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.Shaking fingers lost any grip I tried for on the wide slab of wood, and it skittered out of reach behindme.I lunged for it, twisting sideways across Snow’s lap.He drove another hard blow into my ribs.I rol ed, not stopping until I’d cleared him, my kneeaching and butt on fire.He kicked but couldn’t reach me.Last time I’d ever underestimate the fighting ability of a Kitsune.He was trying to sit up, groggy from repeated blows to the head.We both eyed the nail-bat.I slipped on my own smear of blood; he got to theweapon first with a cry of victory.I scrabbled sideways, out of swinging range, ignoring my pain as best I could.Not mortal wounds, just agonizingones.And he had the upper hand again.The heavy odor of mold and earth turned my already nauseated stomach.Combined with the new scents of blood and sweat, I was ready toheave al over the place.I just couldn’t take my eyes off Snow long enough to manage it.I needed a weapon before he tried to take my head off withhis makeshift mace.Anything to put us on more even ground.I was good with my hands; I just preferred cold steel in them during a fight.That pile of clay pots and saucers was stil my best chance.Only I had an obstacle course of old tables between me and it.Not enough room toquickly crawl beneath them.Easiest way through a labyrinth? Over the wal s, of course.I grabbed the edge of the nearest table and hauled my bloody, battered ass up.The table groaned beneath me; the stained and warped woodheld.Snow charged, bat cocked and ready.I leapt onto the next nearest table.The hard landing jarred my knee and fueled the angry fire in my ass— seriously, it needs to start healing! —but I kept going.I had no choice.As I jumped from table to table, several cracked loudly beneath my weight until I reached my destination.Listening to the stamping sounds ofSnow’s shoes on the concrete floor, I bent and retrieved a handful of cracked and broken saucers, hoping to use them as shrapnel.I wound up, ready to pitch one at my first moving target, and pivoted.Snow was out of sight.I held my breath, listening hard, hearing little over thepounding of my heart.Nothing moved.I squatted and peered beneath the tables, hoping for a pair of legs or even a crouching man-shape.Exceptfor Wyatt’s shadowed figure on the ground several dozen feet away, I seemed very much alone.Only I knew better.Something sharp scrabbled against wood.Too close for comfort.I shot upright as a blur of reddish orange fur flew at me.Sharp teeth closedaround my left shoulder, just below my neck.I shrieked.White-hot pain seared my chest and back.Claws dug into my chest and stomach as thefurious fox tried to find purchase with his feet, growling deep in his throat as he ripped at my flesh and muscle.Hadn’t expected that—fucking stupid! Again.I smashed the clay saucer into the fox’s back.It broke into dozens of crumbling shards, too old to keep its form or be an effective weapon.Snow-fox snarled, mouth stil ful of me, and tore a deep slash across my ribs.Blood oozed hot and thick.He was smal er than me, but he had teeth andclaws and animal instincts on his side.Al I had was bulk.So I dropped to my knees and fel forward, smashing him into the concrete floor.He let go with a gasping growl, smal body twisting beneath me.Struggling to get out.I rol ed off and scrambled sideways until I hit the leg of a table, gasping.In lots of pain.Blood painted my neck and chest, and Ileft a smear of it on the floor.Snow twisted onto his feet and shrank back, bloody teeth bared, panting.His emerald eyes seemed to glow with furyand bloodlust.My blood coated his fur.I probably could have crushed the smal animal beneath me and ended the fight; only I didn’t want to kil Snow, even though he had no qualmsabout kil ing me to get to Wyatt.I just needed him out of the fight.He crouched low, stil panting, not a scratch on him.We stared each other down, my mind furiously processing every tidbit I knew about shape-shifters.I had the cross charm in my pocket, but with al that fur protecting his skin, unless I got him to swal ow it, al the silver would do was piss himoff.And swal owing meant getting close to those teeth.I’d fought a were-coyote once and used an exposed live wire to slow the thing down.The current had sent the ferocious animal back into humanform.A man would be a hel of a lot easier to subdue than a fox a quarter my size and twice as fast.Trouble was, the ceiling fixtures were too high and too protected to be useful, and I didn’t see any outlets close by.Snow snarled.Blood and saliva dripped from his teeth, pattering to the floor in smal drops.He was sizing me up.Probably weighing his chancesof successful y ripping out my jugular.Time ticked away.I shifted my right hand a few inches, seeking better purchase if I needed to move fast.My fingers brushed something gritty and dry.Potting soil,maybe, or clay dust.An advantage.I held Snow’s angry gaze and curled my fingers around as much of the grit as I could gather.Then I sneered atSnow.“Here, kitty, kitty.”The sound he made was half-human and half-animal, and al rage.He launched off muscled hind legs, jaws snapping.I flung the dirt at his eyesand used the momentum of the swing to rol left, out of the way of his flailing, whining form.He crashed into the leg of a table and tried to rub hiseyes with his foreleg.Failing miserably with his lack of hands, he began transforming back into a man.I didn’t wait for the show.Instead, I scrambled to my feet on a wave of nausea and pain, and when smooth, pale skin had replaced red fur, andlong fingers scrubbed at blinded eyes, I smashed several clay pots down on his head.They exploded into fragments that cut my palms.Dustbil owed up, watering my eyes.Snow went limp and crashed to the floor, head lol ing and cheeks wet, blond hair coated with red.Not quite out.Theheel of my foot stil ed him.“Sorry about your sister,” I said, “but you don’t get to win.”It took a little doing before I got him secured to the leg of the table with a scrap of wood and his belt.My ass hurt and my shoulder was on fire [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]