Nocturnal Read Free Page A

Aiden stood still, watching them fade into the night, unsure how he would keep up. He felt the cold touch of a wing on his right arm. It sent a shiver of fear through him. He turned toward the three creatures. They nodded and pierced his mind with their eyes.
    Don’t fear us. We mean you no harm. You can run with our children. You must become the true hybrid that lives within you. Call forth your werecat and reptilian forms.
    Aiden was confused.
    See them joining together. Feel them becoming one.
    Aiden closed his eyes and concentrated. He saw both forms in his mind’s eye and called for them. As they came forward, he watched them combine into one. He opened his eyes and saw his reflection in the water. He was now a true hybrid, the only one of its kind. He had morphed and not realized it. No pain had expressed itself as he changed. The sight was exhilarating. He was the perfect union of reptile and mammal. He was spotted green and hairy, with the teeth of a cat and the claws of a reptile. He stood over eight feet tall, and his arms and legs were well muscled. He breathed the air as if for the first time. Energy filled his body, and he crouched like a runner ready to race. His legs uncoiled, and he sprang forward. In an instant, he was gone.
    The three beings returned to the cold darkness of their home and morphed back into their human forms, revealing three men, weathered and aged. They sent their thoughts outward. By the Ancients, may you succeed, Jack Tanner.
    Rathbone and his men had been prepared for battle and unleashed a killing spree against the ferals, wiping out most of them. A group of men descended into the pit and tended to Pippa, who was barely alive. When she was stable, they used ropes and pulleys to pull her and Abby out of the pit.
    â€œGood thing you sniffed them out,” Rathbone said to Salvatore. “They would’vekilled each other.”
    Salvatore and Rathbone watched as Abby fought against the electric net that bound her. She screamed and clawed like a rabid animal. Any regular human would have been rendered unconscious from the jolt.
    â€œTranq her,” Rathbone yelled. “That’s the only way we’ll be able to subdue her.” A man jabbed a needle into Abby’s leg, and she screamed in protest.
    Mangus appeared beside Rathbone and Salvatore. “We’ve heard from the Tar Pits, sir.”
    â€œAnd?”
    â€œThey’ve barricaded themselves in the safehold. They’re surrounded by hundreds of ferals. The entire city is overrun. They don’t know where they’re coming from or why.”
    â€œI do,” Rathbone said. “They’ve been breeding like animals for decades, especially down south. Their numbers have grown, and they’re searching for food. Something is drawing them north. Maybe they sense the safehold in the mountains. Regardless, we need to wipe them out before they devour every human and werecat in their path. Have you heard from Rebecka?”
    â€œYes, sir. She radioed in a few minutes ago. She’s only an hour behind us.”
    â€œRadio her back. Give her our coordinates and tell her we’ll wait for her team. Then radio the Tar Pits. Tell them we’re coming for them.” It would take three or four hours to reach the Pits. Rathbone hoped they wouldn’t be too late.
    Salvatore stared at Abby as she finally succumbed to the tranquilizer. Pippa looked as if she’d been snapped in two. It had taken eight men, four in the pit, four out, to remove her on a gurney.
    â€œThought your kind healed quickly,” Rathbone said to Salvatore. “Even from a feral attack.”
    â€œWe usually do,” Salvatore replied. “But these girls aren’t normal werecats. They’re rabid. Who’s to say what kind of damage they’ve done to each other.”
    Salvatore turned away so Rathbone wouldn’t see the tears sliding down his face. The thought of losing Abby was too much to