Read The Guardian for Free Online Page B

conjured this lycanthropic spirit but also inhabited the human form it infected. Two puppets for the price of one body. Not bad change. He couldn’t have chosen a more fearsome creature to attack the station, she’d give him that.
    Brower was a giant of a man, all of six-five, but the werewolf dwarfed him. Blood and spittle dripped from its huge mouth and long fangs as it backed Brower deeper into the corner.
    Fala had never seen Brower afraid before, and what she saw now was way beyond fear. Tears streamed down his square face, but he seemed unaware of them. He wore a crazed look of disbelief as he stared into the lycanthrope’s red, glowing eyes. Brower had wet his pants. He trembled all over, stumbling backward. The first sighting of a werewolf tended to make people a little nuts.
    Fala went to tap the barrel of her .45 against the glass and draw the werewolf’s attention away from Brower, but no need. The creature sensed her and turned.
    Their gazes locked.
    Cruel eyes narrowed slightly in recognition, as if he were sensing a target. The medallion throbbed and burned between her breasts like a divining rod, almost branding her chest. She could feel the world of opposites colliding within her, Tumseneha’s red underworld power writhing behind the werewolf face, coiling to extinguish her white-blue magic flames. His power was so strong itmade her head throb, and her skin felt as if it were being peeled from her body.
    You are mine. I have marked you, Tsimshian. You and all your kind will die by my hand. Tumseneha’s voice pounded in her head, the same voice from her nightmares.
    We shall see, won’t we? Her heart banged her ribs, years of fearing this confrontation converging on her like a downpour.
    I have already won…
    Not while I’m still alive, she answered with more bravado than she felt. And like the coward you are, you’ve chosen to prey on weak mortals. Let’s see how well you do against an equal.
    I’ll destroy—
    Fala grabbed the amulet and meditated on an image of the Maiden Bear, clouding her mind to his words. White magic flashed from her core and burst from her body, jettisoning his thought transference out of her consciousness. She felt the aftershocks of his cloying essence leave her. Her mind grew suddenly clear, as if someone had wiped a slate clean. The amulet pulsed in her hand, energy still throbbing from the ancient metal, its heat comforting her skin. She hadn’t been prepared for the power of the amulet and how it enhanced her own. But damn, it sure felt good.
    She waited until he sprang through the doorway. His werewolf-form moved toward her with stalking, effortless grace, muscles pumping beneath a pelt of fur, eyes never leaving her.
    She ran for the front doors. She had to lure him outside, away from these people so she could fight him.
    â€œDuck, Fala.” Joe’s voice came from behind her.
    â€œNo, Joe!”
    Gunfire opened up.
    She wheeled as Tumseneha leaped on Joe, his bullets doing nothing but angering the beast inside him.
    Tumseneha bit and clawed and threw Joe against the wall like a rag doll. Joe didn’t have a chance. Fala saw the creature’s maw open in preparation to lunge at Joe’s throat for the coup de grâce.
    â€œHey, coward, remember me?” she screamed.
    The scream caught his attention. He dropped Joe’s limp body to the floor, then prowled toward Fala.
    She emptied her clip into his chest.
    The bullets only stopped him for a beat, then he recovered and took his time, licking Joe’s blood from his mouth, slowly, gloatingly, as if he were pleased that he had her right where he wanted her.
    â€œThat’s right, outside. Just you and me.” Emotion cracked in Fala’s voice as she struggled to keep her mind on staying alive and not on Joe’s fate. She backed toward the front doors, her eyes never leaving Tumseneha’s werewolf face.
    Suddenly the SWAT team burst through