horribly wrong was a reasonable trade-off for
the possibility of becoming a super-powered werewolf.
Echo had to admit that Push had known herself
well: she was the only member of the pack who showed no signs of
regretting her decision. Of course, she’d also lucked out and
gotten a useful power with no life-ruining side effects. Echo
doubted Push would have been so chipper if she’d ended up like
Amber or Match.
The other wolves seemed less enthusiastic
about the search. Amber Killeen and Ty Roberts were poking around
other caves, Ty with a flashlight and Amber in her tawny wolf form.
Amber drooped, tail down, and sweat plastered Ty’s white shirt to
his dark skin. Match lay panting at the mouth of another cave,
weighed down by his thick black fur.
The radio crackled, and Guadalupe’s voice cut
across the parched air. “Tell Match to get in the Humvee with me.
He looks like he’s overheating. Actually, you should all take a
break.”
Emmett became a heavyset brown wolf and
nudged Match. The black wolf obediently loped to the Humvee and
joined Guadalupe in the air-conditioned interior.
Echo rolled down her window. The heat was
stunning; she instinctively pulled back.
Emmett became a man again. “Amber, transform;
you’ll get heat stroke.”
The tawny wolf seemed not to hear. Ty gave
her side a thump. “Come on, Amber. You heard him.”
With a shimmer like a heat wave, the wolf
became a woman. Amber had dressed for the weather, as much as she
could: white jeans stuffed into boots, long-sleeved white
turtleneck, white scarf tied around her head, and white leather
gloves. Only her face and long blonde hair was exposed, but Ty
still took a habitual, cautious step back.
“Did you catch his scent here?” Echo called
out.
Emmett shook his head. “Too dry.”
Amber added, “We think he’s gone to ground.
He’d feel sick, realize he can’t go on, and find a shady place to
hide in. And this is full of shady places.”
It was a reasonable theory, if you hadn’t
fought Torres. And he’d probably do it eventually. But Echo bet he
wouldn’t have gotten to that point anywhere near that soon.
“But it’s only a few degrees cooler in the
caves,” Amber went on. “He’d pass out and never wake up.”
“Speaking of which…” Emmett cupped his hands
around his mouth: “Everyone, back to the Humvee! Rest and
hydrate!”
Echo rolled up her window and drove on. With
all the breaks the pack would have to take in this heat, they had
no chance of catching Torres. Unless he gave up and turned back,
Echo was the only person on the entire base who had a shot at
finding him before he dropped dead.
She mentally replayed her fight with him as
she drove, searching for more clues. Instead, she recalled his
distinctive scratchy voice, and wondered if he’d been interrogated
for so long that he’d worn it out or if he always sounded like
that. Most men who fought her seemed angry or resentful at her
strength, in the split second before they realized that she could
kill them and got scared. Torres had sounded admiring when he’d
called her strong, and he’d never seemed afraid.
Echo had been outraged when she’d realized
that he’d been distracting her so he could use her as a human
shield, but now it made her laugh to remember how he’d compared
himself to a platypus. What sort of man would come up with that as a distraction, in the middle of a desperate
fight?
She hoped she’d get to fight him again. No
one wanted to spar with her any more. She was too fast and too
strong, and she always ended up hitting someone too hard, either by
accident or because she lost patience with holding herself back.
But if she ever got a chance to spar Torres, she could go all-out.
He could obviously take it.
Echo scanned the desert, looking for some
landmark to the west that he might have headed toward. Basic desert
survival was to find shade and stay in it during the day, but there
was little shade to be found here. She
the possibility of becoming a super-powered werewolf.
Echo had to admit that Push had known herself
well: she was the only member of the pack who showed no signs of
regretting her decision. Of course, she’d also lucked out and
gotten a useful power with no life-ruining side effects. Echo
doubted Push would have been so chipper if she’d ended up like
Amber or Match.
The other wolves seemed less enthusiastic
about the search. Amber Killeen and Ty Roberts were poking around
other caves, Ty with a flashlight and Amber in her tawny wolf form.
Amber drooped, tail down, and sweat plastered Ty’s white shirt to
his dark skin. Match lay panting at the mouth of another cave,
weighed down by his thick black fur.
The radio crackled, and Guadalupe’s voice cut
across the parched air. “Tell Match to get in the Humvee with me.
He looks like he’s overheating. Actually, you should all take a
break.”
Emmett became a heavyset brown wolf and
nudged Match. The black wolf obediently loped to the Humvee and
joined Guadalupe in the air-conditioned interior.
Echo rolled down her window. The heat was
stunning; she instinctively pulled back.
Emmett became a man again. “Amber, transform;
you’ll get heat stroke.”
The tawny wolf seemed not to hear. Ty gave
her side a thump. “Come on, Amber. You heard him.”
With a shimmer like a heat wave, the wolf
became a woman. Amber had dressed for the weather, as much as she
could: white jeans stuffed into boots, long-sleeved white
turtleneck, white scarf tied around her head, and white leather
gloves. Only her face and long blonde hair was exposed, but Ty
still took a habitual, cautious step back.
“Did you catch his scent here?” Echo called
out.
Emmett shook his head. “Too dry.”
Amber added, “We think he’s gone to ground.
He’d feel sick, realize he can’t go on, and find a shady place to
hide in. And this is full of shady places.”
It was a reasonable theory, if you hadn’t
fought Torres. And he’d probably do it eventually. But Echo bet he
wouldn’t have gotten to that point anywhere near that soon.
“But it’s only a few degrees cooler in the
caves,” Amber went on. “He’d pass out and never wake up.”
“Speaking of which…” Emmett cupped his hands
around his mouth: “Everyone, back to the Humvee! Rest and
hydrate!”
Echo rolled up her window and drove on. With
all the breaks the pack would have to take in this heat, they had
no chance of catching Torres. Unless he gave up and turned back,
Echo was the only person on the entire base who had a shot at
finding him before he dropped dead.
She mentally replayed her fight with him as
she drove, searching for more clues. Instead, she recalled his
distinctive scratchy voice, and wondered if he’d been interrogated
for so long that he’d worn it out or if he always sounded like
that. Most men who fought her seemed angry or resentful at her
strength, in the split second before they realized that she could
kill them and got scared. Torres had sounded admiring when he’d
called her strong, and he’d never seemed afraid.
Echo had been outraged when she’d realized
that he’d been distracting her so he could use her as a human
shield, but now it made her laugh to remember how he’d compared
himself to a platypus. What sort of man would come up with that as a distraction, in the middle of a desperate
fight?
She hoped she’d get to fight him again. No
one wanted to spar with her any more. She was too fast and too
strong, and she always ended up hitting someone too hard, either by
accident or because she lost patience with holding herself back.
But if she ever got a chance to spar Torres, she could go all-out.
He could obviously take it.
Echo scanned the desert, looking for some
landmark to the west that he might have headed toward. Basic desert
survival was to find shade and stay in it during the day, but there
was little shade to be found here. She
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