Tales Of The Sazi 02 - Moon's Web (17 page)

"So seeing people glow isn't something temporary? I thought it was just something that happened because Sue and I were finally together and it would fade."

Bobby spoke up with one leg already in the car. "It's only Sazi who glow with the sparkles. I'll see if I can get a friend who used to be in Wolven to explain it all to you. He says it's pretty useful. You'll get used to it."

"I'll get used to it. Gee, that's comforting."

He shrugged his shoulders and ducked inside the car. I heard his voice before he closed it. "At least you can eat a candy bar without tasting and categorizing the preservatives. Don't bitch." I got in the door opposite Bobby and sat down in the back seat. The silence stretched and lengthened as we drove onto the snow-packed streets. There were only smells in the car— fear's hot and sour from Asri, and burned metal frustration plus hot coffee, not quite boiling, from Lucas. Bobby was so covered by winter wear that I had no clue of his emotions, but he was fidgety to the point of twitching. Even through the glow that burned around me, I could feel the moon rip at my body. Thick fur itched just under my skin. I tried to think about something different. I found Sue at the back of my head, but she was hard to hear through Lucas's magic. I wanted to touch her but I knew that she was still at the mall with Pamela. I told her that Lucas was who we'd come to pick up but she already knew. She was busily finding a suitable gift for him. I didn't really think it was necessary, but she was adamant that a gift for a visiting dignitary was custom with the Sazi. The books had told her so. At least she had some money. I'd given her some of the gold coins from my pocket to trade in at a coin shop, but didn't have time to show them all to her. The cash would keep us in kibble for a few weeks if she didn't go nuts on a gift. The connection with Sue was strengthening as we talked, which was fine with me. It distracted me from the pounding power that was giving me a headache.

You need to read the books, Tony. I hope you didn't leave them on the island. She growled when she learned that I did. She was startled when Pamela grabbed her arm and started to drag her to the food court. I guess she had growled out loud. Oops. Fortunately, her new friend was used to it and knew what she needed.

No sign of Scotty? I felt her negative response, but she was starting to feel the moon as well, and it was difficult for her to talk. Keep an eye out if there's a pretzel stand. He lives on them. Our connection flared for a moment and I was in the mall with her, smelling cooking beef from a steak sandwich stand, seeing bright lights and laughing humans. The scent of the raw meat as it began to sizzle on the grill froze me in place. I could feel a small trickle of saliva slide from between Sue's lips, but it was too difficult to raise my hand to wipe it away. Movement from the corner of my eye returned me to the car. The air was finally oven-like enough for Bobby to start to remove his scarf. I spotted Lucas moving all of the vents so they blew on Asri. No wonder he'd wanted to sit in the back.

Bobby's hand moved in rotation as he unwound the wrap from his neck. Cartoon colors flashed in the light from the street lamps. I ducked his arm once as he continued to unwind. The next movement was even larger and his fist threatened to smash me in the face. I put up a hand to grab his arm just as I felt Sue bite into her thick, rare steak sandwich. I caught his wrist and felt a jolt as the car disappeared into a black nothingness that was becoming annoyingly familiar. Sue was likewise gone as I soared and dropped until my stomach lurched.

"I thought we were going to a sparring room," I heard Bobby's voice say from the mouth that was now mine.

"We are," said Asri, who was still hidden in darkness in front of me. Lights flared and a stylish, modern apartment stretched in front of us. The room was warmer than the hotel had been and it felt good on my face, which was tight and slow from the cold.

"Then why are we here?"

Asri took off her jacket and limped slowly across the floor. She entered another room and turned on the light in there, as well.

I heard her voice from inside. "Well? Are you going to follow me or just stand there all day?" Bobby walked forward cautiously. I could feel his nervousness and a tingling fear flow through every muscle. He stopped at the doorway and could only stare at Asri. She had stripped down to a tight sports bra and delicate black lace panties. Her slender body looked stiff and achy as she crawled on the bed and picked up a remote control.

It took Bobby three tries before he could speak. I could feel the panic in him, but couldn't figure out why. Asri was pretty cute under all those clothes. "Wha… urn… what are you doing? We're here to fight." Asri shot him a withering look. "Which we can hardly do if we both have the agility of desert tortoises." She lifted the remote and pressed a button. A panel above the bed opened and five spotlights turned the thick comforter red. She raised her face to the warm light, closed her eyes, and then leaned back onto the bed with a sigh.

Bobby's eyes lit up. "Heat lamps?"

"It's the only way I can stand to live in this miserable, ice-ridden town. You smell like a snake, so I presume you're also cold." She pointed to a darkened doorway, her eyes still closed. "You may change in the bath. My weight room and arena are downstairs. We will battle there when we are sufficiently warm."

"You have a private gym? Isn't there one in the hotel?"

Her laugh was a short bark of sound. "Certainly. But it would be hardly useful to train with those I punish, would it? They would learn my tactics."

Bobby entered the bath and shut the door. He removed his contacts and stripped to boxers, but hesitated in removing them. I knew that being nude wasn't much of a problem for him, so it seemed odd. But when I concentrated on feeling what Bobby was feeling, I understood why. He was attracted to Asri— very attracted and didn't want it to show.

He needn't have worried. He turned off the bathroom light and opened the door. A blinding flash of pain erupted in his face and he went down on his tail. He looked up in shock to see Asri standing over him, smiling. She dropped her raised fist to her side once more.

Her voice was filled with dark laughter. "Surely you didn't think I was going to play fair, did you, agent? I will wait for you in the arena. The stairs are in the living room." She turned and started to walk away. She easily leapt over the foot that Bobby tried to kick out to trip her. She spoke over her shoulder as she left. "And don't get blood on my towels."

Bobby raised a hand up to his face, and it came away smeared with blood. He stood slowly. I felt the ache in stiff muscles. Did he feel like this every time it got cold? No wonder he was so grumpy. A quick glance in the mirror showed that his split lip was already healed. He very deliberately wet one of the clean white towels and wiped off the blood. His face was smug in the mirror, but he was muttering. Apparently, I couldn't tell what a person was exactly thinking while I was in their head. I only got sights, sounds and sensations, plus a general impression of what was on their mind, which was plenty. Speaking of sensations— the warmth from the heat lamps as they seeped into his body felt great. It wasn't long before small beads of sweat appeared on his skin. I could tell he was getting more and more irritated as he warmed. He knew that making her wait would get her mad, as well, which is exactly why he was doing it. Finally, he decided it was time to stop stalling, and he turned off the lights and went downstairs. He could hear the drumbeats of Asri's animal feet as he walked down the stairs. Yes, better to change now and be able to surprise her. He stripped off the boxers and magic flowed over his skin. His arms moved to his sides and blended into his body. He lowered closer and closer to the floor, until his eyes were at ground level. The door at the bottom of the stairs was open and bright light glowed in the rectangle. Bobby remained in the shadows half a flight up— waiting.

When Asri passed by the next time during her shadow fight, he struck. I felt the stairs flow under my belly and thousands of muscles contract and loosen to pull me forward in a blur of speed. The attack was well placed— had Asri been any other sort of animal. Bobby's mouth opened wide and his fangs tried to dig in to her armored scales. His head moved side to side quickly as he tried to grind his teeth into her hide. But she was fast, as well. She was expecting a snake, even though she didn't know the type. The strike was enough to knock her off balance, but she used the momentum to roll away. She came up on her feet on the other side of the room and turned to look at him. Now that he'd responded to her punch in the bedroom, he raised the front third of his body off the ground and brought his full thirty-three feet of length into the room. While Asri's face remained cold and reptilian, her voice betrayed her surprise. "You are a regal python ? I did not… I was not sure your kind truly existed." He continued to stare at her without blinking or speaking. She recovered and said haughtily, "I believe that my kind once ate the young of your kind for sustenance." Bobby's tongue flicked out. The twin points gathered the scent of her sudden fear. It pleased him. "Seldom. Very seldom. But I can assure you that my young pythons once feasted on your kind's adults." Nasty little slam there, and it was possible. Both the dragons and pythons are native to the far eastern islands. Bobby had always said he came from South Africa. Maybe he lied.

Asri's eyes narrowed dangerously, but Bobby only continued to stare. His tail began to make small flicking motions, as though he had a rattle. She wasted no time. In a blur of motion and sound that echoed off the high ceiling, she raced across the expanse of floor and rammed right into his body, where his chest would be if he was still human. At the last second, he moved aside smoothly and slapped his tail hard across her eyes.

"A little slow there, Kho. You'll have to do better if you want your strip of hide." She hissed angrily and spun around. Then she stopped and regarded him for a moment. "Your attempt to get me angry enough to make mistakes won't work, Mbutu. Better men than you have tried."

"Ha! Wolves— hardly better. You've gotten soft fighting mammals. You need to learn how to fight a real opponent."

She pulled back her lips to reveal sharp, jagged teeth. "Do you have anyone in mind? I didn't know you'd brought a friend with you."

His mouth opened and I knew that he was showing off his teeth. "These are all the friends I need, lady." I realized that the short gasps of hisses was her laughter in this form. "And your friends had little effect on my hide. But let's see how you fare against my bite!"

She followed up the words with action. She came forward and he let her. I realized he was curious to find out whether she could bite through his skin. Personally, I wouldn't ever be curious enough to sit there and watch her race forward with jaws dripping saliva, but he continued to wait. She struck just below his neck. Her jaws closed and started to grind and pull backwards. Bobby was pleased when it had no effect. But he used the opportunity to feign surprise. He slithered and whipped his body like Asri was hurting him. He bit down on the thinner skin near her neck and slid the tip of his tail under her belly. Before she realized what was happening, he had two full coils around her and her back legs were helpless.

She realized her mistake too late. She struggled furiously to escape his grip. He laughed lightly and continued to wrap himself around her.

"I guess I fared pretty well against your bite, Kho. But let's see how long you can hold your breath, shall we?" Bobby's powerful muscles began to constrict Asri's ribs. I could smell her panic, but she smelled different, too. To Bobby's tongue, Asri didn't smell like moldy lutefisk. Her scent was complex and enticing, jasmine and sea salt, with rich humus. It smelled far too much like home for his taste. He was having a hard time concentrating.

But Asri was concentrating just fine. In a brilliant defensive move, she suddenly turned human. Her smaller body size slid easily between his coils before he could react and squeeze down. She propelled her naked, sweat-soaked form across the room like a rocket, and then stood and assumed a martial arts stance.

"I can hold my breath for over three minutes, Mbutu, just for your information." He also turned human in a burst of magic and laughed. "Perhaps this will be more of a challenge than either of us expected."

Blurs of sounds, scents and movement passed by me faster than I could follow. They spun and bounced and kicked and punched. But they seemed equally matched. Soon they were both sweating freely under the heat lamps, but Bobby was actually enjoying himself, and it seemed Asri was, too. Asri's fatal mistake was doing a spin kick to his face. Being taller, he grabbed her leg before it connected and lifted her off the floor. She tried to recover by kicking out with the other leg, but he pushed forward and toppled her to the ground so that she was on her stomach on the thick mats.

What had never occurred to me was that Bobby might retain his fluid flexibility while human. Apparently, Asri didn't realize it either. She was startled, and then panicked, when each of Bobby's legs wrapped around her legs multiple times until she couldn't move them. Then he did the same with her arms.

"Bet you didn't know I could do this, huh?" he whispered in her ear once she was completely immobile. "It only lasts for a little while after I change. Then the bones harden. But I have plenty of time left to finish you off. Now… " he lengthened his neck and slid his mouth under her chin. "Submit!" She shook her head, not speaking. Her heart was racing and she struggled mightily to free herself. He bit down on her neck but then froze. The taste of her— my God! It was like nothing he'd ever experienced. He suddenly couldn't think. He could only feel the softness of her bronze body under his, the scent of her silken black hair as it flowed over his skin. Her struggles felt amazingly erotic.

"You smell… different," she whispered.

His body was suddenly aroused in ways he'd never felt before. "So do you." He stretched his neck farther and brought it around so he could look into her eyes. The reptile slits in golden pupils reminded him of women long lost to him. He couldn't seem to help himself. He turned his face and brought his lips against hers. She opened her mouth to him and kissed him long and deep. He realized that his body was positioned over her so that if he moved even a little, he would be inside her. He desperately wanted to be inside her.