped the steel. “We are going to hunt you.”

Oh. That was all?

“Behave as you would in the wild. If you can slay us, then slay.”

Slay you? No problem.

“The hunting ground is wired for your collar and you’ll be shocked if you try to escape. That is the only rule.” He whipped out an ice spear and the other four echoed the motion.

Maybe they were batshit, but if it was going to work for me…

I just couldn’t leave Ivory. She hadn’t shifted during the ride. She sat, frozen, enthralled by the light in her hands.

One of the minions glanced at the leader. “It will not be a long hunt if he does not leave the vehicle.”

“Go, cat.” Waiter-boy jerked his head. “Or I will use the device.”

I hesitated. Separating from Ivory wasn’t a good idea. Not that I planned on getting dead, but she’d be at their mercy as soon as I was out of the area. I needed her to stay where I could make sure she was safe. They wouldn’t hurt her, but Ivory would’ve preferred physical pain to a mental prison.
 

Zzzzt.

A smaller zap, but it still popped sparks behind my eyes, and that made my decision. I leaped from the van and broke for the edge of the wood, stumbling a little, but once I was bounding, the juice stopped working its way through my system.

I’d come back for Ivory as soon as I eviscerated these assholes.

Ivory

The fox danced across snow and ice, leading a valiant chase, but the hunt ended with its blood on my spear. Red screamed against so much white.

Smearing the creature’s blood along my lower lip, I gave thanks. Its meat would go to my family’s pots and its skin across my shoulders.

As I bent to the carcass, a rabbit bounded in the distance. My next prey.

There would always be another hunt, and another after that. Forever, I would seek, and kill, and seek again.

It was my destiny.

But there was no joy in it. With the salty blood on my lips and the thrill of another imminent chase, I should’ve been coursing with energy.

I was tired.

Was there nothing else but this?

Panther

Upstate New York was no jungle. Dry air chilled my nose and pine needles crunched under my paws, but trees were trees. Even if the landscape wasn’t what I was built for, I could make it work.
 

Better than being hunted through Manhattan.

I didn’t pick up any ice-scent, so the bastards were giving me a head start. Rookie move. If they wanted a real hunt, I’d make it happen.

Part of me wanted to give in to the panther’s darker instincts and go on a blood-lusty bender, but that wasn’t going to get me out of this. Nothing hunted panthers. They were deadly predators, but they lacked the instincts that kept smaller creatures alive.

Lucky my human side was big on self-preservation. I followed the tang of metal and fresh dirt. I just needed to find…

Bingo.

The device looked like a blinking golf ball that was jammed onto a pole. This was the perimeter.

I padded as close as I dared. I needed to investigate, but a big enough shock and I’d be fried like Original Recipe.

The earth smelled newly disturbed. The death fence couldn’t have been in place more than a week.

A week ago, I’d been in Auckland, trailing Mr. Heroes Suck. So why was there a scary high-tech hunting ground in the Catskills?

They hadn’t known Ivory and I would come to New York. Ivory couldn’t have been on their radar until she killed my mark and stumbled into the national spotlight. And they hadn’t rush-ordered the shock collar.

Everything had already been in place.

My hackles rose. And why not? Greater New York had one of the highest populations of supers in the world. If you wanted to hunt them, this was the perfect place. Close enough for convenience, but isolated enough that no one could hear the screams.

The icemen couldn’t have set it up on their own. No way. From what little Ivory had said about home, her people didn’t care about technology, money or anything else they’d need to swing this. They were being fed the resources and handed the dirty work. Which they happened to enjoy.

But this was big. If we could track it back to the anti-super faction—

A twig snapped.

Shit.

I dodged and the spear meant for my ribs shattered against the ground. The guy cursed. His crew wasn’t behind him.

A second spear shot through the night, but I was already bounding. I expected him at least to hesitate as a few tons of panther barreled toward him, but he gave a piercing war whoop and drew out another spear.

He met me halfway. We crashed, but I was faster and heavier. He bounced back and my fangs found his throat. The spray of blood was cold instead of hot, but no less satisfying.

The killing high didn’t last. As soon as he was definitely dead, I felt the slice of pain across my flank. The ice spear jutted over my hind leg.

A chorus of hunting cries echoed through the trees. The others would be here fast.

Without hands, my first-aid options were limited. I didn’t want the spear out. It was already bleeding too much and unplugging the hole would make that much more space for blood to flow. The wound screwed my chances of hiding my trail. Not that I had time for that.

I closed my jaws and bounded for a convenient pine tree. The angle was just right. Impact jarred and the spear snapped. I couldn’t stop a low whine as the rest of the ice-barb jabbed deeper, but it had to be done.
 

The hunting calls circled closer. This was as good as it was getting until I was human again.

Keeping the blinky electro-golf balls in the corner of my eye, I bounded the perimeter. Definitely didn’t want to run into one of those by accident.
 

Wind blew their scent my way. The icy sweetness twisted my nostrils like hot garbage. So similar to Ivory, but so totally different.

A shifting breeze brought me a hint of her. They’d moved the van, probably to get it off the road, but they couldn’t hide Ivory from me.

I cut into the wood, toward the center of the hunting ground. Too slow. My leg muscles screamed, but the ice spear bit deep, and as it melted, my blood ran.
 

They chased in a pack. Even at my best, four on one wouldn’t fly. This was not my best. I needed reinforcements.

I had to get to Ivory.

She could stop them or kick their asses herself. I could’ve lounged and watched the carnage, but the idea of putting her in danger made my fur stand on end.
 

The van was parked next to a stand of pines. I scented Ivory inside, but there was no way I could work door handles with claws.
 

So how could I get in?

I stretched, leaning my front paws against the driver’s side window. The key stuck out from the ignition. Much good that did me.

If I couldn’t get in, I had to get Ivory out. I’d tipped a cow once. A U-Haul couldn’t be that much harder.
 

The hunters drew closer and closer. Not much time.

Extending my claws, I sprang to a low branch on the oak tree closest to the van. I had to hit it high and hard or the van wasn’t going to budge. As running footsteps crunched closer, I climbed another branch.

This had to work. If it didn’t, I’d be dead and Ivory would be lost. And what did it say about me that the second option sounded worse?

My muscles bunched and I sprang. I flew across the gap, twisting mid-air to shoulder into the metal.

Bang.

I hit at full speed. The spear in my side gave a healthy twinge, but the van rocked.
 

“Stop him!” The icemen careened into the clearing.

I landed on all fours and dodged the first spear. The second hit me in the flank. A scream tore up my throat and I almost fell, but I couldn’t stop.

Not until Ivory was free.

I ducked my head under the van. It still rocked enough. Cording every muscle in my body, I lifted. As the tires rose, I squeezed underneath, fighting for every inch of leverage I could find.

Spears shattered against the side of the van. They couldn’t get to me as long as I was under.

With a last massive heave, I thrust upward. It broke the equilibrium.

The van tipped.

And my cover was gone.

A few of the spears clattered around me. I dodged some more, but the ice-douches had an unlimited supply and their aim was deadly.

If I could just make the edge of the woods…

A spear buried itself in my chest. After the first flash of pain, it didn’t hurt nearly as much as it should’ve.

Shit. That was bad.