Home > Battle Bond (Death Before Dragons #2)(11)

Battle Bond (Death Before Dragons #2)(11)
Author: Lindsay Buroker

I sensed this one calling them, but I could not stop him in time, Sindari added, pausing to snap his jaws as Kurt, bleeding from a dozen wounds, charged at him to continue their fight. They’re converging on the front yard. You better go out the back. I’ll keep these two distracted so you can get away.

Sindari was fighting as he communicated with me, so I didn’t respond. I didn’t want to distract him.

Besides, there was nothing to argue about. We could have taken down the brothers but not the brothers plus ten more shifters.

Glass tinkled as Otto pushed himself up, the TV frame falling to one side. I snatched a few cartridges from the box on the sofa and jammed them in my pocket, then faced him as he looked at me. I took a step, tempted to finish him off while he was still dazed, so he couldn’t hurt or threaten Nin again, but two of the incoming shifters had already reached the lawn. One sprang toward the window of our room even as the front door slammed open, another charging inside.

I raced into the hallway and jumped over Sindari and Kurt, the massive felines clawing and thrashing on the floor, their blood spattering the rug. Sindari had the advantage with his powerful fangs embedded in Kurt’s thickly muscled neck. It wasn’t smart, but I paused long enough to jab Chopper down into Kurt’s haunch. Or at least, that was my intent. He twisted as he tried to tear away from Sindari, and all I got was the tail. My blade sliced through it at the halfway point.

“You won’t be using that for your perverted sex shit again,” I growled, then ran into a bedroom facing the back yard as another massive cat, a female jaguar this time, rounded the corner and entered the hallway. She sprang through the doorway after me.

By then, I had Fezzik out, and I fired at her. Bullets tore into her chest, and she jerked back out into the hallway and out of sight.

Don’t linger, Sindari ordered as I rushed through the bedroom and slashed all the glass out of the window with four precise strikes from Chopper. It clinked outward, and I leaped after it, landing in mud and weeds outside.

My senses told me more shifters were pouring into the front of the house. I hated to leave without any real answers, but there was no choice. I ran parallel to the river, leaped a hedge, and rushed through yards and common areas as I ran back toward the trail.

Sindari? I glanced back. You’re getting out of there, right?

He could dismiss himself from this world any time, but he was doing his best to buy me time. As much as I appreciated that, I didn’t want him to get himself killed fighting ten powerful cat shifters at once. It was possible for him to die if he took too much damage before he traveled the magical pathway back to his own world.

Sindari?

Have you made it back to your vehicle yet? he asked.

Yes, I lied.

Running through muddy yards and leaping fences and hedges wasn’t the fastest way to travel. But the bridge and the busy trail were in sight up ahead. I doubted the shifters would chase me through such a public area during the day.

I ran across the wide lawn of an apartment building, ducks quacking and paddling away from the bank as my passage disturbed them. The quacks grew uproarious, and several ducks took flight. That was when I realized that it was more than me bothering them.

A bloody silver tiger was running after me. Fortunately, nothing was running after him.

You have not made it back to your vehicle, Sindari told me sternly.

Before I could reply, an unfamiliar voice spoke into my mind. Help me.

The brothers’ house was no longer in sight, but I was positive the telepathic words came from that direction. Had it been one of the brothers? I couldn’t imagine them asking me for something. More likely, it was a trap designed to lure me back.

“Did you hear that?” I asked.

Sindari had caught up with me and ran by my side. No, what?

A telepathic voice spoke to me. It came from back there.

There was another magical being—not a shifter—under the house.

I know. Do you think that’s who’s reaching out to me? I had the telepathic abilities of a rock, but I tried to open my mind and project back toward the house. Who are you? What kind of help do you need?

A brown panther and a lion leaped over hedges and into the yard of the apartment complex as we ran out onto a street on the other side.

Flee, Ruin Bringer, one of them taunted me. It was not the same voice that had asked for help. Flee with your pussycat.

Yes, a female voice purred into my mind. Run away from the power of the Northern Pride. Let it be known that the supposed Scourge of the Magical wets herself at the first sign of real might.

There’s only two following us, right? I asked Sindari.

Yes. The rest remain in the house.

I stopped in the street and turned to face the panther and the lion—they were loping lazily across the lawn. The fact that they weren’t truly trying to catch us told me plenty. They’d seen Kurt and Otto with the snot—and blood—beaten out of them and weren’t eager to fight us, not just the two of them.

I fired at them, not caring if any mundanes wandering past heard the noise. As the weapon opened up, bullets slamming into enemy flesh, the two big cats screeched and wheeled to run away.

The lion ran across the lawn and jumped, trying to clear the river in one leap. He didn’t quite make it. Three-quarters of the way over, he splashed down and swam like a furry Olympic medalist to the far side, where he scrambled up the bank and disappeared.

The panther launched herself onto the two-story roof of the apartment building, a man holding barbecue tongs gaping at her as she sailed past and out of sight. A raw steak ready to go on the grill dangled from those tongs as he turned his gape on me. I smiled and waved, then holstered Fezzik. After digging out a cleaning cloth, I wiped down Chopper and put the sword away too.

My telepathy is weak, I told Sindari as we walked toward the trail. Please deliver appropriate parting remarks regarding their power and might.

Already done. I also pointed out to the lion that he is the only one wet around here.

Perfect, Sindari. Thank you. I paused to hug him, careful not to touch any of the open gashes in his hide.

Then I headed glumly to the trail. Even if we’d been ridiculously outnumbered, I couldn’t help but feel that I had lost. I hadn’t confirmed whether the Pardus brothers did or did not have weapons capable of hurting dragons, and I definitely hadn’t done anything that would keep them away from Nin. I might have made things worse. Maybe I would get lucky, and they would turn any thoughts of revenge on me and leave her alone, but I couldn’t count on that.

A part of me wished I’d killed them before I ran out. Maybe there wouldn’t have been time—shifters were resilient as hell—but if I’d been determined, I bet I could have done it. They were assholes, and the world would be better if they were gone.

But, as I’d promised Zav more than once, I wasn’t a criminal. I worked for the government and only executed those who’d committed heinous crimes. It was possible the panther brothers fell into that category, but I didn’t have proof of that.

“It’s a pain in the ass being a good guy.” I sighed dramatically as we turned back onto the trail.

If it helps, I prefer working with righteous handlers. Having that charm in the hands of a vampire was dreadful.

I grimaced, thinking back to how Sindari and I had met. “I understand. I’ll try my best to stay righteous. While plotting ways to put those guys out of business and drive them out of the country. There’s nothing morally questionable about that, is there?”

I don’t think so.

“Good. I need to come back again, ideally when they aren’t home, to find out who’s in their basement, but there’s no point as long as their pride is hanging out in the house.” I had no idea what I would do if the pride didn’t leave. “Do panther shifters go out on Saturday nights?”

Tigers prefer to hunt at dawn and dusk.

“I’m not sure how much hunting those two do. They’ll probably be licking their wounds for a while. Unfortunately. I’ll have to mull over our options while I’m shopping for lotions at Dimitri’s stand.”

I halted, the memory of the boxes in that living room cabinet coming to mind. I had swiped some of their cartridges. Maybe I could find out who was supplying them to the Pardus brothers.

“I wonder if Zoltan knows anything about Kurt and Otto and this Northern Pride. These guys aren’t operating that far from his home.”

Zoltan might also be able to use his alchemy to tell who’d crafted the ammunition.

He did seem well informed, considering his limited ability to travel.

“Maybe the haunted house gives him tips.” I glanced at the clock on my phone. It wasn’t even lunchtime yet. “I suppose I can’t visit a vampire at high noon.”

Not if you expect him to be awake.

“He may think I’m going to rob him if I sneak in and knock on his coffin.”

Perhaps if you arrived with Dimitri, you would be more welcome, since they now have a working relationship.

“Zoltan and I have a working relationship too. I got a bunch of blood for him. He should be oozing fond feelings for me.”

Never mind that I’d killed his giant guard tarantula. Maybe going to visit with Dimitri would be a good idea. Especially if he already had to return to Zoltan’s lair later, with whatever the vampire’s cut of the day’s earnings was.

Wrapped up in my conversation, I’d forgotten to dismiss Sindari when we got back on the trail. Someone zipping across the bridge on inline skates saw him, let out a startled yelp, and made the turn down the ramp harder than necessary. He hit the grass, flailed and almost caught his balance, but then ran into a rock. He flew off the bank and into the river.

“I think it’s time for you to go, Sindari,” I said as bicyclers came into sight. “You need to heal, and you’re scaring people.”

Me? You were the one talking about blood deliveries and oozing.

That’s not nearly as alarming as a giant silver tiger. I smiled as I made a shooing motion, then hurried to add, Thank you for your help this morning, before Sindari faded into mist.

   
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