A Dog Like Daisy by Kristin O'Donnell Tubb

Author:Kristin O'Donnell Tubb
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2017-04-11T04:00:00+00:00

11

THE TASTE OF DANGER

My sleep is filled with nightmares, of ripped flesh and monstrous trashy trucks with metal jaws and teeth on their hindquarters. I know my flanks are twitching, and I whine, but I can’t shake out of this dream.

“GET DOWN, BUCK!”

The Colonel’s fire truck shouting snaps me awake. I leap off my pillow, prick my ears and nostrils to find him.

The closet.

Colonel Victor crouches like a tiger in the corner, hanging clothes camouflaging him. He clutches a huge, curved, red-alarm knife. His heart hammers and his eyes are wide and white. His face curls with the colors of deep wounds.

Anna stands in the doorway in a thin, worn nightgown, a ghost.

“Victor, honey,” she whispers, voice trembling, disappearing. “Wake up. Come back to bed.”

“DON’T BE STUPID, BUCK!” he yells daggers at her. “THE INSURGENTS ARE HERE! THEY’VE FOUND US!”

I sense Micah now, creeping in the darkness of the Colonel’s bedroom. I curse Smaug for not doing a good job of keeping Micah safe in his room. Useless lizard.

A cold rumbling starts in my belly. This is very, very wrong.

The Colonel’s eyes narrow tight like a strangle on his wife. He’s dripping sweat. “Get. Down.” His voice is barbed wire.

I push around Anna and ram my skull, thud, against Colonel Victor’s arm, trying to bring him back to us. He shoves me aside. My hip slams purple bruises against the wall. I whine.

Anna sobs. Micah sobs, too. Somewhere deep in the house the baby screams, toenails scratching across metal.

The Colonel spins the flashing knife in his sweaty hands. He crouches. He shifts his weight, preparing himself to tackle Anna, who he thinks is someone named Buck.

The taste of danger is thick on my tongue: meat with maggots.

The growling in my belly grows louder. I lick and nudge and push against him, but it’s not working. If his face was filled with the colors of wounds before, it’s now filled with darkest night. Holes. Demons.

How can I get him back?

“BUCK!” The Colonel leaps at his wife, knife flashing.

I dive between them. The Colonel wrestles with me. The knife slices the pad on my back left paw, a crackle of white lightning pain. I squeal.

That does it.

My teeth sink into Victor’s hand. I don’t put the full force of my jaws behind the bite; if I did that, I’d destroy his hand. I know how powerful my anger can be. No, I only clamp down enough to break the skin. His blood tastes like oily rain water, like puddles with rainbows of gasoline floating on top.

The Colonel’s scream flares red, then simmers down to a boiling orange. He stops punching me and pulling my fur. His eyes focus on the beads of blood on his hand.

His breathing slows, his pupils get smaller. His heart drums a little slower.

“Miss Daisy?” he whispers hoarsely.

I sit between him and Anna.

I growl.

The Colonel moans, then heaves, like he’s going to throw up. His stomach lurches three or four times. He slings his arms around my neck. He wails like howling wind into my muzzle.

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