Leopard Moon Read Free Page B

tree trunk, then crept through the backyard, finding her way mostly by hearing and touch, to the low stone wall that bordered the parking area. Satisfied that she had one escape route covered, she ghosted back through the yard and back up to the tree, pulling herself up using sleek, powerful muscles and clawed fingers. She couldn’t risk a full transformation to her leopard form now, but a little wasn’t going to hurt. She’d just make sure to eat well tomorrow to fuel the small transformation of tonight.
    Kess inched back along the thickest branch until she felt it bend slightly beneath her weight. She stopped, backed up a bit, then launched herself toward her open window. She caught the frame, feet landing lightly on the sill, and slid into her room. She breathed out slowly, crouching on the rug, slowly letting her eyes and hands return to normal. When everything was as it should be, she stood and closed the window and curtains.
    It was freezing in her room. She started a fire in the fireplace, content to watch the tiny flames begin to lick the kindling. This weather was going to take some getting used to. She had never ventured this far north before; her kind--werecats--preferred the warmer, more humid climates. This cold was not something she liked. If she could stay curled on the couch in front of the fireplace downstairs, then she might enjoy living up here, but she had to work, not hibernate. She was just going to have to deal with it. In the last year, it wasn’t the worst thing she’d had to get used to.
    Adding another log to the fire, Kess eyed that bathtub. Oh, she wanted nothing more than a nice long soak in it, but tonight she needed sleep more. A quick hot shower was all she had energy for, so she stripped down and turned the water on as hot as it would go. When the bathroom was full of steam and condensation dripped off the mirrors and metal surfaces, she stepped inside, blissed out as the water pounded on sore and tense muscles.
    She pulled her hair forward, working shampoo through the long strands. It was down to the waistband of her jeans now—she should probably get it cut soon. It would certainly make showering faster. But she liked her long hair; it was sleek and black and reminded her of the girl she used to be. As much as she disliked what she was and everything it had cost her, she wanted to keep some vestige of that girl from before.
    With her hair over her shoulder, she soaped her back, feeling the raised scars of claw marks from previous fights with Sek. Weres healed quickly, but there were always white scars left behind from were-inflicted wounds. She quickly rinsed, not wanting to think about it. Bad enough he’d found her out at the last place. She would have to be more careful here. She turned off the tap and squeezed the excess water from her hair before wrapping herself in a towel.
    When she opened the bathroom door, the billow of steam that preceded her fled like a ghost toward the ceiling. The bedroom was warmer now, thanks to the fire, but Kess still hustled to her duffle and pulled out a clean t-shirt for sleeping before returning to the sauna of the bathroom. The cool air was clearing the mirrors so she settled in to run a comb through her hair.
    The girl she caught sight of in the mirror startled her for a moment. She hadn’t really had a chance to look at her reflection in three days. The face that stared at her was still hers, but subtle changes were working in it—the roundness of girlhood had been departing slowly over the past months, but now it was completely gone, leaving adult angular features set in a heart-shaped face. Her eyes were large, and a vivid greenish-gold. Her skin had long since lost its Miami tan and she was now paler than she’d ever been. There was a terseness about her mouth, and she knew she no longer smiled easily or often. She looked too thin, but that was due in part to being on the road and unable to eat regularly or well. She didn’t like to