Antonietta released her hold on the dog and opened her eyes very slowly. It was dark enough and with the glasses, the terrible lurching and flashing lights didn’t intrude. She looked up toward the battlement, trying to focus on one of the gargoyles, just to get her bearings. It took a few moments for the image of the sculpture to clear. She saw the wings spread wide as if about to launch into the air, teeth bared, eyes wide open and staring. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw the body of young Josef lying motionless, his beret hanging off the gargoyles’ wing tip. Crouched over him was a large spotted cat. The cat turned its head and looked down at her, malice in its eyes.
Byron. Quickly, I need the image of an owl. Hold it for me.
Antonietta waited a heartbeat, an eternity, and then the image was there for her. Thankfully, Byron didn’t make the mistake of asking questions or chastising her. He caught the terrible sense of urgency and provided the data she needed. Her skin prickled, her body compressed. She closed her eyes tightly as she shifted into the shape of the night predator.
It was much more difficult to launch from the ground, but she managed. As she leapt, a great gust of wind swept under her to aid her in rising. She flew straight up to avoid having to open her eyes until the last possible moment.
Link with me.
The command was impossible to ignore. There was a mixture of fear and anger tinged with respect, but Byron’s tone held a compulsion Antonietta had to obey. She felt him take her mind completely, force her eyes open. She waited for the strange, disorienting sickness, but it didn’t come. She realized he was using her eyes and making the connections himself. He understood what he was seeing, and he instantly translated.
Fog rolled in, unexpectedly, from the sea. It was so thick, wisps seemed to hang in the sky like a barrier. The owl flew silently, stealthily, using the fog as cover. It took only seconds to make its way over the battlements and drop like a stone at the cat as it bent its head to Josef’s exposed throat.
Antonietta was startled when she heard a far-off scream of anguish followed by the echo of a male voice crying out his promise of retribution. Razor-sharp talons ripped at the eyes of the jaguar, slashing and digging, driving the cat backward away from its prey. The wind howled, nearly drowning out the snarl of the beast. It spat and swiped with its paws, then whirled and ran, leaping easily over a multitude of gargoyles to race along the banister toward the far side of the tower.
The owl settled down close to Josef, shifting back into human form. Antonietta bent over the young man. There was a terrible gaping wound on his throat. He had bled profusely. She couldn’t get a pulse.
Byron. Is he dead?
Black threads swirled and spun overhead. Lightning raced across the sky. Thunder boomed, shaking the palazzo. Dark cauldrons of clouds boiled and seethed, spitting out rage and anger and a terrible grief that was hardly to be borne.
Antonietta fought past the weight and intensity of the storm of emotion raging in the heavens. Her hands covered the wounds as she attempted to assess the damage done to his body.
Josef shut down his heart and lungs when the blow was struck.
Byron hoped he was telling her the truth. Josef was young for their people. Shutting down completely after suffering a mortal wound was not an easy task.
Eleanor and I have him now. His life force is weak. Holding him to earth will slow us down.
Byron heard Vlad’s voice, filled with fear and determination.
I cannot help you track the cat and hold our son to us. I will get the cat, Vlad, just keep him alive. Where is the jaguar now?
Antonietta sought for a way to close the wound. Nonno
is in the courtyard, and Franco is coming to look for him. Hurry Byron. The cat came here with the intention to kill.
Byron burst out of the darkness, a creature of power, hurtling past Antonietta to follow the cat. She felt the brush of his hand on her face.
You know what to do.
His voice was very soft. Filled with complete faith.
She had to take the boy to the ground below. She needed the soil and her own saliva. Byron didn’t tell her, but somehow she gleaned the knowledge from his mind. She was up on the battlements.
Do you see Celt or
Nonno
? Or even Franco? Franco could carry Josef down to the garden.
Byron flew out toward the cove. The cat would go for the water to cover its scent.
I do not see any of them.
He reached for the dog, a connection he had established weeks earlier. For a brief moment, Byron caught glimpses of shrubbery, a bench, Don Giovanni sitting on a bench, trapped and unable to leave, with Celt pacing around him. Byron sent the reassuring image to Antonietta and dropped down closer to earth under cover of the fog.
The danger hadn’t passed. Antonietta wanted to rush to Byron, make certain that he was safe. Her skin was crawling with the need for change. Inside the pit of her stomach, darkness spread, every bit as black as the clouds spinning over her head. She sighed Byron’s name, wanting to warn him of the danger, afraid she would distract him at the wrong moment.
Antonietta caught the whisper of cloth brushing against one of the sculptures. She turned her head toward the sound and inhaled. “Helena. Thank the good Dio. Please find Franco at once. We need to get this poor boy some help. He was attacked by a wild cat. The same one that made a kill the other night.”
“Are you certain it’s the same one, Signorina Scarletti?”
Antonietta opened her eyes cautiously, trying to focus on her housekeeper. The woman continued to move toward her. Antonietta couldn’t tell how close she was. The body was distorted, rippling in a sickening way. Spots leapt at her eyes, flying at her face. Colors shimmered. Reds, yellows. A dark blue. She dug her fingernails into her palm for an anchor and kept her eyes trained on Helena, willing herself to see. “I doubt there are two cats, Helena. Please get Franco. We need to save this boy’s life.”
Helena just kept coming. Faster now, her face lengthening until she appeared to have a muzzle, her body contorting, bending, until she was on all fours.
Antonietta waited, timing the cat’s leap, throwing herself to one side, using her new abilities to take her over the jaguar and land on the edge of the battlement. The jaguar snarled, shifted into half-human form. Helena bent over Josef, all the while keeping her eyes focused on Antonietta. There was hatred there.
“Why would you do this, Helena?” Antonietta asked, her voice gentle. The wind lashed at them, ruffled the fur on the large cat, and tore strands of Antonietta’s hair loose from her braid to whip across her face.
“Signorina Scarletti.” Helena spat the words at her. “How I hate that name. Your precious family. It should have been my family. I belonged, but none of you wanted to see it. I was right there under your noses, but you all refused to see.”
Antonietta strained for sight. Helena was shifting her weight, rumbling with rage and hatred. One clawed hand reached down to push Josef’s body toward the edge of the battlement. Antonietta didn’t stop to think; she launched herself, kicking hard, connecting with Helena’s startled face. Her momentum carried her beyond her housekeeper. She tucked and rolled, coming back onto her feet facing Helena, shocked at her own agility. She didn’t hesitate, leaping back toward Josef, planting another kick squarely in Helena’s face, knocking her off the battlement.
Helena twisted in midair, shape-shifting completely, landing on all fours on the rolling lawn. The jaguar lifted its muzzle toward the palazzo and snarled. The cat immediately leapt into a nearby tree, using the branches as a highway, rushing toward the ramparts with deadly purpose.