Daybreak Ch. 07

"A hell of a lot when she also has the power to merge her mind with another's."

The blonde nodded in understanding. "Thanks for the added pressure. Knowing that Zaide would literally kill for the ability to merge minds makes me feel better about losing the woman."

"You asked."

Both men stopped when the abnormally large, golden owl landed on the ground in front of them. They stared at it curiously as it tilted its head almost menacingly.

"Aren't owls supposed to be out at night?" the blonde asked.

"Maybe it's lost. It looks like it belongs to someone." The taller one narrowed his eyes in suspicion when he heard the faint mewl of a cat. "She's near." He and the blonde resumed their search but stopped when the owl shifted to the form of a tall, nude blonde man. "No."

The blonde man only smiled evilly before he attacked. Leaping toward them, he shifted to a menacing cougar and clamped his jaws on the neck of the blonde man. He made quick work of ripping his throat out before he turned to take on the mahogany haired predator. The taller one was missing; he'd most likely ran off when the blonde was taken down.

He didn't know how long he ran, or where he ran to. The sight of an actual member of The Brethren eliminating his only friend served to show him the price he had to pay when working for Zaide. He found an abandoned apartment building and crouched low once he reached the top floor. If he remained still, he'd make it to sundown when the Mordecai came out. Yes, he would hide and deal with Zaide later.

The innocent mewl of a cat made him turn his head slowly. There, down the hall was the woman. She'd remained in her animal form and stared at him in challenge before she turned to stare out the window. He should have remained still, but knew that he had to bring her back to Zaide. Slowly, as to not scare her into running, he stalked forward. "Here, kitty, kitty," he soothed, "I won't hurt you." If he did, Zaide would kill him. "Come here..." He must have been a better stalker than he thought because it only took him one minute and a small struggle to restrain the cat. And when he looked at it... "No." It wasn't a cat.

It was a really fat kitten.

The loud and confident mewl made him turn around. There, standing not five feet away was the woman in her animal form... Right next to the cougar. There was nowhere to run and the cougar advanced slowly, never breaking eye contact.

He only had enough time to drop the kitten.