She was halfway across the room now, her strides long and rolling. There was no tension in her shoulders, no sign that she expected any sort of fight—like she expected me to be a quick and easy kill. And maybe I would be—this bitch might not be stronger than a god of death, but she was certainly faster.
“No,” she said. “They took everything from her. They stole her life, so I steal theirs.”
“And the men you killed?”
“She hated them. Hated what they did to her.” A languid smile drifted across her lips. “I used them like they used her.”
Like a cat should talk about behavior when they treated the whole world as underlings. “She was a Trollop. How else would they treat her?”
The bakeneko frowned. “I don’t know this word.”
“It means she was little better than a filthy cat in heat, and she was treated as such.”
The bakeneko’s eyes darkened. “For that, I rip you apart slow—”
The words were barely out of her mouth when I leapt at her. I had to—catching her by surprise was my only real hope of doing some serious damage. I had time to see her eyes widen slightly, then I hit her head-on, knocking her down and sideways. We both hit the ground hard, but I rolled to my feet quickly and hit her again, one foot smashing her in the face and mashing her nose flat, the other catching her in the throat. She staggered back, making a gurgling sound, the smirk disappearing under a cloud of anger and pain. I hit the concrete and again pushed upward. The bakeneko’s shape was shifting again, becoming a cat from the feet up. But the shapeshift wasn’t as fast as before, so maybe the constant fighting and the wounds I’d inflicted on her were beginning to take their toll. Even so, I didn’t want to see her in cat shape. Paws that could become the size of buckets held no appeal at all. Not when I had to fight against them, anyway.
I swore and lunged forward, grabbing her arm and twisting it with all my might. She snarled, a sound that came out only half human, then slashed at me with a hand that was partially clawed, ripping through my coat and down into skin. I gritted my teeth against the scream that careened up my throat, but held on to her arm and gave it another twist. Bone shattered and suddenly her left arm was hanging useless. One less weapon to worry about.
She hit me again, knocking me sideways. I staggered several steps before I caught my balance. But by then, she’d attained her full cat shape. And she was leaping straight for my throat.
I dove out of reach and rolled to my feet, then twisted around, lashing out with one booted foot, smashing the heel across her mouth. Flesh and bone gave way under the force of the blow and blood flew.
She snarled again and lashed out with her claws, scraping down my leg and deep into flesh. Pain flared, thick and hot, but I ignored it, spinning again and smashing another blow into her mouth, this time dislodging teeth.
She screamed in fury and launched at me. I had no time to run and met her leap head-on, grabbing her throat with one hand and clawing at her eyes with the other. The breath whooshed from my lungs, leaving me gasping as the bakeneko’s back legs clawed at my flesh and her fetid breath washed across my face.
We rolled across the cold concrete, my grunts mingling with her snarls as we punched and clawed at each other. My thumb found her eye socket and I dug deep, desperately trying to blind her. She screamed, the sound deafening, and shook her head from side to side, desperately trying to dislodge my grip. I dug deeper and deeper, until fluid gushed over my thumb and I hit bone. With a quick sideways flick, I tore the eyeball from the socket.
She roared and suddenly her broken teeth were in my flesh, gnawing at my arm. Sweat rolled down my face and white-hot pokers of pain began burning up my arm and into my brain. I drew my legs up, desperately trying to get my feet under her belly before she bit down into bone.
She ripped her head sideways, out of my grip, taking a chunk of flesh with her. A scream burned up my throat, but with it came anger and a desperate strength. My feet found purchase underneath her and I heaved with everything I had, sending her flying up and over my head.
I scrambled to my feet once again and backed away, blood dripping from my fingertips and splashing across the concrete.
The bakeneko hit the far wall and righted herself, her weight on three legs and the right side of her face bloodied and battered. There were strips of flesh—my flesh—hanging from her mouth, and her tongue came out, gathering them inward, before she swallowed.
A bizarre sort of smile stretched her broken features, then her form was shifting once again. Only this time she didn’t become a blonde.
This time, she became me.
And she was perfect.
Perfect.
Aside from the fact that she had a broken arm rather than shredded legs and a chunk out of her arm, I might have been staring at a perfectly clothed reflection. Obviously, whatever magic allowed her to change could hide bloodied clothes or a gouged eye, but it couldn’t heal a broken limb. It was nice to know that some shifting magic remained constant across species.
“I will walk out of here, guardian. I will walk away with no one being the wiser.”
I flexed bloodied fingers and shifted my feet. “Like hell you will.”
And with that, I leapt at her. If she remained in human form, I had a chance. But it wasn’t my only chance.
Iktar and Kade had to be close.
She sidestepped fast, but her speed seemed to be restricted by either her human shape or her wounds, and I hit her hard, my boot sinking deep into her side and sending her flying.
I swung round. The bakeneko had regained her balance, but rather than attack, she ran backward. I ran after her, wondering why the fuck she was suddenly retreating when the bitch was so confident of a win.
A second later, I had my answer.
The door behind her was torn off its hinges and two figures appeared, one little more than a shadow and the other blood covered and battered.
“Shoot her!” the bakeneko screamed, her voice my voice. “Blow her fucking brains out!”
Neither man hesitated.
They both raised their guns and fired.
Chapter 13
Only they didn’t fire at me.
They fired at the creature wearing my face.
One bright laser beam sliced through her legs, the other through her neck. There was a brief moment when shock registered, then her head parted company from her body and all three bits plopped to the floor.
I stared at her for a moment, unable to believe it was over so suddenly, then wiped a trembling hand across my face and met Kade’s gaze as he limped toward me. “How did you know?”
He gave me a smile that was all aching weariness. “She’s not missing her left little pinky. You are.”
“Then you’re both more observant than me, thank God.” I hadn’t even fucking noticed.
He wrapped a bloody arm around me and dragged me into a hug that was so damn fierce and comforting I felt like crying.
“You’re a mess,” he said, after a while.
“Now there’s a case of the pot calling the kettle black.”
“You both should go to the hospital,” Iktar commented.
I looked around Kade’s arm and saw him lightly toeing the bakeneko’s body. As he did, smoke began to rise, twisting and curling skyward. It swirled around its human remains, finding shape and solidarity. Briefly gaining the form of a cat.
She turned, and her ghostly gaze met mine. She didn’t say anything, simply bowed, then her form broke apart and began drifting skyward before disappearing completely.
“She’s gone,” I said, and wondered what sort of afterlife things like her went to.
Iktar glanced at me, his body fading into the shadows and featureless face unreadable. “It is always best to be sure.”