Reid was the fastest after him, with that weird Fae speed, but Bowman wanted Turner for himself. He bounded past the others, even as blood poured out of him, chasing Turner the length of the hall.
At the door to the stairs, Turner had to halt, confronted with Cristian, who was supporting a shaking Brigid. She was indicating, with wild gestures, one of the chained refrigerated rooms.
“It is here,” she said, her dark eyes wide. “I know it. I remember the aura of it.”
Bowman knew exactly what she meant. He ran for the steel door she was staring at and broke its chains. He had no time to howl a warning, but Cristian was already pulling Brigid out of the way.
Bowman brought his weight down on the door’s giant handle and released the beast within.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
A monster similar to the one they’d fought at the roadhouse filled the hall. This one was a little bit different, with a Feline body; huge, taloned paws; a face that was so distorted it was difficult to tell what it was supposed to be; and a tail that could only belong to a dragon.
Manticore was the word that flashed through Kenzie’s head, but it didn’t matter what it was called. It was big, powerful, and very, very angry.
The thing struck out, its flailing claws and tail catching walls, ceiling, doors, Shifters, Turner. Turner screamed as a huge paw smashed him in the stomach.
“Whistle,” he yelled at Brigid, who came at him. “I control it with a whistle . . . !”
“Do you mean this one?” Brigid straightened from Turner’s fallen body with a silver object in her hand. “What a pity. It appears to be broken.”
Turner gasped as he scrambled up from the floor. “You stupid bitch!”
He went for her. Cristian stepped in front of Brigid to protect her, then Bowman’s charge caught Turner, and they both went down.
Kenzie, human again, shoved Ryan back inside the room with the booths, ignoring his “But, Mom!”
Bowman was fighting Turner, but Bowman had been hit worse than Kenzie had. Though fiery pain seared her stomach, she could last long enough to get Turner. She snatched up the piece of rebar Bowman had dropped and ran to help.
Bowman was all over Turner, and the monster beast was all over Graham, Reid, Pierce, Brigid, and Cristian. Help was barreling down the hall in the form of Jamie, Cade, Gil, and other trackers, but there wouldn’t be enough of them to stop it, Kenzie realized. She’d had twice as many Shifters fighting with her against the first monster, and they hadn’t been able to make a dent in that beast. Only Bowman’s quickness with the truck had saved them, and even then, the monster had chosen to run off. Or perhaps Turner had summoned it back with his whistle, now in pieces in Brigid’s hand.
Bowman’s Collar was going off as he fought Turner, and that and his injuries slowed him. Turner took advantage and drove his Fae dirk blade under Bowman’s foreleg, deep into the fur and skin there.
Bowman’s snarls turned murderous, but blood bubbled out of his mouth. Kenzie shrieked and smacked Turner with the rebar.
Turner dropped, but the next moment, Kenzie was flying through the air, the beast batting her aside. The thing grabbed Bowman as well, tossing him the other way, its tail sending him sliding across the floor to slam into the cement wall. Bowman lay still a moment before he climbed unsteadily to his wolf feet, shook himself, and stumbled back toward Kenzie.
The beast had Turner. Its claws ripped into him, spilling out blood, guts, bile. Turner screamed and screamed, alive and in agony. The sound burst into Kenzie’s skull, and even with all the horrible things Turner had done, Kenzie started to crawl to him, to help.
Bowman reached him first. He shifted to human, got behind Turner, seized his head in his strong arms, and broke his neck.
Turner fell dead at his feet. Bowman’s throat was lit up with his Collar, and the beast, deprived of its victim, attacked Bowman instead.
* * *
Bowman heard Kenzie shouting, but he was too busy to call out to reassure her. Giant arms came down to crush him, claws bigger than any Shifter grizzly’s raked across his stomach.
Speaking of grizzlies, one filled the hall, Cade’s roar a match for the beast’s. Cade jumped onto the creature’s back, teeth and claws deadly, but he barely slowed the thing down.
But there was Jamie, leaping with his cheetah’s speed. Cristian was darting in and out as wolf, Pierce came in with his sword, and Reid was fighting with twin iron-bladed knives. Brigid had retrieved Turner’s dirk and fought alongside Cristian, stabbing and dodging with incredible speed.
Kenzie was hurt. Her body was covered with blood and mud, her face streaked with cuts. Her stomach was a mess of black blood, and the way she staggered told Bowman she wasn’t doing well.
He wasn’t either. The beast came at him again, and Bowman fought with madness that kept him on his feet. The charm on the necklace Gil had given him flopped uselessly against his chest, below his crackling Collar.