Free Night Hungers by Kathi S. Barton Page B

body and shifted again.
    This time into her panther, and since she had fed well, she was as powerful as she could ever be. As she slid into the hall Zane moved up behind the man closest to her. His scent marked him as prey; fear and terror were sharp around him. As she leapt to John, one of the many lab idiots, he pulled Eight in front of him and Zane couldn’t stop her forward movement, but she could sheath her claws. As soon as both men were down, Zane raked her paw at Eight and pushed him away from her. When she could reach the neck of John, she bit down hard on his throat and tore it away.
    With blood still dripping from her muzzle, she started to track the other two with James. Homer, the youngest of them, had wet himself. The odor burned her nose and made her sneeze. Circling around to the right, Zane growled low and deep in her throat.
    She was trying to get Homer to run. One less to help them the better, not that she thought he’d be much help.
    “You’ll back off, Nine, I’ll kill you if you don’t. I thought we were getting along so well for the past two weeks. Now, be a good girl and go into your cell and we’ll forget this ever happened.” Phillip was trying to herd her and she lunged at him twice before he moved back with the others.
    “Just fucking kill her. That’s what you’re supposed to do when they go bad. Kill her and get this over with.”
    Timmy could be very brave when he had the other two shielding him, she thought.
    When Phillip drew his gun, Zane leapt through the air at him. Her jaws clamped around his wrist and with a hard bite, she took his hand off with the gun still in his fingers. Blood spurted everywhere as she spit the appendage and gun out of her mouth.
    Pain hit her hard in the hip. Then again in the ribs. Tim had pulled his gun out and had fired at her.
    The scent of blood was causing a frenzy with the others on her floor. The noise was loud and she wanted to scream at them to shut up. But she needed to stay a cat or he’d likely kill her human form. Crouching lower to the floor, she snarled at them. Tim grabbed Homer around the throat and pulled him in front of him as a cover. Out of the corner of her eye Zane could see Six reaching out from his small slot, his hand signing to her to force them his way. Sliding her body along the floor, keeping a close eye on the gun, Zane circled them around toward Six.
    Six couldn’t do much but to grab his leg, but it was enough to distract him. When he squealed and turned to see what had touched him Zane jumped. The bullet entered her chest just as she connected with the two men. Pain ricocheted though her, but she didn’t have time to deal with it so she pushed it back. Swiping her sharp claw at Homer she removed his head from his body. Now all that was left to deal with before they could escape was Tim.
    Blood poured from her wounds and she could feel herself getting weaker by the second. But if she gave up now all of them would die. Zane shifted and stood before her tormentor.
    “You aren’t going to get away with murdering these men, Nine. I’m going to make sure they know that you had to be put down because you killed all of them and all of the occupants of this floor. You aren’t fit to live.”
    Zane simply moved to her right and watched as he moved with her. “I’m not going to let you go to tell anyone what happened here today. You are going to be just as dead as them.” She waved a dispassionate hand toward the three dead men in the hall with them.
    Tim glanced at the man closest to him and shuddered. Blood poured from his neck and the puddle beneath him was growing. The putrid smell of shit permeated the air around him.
    “Maybe we could work out a deal. I have lots of money. When you leave here you’ll need some. I’ll give you plenty. You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Lots of money to buy pretty things with?”
    “No. I want you dead. That will be pretty enough for me.” Reaching behind her she pulled out the