lips.
Vision impaired by the blinding light, she raised her arms to shield her eyes and winced as the sickly sound of bones snapping and cracking bounced off the brick walls of the surrounding buildings.
The sound of her rescuer’s agonized screaming tore at her heart, shredding what little sanity she had left. Too afraid to look up, she cowered in place, wondering what could possibly be causing the poor man so much pain. She hadn’t seen anyone else enter the alley, but she supposed it was possible. It sounded as though the man was being torn apart, limb from limb!
Suddenly, a loud, animal-like roar erupted from her rescuer. Wait…what? That couldn’t possibly be what I think…
Disbelief overpowering her fear, she dropped her arm. Shocked silent, she sat immobile and unable to comprehend the possibility of what she saw. Then, as if it had been on hiatus and was eager to get back to work, her fight-or-flight response returned with a rush of adrenaline. She opened her mouth to scream, but all that came out was a garbled yelp. She scrambled backward, away from the enormous and hungry looking lion occupying the space Mr. No Name once stood.
“Im-impossible.”
Dammit all to hell! It was as she’d feared. On top of losing her job, on top of being saddled with an abusive, dead-beat ex, she’d gone and lost her damn mind. Great! Just great!
The enormous cat looked to the sky and unleashed a powerful roar, the heat from its enormous muzzle stirring up a cloud of dust as it blasted over her. Her time was up. The crazy monster man with the bizarre smoke mouth hadn’t killed her, but the lion surely would. Where the hell had it come from? The nearest zoo was over an hour away. And where had Mr. No Name gone? He couldn’t possibly have morphed into the giant predatory cat looming over her. Could he?
With its burnished gold mane illuminated by the waxing moon, the great beast regarded her for several moments, its large eyes boring into her with a heated stare. With a loud grumble, the giant cat turned and bounded down the alley toward her now conscious attacker.
Holy… Had the lion read her mind? Could the handsome guy from the club really have morphed into the King of the Jungle? No way. Danika whimpered and shook her head, convinced she was crazy. It was obvious her little rendezvous with the nearby pile of bricks had saddled her with a heavy amount of brain damage and vivid hallucinations.
The lion’s thunderous roar carried across the night air, chilling Danika’s already frazzled nerves. She covered her ears and drew her knees into her chest to shield herself from the gruesome sight and sounds of Alexei Karpos’ untimely demise. His high-pitched keening combined with the sound of tearing flesh burned itself deep into her psyche, never to be forgotten.
Insane. She’d gone insane—lost her flippin’ mind. There was no way to explain, no making sense of what she’d seen. That black smoke that had slithered out of Alexei’s mouth was not of this earth. A chill shot up the length of her spine. Inhuman. Evil. Alexei was most definitely evil.
It wasn’t until she felt a warm, wet nose nudge her arm that she dared to look up. Lost in thought, or more realistically, lost in shock, she’d failed to notice the lion had finished doling out its grisly justice. It towered over her, with the distinct, coppery smell of blood evident on its warm breath.
Frozen in place, and positive she was about to become dessert for the hungry beast, Danika watched with terror filled eyes as the great cat lowered its enormous head and licked her arm. Its tongue was rough, like sandpaper, and nearly as big as her arm. Holy…whoa! Is it…sniffing me?
Apparently done breathing in her scent, the cat blew out a deep breath, as if sighing, and lay down, placing its head on its enormous paws. With another brilliant flash of light, Mr. No Name reappeared in the lion’s place, his naked body lying motionless on the cool
Vision impaired by the blinding light, she raised her arms to shield her eyes and winced as the sickly sound of bones snapping and cracking bounced off the brick walls of the surrounding buildings.
The sound of her rescuer’s agonized screaming tore at her heart, shredding what little sanity she had left. Too afraid to look up, she cowered in place, wondering what could possibly be causing the poor man so much pain. She hadn’t seen anyone else enter the alley, but she supposed it was possible. It sounded as though the man was being torn apart, limb from limb!
Suddenly, a loud, animal-like roar erupted from her rescuer. Wait…what? That couldn’t possibly be what I think…
Disbelief overpowering her fear, she dropped her arm. Shocked silent, she sat immobile and unable to comprehend the possibility of what she saw. Then, as if it had been on hiatus and was eager to get back to work, her fight-or-flight response returned with a rush of adrenaline. She opened her mouth to scream, but all that came out was a garbled yelp. She scrambled backward, away from the enormous and hungry looking lion occupying the space Mr. No Name once stood.
“Im-impossible.”
Dammit all to hell! It was as she’d feared. On top of losing her job, on top of being saddled with an abusive, dead-beat ex, she’d gone and lost her damn mind. Great! Just great!
The enormous cat looked to the sky and unleashed a powerful roar, the heat from its enormous muzzle stirring up a cloud of dust as it blasted over her. Her time was up. The crazy monster man with the bizarre smoke mouth hadn’t killed her, but the lion surely would. Where the hell had it come from? The nearest zoo was over an hour away. And where had Mr. No Name gone? He couldn’t possibly have morphed into the giant predatory cat looming over her. Could he?
With its burnished gold mane illuminated by the waxing moon, the great beast regarded her for several moments, its large eyes boring into her with a heated stare. With a loud grumble, the giant cat turned and bounded down the alley toward her now conscious attacker.
Holy… Had the lion read her mind? Could the handsome guy from the club really have morphed into the King of the Jungle? No way. Danika whimpered and shook her head, convinced she was crazy. It was obvious her little rendezvous with the nearby pile of bricks had saddled her with a heavy amount of brain damage and vivid hallucinations.
The lion’s thunderous roar carried across the night air, chilling Danika’s already frazzled nerves. She covered her ears and drew her knees into her chest to shield herself from the gruesome sight and sounds of Alexei Karpos’ untimely demise. His high-pitched keening combined with the sound of tearing flesh burned itself deep into her psyche, never to be forgotten.
Insane. She’d gone insane—lost her flippin’ mind. There was no way to explain, no making sense of what she’d seen. That black smoke that had slithered out of Alexei’s mouth was not of this earth. A chill shot up the length of her spine. Inhuman. Evil. Alexei was most definitely evil.
It wasn’t until she felt a warm, wet nose nudge her arm that she dared to look up. Lost in thought, or more realistically, lost in shock, she’d failed to notice the lion had finished doling out its grisly justice. It towered over her, with the distinct, coppery smell of blood evident on its warm breath.
Frozen in place, and positive she was about to become dessert for the hungry beast, Danika watched with terror filled eyes as the great cat lowered its enormous head and licked her arm. Its tongue was rough, like sandpaper, and nearly as big as her arm. Holy…whoa! Is it…sniffing me?
Apparently done breathing in her scent, the cat blew out a deep breath, as if sighing, and lay down, placing its head on its enormous paws. With another brilliant flash of light, Mr. No Name reappeared in the lion’s place, his naked body lying motionless on the cool
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