Christy Hauptman is the mother of my daughter, Adam said. And I loved her once. She cared for me for years, and that gives her the right to ask me for protection from someone who frightens her. You have no right to her, no right to be here at all.
The dog who had been Flores,
who was evidently the Guayota my half brother had warned me about, stopped and tilted his head. The dogs skin looked like it had when it was a human shape wearing it. On the dog, the charred, blackened crust resembled fur, fur that dripped molten and glowing bits of stuff onto the cement floor.
No? Guayota said, his voice an odd whispering hum that was almost soothing to listen to. You are wrong. I found my love, who had been taken from me, and I celebrated the suns countenance, warmth, and beauty. I gave her all that I was, all that I had been, all that I could be.
The hum rose to a hiss, and I shivered despite the heat because there was something horrible in that sound. It mutated into a howl that made my bones vibrate like wind chimes. The sound stopped abruptly, but I could feel the air pressure build up as if we were in an airplane climbing too rapidly.
Then she left. He sounded like the man whod first come into the garage, almost human. Sad. But that didnt last. She left me, when I swore that would never happen again. Swore that never, once I finally found her, would I let her leave me.
Thats not a choice you get to make, said Adam. You are scaring her, and you need to leave her alone. I and my pack are sworn to defend her from danger. You dont want to put yourself in my path, Flores.
I tremble, Guayota said, smiling, his teeth white in the red heat of his mouth. See?
A low, groaning noise rumbled through the garage, and the floor rocked beneath me, making me stumble awkwardly to keep my feet. The cement floor cracked, and I could hear a crash of epic proportion as the earthquake sent one of the lighterweight racks in the office area over in a crash of miscellaneous VW parts.
Guayota laughed and didnt sound even vaguely human this time. We all tremble witnessing the might of the Alpha of werewolves. There was a popping sound, and steam escaped from one of the fissures in his back. Red glop dropped from his halfopen mouth like slobber, but slobber didnt hit cement and score it.
Adam scooped up the wasserboxer engine Id just put together and threw it. The wasserboxer engine is a lot heavier than the old Beetle engine had been, and he threw it more at bowlingball speed than baseball.
Guayota rose on his hind legs to meet the engine when it hit, and this time it only pushed him back two or three feet, and he stayed upright and in control of the slide. Like my gun and the mop handle, the engine sank into him and stuck there, metal glowing.
Then I felt a wave of fae magic, and the engine became a shining silver skin that flowed swiftly over whatever Flores had become and covered him entirely before he had a chance to move.
Zee? I asked, coughing as the acrid smoke of the garage finally became too strong to ignore. I kept my eye on Guayota, but the faestruck aluminum of the engine block seemed to be capable of staying solid around a creature who had melted hardened steel. The metal flexed a bit before settling into a motionless shape approximately the size of the creature Guayota had become. Within the shiny skin, Guayota made no sound. My science background wasnt all that strong, but I was pretty sure the only thing keeping the aluminum from melting was fae magic.
Nope, just me, Tad called, his voice a little strained. Nice throw, Adam.
Thanks, Adam said, sounding a little breathless himself.
Tad walked out from behind Adamand he looked a little odd. The stickout ears that had always given him an almostcomical appearance were now pointed, the bones of his face subtly rearranged to beauty as real and as human as Adams. His eyes were not human at all: polished silver with a catseye pupil of purple. He was a little taller than usual, a little buffer, a little more graceful, and a lot scarier. I wasnt used to thinking of Tad as being scary.
I opened my mouth to thank them both but all I did was cough. I trotted to the garage controls to raise the garagebay doors to let the smoke out and some fresh air in. Adam grabbed the fire extinguisher off the wall and started putting out fires. Both Adam and I were choking on the foul smoke, but Tad seemed to be unaffected by it.
As the adrenaline faded, pain took over. Id evidently hit my right knee on something, and my cheek felt like it was, figuratively I hoped, on fire. Despite my fears, my hip was fine, just a bit achy. There was a hole burned through my jeans and underwear, but the skin beneath looked okay. The burns on my arm, hand, and collarbone hurt like fiends.
Sirens sounded in the distance, either police summoned by Adam or the fire department summoned by someone who saw all the smoke.
I put my hands on my hips, standing just outside to stay out of the smoke. You guys better have some