Nightshatter by L E Horn

Author:L E Horn [Horn, L E]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781988431147
Publisher: Sherrington Publishing
Published: 2020-04-30T04:00:00+00:00

15

Waiting for the shot in the small med clinic—basically a room with a few cots and shelves of equipment that didn’t look like it had been used in years—I hovered near the back of the line. Danny dropped behind the others to stand close.

“I’m sorry,” he said. The skin around his eyes and mouth looked stretched tight with tension. “If I’d had any idea, I wouldn’t have talked you into this.”

“You didn’t talk me into anything. It was my decision.” I realized Danny reminded me of myself. Wasn’t his fault that his best option turned out to be the worst.

“It’ll be okay,” I said, knowing it likely wouldn’t. Maybe Danny will be lucky and make it through. Something inside me grabbed hold of that concept. The rabies shots had stopped the virus from fully affecting me, but Chris believed it to be more than that. He said I had a strength of mind over matter that made all the difference.

Where does my mental strength come from? When I changed, I tapped not only into my emotions but also into my artistic side, visualizing the anatomical changes as they occurred. It not only guided me through but enabled me to engage in the partials.

Anatomy could be taught. What if I helped Danny through the transition? I glanced around at the desperate young men standing in line. What if I helped everybody through?

We had only days before the full moon, not as much time as I’d had. And I couldn’t give myself away, which would make it very tricky. But Ace and Smith had talked about control over the changes, so they’d set it up, to some extent.

If I was careful, I might salvage this situation and keep some men from losing their minds—and maybe their lives.

Danny hovered near me. His jaw muscle jumped with tension as he leaned close. “Those changes—they aren’t something that comes from inside us.”

The kid was too smart for his own health. I glanced at Ace, leaning on the back wall; wulfan ears were sharp. “What do you mean?”

The tall young man met my eyes and I witnessed the fear and uncertainty. “What he changed into—there are myths about those things. I thought they only existed in fantasy books. He isn’t a super human, he’s something else.” He swallowed. “And they’ll make us just like him.”

I kept my expression calm, but my heart raced as I sensed how close he’d come to bolting. “The time to opt out has passed. We’ll get through this.”

He glanced at Ace and back to me. “Do you really think so?”

I nodded and some inner compulsion spat out the words, “Stick with me kid, and I’ll show you how.”

One corner of his mouth twitched. “Is that a Bogart line?”

“You like Bogart?”

“I love old movies.” He tilted his head and grimaced. “Don’t know if I remember him ever saying that, though.”

“Don’t know that he did,” I admitted with a smile. “I think it’s a Lee quote.”

He swayed from foot to foot, but he no longer looked as though he would run.

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