Embraced by a warrior

Chapter Four

Once darkness took over the city, Darius was out on the hunt. He picked a section where he knew he’d run across at least one evildoer in the act that would cause him to shift quickly. Even though he had no worries about what had happened back at his place repeating again, a small part of him wanted to make sure nothing else had been screwed up by it.

Darius walked down a couple of streets, then along another. He was in the middle of an industrial park with large buildings looming on either side of him. Some of them were closed while others were open, running a shift through the entire night. That didn’t stop unsavory types from lurking around.

Rounding a bend in the road, he felt the pulling sensation he’d anticipated. Darius followed it to the back of one of the smaller buildings in the sector to what looked to be a storage facility for a retail business. The stench of evil filled the air.

Two men stood in front of a docking bay, having a heated argument. Darius closed in on his prey with silent feet. Not that they would have noticed him, since they were too busy verbally abusing each other. But that didn’t last long when one of them pulled a knife and stuck it into the other’s belly.

The pain of shifting tore through Darius, making his breath catch as the wounded man dropped to the ground. His attacker stood over him, looking as if he were ready to strike again. With a loud growl, Darius drew the attention of the knife wielder.

The man spun around, his eyes widening as his gaze landed on Darius in his half-human and half-jackal form. He brought the knife up and brandished it in front of him. “I don’t know what the fuck you are, but you have no business here.”

Darius snorted inside. The guy was scared shitless, the scent of his fear was heavy in the breeze around them. So this particular prey wouldn’t go down easy, in fact, would put on the tough act, maybe even try to fight Darius. Not that the man would win. In this form, Darius was almost twice his size, and twice as strong. He was all predator.

Stalking closer, Darius curled his upper lip and growled once more. The man’s bravado seemed to slip a bit, but he quickly recovered. The hand holding the knife shot out as soon as Darius came within range. He blocked it easily and knocked the weapon from his prey’s grasp. Still the man didn’t give up, resorting to his fists.

Darius let him swing a few punches, though he avoided each one before he decided it was time to end it. Catching the man’s fist in his hand, Darius squeezed hard enough to break bones. His prey yelled in agony.

Darius released him and grabbed him by his throat. He brought his muzzle close to the man’s face, snaring his gaze as Darius tore into his mind. All his evil deeds filled Darius’ head, forcing him to live through them all. Stabbing someone in the gut was petty compared to what his prey had gotten away with.

With a single thought, Darius willed his gold dagger in his hand. He struck fast and sure, slicing across the man’s stomach in the same spot where his prey had stabbed the other male. The evildoer faded out of existence, sent on his way to meet Anubis.

Darius turned to look at the wounded man who had fallen to his knees, his hands pressed to his abdomen. Darius closed the short distance between them and tilted the other man’s head up.

“Don’t,” the man whimpered. “Please don’t make me disappear like you did Jimmy.”

“Why shouldn’t I?” Darius asked. “Your friend was here to steal from this place. I saw it in his memories before I sent him to meet his judgment. You were here with him.”

“I wasn’t here to help Jimmy. I only tried to stop him. I’ll admit at first I was going to help him, only because I owed him a lot of money, but I couldn’t do it. I have a problem when it comes to gambling. I’m no thief.”

“I’ll be able to see if you tell the truth.” Darius met the man’s gaze and pushed into his mind. He met with no resistance. After a few seconds, he released the wounded man’s chin. “You didn’t lie.” He willed his dagger away.

This man, Sam, had been coerced into helping Jimmy break into the building, and at the last minute had backed out. Sam just had a weakness with gambling, would accept any bet someone made him. There was no evil in him.

Snagging Sam’s gaze once more, Darius erased himself and what had happened to Jimmy from the man’s memory. In its place he planted a new one, of how Jimmy and Sam had argued. Jimmy had then pulled a knife and stabbed Sam before he took off, taking the weapon with him. While in this entranced state, Darius told Sam to wait until he’d left before dialing 9-1-1 to get himself help.

Darius growled, pain tearing through his body as he shifted back to his human form. Once it was complete he looked at Sam one final time to make sure he was still in a trance before Darius turned and took off at a run. He didn’t go far, but kept hidden to make sure an ambulance showed up for Sam. If the other man hadn’t managed to call for help, Darius would get him some.

It didn’t take long before the sound of sirens heading toward the industrial park could be heard. Darius stepped deeper into the shadows of his hiding spot as a police cruiser sped up to the building where he’d left Sam. Shortly after, an ambulance arrived with lights flashing and sirens wailing.

Darius remained where he was until all the vehicles left, taking Sam with them. Once everything was quiet again, he stepped from his hiding place and continued to make his circuit of the industrial park.

He’d just turned to work his way back to his car so he could meet up with Brisa at the bar when the same pain he’d experienced at his house earlier slammed into him, only this time worse. It drove Darius to his knees, his vision fading in and out. He lifted his hands to cradle his head, the center of all his agony, and watched claws burst through his fingertips before receding again.

“I see you,” said a disembodied male voice that seemed to come from all directions. “I see you, warrior of Anubis.” An evil-sounding laugh followed.

“Show yourself,” Darius bellowed as he painfully rose to his feet, his body shifting in and out of his human form.

“All in good time,” said the voice. “I get to have my fun first. I’ve waited a long time to find one of you.”

“Who the fuck are you?”

“Someone who now gets to hunt you. Because of your kind and the stupid god Anubis you serve we who live in the other part of the underworld aren’t getting the souls meant to join us. Now that I’ve found you, I get to make you pay. But like I said before, I get to have some fun time first.”

Darius let out a bellow of pain as the change to his half-human and half-jackal form tore through him faster than it ever had. The sound of his bones reshaping was loud in the night air. Once it was over, he stood on legs that barely held him up.

It took a few seconds for him to feel steady. Darius looked down at himself, seeing he was fully shifted, wearing a snow-white kilt instead of his jeans. After a couple of minutes with him not changing back, and not feeling the pull of evil, he wondered if whatever had accosted him had been the one to make him shift. At that moment, Darius hated the fact that he had no control over his shifting ability. He had a sneaky suspicion that he was stuck in this form.

Knowing he couldn’t stay out in the open in the state he was in, that the risk of being spotted was too great, Darius took off at a run toward his car. He kept to the darkest spots along the road, hoping like hell he didn’t hear someone shouting in alarm behind him. He had to go back to his place and talk with Anubis. The god was the only person he thought of who could fix him.

At his sports car, he pulled on the door handle on the driver’s side. It didn’t open. Shit. He carried his keys in his jeans pocket, which were now gone wherever they went when he shifted. Darius tried to will them back the same way he did the number of weapons he had at his disposal, but that accomplished nothing.

“Ah, fuck,” he said under his breath.

He was going to have to smash the window. The longer he stood there the greater the chances of him being seen. Thinking this was going to hurt, but not in the physical sense, Darius pulled back his arm, then punched his fist through the car window. He quickly unlocked the door, sweeping the broken glass off the seat and onto the road before he got inside. He instantly felt cramped with the steering wheel too close to his furred chest. Of course he was much bigger in this form, and he’d never driven while in it, either. Darius adjusted the seat to accommodate his larger size.

With no keys, he had no choice but to hotwire his car. Luckily it was something he already knew how to do, having gone through a period where he’d wanted to learn just for the hell of it. In a matter of a minute, the engine roared to life. Darius took the longer route to get home, to avoid as many main streets as possible. It being so late, there weren’t that many people around to see him drive by.

At his place, he had to break one of the small windows that lined either side of the front door to get in. The amount of glass repairs he’d have to have done were racking up.

Darius headed straight to the small temple just off the living room. Standing before the altar, he closed his eyes to concentrate and sent out a call to the god he served. “Anubis, I have need of you.”

What troubles you, Darius? Anubis’ deep voice filled his head.

“Something happened while I was out on the hunt tonight. I’m stuck shifted.”

Show me.

Darius played the whole conversation with the disembodied male voice in his mind as Anubis watched the scenes play out. When the god didn’t say anything right away, Darius asked, “Do you have any clue who the voice belonged to?”

It was a demon. Normally, his kind wouldn’t have the power to force you to shift, especially while in the underworld. I have a feeling this one has found a way out of it and into the mortal realm.

“A demon? That doesn’t sound good.” Out of all his years of serving Anubis, not once had Darius come across one.

It isn’t. Let loose on mortals, there is no telling what a demon will do. But it seems for now he’s set his sights on you.

“Is there anything you can try to get me to shift back to my human form?”

Let me see what I can do.

Darius felt the god’s presence move inside him. He gritted his teeth as Anubis tried to bring on the shift, only to have it stop, keeping Darius trapped in his present form. Anubis brought it on several more times before he pulled out of Darius’ body.

I can’t get you to shift.

“So I’m stuck like this?” Darius did not like the sound of that.

I don’t think it’s something permanent. It has the feel of a spell. Dark magic, to be exact. But it’s not a very strong one. If it were, I never would have been able to start the change at all. I have a feeling it will wear off.

“Wear off? How long will that take? I could be trapped in this form for days. I won’t be able to leave the house. If mortals were to see me like this they’d freak.” Then Darius remembered about Brisa. “Oh shit.”

What?

“I was supposed to meet someone tonight. As of right now I’m late. She’s not going to be too happy with me if I don’t show up.”

Your date will have to wait. I think by morning the spell will have weakened enough to let the change come on naturally. If it doesn’t, I should be able to push past it enough to do it. For now, try to get some sleep.

Darius felt Anubis’ presence completely disappear. This had not turned out as he’d planned. Now he wouldn’t be able to see Brisa. And thinking about it, he had no way of phoning her, either. His cell phone had disappeared along with his clothes and keys. He was going to have to stand her up. Terrific. The night wasn’t going to end the way he’d wanted it. Not only that, but he’d have Brisa pissed-off at him. She was going to think he was an asshole.

“Still no sign of him?”

Brisa put down the glass she’d been drying and shook her head at Janey. “No, and the bar closes in two minutes.”

“Did you try calling him?”

“Yeah. About five times. It goes straight to his voice mail. I’ve left a message, but either Darius didn’t get it or he’s ignoring me. So much for the weekend he wanted to spend with me. And it looks as if I packed that bag for nothing.”

“Maybe something came up. You told me he was a bounty hunter or something. Maybe he had to go chase down a bad guy.”

“I think that’s just wishful thinking on your part, Janey. I figure Darius would have called if it were something like that.”

Her friend shrugged. “I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. Plus, you seem really in to Darius. The way you’ve talked about him, I know you like him a lot.”

Brisa sighed. “The man is perfect. He has good looks, a great body, I actually enjoy being around him and he has money. But that’s the thing. He’s too perfect. I knew it had to be too good to be true. I’m not lucky enough to land a guy like Darius and actually get to keep him. Maybe he decided I’m not his type, after all.”

“Would you stop being so down on yourself? I think Darius is the one who is lucky to have you, not the other way around. I have a feeling he’ll call you tomorrow with an explanation as to why he didn’t show up tonight.” Janey winked. “Maybe you’ll get some apology sex out of him too.”

Brisa laughed. “Apology sex? I take it that’s like make-up sex?”

“Of course. Just wait and see. Darius won’t give up on you.” Janey looked at her watch. “Well, it’s closing time, which means I’m out of here. Try to have a good weekend, Brisa. And I want all the juicy details on Monday.”

Brisa shook her head as her friend walked away. Janey was always the optimist. Brisa, on the other hand, wasn’t much of one. In her eyes, Darius not showing up without calling wasn’t a good sign, especially after the afternoon they’d spent together. She’d thought for sure he was as in to her as she was in to him.

Finished doing the last-minute tasks of cleaning up behind the bar, Brisa went back to the room where she’d put her purse and the bag she’d packed for the night and weekend. The one she now didn’t need.

She left the bar and headed to the parking lot and her car. Usually when a guy stood her up that meant she didn’t give him a second chance. If he did it once he was liable to do it again. But if Darius called her tomorrow and had a legitimate excuse, she didn’t think she’d be able to tell him she didn’t want to see him. As she’d said to Janey, he was perfect in every way. He was the type of guy she’d hoped to meet, fall in love with and end up married to.

She gave herself a mental kick as she started her car, then pulled out of the lot. She was getting way ahead of herself. There was no guarantee Darius would even call her tomorrow. And she sure as shit wouldn’t call him. Coming across as desperate was not something she wanted to do. No, if he really wanted to see her again Darius would have to be the one doing the calling. And he’d better have a good excuse. He might be the ideal man she was looking for, but that didn’t mean she’d be his doormat.

Darius came awake as pain tore through his body. Once it was over, he held his hand up in front of his face and breathed a sigh of relief. He was back in his human form. The spell must have worn off as Anubis had said it would.

Sitting up, Darius stretched, feeling as if he really hadn’t slept at all. He’d probably spent the majority of what had been left of the night pacing, only to finally fall into bed shortly after dawn. He’d been too worried to sleep. About being stuck shifted, and about what Brisa’s reaction had been when he hadn’t shown up at the bar. Even though he didn’t think he could have a permanent relationship with her, that didn’t mean he was ready to let her go.

Darius stood and shoved his hand into the front pockets of his jeans, then took out his keys and cell phone. He threw the first on the bed and looked at the latter to make sure the battery wasn’t dead. He still had a couple of bars left.

It was just after nine a.m. It was a bit too early to call Brisa, considering she’d worked a night shift. Darius decided to shower first before he called her. If she refused to talk to him, he had every intention of going over to her apartment to try to convince her to see him.

By the time he finished all that it was going on quarter to ten. It was still fairly early, but Darius couldn’t wait any longer. He picked up his cell phone and called Brisa’s number. She picked up after the fourth ring.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Brisa.”

“Hi, Darius. I wasn’t sure if I’d hear from you today.”

He swore to himself. She sounded a bit ticked with him, which he totally understood. “I’m so sorry about last night. I planned to show up right until the last minute.”

“You could have called, you know. Actually, it would have been nice if you had instead of leaving me to wonder if you just forgot about me.”

“I would have if I could. I’d forgotten to take my phone with me, and by the time I got home it was so late I knew you would be asleep. That’s why I’m calling now. I still want to spend the weekend with you, Brisa. Can I come and pick you up? We can go out for some breakfast, then I’ll bring you back here. Please don’t be angry at me.”

He heard her sigh on the other end. “If I say yes, you have to promise never to stand me up again. I won’t give you another chance if you do.”

“You have my word.” At least Darius hoped nothing like this happened again.

“All right. Like I said, this is the last time I’ll overlook you standing me up.”

“I’ll make it up to you. I just have to take care of one thing here, then I’ll come to your apartment.”

“Okay. See you then.”

Darius hung up then headed to the garage. He found a piece of plywood he had lying around and roughly cut it to the shape of the window he’d had to break the night before. With a few nails to tack it in place until he had it repaired, Darius figured it would be good enough. His car wouldn’t be quite so easy to jerry-rig. He’d have to take it in to get it repaired, but not today, which left only his motorcycle. He hoped Brisa wouldn’t mind riding on the back of it.