Rise of the Gryphon (Belador #4)(11)

“My name’s Bernie.” His fingers curled into fists, but tremors still wracked his body.

“Beaniepole fits you so well,” Imogenia whispered softly as she leaned in, but Evalle heard her. “Get into that ring and don’t kill him until I tell you to, or I’ll have to visit your girlfriend. Tonight.”

“No. Stay away from her.” Bernie’s hoarse words shook with anger and fear.

“Then get moving. I’ve stayed here longer than I planned already.”

When he turned to enter the ring, Evalle finally got a good look at his face.

Glowing green eyes.

An Alterant.

She whipped around to face Storm, whose eyes took in Bernie, then narrowed. Storm’s gaze shifted to her long enough to send a warning glare she understood. Don’t interfere.

Storm had fought demon trolls, warlocks and probably many other things she couldn’t name, but he’d never gone up against an Alterant. At least not that she knew of, since she was the first one he’d ever met. Based on what little information she’d gathered on other Alterants besides her, they tended to have a power or unique ability of their own.

What about Bernie?

Evalle suffered a deadly reaction to the sun, but she hadn’t met another Alterant with that same issue. Did Bernie even have a weakness?

Imogenia cackled with delight. The bitch had disguised the Alterant. Evalle doubted she even needed the chain and collar, not with the threat of the boy’s girlfriend hanging over him.

Storm unfolded his arms and stepped forward, body ready for attack. Muscles rippled up his arms and across his shoulders when he fisted his hands and arched his back, growling.

Bernie just stood on this side of the ring, shaking.

Imogenia unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it off, revealing a bony body. When snorts and chuckles erupted from the crowd, Imogenia rose up on her toes and hissed, “Need I remind you what happened in Tennessee?”

The young man’s body went taut as a bowstring.

He jerked his head to the side, looking over his shoulder at her with murder in his eyes, then roared and turned back to Storm.

Bernie’s jaws widened, teeth lengthening into fangs as his jaws expanded and his head grew larger. Cartilage popped and bones snapped in his arms and legs that extended and thickened. His feet grew as long as Evalle’s forearm, with four toes each. Bright red hair on his arms and legs lengthened. Clothes shredded and fell away as his body grew ten feet tall with black veins popping along his back and chest.

He raised four-fingered hands, fisted them and bellowed again.

Would Zymon’s monster have been a better choice?

Storm slid his jeans off and tossed them to the side, not the least bit insecure about being naked.

Evalle ignored the female murmurs of appreciation. Hard to blame them. She’d ogle him, too, if not for being more concerned over his keeping that amazing body in one piece.

Storm’s human form immediately shimmered as he shifted into a massive jaguar much larger than a natural one, all in a matter of seconds. Gleaming black fur blanketed the two-hundred-and-fifty-pound predator. His head lifted as high as Evalle’s shoulder. He roared at the Alterant Bernie, the sound echoing through the valley.

Bright jaguar-yellow eyes glared death at Bernie, who could rip Storm in half.

Evalle had to stop this, but to do so would pit her and Storm against this crowd. Calling in VIPER would put Storm at just as great a risk with Sen gunning for him.

But she would not let him die in that ring.

The giant mass of hair, muscle and fangs that Bernie had shifted into plodded forward and made a swipe at Storm’s animal form, but Storm had the reflexes of a preternatural cat. He raced around the Alterant, slashing a claw across the back of the giant’s thigh, drawing first blood.

Evalle cheered silently in her head, forcing herself to maintain a composed demeanor. She cut her eyes at Imogenia, who watched, transfixed by the scene.

Just as Evalle looked back, the Alterant stomped back and forth, causing the ground to vibrate beneath her feet.

Storm stalked one way then the other, taking a swipe here and there, not cutting Bernie deeply enough to do real harm, but blood flowed freely. The big jaguar raced around and around Bernie, causing the Alterant to turn in circles.

Evalle realized Storm was trying to wear Bernie down, catch him off balance and maybe tackle him.

Bernie’s frustration erupted in a screaming howl. His arms twisted in their sockets. They were . . . double-jointed???? Bernie slashed across Storm’s back as he came around Bernie.

Blood streamed down the jaguar’s hindquarters.

Evalle felt the blow to her center.

Storm’s jaguar swung around, facing the Alterant. He roared a vicious sound that would bring the dead back to life.

Imogenia yelled, “Acath-amee,” at Bernie.

What could that mean? Evalle hadn’t felt any power or majik cast with the word. Imogenia had said it the way a dog trainer used a foreign word to train an attack dog. A term the animal wouldn’t normally hear from someone else.

Bernie stopped moving around and extended one arm, hand turned up. He made a scooping motion.

As if snatched off the ground, Storm’s jaguar form flipped up in the air and rolled backward, landing hard from the kinetic hit.

Now Evalle understood. Bernie’s weakness was lack of aggression. The witch was using the commands to force him to fight.