MisStaked (37 page)

The storm wasn't the worse part. What frightened him the most was she was not fully awake. For all intents and purposes the Mother was nothing more than a dried up corpse lying on a slab. If she could affect the world in the state she was in now, what kind of chaos would be enacted should she become fully awake? Breathred shuddered. As much as he would like to, couldn't blame the cold for it.

The shadow watched the two men. The substance from the other had given her enough strength to break the bonds of her self-imposed prison. True, her physical form was trapped, but her soul was free to walk the shadows that fell between. Soon, such weakness would not be the case. She would be able to walk—flesh and blood among the human world again.

In her slumber, she had heard the people above her. It took a while to remember who she was. She had begun slowly leaching the energy of small animals that burrowed in the earth of her tomb. Time passed slowly, then remembered she had a name. In the old days she had been known as D'brea Asksafomoore in the language of the people of the icy wastes, as her people called themselves. Her name meant
She Who Thirsts For Men In Bad Places And Does Things To Them That Would Make A Walrus Blush
. She thought the name fit, especially the walrus part.

Thinking back, maybe she had been too rough with her first meal in eons. How was she to know these modern men were so fragile? He passed out in the first five minutes, and D'brea hadn't even got to the part where she threw her leg over. Well, it didn't matter, because she didn't get to do it. Most disappointing. Now, the little hairy one looked like he had stamina. She liked stamina in a man. It wasn't her favorite thing, but it came in a close second.

As good as he looked, the one next to him smelled like pure heaven. He wasn't much to look at, but man did he have blood to make a girl sweat for. She toyed with the idea of taking a sample. Not too much, just enough to settle her nerves. Well, what would it hurt? It wasn't like anyone could see her in this form. She'd just nip on down there, slip in, get a quick bite, and come on back up. It would be good for her. After that, maybe she could get the dreamy hunk of a man with him to follow her back to the tomb for a quick tumble.

D'brea let herself flow into shadow. The earth echoed against her touch. Almost to her target, she caught wind of something foul on the air. She stopped and clung to the shadows that called the forest's edge their home. A slip of a girl was walking toward the two men. If D'brea had been in her physical form, she would have hissed. Not very ladylike, but it was in her to do so.

The girl was a Dushato. So, their race still roamed the earth. D'brea wondered if the same could be said of her own race. Perhaps the Dushato had purged the land of them. The war between their races was as old as time, itself. D'brea, herself, had started the war, so knew how deep the hatreds ran. Seduce one Dushato prince and they take offense for all eternity. Talk about big babies.

Well, from the looks of it, the Dushato was the tall one's bodyguard. No, the way she looked at him said they were undedicated mates. Ah, a challenge. She loved a challenge. For a taste of that one, it was a challenge she was more than willing to accept.

D'brea eased back into forest. She was tired. She had expended too much energy. The man would have to wait. Already the night waned toward day. She would rest. There would be time enough for her new quest. After all she had forever to look forward to.

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Stake first, and ask questions when the dust settles.

Luna couldn't shake the feeling from the night before. It itched at her brain like an old scab. It had started as soon as she walked out to join Breathred and Brogan. She had only felt it once or twice before. Both of them had coincided with the times they had been around the vamps. This was like that only a hundred times itchier. The fact the feeling still sat with her almost seven hours later was a testament to the intensity of the sensation.

She stared into the snowblown camp. The storm had yet to let up. In places snow had already obliterated once easily-recognizable landmarks. Against Brogan's orders, Dr. Grayson had the students keeping the entrance of the tomb clear of snow. They worked in teams of four and none of them stayed for more than an hour at a time, the only way Brogan would allow them out of the tents. So far, they had no repeats of what had happened to Sharbano.

As much as Luna hated the thought of going inside, she turned back to the main tent. The sound of arguing could easily be heard coming from inside. She grimaced. They were still at it. Four hours and still they couldn't decide what to do. It was enough to make her scream. In spite of her frustration, she pushed her way into the tent.

"Come on, we're trapped here. We might as well go ahead and see what's in there,” Stud shouted in Brogan's face while jumping up and down on the table in front of him.

"That's all the more reason, not to mess with it,” Brogan yelled back.

Breathred shoved the chimp off the table and appealed to Brogan. “We're not asking for everyone to go in, just Doctor Grayson and the three of us,” he pointed to Luna, Stud and himself. “You can keep everyone else out of the way. If anything happens, you can get them as far away as you can."

"Watch it, Petrifunck. Last time I looked I was more qualified than you to enter,” Truehart stated.

"Me, as well,” Jessica added, glaring at Truehart.

"People, can we focus on the important thing—getting someone inside?” Dr. Grayson broke in.

"She's right,” Breathred agreed. “Brogan, give us a chance to find what we came for. You have my word we won't disturb anything."

Brogan rocked back in his chair. This was getting them nowhere and giving him a headache. They were right. They needed to find out what was going on inside the tomb. He'd checked out all the routes at dawn. Every one of them was packed with snow. They weren't getting out of here anytime soon. He was a soldier and knew facing an enemy without knowing what you faced was suicide. He would give in, but he wouldn't make it easy for them. “Okay, you win, but I pick who goes in. Agreed?"

"If that's the only way to get in, I guess we'll have to agree,” Dr. Grayson answered.

"So who's it going to be secret agent man?” Stud asked, getting back in the man's face.

"It, sure as hell won't be you,” Brogan snapped.

"But who will it be?” Jessica spoke up.

"I want to keep it to a small group. Dr. Grayson goes of course. The rest of the team will consist of Breathred and Truehart,” Brogan stated.

"That's not fair. I know as much as Truehart,” Jessica shouted.

"That's why you'll be here at the short-range radio with me. I need somebody to interpret what these eggheads are spouting. Before you say another word, it's ended. The rest of you will stay in camp. I don't want anybody near the tomb. In case you're wondering, I mean you and the monkey, Luna."

"But—"

Brogan cut Luna off, “No buts, or we can all sit here and wonder what's in that damn hole,"

"Then, we want to be on radio duty, too."

"Fine with me. One more thing. We only have four hours of daylight, so we do this tomorrow. I don't want anybody near that place after dark. Are we clear?” Brogan asked, his steely gaze sweeping the crowd.

"After what happened last night, I don't think you'll have a problem keeping people away from the tomb,” Dr. Grayson said, her voice showing the tension they all felt.

Luna stood in the opening of the tent she now shared with Breathred and Stud. As night fell across the treetops she sensed a pack of wolves heading north not far from the camp. A part of her wished she could join them, but that path was denied to her. Her place was with Breathred now. He and Stud tossed uneasily on their cots. It had been too early to turn in, but after the restless night before, they had decided to try. Tomorrow would come all too soon.

Rest was something she desperately needed, but still couldn't bring herself to go to sleep. Her body was all keyed up. It was more than just the groundswell of events. Her instincts told her she had a job to do. Luna Walking Batch wracked her brain, trying to figure out what her instincts were trying to tell her. She dredged up the memories of her childhood. Every lesson learned at her mother's knee flooded her. Somewhere in there was a snippet to explain it all to her. She just had to sort through them to find it.

The crunch of feet on snow broke her from her thoughts. She glanced into the gloom expecting to see Brogan making another round of the camp. To her surprise Sharbano stumbled across the camp, heading toward the tomb. Dammit, where was Roberts? He was supposed to be watching the man.

She turned to wake Breathred, but stopped herself. He needed his rest. Besides, she could handle this. A tug on her arm stopped her from running after the man. Luna looked down to see Stud rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"What's going on?” he asked between yawns.

"Shhh,” Luna hissed.

"Don't tell me to shhh."

"Be quiet. I just saw Sharbano heading for the tomb,” Luna told him in a hushed whisper.

"Why are you whispering? That zombie can't hear you. Let's go get his ass, so I can get back to bed.” Stud took a step toward the staggering Sharbano.

"No, Stud. I want to see what's going on. Let's follow him and see what he does."

Stud crossed his arms. “Look here, Velma. I ain't Scooby-doo and Shaggy's ass is asleep. So, unless you got a hippo in your pocket, we're getting the dead weight back in bed and that's that."

"Just help me. There's two Scooby snacks in it for you, if you do,” Luna laughed.

"Make it a triple banana latte, and you got a deal.” Stud winked.

"You got it. Now let's get going. He's almost out of sight,” Luna said, as Sharbano slipped into the sparse tree line.

Not waiting for Stud, Luna took off after the fleeing man. She danced over the snow. Her feet made deep ridges in the loosely-packed whiteness. She was pleased to hear the soft crunch of Stud closely behind her. Despite her earlier bravado, she was glad to have some help. While Sharbano might not present much trouble by himself, she was not sure what might be waiting for them out there in the darkness.

She brushed past the first few stunted pines and kept going. It took her several seconds to realize they were heading away from camp instead of toward the tomb. Luna slowed down and scanned the forest. Luna saw no sign of Sharbano, but she was just as sure they hadn't passed him, either. He had been in full sight up until that last turn. The boy had to be close by.

Luna signaled for Stud to draw up beside her. Maybe between the two of them, they could figure this out. Before she could begin her search, a wall of flesh dropped from the sky and slammed her to the ground.

Expecting another attack, Luna rolled out of the way, as soon as she hit the ground. The press of her attacker's weight pressed down on her feet. She kicked out and scrambled further from his reach. Over the blood pounding in her ears, Luna heard Stud shouting at her. She didn't have time to listen. Her only thoughts were of getting away.

"You can't stop me!” a hysterical yell rang out.

Luna flipped onto her knees and looked in the direction of her attacker. Sharbano was hunched over, foaming at the mouth. His face contorted into a mask of hate. The sight of him made her hair stand on end. He barely looked human anymore. She felt herself being pulled apart at the seams; the urge to give in to what she had been holding in for so long, tore at her. Deep inside her, heritage demanded release.

"Sharbano, we just want to help you. Nobody's trying to hurt you. Just let us take you back to camp,” Luna said, sounding a lot calmer than she felt. Something about him set off a whole orchestra full of bells and whistles. It was getting harder to hold it all in.

"You lie! You want to keep me from her. She told me you would try to keep us apart. Well, I won't let you!” His teeth gnashed his lower lip, drawing twin waterfalls of blood down his chin where his canines were.

"Look, Chuck. Calm down. This is getting us nowhere,” Luna all but growled, as she inched closer to him. Looking to the left, she saw Stud doing the same.

Without warning, Sharbano leapt. He clawed the air, striking Luna as he came down. She was thrown back on the unfamiliar ground. Chuck didn't give her a chance to recover. He bowled into her, driving her to the ground. She struggled to free herself from his grasp but blow after blow kept her pinned to the ground. She just couldn't get her arms free to stage an offensive. It was all she could do to defend herself.

"You can't beat me, girl. She's given me her strength, her power,” Sharbano screamed into her face. His breath was fetid and hot against her bruised face.

That was the last straw. A beating she could take. Luna could even take a good tongue lashing, if she deserved it, but there was no way she was going to take chronic halitosis on top of everything else.

"Asshole, you don't want to get me angry,” Luna warned him, but it was already too late. She was pissed and sure as hell not going to take it anymore.

The urge to fight her nature was gone. Like slipping into a second skin, the beast took over. The change was subtle at first. Only she could even tell it was taking place. Distantly, she could hear Stud crying out her name, but the fact was beyond her caring. There was only one thing that mattered—the acceptance of her true nature, the birthright of Coyote.

Her body burned. The moon kissing her fevered face, Luna smiled at her heavenly mother's touch. The smile was frightening to behold. Her teeth had grown long and pointed to match the elongation of her nose and mouth into a single unit. In that last minute she gave herself to it totally and without reservation. The child of Coyote had come.

Luna howled at Sharbano, who looked at her oblivious to her change. She smiled as the rustle of fur beneath him brought his attack came to an abrupt halt. The look on his face pleased the beast for it was one it knew well. It was called fear. Before he could regain his composure, Luna threw him across the small clearing.