Prince of Shadows by Susan Krinard

The changing. Strong emotion triggered it. He could feel the shifting begin, his body preparing to alter, bone and muscle and flesh down to the last cell.

There was no fear. He wanted this. He gloried in the rage, because it was freedom and forgetfulness. In a few moments he would become a creature these petty humans could not face or defeat. He would finish what he’d begun in the cafe. Who then would be afraid?

But he knew within seconds it wasn’t working. Now, that he wanted the change it refused to come. His body spasmed but held its human shape. Nausea sent bile into his throat. He flung back his head, blind and paralyzed.

“I think he’s having some kind of fit!”

Walsh spoke from a great distance. “Well then, boys, we’d better help him out. Take him someplace where he can… recover.” Ugly laughter.

Hands grabbed Kieran from every direction. He tried to fling them off; a blow caught Kieran at the angle of his jaw, slamming his teeth together. His arms were wrenched behind him.

“You come with us, wolf-man. We’ll take good care of you—”

“Hold it ”

Not Walsh’s voice, or any of his friends. Muttered protests and curses sounded close to Kieran’s ears, and faded; restraining hands let go. Kieran swayed, reaching for the nearest support.

It was not the counter but human flesh he touched. He snapped his hand away, staggered, and felt himself steadied by a hard grip at his elbow.

“Easy,” the stranger said. Kieran tried to clear his vision, but it remained stubbornly dim. The man who stood beside him was tall, Kieran’s own height, and he smelled—strange. Familiar and unfamiliar at once. He hadn’t been here before.

“Sit down,” the man ordered. A bar stool bumped Kieran’s hip, and he obeyed without thinking. His head spun and his body ached. Dimly he heard the stranger walk away. A brief argument went on somewhere behind him, and the stranger was the last to speak.

Kieran thought carefully about getting up, but his legs had no feeling in them. He planted his feet and concentrated on the ground. It wasn’t really spinning…

“Kieran.”

This voice he knew.

“Alexandra,” he croaked. Suddenly he wanted another drink; he reached out across the counter, searching for a glass.

“Dutch said he’d seen you come in here,” she said. “I told you to stay at the cabin.” Her hand closed on his, her scent washing over him as she leaned close.

“My God. You’re drunk.” Censure. Disgust. “We need to get out of here. Can you walk?”

Walk. Of course he could walk. He shuffled his feet on the floor and pushed up. The counter tilted.

“Let me give you a hand,” the stranger said.

Kieran blinked and cocked his head. “Who—”

“Concentrate on walking,” the man said. Command laced his words… like the Voice, but completely different. There was no condemnation in it, no mockery. “Maudite boisson. This stuff is poison.”

“I’ll second that,” Alexandra muttered. “Thanks.”

Alexandra took one of Kieran’s arms and the stranger the other, hauling him up. Kieran found himself face to face with the man.

Dark hair, shorter than Kieran’s and peppered with shades of white and gray. A hard, experienced face. And that haunting sense of familiarity, just out of reach.

Do I know you? Kieran tried to ask. Are you from my past? But it was all he could do to shuffle along between them, let them guide him into the painful light of day and Alexandra’s truck parked at the curb.

“Get in, Kieran,” Alexandra said, opening the passenger door. “Wait for me.”

He did what she asked and slumped in the seat, letting the numbness claim him again.

Alexandra slammed the door and turned back to the stranger. “Thanks for your help,” she said. “I’ve never seen Kieran do this before.”

“My pleasure,” the man said. “I could see he was getting into trouble.”

Alex laughed. “Trouble,” she echoed. “He seems to have a way of finding it.” She caught herself and studied the stranger again in the light of day. He was ruggedly handsome, with a hard cast to his face and yellow-green eyes that—she started at the comparison that came to mind. His eyes were very much like Kieran’s.

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