Laws of Nature -2 Christopher Golden (ebook reader web .txt) 📖

then I sure don't, either," he confessed. "But I hope, when you figure it out, you don't decide it was wrong."

Unsure how to respond to that, Courtney gazed up at him. His eyes were wide and bright in the darkness and the heat of the bedroom. She burrowed closer to Bill, enjoying the heat of his body despite the temperature in the room. The air from the fans blew across their skin, and she shivered, though she doubted the breeze had anything to do with it.

In the years since the accident that had crippled her and killed her mother, Courtney Dwyer had never felt safer.

Bill tensed suddenly.

In the same instant a loud crash came from the room she used as an office.

With blinding speed, he was out of the bed, crouched on the floor of her bedroom, nostrils flared as he sniffed the air. Courtney's heart hammered in her chest and she sat up, sheet pulled up to cover her body.

"What is it?"

His eyes ticked toward her, head moving in short jerks, a predator on the hunt. A shudder went through him and when he spoke, she thought his teeth might have grown longer. It also seemed that there was more hair on his chest, and Courtney doubted that was her imagination.

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to hide in the bathroom," he said, voice a low growl.

Courtney frowned, appalled by the idea. She inhaled deeply, sitting up straighter on the bed, making it clear to him that, bad leg or no, she was determined to take care of herself.

Bill reached out a thick, powerful hand to her. "Come on, then. Stay with me."

Sliding off the bed, she tried to grab for her clothes.

"No time," Bill told her.

When she glanced at him again, he held her cane in his huge fist. Courtney took it from him and clutched the sheet around her as best she could as she followed him out into the hall. The crash in the office had been followed by at least one loud thump, possibly more.

It occurred to her that it could be an ordinary burglar, in which case Bill's appearance might cause them trouble. Then she recalled the way Bill sniffed the air, and Courtney realized that there was no guesswork on his part. Bill's animal senses had already identified the intruders.

Outside the door to the office, he glanced at her with regret in his eyes. Then he turned his back to her and began to change. Courtney could not help it. She recoiled in horror. It was the second time she had seen Bill change, seen him reveal the true face beneath his human guise, but he had been clothed before.

This time she could clearly see the fur forcing its way through his skin. What disturbed her most, however, was the snapping sounds made by his jaw bones as they extended into a snout. With a shudder she tried to compose herself, not wanting him to see her react.

She knew what he was, but had convinced herself she was all right with that. Now, being there with him . . . he seemed so huge, hunched over slightly, as he sniffed the air. Courtney did her best to hide it, but she was just as afraid of him as she was of whatever had climbed the fire escape and pushed in the window fan there. It hurt, and though she realized that it was the only sane reaction, she felt disappointed in herself.

At the moment, though, it was hard to remember that this thing was her friend, her lover. Bill glanced at her, eyes narrowed. He sniffed at her now, and Courtney knew that she could not hide her fear. She began to speak, to try to communicate what she felt, but he held up an enormous hand, a claw-tipped finger to his nose. This monster was shushing her. The absurdity of it calmed her, at least as much as possible considering the situation.

Anxiously, Courtney glanced around at the other doors off the hallway. If they had come, there was no way for her to know how many of them there were.

Bill would know.

He hesitated just out of sight of the open door. Then he turned to her again, needle teeth gleaming, pointed ears twitching for the slightest sound. He leaned toward her and she felt his hot, wet breath on her throat. Courtney closed her eyes.

"Trust me?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper.

Her eyes snapped open and she stared into his . . . and her fear disappeared. The eyes were Bill's. Courtney nodded. She trusted him.

He opened the door and grabbed hold of her arms. Then he spun her around and, propelled her backward into the office where the Prowlers waited to tear out her throat.

Courtney screamed as her bad leg gave out beneath her and she tumbled to the floor, rolled over several times, and slammed painfully into the legs of her desk.

There were two Prowlers, slavering thick drool that spilled upon the floor as they sprang at her. Courtney screamed again. Even as terror struck, so did the heartbreak of what Bill had done.

He . . .

Before she could finish the thought, Bill was there.

The two Prowlers had leaped at her simultaneously. Bill moved so quickly that Courtney's eyes could barely follow him. His huge arms were raised, and he brought them down in a savage swipe of murderously long claws that tore through fur and flesh. Both of the Prowlers roared with agony as they sprang away from him. One leaped on top of Courtney's desk and the other rolled into a corner and began to rise, grievously wounded.

The stench of them was awful. Courtney was trapped, pinned to the floor beneath them even as the battle raged. Blood spattered around the office as the one on the desk leaped at Bill. The intruder's claws grazed Bill's chest, drawing a bit of blood.

Courtney winced.

But Bill had let the Prowler get that close for a reason. He