Defender Cave Bear (Protection, Inc: Defenders Book 1) Read online

  Tirzah’s fingers closed convulsively over his arm. Batcat let out a shrill squeak and dove into the front of her dress. Spike did the same with his shirt, becoming a warm spiky lump in the small of Pete’s back.

  Pete’s blood instantly went from boiling with rage to icy cold. It wasn’t that the enemy was close. It was that he knew who the enemy was.

  “Gorlois,” Pete said, as much to Tirzah as to their unseen foe.

  “What?” Tirzah gasped. “From Apex?”

  “Not Apex,” came the voice of Gorlois.

  There was a crash as something big slammed into the front door, knocking it off its hinges. Gorlois stepped inside the cabin. He was dressed as Pete remembered from when he’d been held captive, in a long white coat embroidered with strange symbols.

  Tirzah gave a yelp and flung her arms protectively over her head, curling her body inward. The dog tags around her neck jingled. Pete stepped protectively in front of her. She must be so scared. It made his heart ache, as well as enraging him.

  A contemptuous sneer spread over his enemy’s face, and he sniffed, “Ah. The crippled hacker female. She’s wise to fear me.”

  Hot anger rose up in Pete. “Don’t you talk about her—”

  “Pete, don’t talk to him like that!” Tirzah interrupted.

  “Heed her,” said Gorlois. He spoke to Pete alone, as if Tirzah wasn’t even worth looking at. Not that Gorlois could probably see much of her behind Pete’s back. “As I was saying, we are not Apex. The council of wizard-scientists infiltrated Apex and took it over. Their experiments and military bases made useful tools for us, no more. We are far, far older than Apex, as well as far, far more powerful… and ambitious.”

  As Gorlois spoke, Tirzah’s hand crept under his shirt, just to the side of where Spike nestled. She began to lightly scratch on his back with a fingernail. At first he didn’t know what she was doing, then he recognized the shapes of letters. On his bare skin, she spelled out STALL HIM.

  Pete had to swallow past a thickness in his throat before he could speak. Tirzah wasn’t terrified after all—or if she was, she wasn’t letting it control her. She was planning something, and he bet it was something good.

  How had he been lucky enough to find such a brave and quick-witted woman? How had he been lucky enough that she loved him?

  “Who are you people?” Pete asked, figuring everyone likes to talk about themselves.

  “We are ancient,” Gorlois said loftily. “More ancient than you can imagine. Or rather, from a time you probably believe was no more than imagination.”

  “When’s that?”

  The wizard-scientist’s thin lips curled with hatred. “The time that you fools named for our greatest enemy. The time you believe belonged to King Arthur.”

  “What?” Pete exclaimed, genuinely startled. “You can’t be serious. That was thousands of years ago. You’re not that old.”

  “Fool!” snapped Gorlois. “Our order is that old, not us personally. Did you believe I am the Gorlois of that time?”

  Pete, who had never heard of anyone else by that name, shook his head.

  “Of course not,” Gorlois said. “We took on the names of our predecessors from those times. We fought Arthur then, and we killed him. But it was a Pyrrhic victory. He and his knights had already killed many of us, and his pet magician—”

  “Merlin?” Pete blurted out.

  “Merlin!” Tirzah exclaimed. “You’d really go to Merlin to try to scare us? Merlin, now? Bullshit! There’s no way Merlin—”

  “Silence, female,” said Gorlois. “Your betters are speaking.”

  Kill him now, snarled the cave bear.

  Pete started to take a step forward, but Tirzah yanked him back by the belt. Realizing that she needed him to stay close so they could communicate, he restrained himself.

  Kill him, his cave bear roared. He insulted our mate!

  Not yet, Pete replied. Our mate has a plan.

  Then, realizing a silence had fallen, Pete said, “Merlin? The Merlin?”

  “Yes, him.” Gorlois looked like he was tempted to spit on the floor. “He cast a spell which unwove ours. We were forced to retreat, and it took us a thousand years and more to regroup. But we have, and we have learned new skills that weren’t known then. Once we have our Dark Knights, as Arthur had his bright ones, we will bring about a new age—an age of magic—an age where we will rule!”

  Pete was so boggled that he just stood there with his mouth open until Tirzah nudged him and again scratched out, STALL.

  “Uh, the Dark Knights,” Pete said hastily. “Who are they?”

  Gorlois didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he gave Pete a look that chilled him. His eyes held a cold, penetrating intelligence, as if he could look right inside Pete’s mind and see things even Pete didn’t know... and would be happier never knowing.

  “The Dark Knights,” Gorlois repeated. “Let me tell you about them. But first, let me tell you about you.”

  The wizard’s eyes were deep, deep, deep. They were holes in the world. They went down forever. Looking into them made Pete feel like he was falling, but he couldn’t seem to look away.

  “You’ve never found your true place in this world, Valdez,” Gorlois said. “Isn’t that true?”

  Looking into those eyes, Pete had to admit to himself that what the wizard was saying was true. Pete hadn’t ever found his place in the world. He’d tried being a cop, and that hadn’t worked out. He’d tried being a Marine, then a bodyguard. But some part of him had always been discontented.

  “All that anger within you,” Gorlois went on. “Doesn’t it feel good when you let it out? Isn’t it frustrating to always have to hold back? Think about it.”

  Pete thought about it. That, too, was true. It was the last thing he’d never admitted to Tirzah. It did feel good, on some level, to lose himself in rage. And it was frustrating to forever be holding himself back and trying to think before he rushed in.

  “I recognize what you truly are,” said Gorlois.

  Pete no longer saw his face. His eyes seemed to have enlarged to fill his entire field of vision, until the blackness of their pupils swallowed up everything else. Pete stood in total darkness, listening to the wizard’s voice.

  “You’re a weapon. Swear your allegiance to me, and I will wield you. I will let you unleash your true nature. You will be the first of the Dark Knights. You will be what you were always meant to be. You will be Rage.”

  Pete could feel his own anger, burning within him like a fire that sometimes was banked but never went out. It would feel good to let it go, to be nothing but a roaring, raging wildfire. To be the roaring, raging cave bear. There would be no more pain, no more fear or sorrow or worry or guilt or boredom. No more little daily annoyances and frustrations and responsibilities and chores. He’d be free of everything that hemmed him in and tied him down.

  He heard a voice, so faint that it was almost inaudible, calling, “Pete! I love you! Come back to me!”

  It was Tirzah’s voice.

  He realized with a shock of horror that he’d forgotten about Tirzah. He’d forgotten about Caro too, and his mother and teammates and friends and pets.

  Whatever spell had been cast over him had led him down a path where all he could see was darkness. Sure, if he took the wizard’s offer, he’d never again feel pain. But neither would he feel joy or love. He’d be alone forever. Even worse, he wouldn’t care.

  Some immense pressure was bearing down on him, pushing him to say, “Yes.”

  With a wrench that felt like it tore every muscle in his body, Pete forced himself to say, “No!”

  He staggered, suddenly aware of his body and his surroundings. Spike was on his shoulder, alternately biting his ear and howling into it. Tirzah had her arms wrapped around his waist and her face pressed into his side, calling out, “Pete, Pete, come back! I love you! Come back to me!”

  “I’m back,” he gasped. “I’m back.”

  The wizard’s face twi
sted in fury. “How dare you defy me! Well, even though you refused my offer, I still have my power. I can drive anyone into a mad rage. I’ll make you kill the female you seek to protect!”

  Pete, still dizzy, was unable to do anything to stop the wizard before he made a dramatic gesture with one hand.

  Nothing happened.

  Gorlois stared at him, looking baffled. Then, scowling, he made the same dramatic gesture at Tirzah.

  Nothing happened.

  “Impossible!” Gorlois exclaimed. “You should be trying to murder each other!”

  We are mates, the cave bear rumbled.

  “We’re mates,” Pete said. “Asshole.”

  The wizard’s expression of baffled anger would have been funny under other circumstances. “But we severed that ability! Even at the cost of damaging your ability to use your powers, the mate bond was deemed too powerful to allow.”

  “Oh, so that’s what was wrong with Pete’s power?” Tirzah put in. Her voice had a familiar tone, the delighted triumph of figuring something out. He loved that she could still be thrilled at discovery, even now when their lives were on the line. “You tried to make it impossible for him to bond with his mate, and that screwed him up in general?”

  The wizard started to nod, then scowled. “Why am I even talking to you two? You’re useless to me now, and a danger to boot!”

  Under Pete’s shirt, Tirzah scratched, BEAR. NOW.

  He heard wheels skidding over the floor as she threw her chair backwards. He trusted her to have a plan. And at last, he trusted himself and he trusted his bear.

  As he shifted, Pete realized that it was the first time he’d ever done it deliberately. All the previous times, it had happened because he’d gotten so angry that it had just… happened. But this time, though anger burned hot within him, he became the bear because it was what he chose to do.

  And this time, he didn’t lose himself.

  He roared, loud enough to shake the rafters, and lunged at the startled wizard. Pete raised a huge paw, intending to swat his enemy right out the door.

  Before Pete’s bear, which was big and strong but not fast, could react, Gorlois darted back. Standing framed in the doorway, the wizard reached beneath his cloak. He pulled out a gun.

  In his cave bear form, Pete didn’t feel pain. All he felt was a hard impact as the bullet struck him square in the chest.

  CHAPTER 26

  T irzah heard the gunshot, and saw that the wizard had fired at point-blank range. It seemed impossible for him to have missed. But for a wild moment of desperate hope, she was able to imagine that he had. Pete didn’t fall, nor did she see any blood on his shaggy fur.

  He roared, a terrifying sound, and his front feet came down so hard on the floor that the whole cabin shook. Gorlois turned and bolted outside, his coat streaming behind him.

  Once he was outside the house, he turned into an immense dinosaur, like a pterodactyl but far bigger.

  A pteranodon, Tirzah thought dazedly.

  The dinosaur that had been Gorlois opened his great beak, let out a mocking screech, and took to the skies. There he was joined by the gargoyle. The two flying monsters wheeled and screamed in the air, seeming to mock Tirzah and Pete.

  “Pete!” Tirzah called.

  The cave bear turned, his heavy head swinging, and nudged her. Her gaze swept the floor beneath him. Blood was dripping down from his chest and starting to pool on the floor.

  “Pete… Oh, Pete…” She remembered him saying that he couldn’t feel pain when he was a bear, and said, “You’re hit.”

  The bear gave her chair a hard nudge, shoving it away from the door and farther into the cabin. She didn’t want to make him work when he was wounded, so she moved in the direction he’d pushed her, until she heard him make a rumbling noise. She stopped. The rope ladder to the attic dangled in front of her.

  “Do you want me to climb it?” she asked. “But I can’t…You can’t…”

  Spike flew up into the attic. A moment later, his head appeared at the trap door, meowing urgently.

  The cave bear gave her another nudge, not forceful enough to move her chair. His intent was clear: go up.

  Tirzah twisted around and threw her arms around his shaggy neck. “Pete, there’s no way I can get up that! And even if I could, I’m not leaving you!”

  The cave bear vanished, and Pete stood in its place. He staggered, then clutched at her chair for support. His skin had paled to a frightening ashen color, and a blood stain was rapidly spreading across his shirt.

  “Oh, Pete,” Tirzah whispered.

  He shook his head, wincing. “There’s no time. We have to get up into the attic. It’s the safest place.”

  Tirzah looked up at the flimsy ladder, the terrifying height. She had no use of one leg—she’d fall for sure! The thought of that fall made her almost as sick with terror as the sight of Pete’s red-stained shirt. “I can’t—”

  He didn’t raise his voice, but the intensity in it felt like a physical push. “You can. You’re stronger than you think. You’ve been moving that chair around all year.”

  “But—”

  “If you really can’t, I’ll carry you.”

  That got her going. There was no way she was going to burden him with her weight when he was wounded—he’d fall and break his neck! She grabbed on to the rungs, stood up on her left leg, and began to climb.

  If it wasn’t for the knowledge that every second she wasted was a second Pete remained in danger, she’d never have managed it. In order to move her legs up a rung, she was forced to support her entire weight with her arms and lift her left leg, with her right trailing as a dead weight that did nothing but threaten to tangle in the rungs. Her hands and arms burned with effort.

  “You can do it,” Pete said, his voice both confident and comforting. “I’m right behind you.”

  She looked down. He was standing and holding tight to the rung beneath her. He looked paler than ever, and she could hear his ragged breathing.

  “Don’t talk,” she said. It was obviously costing him too much energy. “I can do this.”

  Looking down was making her dizzy, so she closed her eyes. It came as a shock when her blindly reaching hand touched the wooden floor. She braced her hands on the floor and dragged herself up, wriggling forward until she was out of Pete’s way. Lying on her belly, she watched the trap door anxiously until he appeared in it. He stopped, gathering his energy, and hauled himself in. She grabbed his arm and helped pull him up. A moment later, they both lay on the floor, gasping for breath.

  Tirzah moved first, yanking the rope ladder and the pull cord in and slamming the trap door shut. They were left in silence and near-darkness. There was a small window in the attic—thankfully small, Tirzah thought, no flying monsters would be able to get in that way—but the only light it provided was a square of moonlight on the floor. She could see nothing but the vague shapes of furniture.

  She felt around until she found the light switch and flipped it. A single bulb illuminated Pete sprawled on the floor, eyes closed. Spike crouched beside him, nuzzling his cheek and meowing anxiously.

  Tirzah longed to go to him immediately, but she had to ensure his safety first. She looked desperately around at the beat-up old furniture that cluttered the attic. It was all either too heavy for her to move, or too light to block the trap door. Then she spotted an old bookcase. She couldn’t lift it, but she didn’t need to. Tirzah gave it a hard shove, and it tipped over with a tremendous crash, falling directly on top of the trap door.

  She crawled over to an old trunk and opened it. To her annoyance, it was the one with Christmas tree ornaments. But the second one was full of sheets and quilts. They were holey and smelled like mothballs, but she was immensely grateful for both the laziness of the first owner of the cabin and her own in never getting around to throwing them away.

  She shoved the lot over to where Pete lay, then crouched beside him. He didn’t stir, but turned into her hand when she stroked his so
ft hair and sweat-dampened cheeks. His skin was cool to the touch, drained of its usual warmth.

  “Pete? You awake?”

  Without opening his eyes, he mumbled, “Yeah. Jus’ tired.”

  “Okay. I’m going to take off your shirt, all right?”

  He made a sound that she took for assent. She tore off his shirt so she wouldn’t hurt him taking it off, then coaxed him to roll on to his side. There was a bullet wound in his chest and another in his back, neither bleeding much. She tore up the sheet into strips and bandaged them.

  “I put a quilt down for you to lie on. Just roll over, okay?”

  He rolled over on to the quilt, and she covered him with another. He reached out for her, and she pulled him into her lap and put her arms around him. Pete lay still except for the steady rise and fall of his chest. Spike curled up at his side.

  Now that she had time to sit still and think, the terror she had pushed aside crashed over her. Their enemies wouldn’t be able to get into the attic easily—as humans, they wouldn’t be able to reach the attic at all, and as flying creatures, they couldn’t fit through either the window or the trap door. But neither barrier would hold them off forever. And once they got in, neither Tirzah nor Pete could fight them.

  But even the knowledge that they had only bought themselves some time faded before her fear for Pete. Even with his shifter healing, he was badly wounded and had to be in need of actual medical attention. Tirzah was sure a clock was ticking on that, and not knowing how long he had only made it worse.

  His hand closed around hers, startling her. She looked down, and saw that his eyes were open.

  “Hey, Pete,” she said softly. “How’re you doing?”

  “Been better.”

  The sound of heavy footsteps below sent a jolt of adrenaline through her body. Pete too started, his muscles tensing.

  “Valdez!” It was Gorlois. “It’s not too late. I’m giving you some time to consider my offer.”

  “Take your job and shove it,” Pete muttered. But it was either too soft for Gorlois to hear, or he chose to ignore it.

  “Lie there and slowly bleed to death if you like,” the wizard went on. “Or surrender, and take my offer. I’ll be generous, and throw in the life of that crippled female. If she surrenders the file and all its copies, she can live.”