Blood Shift (The Charming Shifter Mysteries Book 3) Read online

  As he hit the snow-covered ground, the dark Fae shot from his skin like a black flame.

  “Jesus, woman,” Hung said, gasping to catch his breath. “That little knife in your pocket snagged a rib.”

  Chia rolled off him, scanning his face. “Yeah, well…my technique worked.”

  “Yeah, this time.”

  They both lunged to their feet, assuming a low, crouching defensive position.

  Two of the Fae shadows set off after Sugar.

  Three launched at Hung. He flew backward as if shoved. He got to his feet, let out a loud war cry, and barreled into one of the shades. Rolling over and over, it looked like he wrestled with smoke.

  One particularly vicious-looking Fae-shadow aimed itself at Chia.

  She felt a sickening blow as if punched in the solar plexus. Crumpling to her knees, she let out a long groan. She placed her hand on a nearby boulder to steady her nerves. Another blow landed on her jaw.

  Her face whipped to the right, spit flying from her mouth. She blinked and shook her head. Her eyes caught movement in the sky. More shadow things headed in their direction.

  “Hung, look! We’re screwed.”

  “Keep fighting!” he shouted from somewhere nearby.

  “It’s useless!” She turned to Hung, her hands dropping to her sides. Her gaze slid to Sugar, in the distance, looking like a crazy dancing woman. It’s too much.

  Chia grew quiet…listless.

  The Fae shadows surrounded her, circling like sharks ready to attack.

  “Go ahead. Come and get me,” she said, her voice wooden.

  “Chia! What are you doing? Get back in the game,” Hung called. His head whirled to the side, struck by a dark Fae.

  A blow landed on her cheek. She simply took it. Her arms swung from her body like rubber. Her legs felt liquid. She put up no resistance, whatsoever.

  Hung yelled again, louder this time. “Chia! Come back!”

  Chia lifted her gaze, viewing everything from a disconnected tower in her mind. I give up. I have no way of vanquishing demons.

  Hung’s face and neck were now black. A Fae shadow slowly undulated inside his ear. He let out a cry of anguish.

  She squinted, thinking, I should probably do something…but what? Only magic can fight magic. A powerful blow clocked the back of her head. She fell onto her hands and knees.

  Something strong and slimy rolled her over. It torqued its transparent arm and battered her face, splitting her lip.

  The tang of iron filled her mouth. She wiped her face with the back of her hand. “Try again, asshole. You can do better.” She flicked her fingers to free her hand of the crimson stain.

  A few drops landed on the shadow. The shadow sizzled and burned, exploding into fragments of black.

  “What the…?” Slowly, like she weighed a couple of tons, she got to her feet. She scratched her head.

  Another shadow launched at her. She swiped her swollen lip and shook her hand at the shade.

  Again, the dark Fae sizzled and puffed into nothingness.

  Chia barked out a laugh. “Hung!” she called. When he didn’t answer, she pivoted to face him. “Hung!”

  He lurched toward her, his skin pitch black. “It’s too late, girl. They’re getting inside me.”

  “No, no, no, no, no!” She raced toward him. Her mouth tasted like blood. She worked the spit and sanguine mixture around until she’d produced a mouthful. Then, she spat at the Fae shadow snaking inside of Hung’s ear, spraying his cheek in the process.

  His Fae-infused skin sizzled and sparked. “Fuck. What the hell, Chia? Feels like you burnt the shit out of me.” He reached up to gingerly wipe her spit from his face.

  The Fae shadow writhed and screamed, wriggling free of Hung.

  He jerked as the creature popped free making a strangled cry of horror.

  The Fae shadow screeched and flew skyward as if preparing to dive bomb her.

  “Use your knife! Cut yourself!” Hung yelled.

  Chia fished the Swiss army knife free of her pocket and fumbled to find a blade. Peeling off her glove, she pried open a tiny screwdriver, then, a set of scissors. “Dagnabbit! Where’s the knife blade?”

  “It’s the one at the end!” Hung’s cheek blistered. He grabbed snow and shoved it against his skin.

  Another Fae shadow rocketed toward Hung. It aimed for his nose and began disappearing inside his head.

  “Ahh! Get it out of me.” Hung scrambled backward, clawing at his face.

  Chia flipped open the tiny blade. She sliced through the webbing between thumb and forefinger. Pain pinched at her hand. Shaking her hand vigorously, her blood flew at the part of the Fae shadow dangling from Hung’s nostril.

  The shadow demon let out a horrible, high-pitched roar. It sounded muffled, emerging from inside Hung’s skull.

  “Chia! Do something. More blood.” Hung staggered back.

  She squeezed her skin and drew more blood, shaking the droplets at Hung’s nose.

  The Fae shadow blew from his nostril, like a black snake firework. When it met the air, it exploded into bits of burning ash.

  Hung collapsed on the ground, panting.

  “Hung!” Chia yelled.

  “Don’t worry about me. Look!” He pointed skyward.

  She shook blood free, aiming at the Fae shadow that hurled in her direction.

  The Fae exploded, bursting like fireworks.

  Exhilaration rolled through her chest. I finally have a way to defeat the shadows. Chia raced about, destroying the remaining dark Fae with her blood. As her blood coagulated, she had to keep slicing herself. This is ridiculous. I’m going to faint from blood loss if I keep this up.

  The last one tried to float skyward, out of her reach, but she made one last puncture in her hand. She shook her hand with fury, sending blood drops flying.

  The Fae shadow exploded with a satisfying pop.

  “Thank God.” She surveyed the area. No more had appeared. With a deep breath, she trudged over to where Hung lay on the ground and flopped down next to him.

  They both lay gasping for breath.

  Sugar dragged herself up the hill and fell next to Chia. “That was horrible.” Her eyes filled with tears. “If that’s what’s in store for my wife…” She closed her mouth, unable to finish her sentence.

  Silence surrounded them in a comforting blanket of soft soothe. Bright patterns of red dotted the snow, like a Chinese brush painting.

  In the distance, the pterodactyls continued to circle the factory. The acrid smell wafted in their direction. Smoke plumed from the towers.

  “I guess we’d best get to the factory,” Chia said. One of her eyes was nearly swollen shut. She pushed herself up to standing, groaning from the pain.

  “I suppose so,” Hung said, following suit.

  Sugar eyed Hung and then Chia. “Let’s go, then.”

  The three of them stood at the top of the hill—Hung, and Chia standing together in solidarity; Sugar hanging back, her expression grim. Fatigued, battle-weary, unsure of what lay ahead, Chia looked to Sugar for clues, then to Hung.

  “Well? Who’s got ideas for getting past the wards, guards, and demons? Should be simple, right?” Chia pursed her lips, her head aching from being battered. It made it hard to think.

  “I’ve got nothing,” Sugar said. She wrapped her arms tightly around her chest, staring at the factory.

  “I think we learned we’ve got something special to work with,” Hung said, smiling at Chia.

  “This?” Chia lifted her sliced and diced hand.

  Hung nodded. “You know what this means, right? This is a game-changer,” he said, his lips forming a weary smile.

  “What?” Chia asked, fatigue fighting her every move.

  “You, my precious little rainbow haired cupcake…” He tapped her nose. “You have magic inside of you. It’s in your blood.”

  Chia managed a grin. Biting her lip, she eyed her hands, marked with scars and scabs. “Yeah, I guess I do. Le
t’s see if I can figure out how to use it, without getting into more trouble—or, losing all my blood.”

  Chapter 27

  Feeling like the most macho woman who ever existed, Chia declared, “I’m going in. I’ll cut my hands, my legs, whatever it takes…” She stared at the MBD factory, her sliced hands stinging, wondering, what, exactly, it would take.

  Do I really have it in me to vanquish evil?

  An icy wind blew her rainbow-hued hair around her head. She wrapped her puffy jacket, now stained with blood, tightly to her body.

  “Slow down, Wonder Woman,” Hung said. “You’ll only get yourself killed.” He jammed his hands into the pockets of his gray jacket.

  “Storm’s coming,” Sugar said, standing apart from them. “Look at those clouds rising over the distant Haunted Bear Glacier.

  “Yep,” Chia said, eying the dark, swollen clouds. She let out a sigh. “Any ideas for infiltrating the building?”

  “I did some intel on this place a while back,” Sugar said. “When I was on a bounty hunter job…There’s a sewer pipe that feeds into a stream over there.” She pointed to the right of the building, about ten yards away.

  “That could have been useful to know,” Hung said, giving her a side-eye glance, his jaw granite.

  She returned the side-eye. “You and I haven’t exactly been copacetic, you catch my drift?”

  “Stop it,” Chia said, glowering. “We have a job to do. So where, exactly, is this sewer pipe?”

  Sugar pointed to a black blip near a pale blue ribbon of winding water. “See that dark spot down there?”

  Chia squinted. “Yeah.”

  “That’s the pipe.”

  “I don’t see us crawling in a sewage streaming pipe,” Hung said, scowling. “Especially since Chia has so many open wounds.”

  “Yeah, I noticed all the cuts. What did you do? I glanced over a couple of times to see you slicing and dicing your skin.” Sugar eyebrows drew together as she regarded Chia’s hands.

  Chia blinked, her eyebrows matching Sugar’s. Then, she realized the bounty hunter hadn’t been able to witness the Fae blowing up from Chia’s blood. “Long story.”

  “And what’s this about you being magic?”

  “Even longer story.” Chia shifted her attention to the black blip. “Even if we could crawl up the sewer pipe, all the demons and guards would be alerted to our presence.”

  “Not if I distract them.” Sugar’s jaw set firm and her mouth pressed into a line.

  “What do you mean?” Chia said, eying Hung’s stony, impassive face.

  “I’ve given it a lot of thought. Red knows you. I’m sure every guard, demon, whatever, has your face burned into his retina. Red knows Hung through your association.” She flicked a finger back and forth between Chia and Hung. Then, she stabbed her thumb into her sternum. “I doubt if I’m on his radar. We’ve never had the misfortune of meeting.” She stroked her chin, deep in thought, before speaking again. “So, you two go down to where the pipe meets the stream. You can at least follow it to where it enters the building. Who knows, it might give a clue. Meanwhile, I go in the front and distract them.”

  Hung mimicked her chin rub, without making eye contact. “It’s not a bad idea. It’s worth a shot.”

  A slight smile appeared on Sugar’s face.

  “I’m sure there are more Fae shadows and, who knows, worse? Let’s have a go. You still enhanced?” He turned to Chia. “Or, has it worn off?”

  “It’s in that come and go throbbing state.” She met his gaze. A curious swirl of heat filled her belly, as his eyes conveyed the depth of their connection. She licked her lips and swallowed. “What about you?”

  “About the same.” His tongue slid along his lips, pausing at the corner of his mouth. Then, it withdrew, and he turned away from her, breaking the spell. “Let’s use it while we still got it.” He pointed down the hill. “If we approach from the east, the terrain is irregular. We’ll have to stay low. Let’s head for that stream down the way—the one the shifters and wild animals drink from. The pipe drains into it. We follow the stream until we’re at the pipe. Then, following the pipe, when we get to the factory, we can use that line of delivery trucks as cover.” He pointed to a parking area near the back of the building. “Meanwhile, you approach from the southwest, Sugar.”

  She nodded and sighed, perhaps relieved he even said her name.

  Hung turned back to Chia. He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked deeply into her eyes. “Don’t do anything stupid. I don’t want to lose you.”

  “I wish you two would just fuck and get it over with,” Sugar blurted.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Hung snapped, any signs of tenderness evaporated.

  “It means, even though you and I are on the outs, being around the two of you is like being around an explosion about to happen…you just never know when it’s going to go off. You’ve got the most sexually combustive relationship I’ve ever been around, but you’re not taking advantage of it. You’re even making me sexually frustrated. And, it makes me a little jealous. I have way more relationship problems than you two do, but I’m still willing to work it out. My wife could be becoming one of them.” Her hand flicked toward the factory, while her lip curled. “It could be over before it ever had a chance to start.”

  Hung’s gaze softened a little as he looked at Sugar.

  Chia studied her, too. “We all make mistakes. The important thing is to put things right and make amends where you can.”

  “Yeah, well, in the meantime we have a job to do.” Her gold-flecked eyes hardened as she stared into the distance. “Here goes.” Without looking back, she tromped down the hill.

  “She’s not going to get hurt, is she? Does she even have a weapon?” Chia said, watching her retreating back.

  “I doubt she goes anywhere without being armed. She’s a bounty hunter, don’t forget.” Hung loosely crossed his arms, his attention trained in the distance.

  Chia nudged him, then flashed a mischievous smile. “Yeah, you pack heat, all the time.” Her gaze drifted toward his hips.

  He scoffed and smiled, reaching for her hand. “She’s right, you know. I’m sure we look pathetic.” He brought her fingers to his lips and kissed them.

  “We could do something about that,” Chia said, sidling next to him.

  Hung swallowed, his expression unreadable. “Not here.”

  “But maybe there?” She pointed at where her house stood, a distant tiny dot under the protection of the Haunted Bear Glacier.

  “We’ll see,” he said in a non-committal manner. He released her hand. “You ready for this?”

  “As ready as I’ll ever be,” she said. “So, really…do you have any weapons?”

  He smirked. “Honey, I’ve got guns and knives in places you don’t want to know.”

  She cocked her head and studied him, uncertain if he was serious. Then, she shook her head and said, “Let’s do this. Show me your best ghost walk.”

  He laughed. “She says while walking with her own ghosts all the time.” He pointed to her ghosts, circling her like buzzards.

  They made their way down the hill, keeping watch of the MBD building and staying behind the snowy mounds. When they were within sight of the factory, they belly-crawled to the top of one of the hillocks. The signage, proudly displaying the MBD logo, was now festooned with red and black flags, stamped with white swastikas.

  “He says those are ancient symbols of good fortune and prosperity,” Chia hissed.

  “Look how that worked out for Hitler,” Hung said.

  “That’s what I said.” Chia pointed toward the entrance. “Look.”

  They watched as Sugar boldly marched toward the entrance a few yards away.

  “I’m hoping my husband’s in there and not a charred mess downtown. You’ve got to let me see him!” she yelled and waved her arms.

  One of the guards approached her. “Calm down, miss. I can’t let you in there, but I can take a me
ssage to see if he’s inside. What’s his name?”

  “Martin. Martin Lopez.” She let out a sob. “I haven’t seen him since the fire! We have two little babies who miss their papa. Please help me.” She grabbed the guard’s lapel and clung to him.

  He looked like he didn’t know what to do next. Prying her fingers from his clothing, he said, “Miss, you’ve got to get a hold of yourself.”

  “She must have taken acting classes,” Chia whispered.

  “Maybe,” Hung said. “Let’s go. You know the plan? Head for the stream.”

  “Got it.”

  She and Hung hustled toward the flowing water knifing its way through the snow.

  “Hung, look!”

  Further downstream, a pack of wolves gathered to drink. They lapped at the icy water with their pink tongues. Then, several of the wolves lunged at one another’s necks, snarling and snapping.

  Several high-pitched wolf screams rang out.

  Five wolves set to one wolf, tearing at his neck and throat. After a few tense seconds, wondering whether or not she should intervene, one of the wolves lay lifeless in the snow.

  Chia’s eyes grew wide. “Oh, my God,” she whispered. “They killed one of their own!”

  “Yeah. That’s harsh.” Hung placed his hands on his hips, staring at the wolves with an expressionless face. “We’ve got to find out what’s causing this. Let’s keep going.”

  As they approached the sewer pipe, the stench overwhelmed Chia. “Gah! That’s the same stink those nasty shadow shifters give off. They must piss in the stream.”

  “Or worse,” Hung said. He peered into the hollow pipe, wrinkling his nose and squinting. “No way are we entering through that thing. That shit even burns my eyes.”

  They slunk through the snow like snakes, slithering alongside the pipe. When they got to the place where the concrete cylinder entered the building, they scanned for some sort of opening.

  “There are some basement windows,” Chia whispered, pointing a couple yards away.

  They belly crawled toward the grimy window panes.

  “Damn, they’re filthy. Can’t see a thing.” Hung spit on his gloved palm and scrubbed at the pane.