Chapter 40

Oz

We were so close. Portland was only twenty miles away. I should"ve known it wouldn"t be that easy. Nothing had been easy since the first moment I saw Stella. But every moment, every drop of blood, every scar I"d earned from protecting her had been worth it. If they—whoever they were—thought I"d stop now, they were idiots.

The security guards at the front of the train shuffled and armed themselves, their movements tense and hurried. The metallic clicks of their weapons loading punctuated the screech of the train"s wheels. The thundering of whatever was moving toward us kicked up dirt in its trail.

When the cause of the dusk was revealed, there was a collective gasp all around the train compartment. Through the window, the world outside was overshadowed by an incredible sight—a pirate ship sailing on sand. Its dark silhouette sliced across the landscape. Its looming presence bore down on us like a behemoth as it emerged from the sandstorm.

The ship"s massive sails billowed in the arid breeze, their tattered edges fluttering like the wings of a predatory bird. Each gust of wind stirred up clouds of sand, obscuring the ship in a haze of gritty particles. The hull of the ship rose high above the ruins, casting a long, ominous shadow across the barren landscape. Cracked and sun-bleached wood adorned with rusted metal fittings formed the skeleton of the vessel.

I wasn"t from this planet, so I wasn"t sure if a land ship was a normal occurrence. A look around at the gaping passengers told me it was out of the norm. Witnessing the tremor in more than one of the security guards told me that we were outmatched.

"It"s her," said Stella.

I was about to ask who when I saw a flash of moon silver hair at the bow. It was the boat witch. Even from this distance, I saw her rotted teeth as she grinned.

"She"s after me, isn"t she?"

I pulled Stella tighter to my body. In another time, I might have laughed at the baffled look on her face. Stella couldn"t understand why the witch kept coming. Why the vamps wouldn"t let her go. She didn"t know who or what she was.

A panther shifter with the blood of a witch, and quite possibly the blood of the gods. I"d seen her coat when she"d shifted. Only royals were spotless. And royal cats had a direct line from the original feline god. A pint of her blood would set someone up for life. If they managed to possess her fully, they would live like kings and queens for generations.

With a thunderous crash, the ship dropped its massive anchor just above the train tracks. The sound was deafening, a violent interruption that sent a shiver down my spine. The anchor"s chain rattled and groaned under its weight. There was no way the train would move forward if its path was damaged.

Stella"s grip on me tightened, her body tensing in my arms. I felt her heartbeat quicken, a rapid drum against my chest. The air in the compartment grew thick with apprehension. Tangible tension suffused everything around us.

"Attention, conductor of this train." The witch"s voice boomed from the pirate ship, magnified and distorted through a loudspeaker, slicing through the chaos. "We have reason to believe you have a woman on board. A witch."

Interesting—she'd called Stella a witch and not what the witch knew her to be. Clearly, she didn"t want any competition on what she knew was her treasure.

"If you send her over to us, we"ll pull up the anchor and be on our way. Refuse, and you"ll have to walk the rest of the way to Portland in the middle of No Man"s Land. That should be fun."

People looked around at the women gathered on the train. It was clear they would turn over each and every one to save their own hides. Even the guards were looking around at the passengers.

Not only would we have no help, we were outnumbered. There was no kelpie to come out of the water and save us. There was no flying Pegasus to take us away. Even if both Stella and I shifted, there were too many pirates and too many supernaturals looking out for themselves.

We were doomed. But like hell was I giving up. Looking into Stella"s eyes, I saw the exact same determination.

"Ride or die," she said with steely determination.

The choice confused me. It didn"t sound like a question. It was a statement. We were about to do both: ride out onto the sand and likely die.

The air carried the sharp scent of fear mingled with the metallic tang of imminent conflict. I braced myself, muscles coiled, preparing to shift into my panther form and confront first the dozen guards before facing the true danger outside. Stella"s flesh bristled with the oncoming change. I wanted to tell her to hold back, to stay behind me.

She wasn"t going to stay back. She was coming with me. We"d ride this out together. If it came to it, we"d die together.

Before I could act, I saw something unfolding beyond the dust from the pirate ship. Something else was moving in fast. Faster than the ship had traveled.

There was no mast, no sails. There was no swirling tornado. It cut a straight path toward the ship on four massive paws.

Those paws struck the ground louder than thunder. More like bombs exploding. The golden beast was so bright it blocked out the sun. Everyone onboard the ship, onboard the train, sheltered their eyes as they witnessed the fury of the panther king.

With the blood of the gods running through his veins, Dion"s beast was nearly as large as the ship. His roar was a thunderous sound that reverberated through the air, a primal declaration of his presence and power. It was a sound that spoke of ancient strength and untamed wildness.

The security guards froze in their tracks, their resolve faltering at the sight of the king. A stunned silence fell over the train and its occupants. The witch"s voice over the loudspeaker cut off abruptly as she retreated toward the back of the ship.

With a massive paw, Dion swatted the anchor away like it was a ball of yarn. Then he opened his mouth and let out a deafening roar. The sound shook the ship, sending it hurtling away. The pirates spilled out and fell to the ground, making a thud and crunch as many died. Those who didn"t became a snack for the king"s beast.

Licking the blood off its maw, the panther king turned back to us. I dropped to my knees, pulling Stella down beside me. I knew my time was up. I also knew that she would forever be safe. It was more than I could ask for. I just hoped my death would be as swift as the pirates".