“What for?” Molly turned on Joel, and Ben let out a sigh of relief, glad he wasn’t going to have to answer that question.

  “Someone took her stash.”

  Molly gave the slightest snort, which told Ben she was the one who had found it. For a moment he was tossed back to two years ago when Molly had sent him in a manhunt throughout the entire facility—every single level and every single nook and cranny—to find the heroine Faye had stashed everywhere.

  “Didn’t realize she was using again so regularly,” Ben muttered and turned toward the front of the van, getting behind the wheel.

  The others continued to talk, but their voices were hushed. Ben pulled out his ever-present tablet and checked on the last known whereabouts of the skoll. There were more sightings and reports coming in as he went, paths of devastation left. He shuddered. He had a feeling he was going to be seeing and smelling a whole lot of blood that night. The sight he could nearly handle, but since he’d stopped his medication, the scent of things had become overwhelming. Every single person had their own scent, and it made his head spin as he walked around around the building and ran into others. It’d been partly why he’d avoided everyone and stayed locked in his work area.

  “Uh…Molly!” he called sharply and popped open the door, repeating himself so she could hear him.

  Molly came over immediately. Ben handed her the tablet so she could see what he was seeing.

  “We’ve got to get going.”

  “You’re quite right.” She turned to Malek and Joel. “Let’s go.”

  They all piled into the van, and Ben pulled out of the house, drove along the winding driveway that would take them to the gate around the building. The gates opened automatically for them, and then they were off on a creature capture. They had yet to successfully bring home a skoll alive. The beasts were vicious.

  It took ten minutes to get to the last sighting, and sure enough, as soon as they pulled up to the run-down building, they could see the trails of blood left in the skoll’s wake. Ben parked while the others jumped out of the vehicle. Molly had slipped him a gun before she left and stashed her own in the back of her waistband. He’d noticed she’d taken to avoiding weapons when Malek was around. He was curious about it but hadn’t had the courage to ask yet.

  The four of them walked around, Molly and Malek going off in one direction while he and Joel went the opposite. They didn’t even need to speak to know what to do. They had all trained for this—well, except Malek, but Ben was pretty sure Malek wasn’t going to let Molly wander away without him. In fact, he wasn’t even sure why Malek was there or what the two of them had been doing before the skoll sighting had shown up.

  Shaking the thought from his head, Ben focused on what was in front of him. He didn’t want to get surprised by anything. Skolls were decently small, the size of a medium-sized dog, but they had very long necks, feet that were three times the size needed for their lithe forms, and claws that were deadly. Their silver color meant they blended in well at night, and they could move completely in silence, which made them doubly hard to track.

  Ben kept his weapon in between his fingers, wanting to make sure he wasn’t caught by surprise. Joel was doing the same. Together they walked around the building, checking the ins and outs of it and finding only more blood in their wake. There were dead small animals here and there, but nothing as big as would cause some of the blood trails. There had to be something else nearby that the skoll had killed.

  Joel stopped short, and Ben stared at him. Joel nodded his head toward a door and went to it. Ben followed, his heart pounding. The scent of blood was overwhelming, but inside it, he smelled wet grass, which was flat out weird. The tingles that had become his constant companion over the past few weeks had ramped up and fluttered around his body like they were high on something or there was a dance party going on in his veins.

  Putting a finger over his lips, Joel pointed to the bottom of the door where there was a hole in it. Small enough for a medium-sized dog to slide through. Joel pulled out his radio and clicked it three times. Ben hadn’t even thought to do that. He was so distracted by the way his body was on fire. When he turned to look at Joel again as they waited for Molly’s response, Joel’s eyes got wide.

  Ben mouthed the word “What?” without making any sound but he knew something was happening. Joel was suddenly a whole lot taller than him when they were normally right around the same height. A loud clatter echoed around the empty alleyway as his gun fell to the cement. Ben hunched down onto his hands and his knees, shaking out his head as the tingles fought their way into his mind, taking over everything.

  When he stared back up at Joel once his body calmed, Joel was completely pale, and his lips were parted in shock. Ben opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, but no words would come out. Confused, Ben looked down at his hands against the cold and damp cement as the rain continued to fall on them and was shocked to find he didn’t have hands anymore. He had paws. Large paws. Paws that were three times the size they needed to be for his body, and the thick pale claws were nested just inside the pads.

  He looked back up at Joel and growled. He legit growled. Excited, Ben charged straight through the tiny hole in the door without a second look back. Every nerve ending in his body was alive. He ran until he couldn’t run any longer, searching in each and every corner as he got used to how his body moved, how he needed to be running. He could see in the dark. He had to be doing that because there were no lights in the building, yet he could see everything like it was right in front of him, clear as day.

  A call of voices came over his shoulder. Joel’s voice first, then Molly’s. They must have been whispering about him before they came in. This could be just the advantage they needed. Charging forward, Ben followed the scent of the other skoll, the scent that was in the forefront of his mind. He would be the first to find the skoll, he would do this creature capture without them, and finally they would have the skoll alive like they’d always wanted.

  ###

  Molly was shocked by Joel’s description. If he was right, then Ben had taken a massive leap forward in his abilities. She hadn’t expected this, especially that night of all times and places. Taking the lead, since Joel was at a loss for what to do, she held her hand over the door to unlock it with her magic then pushed it open, deafening the squeak with another small spell.

  Malek took up position in the back, Joel between them. Everything in Molly’s body was focused on finding Ben instead of finding the skoll. She’d love both, but Ben was her priority. If he wasn’t fully aware of how he shifted, shifting back into his human form may take some trial and error. She’d seen it before, and it was not pleasant to watch. She could only hope Joel wouldn’t have to witness it.

  Holding her hands tightly to her side, Molly walked around the building, searching for any sign of a creature, whether it was Ben or the skoll. She found the trail of one of them quickly, and followed it after raising a hand to Joel and Malek, telling them what she’d found. They did everything in silence, which she was grateful for after the conversation she and Malek had had in her car before they’d returned to the house. She needed time to think. The pull to the fold was always strong, but she had to resist it. She’d done it for over two hundred years, so surely she could continue.

  She stopped short when there was a rather large puddle of something on the ground her boot had landed in with her next step. Molly bent down, her knees bending as she reached out and touched her fingers to it. Blood. This time an entire pool of it. Shifting the debris against the stone wall, she moved it until she found the cold and very dead body of some Tainted she’d never seen before.

  Molly clenched her jaw. They’d come back for him and figure out who he was to return him to his family if they could. If not, she still wouldn’t leave him there. Sighing, Molly stood back up. There had been teeth marks and claw marks all across him, no doubt from the skoll in question that they were hunting.

  She stepped away from the dead Tainted and went down another hallway. Her ears were tuned to anything odd or different that could be the skoll or Ben. Unfortunately, both would be deadly quiet. The growl surprised her. Turning sharply, Molly prepared for whatever may come at them. The growl grew louder.

  She followed the direction of the noise, finding the skoll hiding under a pile of rubble in a den of sorts that it had obviously created. She squatted down, trying to seem less terrifying and less like the bad guy. She put her hand out, like she was talking to a scared little puppy, and waited to see if it would come out and check her out. The problem, based on Joel’s description, was she had no idea if this was the skoll they were hunting or if this was Ben, and she did not want Ben to get hurt.

  The creature growled louder, but Molly held firm. When its head reached beyond the cover of the den, Joel stepped sharply behind her, no doubt to protect her. She held her hand up in a fist, making sure he knew to be silent and not move. Then once again, she reached forward with her palm open and waited to see if the skoll would come forward.

  She waited with bated breath. Molly held as still as possible, and sure enough, the skoll stepped out, one large paw at a time. It’s neck craned around the corner of the den first, easily three times longer than it should have been to where it looked like an odd mix between a llama an a fox, but it was still beautiful. The long silver hair flowed down so when it ran it would like like running water in the moonlight.

  Molly clenched her jaw and purposely loosened every muscle in her body. These creatures could sense fear and distrust, and she had to make them think they trusted her. She worked her magic, the tingles in her own body through her fingertips and sent a calming spell over everyone there. Malek was most resistant to it, but even he could see the cause for action and allowed the spell on himself.

  With her hand held out still, Molly smiled as the skoll came forward and sniffed her fingers. “That’s it,” she whispered.

  Malek jerked, his foot shuffling against the cement loudly. Molly inwardly cursed as the skoll she had coerced out ran back into hiding. When she turned to glare at Malek, she stopped short. There were dozens of skolls coming out from hiding, all with their heads down, growls coming from their lips.

  “Fuck,” Joel muttered.

  Molly didn’t hesitate, and neither did Malek. They were both thinking the same thing. She stood straight up, her magic weaving around Malek’s like ribbons intertwining but not connecting as they cast the spells. Malek muttered the words while Molly stayed silent. She’d disliked saying the spells if she could help it. Malek’s body and eyes glowed silver like the moon, and Molly knew her own body matched his with every breath. They stared for one second at each other before a powerful burst of magic flew from their bodies and pulsed outward into the sea of skolls before them.

  It hit each and every one of them, knocking them onto their backs and sides. After the fourth pulse, Molly pulled back her magic as did Malek. Not one skoll moved. She shifted, her boots making a loud noise in the suddenly absolute silence of the large room they were in. There were dozens of skolls.

  “We’re going to need help,” Molly stated. “Joel, call for extra hands, please.”

  He stood still, unmoving, his eyes riveted to one skoll in particular. “That’s Ben.”

  Molly followed his gaze and tiptoed around the room until she found the one she thought Joel was pointing to. She could see why he thought it was Ben. Squatting down, Molly pressed a hand to the neck of the skoll, feeling for a pulse.

  “He’s fine, for now. We need to get him home.”

  “He—he shifted.”

  “I can see that,” Molly muttered. “Isn’t this what he wanted?”

  “Yeah, but…I guess I didn’t think I would see it.”

  She raised an eyebrow at Joel but turned to Ben when the pulse under her fingers sped up massively. She was about to call for help when Malek showed up right next to her. Ben’s lifeless form in the shape of a skoll seized. His four legs flung out around him, body trying desperately to function as the pulses from the seizure ripped through him.

  Molly wasn’t surprised by what was happening. Ben had fully shifted on his first try of it, and his body had not been ready. “Joel, back to the van.”

  Malek scooped Ben up, cradling him like he would a child as he followed Joel. Molly glanced around the room as soon as she was alone and cast another spell, causing all of the skoll to sleep until she decided it was time for them to wake up. When she got to the van, she ripped through the small medical kit they kept with them. She’d insisted on putting some new medications in them since Ben had taking to seizures, and she was glad for it. She pulled out the paralytic and injected it into Ben’s front leg. Soon enough, his body stilled.

  She called for assistance, and as soon as a second and third van arrived, she sent Ben and Joel back to the house with a call in to Amachon already to join them and help with whatever Ben may need. She sighed. Her night of work was only just beginning.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Ben sat in the bed, covers over his legs with his tablet in front of him even though Amachon told him not to use it. He couldn’t resist the temptation to skim through and see all they had captured from their creature hunt the night before. Amachon had released him in the morning once the seizure had stopped and he’d been sufficiently observed. He’d gladly gone back to his room to rest instead of hanging out in the medical bay.

  Joel stepped into his room with a slight knock. His hair was still damp from the shower he’d taken, but he was dressed in his normal jeans, t-shirt and over shirt that was his standard uniform for work. Ben smiled at him and pressed the tablet into his lap, hoping Joel didn’t say anything about him using it.

  “How are you feeling?” Joel came over and sat on the bed with Ben, their thighs touching.

  “Better. Groggy still, but not as bad as the last time.”

  “Interesting.” Joel brushed his fingers against Ben’s leg. “I think Molly said that might happen.”

  “She would know.”

  “She would.” Joel nodded.

  Ben watched curiously, sensing Joel had more that he wanted to say, but he couldn’t figure out why Joel hesitated. Joel was normally always forthcoming in what he was thinking and feeling, one of the perks of being so in tune with emotions and what everyone else in the room was feeling.

  Sitting up, Ben tugged Joel in and pressed their lips together in a quick kiss. “I hope I didn’t scare you last night.”

  “You did, a bit. Not becuase you shifted but because you were seizing again. I worry about you.”

  “I can see that.” Ben kissed him again. Joel pulled him back in and let their embrace linger and deepen. It wasn’t meant as anything more than comfort. Joel’s fingers slipped into Ben’s hair, tugging before he sat back, his cheeks flushed.

  “You’re sure you’re okay?”

  “Yeah. I’m fine. I promise. I feel better than I have in a long time.”

  “Good. But how do you feel here.” Joel put his hand to Ben’s chest. “I mean, how are you doing, really?”

  “I…” Ben stopped, trailing off. He wanted to be able to answer Joel honestly and fully. Thinking it over, he realized he hadn’t evaluated how he was feeling about all the transitions in his life. Pursing his lips, tears sprang to his eyes and he shook his head as he fought them before giving in. “I miss her.”

  “Her?”

  “Faye.”

  “She’s right next door.”

  “She is,” Ben started, “but she’s not at the same time.”

  “I know what you mean.” Joel squeezed Ben’s thigh. “She’s high again, so her behavior is erratic and self-indulgent.”

  “Yeah. She hasn’t even checked in on me in a while. She said we were going to do this together, but we’re not. She said she would be here for me, but she’s not. She’s nowhere. I haven’t seen her in days, really. She’s hiding out. I just…I miss her.”

  “I get it.” Joel let out a sigh. “I’ll talk to Molly about it too because it is starting to affect our work.”

  “It is. But more than that, Joel, I miss my friend.”

  “Then maybe you should talk to her. You will probably be able to pull her out of it easier than Molly.”

  “Really? Why would you say that?”

  “Just trust me on this one. Please.”

  “I will, but I still want to know why you think that.” Ben threaded their fingers together, playing his thumb over the top of Joel’s hand.

  “Because she trusts you in a way she doesn’t trust Molly. Molly comes with complications. You come with simple friendship.”

  “Really?”

  “I promise, Ben. It’s that simple.”

  Ben flushed. He’d never thought his friendship with Faye would take quite that turn, but he felt the same way about her. He trusted her with his life, knew she would protect him and keep him safe if needed and support him through everything. Ben let out a shuddering breath. “I’ll talk to her.”

  “Good. Until then, I want you to rest up. What you did last night was amazing, Ben. I don’t want you to wear yourself out, but I do want you to do that again, especially if you want it.”

  “It was amazing.” Bubbles burst in Ben’s chest. “Seriously. I felt amazing. I have never felt so free, so in control of my body as I did in those moments.”

  “Good.” Joel’s eyes crinkled at the corners. “Then let’s try to get more control over it.”

  “Yes.”

  Joel gave him one last kiss before leaving Ben’s room. Ben leaned into the pillows behind him, waiting a moment before he picked up his tablet. He’d talk to Faye and see what had crawled up her butt lately, even if she didn’t want it.

  ###

  Malek had grabbed her hand when she’d walked by Faye’s room and tugged her down the hall toward her room like he had a pretense of something serious. She could read through him two hundred years ago, and she could still do it then. He had nothing to tell her, but he wanted her alone. For what, she had a pretty good guess.