Chapter 14
Molly
Her feet pounded against the dirt as she ran through the woods. She didn't worry about all the noise she was making, not when the monster following her could just smell which way she was going. No, she had to conserve her mental energy, not spend every second she had trying to out maneuver them. She wasn't egotistical enough to think that she was better at the game these things played.
"Come out, come out wherever you are!" taunted a voice in the woods.
She fought the urge to whip her head in the direction of the noise. She had learned the last time that she'd smacked her head into a branch that looking anywhere except in front of her was a mistake. Breathing deep, she pushed herself harder. If she could make it to the river, she would be fine. If she could get herself to the one place where she belonged, she could make it through this.
Something swiped at the back of her leg, causing her to stumble and cry out. The yowl of laughter behind her forced her to keep moving. They said that cats liked to play with their prey, and the oversized asshole chasing her proved that fact. She didn't even want to count the amount of scars she had on her body. She didn't want to know all the damage these creatures had done to her in the past year. No, she'd continue doing what she had from day one, and take every second she could to escape this hell hole.
"Molly, darling, you know running only makes it worse," a feminine voice called out. "If you just stop now and let us bring you back, we'll go easy on you."
She snorted, knowing the lie. She'd been there, done that. The last time they had made the promise, she was still so drugged from their experiments that she hadn't been able to sense the lie. "Not happening," she whispered under her breath as the sound of water filled her ears.
With tears of joy running down her face, she pushed herself a little harder. Only feet away from her destination, something slammed into her back. Smacking the forest floor hard, she let out a cry of frustration. Not again. Not this time. She wasn't going back. She couldn't keep letting them stab her with needles. She couldn't keep letting them try to take the one thing that made her who she was.
Digging her fingers into the forest ground, she tried dragging her body away from the claws pressing into her shoulders. Deep rivets of blood began pooling onto the dirt, but she pushed that fact to the back of her mind. Whatever they had given her this time had kept the pain mostly at bay. Oh, she could still feel it, but her mind took long enough to catch up that she hadn't passed out yet.
"Bad, kitty," the laughing voice said as the claws began to retract. "We can't kill Molly."
They could, and they would. Just as soon as they got what they wanted out of her. She couldn't let that happen. She couldn't let these monsters succeed in their plans. Reaching out as far as she could, she let out a relieved sigh as her fingertips touched water. The pain in her shoulders and calf receded; the cuts on her feet disappeared. But as she let the water heal her wounds, she felt it snap something together deep inside of her.
With a yell, she jerked her hand away, but it was too late. Without her permission, her body began withering on the forest floor. Bones popped out of place, reforming with an agony that she had never felt in her life. Even the people she had been surrounded by in the last year hadn't inflicted this much pain.
Panting, she glanced at the woman who had pursued her. A large smile was on the beautiful woman's face as she patted the lion beside her. "It's working, Joseph. Look! We did it, we've created one."
The lion transformed smoothly, turning into the man Molly had loathed for as long as she had seen him. "Don't get too excited. The last one who got this far died during the transformation. We can't try it on you until we know for a fact that it will work." He stared at Molly with a creepy grin on his face as her body reformed itself. "Plus, we'll still need her after this. We need to do more experiments, find out exactly what combination caused her to transform."
She tried to protest and alarm shot through her body as a high pitch yip noise left her throat, causing both the man and woman's smile to widen even more. "Oh, darling," the woman purred. "Can you make me into her?"
The woman stepped closer and when she did, Molly forced herself to her feet. Later, when she was away from this place, she would let herself freak out about the fact that she now had four to stand on. Slowly backing up, she kept her head down and her teeth bared.
The man chuckled. "Do you really think your tiny form can fight a lion."
Her back foot slipped and splashed into water. A smile she hoped resonated in this form fell onto her face as she asked the water for its healing properties once more. She didn't know what exactly she was, not until she could safely look herself, and she wasn't stupid enough to take her eyes off the two people in front of her. The man was right though. She couldn't fight a lion. Even if she was one herself, she knew she'd never win, not against someone who had been a lion his entire life.
It was his mistake to think she was so stupid as to try though. No, she couldn't fight him and win, but there was one thing she could do, run. Putting her back to two people she knew were evil was hard, but running for her life surprisingly wasn't. She ran faster than her human feet had ever been able to take her. Trees passed her in a blur, logs were easily jumped over.
A roar echoed behind her, but she didn't let the noise slow her down. She didn't have time for hesitation. She didn't have time for anything other than finding her way out of the dark area that had been her home for the past year. Noises rumbled in her ears. As they twitched, she easily shot her body in the direction it came from. If she wasn't mistaken, that was the sound of a car. Cars meant roads, and roads meant finding civilization.
She didn't know how in the hell she was going to get help when she didn't even know what she was, but she'd find a way. She'd do anything and everything in her power to finally free herself. Clearing the woods, she jumped. Her paws scraped on asphalt as she skidded to a stop. With a deep breath, she glanced back towards the woods, but before she could check to see if the man lion was still following her, a force knocked her body to the ground.
For the second time in less than an hour, she felt pain like nothing else resonate through her body. This time though, the drugs were completely out of her system. She couldn't keep herself from the darkness. She couldn't help but let her eyes fall shut. With a sigh, she gave in. Maybe, today just wasn't her day.
***
Barron
Music pounded in his ears as his sister sang along to the pop song on the radio. It wasn't that she was bad at it, hell, she sounded better than the modified voice she was copying. It was that if he heard this song one more time, he was going to destroy the radio.
"You want me to change it?" Barron asked.
Bryn chuckled. "Nope," she said with a large grin. "Driver picks the music. Believe me, no one wanted to listen to Owen's country, Sara's rock, Namir's classical, or your silence."
"Hey," Owen grumbled from the backseat. "My country is better than this modified noise you call music."
Bryn glared into the rearview mirror. "You know you love this song."
Looking back at the road, she cursed as she swerved and slammed on her breaks. Barron jerked his head around, looking at the road just as a thump sounded from the front of the vehicle.
"What the hell was that?" Barron yelled as Bryn skidded to a halt.
Her wide eyes turned towards him. "I don't know. I didn't see it until it was too late."
With a sigh, Barron jerked his door opened and motioned for the other four to stay in the vehicle. The last thing he wanted was all of them hovering around them as he saw what damage his sister had done to the poor animal. Stretching, he cracked his back with a wince. Ten hours in a vehicle with only his sister talking was grating on his nerves. They were stopping at the next town, whether the others wanted to or not. He needed out of that SUV and away from them. He chuckled. They'd just started on this small mission away from the cabin, and already he was becoming stir crazy.
Walking around the vehicle, he froze when he saw what exactly his sister had hit. "Shit," he mumbled, before pointing at Namir and then at the animal on the ground.
The man popped from the seat and landed on the opposite side of Barron. "What is it? The car should be fine. Just a small dent."
"We need to take her with us."
"What?" Namir asked with confusion. "Why would we need to take it?"
"Breathe," he commanded. When Namir raised an eyebrow, Barron's eyes flashed red. "Take a deep breath and tell me what you smell."
"Chemicals, blood, animal," he paused with a frown, "and magic."
"Not just an animal," he said, pointing down at the her. "I don't know how in the hell she is in this form, but that's a healer." When Namir didn't comment, Barron felt his frustrations return. "The non-shifter kind of healer. You know, the other kind."
Namir jerked away and frowned. "Then why would we take her with us?"
He ground his teeth together, not knowing the exact answer to that question. The truth of the matter was that as soon as he saw her, he knew he had to help her. Whatever the woman had gotten herself into couldn't be half as bad as what they ran from. "She can help us."
Laughter burst from Namir as he shook his head. "And what are you going to tell the others?" When silence met his question, Namir frowned. "You want me to keep what she is a secret? Don't you think they've already heard us talking?"
"Warded the car," he mumbled before gesturing towards the animal. "We can't leave her here. We'll take her to a hotel in the next town, let her heal, and then send her on her way."
"I can hear a lie, Barron." With a sigh, the man looked up at the night sky. "You are planning more than what you will say." He glanced back at him with a nod. "But I promised Alexandria that I would do my best to get along with you. If this is what it takes, I will help."
Gratitude for the guardian swept through Barron, but he kept the emotion in check. As Namir took a step towards the animal, Barron growled. "I'll grab her. You sit up front with Bryn. I'll get in the cargo area with the woman."
Namir raised an eyebrow but shrugged without comment as he began walking towards the SUV. "Wait," Barron whispered, knowing the man would hear him. "Thank you."
With a small nod, Namir disappeared into the passenger's seat, causing a yip from his sister as she instinctively smacked the man on the shoulder. With the ward lowered, he could hear Bryn. "Hasn't anyone told you popping in like that is rude?"
Namir smiled. "Your mother just a couple days ago."
With a huff, his sister turned away to stare at Barron. Before she could question his actions, Barron swooped down and grabbed the unconscious animal. As he rose, Bryn let out a gasp.
"Pop the back," he grumbled, ignoring her attempt to bombard his mind with questions.
She did as he asked, even closed it for him when he was safely seated with the animal on his lap. Turning, he pressed his back against the back of the vehicle. Ignoring the looks on Owen and Sara's faces, he stared at his sister's eyes in the rear-view mirror.
"A fox?" she asked quietly.
Barron glanced down at the matted dark orange hair on the animal and nodded. Running his hands through her fur, checking for all the damage the vehicle had inflicted, he hissed. He felt more than broken ribs and a broken leg. No, what he felt was much more dangerous. He felt a brightness in her soul; a will to live and live happily no matter what the world threw at her.
Looking back up at the eyes staring at him, he nodded. "A fox."