Stone Cold Fox Read online

  “Why didn’t you take it yourself then?” Jo demanded in a shaky voice. “Why give it to me?”

  “Oh, I didn’t just give it to you, Jocasta—no, no! Why, the formula was put into our water supply here—all of Avalon got it. You’re just the lucky one it affected.” She smiled sadly. “I, alas, do not have the Gene myself at all—nor does Mr. X, which was why he approached me in the first place.”

  “I’ve always wanted to be one of you—to be a Shifter,” Mr. X said, eyeing Jo in a hungry way that made her stomach flip over with sick fear. “To change my skin and run and hunt as an animal—I’ve spent the better part of my career in Pharmaceuticals researching ways to scientifically change my form.” He looked at Bianca. “But in the end, science failed me and it was magic that brought me the answer I’d been searching for so long. You see . . .” He held up the hairy, spotted pelt from which wafted a very unpleasant musky, sour odor. “I can’t become an actual Shifter. But with help from Bianca, here, I can become a Skin Walker.”

  “A Skin Walker?” Jo felt like an icy hand was squeezing her throat. She stared at Bianca. “You can’t do that—it’s the darkest kind of magic! It’s forbidden—it will stain your soul for eternity.”

  “Mr. X is going to make it worth my while,” Bianca said primly. “In addition to a tidy monetary payment, he promised me we could both have what we want. I will work the spell to turn him into a Skin Walker and in return, he gave me the formula to awaken your latent Gene, Jocasta. And once you are bred and Shift for the first time, your power will be ripe for the plucking. So tell me once and for all, my dear . . .” She leaned forward, glaring at Jo. “Have you been bred by that damn Shifter whose house I had my demon-shadow chase you to or not?”

  Jo felt like her heart had stopped and for a moment she couldn’t say anything.

  “The . . . the thing in the forest,” she finally managed to get out. “You sent that to chase me?”

  “It worked beautifully. You ran right into his arms and he was supposed to have bred you by now. I was so certain he would, I even cast an illusion spell to make you see the incantation you wanted with ingredients which could only be found in the forest.” Bianca frowned. “But you disappointed me, Jo—you didn’t breed as you were supposed to. Please tell me I won’t be disappointed again.”

  “I . . . you . . .” Jo shook her head, keeping her naked body as well covered as she could. “You know I wouldn’t break my vow of chastity to the Goddess,” she said at last in a shaky voice. “I would never—”

  “He still hasn’t bred her!” Mr. X sounded disgusted. “I suppose I’ll have to do it myself.” He leered at Jo. “Of course, I’m not a regular Shifter so I’ll have to take a few extra steps to be certain the animal side of you is satisfied.”

  Jo’s mouth felt dry as sawdust.

  “Ex . . . extra steps?” she whispered.

  He nodded. “A natural Shifter could breed you in his human form and satisfy your craving to release your inner beast. I will have to breed you in my Skin Walker form to achieve the same result.”

  “You . . . you what?” Jo could hardly make herself believe what he was saying and her eyes kept returning to the hairy pelt hanging from his hand.

  “You heard me.” He gave her a leering grin. “You and I are shortly going to be much better acquainted, my little witch.”

  “Indeed you are.” Bianca nodded. “Very well, Mr. X as soon as you enter the circle I will begin casting the incantation. When you feel the change upon you, breed the girl. The moment you deposit your seed inside her, she will be able to Shift and her power will be complete.” She looked at Jo greedily. “And then I can begin the second spell—to claim her youth and abilities as my own.”

  The huge man stepped into the circle, his bald head glowing in the last faint rays of the setting sun. Soon the moon would rise and bring with it unspeakable changes.

  But Jo wasn’t concerned with the moon just now. She backed away from Mr. X in horror.

  “Stay away from me,” she said in a trembling voice. “I don’t want anything to do with you!”

  “Don’t worry, my dear.” He gave her a most unpleasant smile as he slipped the hairy pelt over his head and let it dangle down his bare back like a macabre headdress. “You won’t have anything to do with me—it’s my beast you can look forward to meeting.”

  Jo wondered numbly what kind of beast he would become. It was too dim in the Sacred Glade to see what kind of animal the spotted, scruffy hide he was wearing had once belonged to but whatever it was, she knew she didn’t want it anywhere near her.

  “Please,” she begged Bianca, looking at the older witch. “Don’t do this to me! Don’t let him . . . let him . . .” But her throat closed up with fear and disgust and she couldn’t finish her sentence.

  “You did it to yourself, my dear.” Bianca tsked and shook her head as though she truly regretted what was about to happen but could do nothing to stop it. “You could have allowed yourself to be bred by that nice, sweet Shifter boy I sent you to,” she told Jo. “Then all this breeding in Shifted form could have been avoided. But no, you had to be stubborn. So you see, my hands are tied.” She lifted both hands as though to illustrate her point. “You must be bred so that I can have your power and your youth and if this is the only way, well—so be it.”

  “You can’t—” Jo began but the older witch was already raising her arms high and chanting words that sent shivers of pure dread through Jo’s entire body.

  “Spirits of Night, Spirits of Blight,

  Forces to stop a man’s heart with Fright

  I summon thee now in all thy power,

  Heed me in this sacred hour.

  That which was human must now be beast

  The fur his power, the lust his feast . . .”

  “Stop!” Jo shouted. “You don’t know what you’re doing!” She looked at Mr. X, who seemed to be growing larger under the furry hide that dangled down his back. “You don’t know what a curse this spell is. Do you know what you’ll have to do in order to ever change back into a human again?”

  He grinned at her fiercely, his teeth long and sharp and white in the dimness of the glade.

  “Oh, I know, little witch,” he growled and his voice no longer sounded human. “I know what I’ll have to do—I just don’t care.”

  Behind him, Bianca was still chanting.

  “Allow this male to shed his skin

  And fully loose the beast within

  To run through shadows, over forests and hills

  He’ll not be human again until he kills

  So mote it be!”

  She clasped her hands together over her head and then threw her arms forward, almost as though she was flinging some heavy, invisible object into the circle at Mr. X. The huge man staggered forward, then fell to all fours in the invisible circle.

  Jo backed as far away from him as she could—backed up until she felt the cold barrier of magic pressing against her bare back. A cold sweat—the sweat of fear—was trickling between her shoulder blades, making her itch. She wanted to run but she was frozen to the spot, unable to move or look away as she watched Mr. X’s transformation.

  She had watched Reese Shift plenty of times before and there was always a gracefulness in the act—a feeling that his body knew exactly what it was doing and that it was enacting a natural process. What was happening to Mr. X was nothing like that.

  His bones didn’t move and shift like Reese’s did—they just seemed to grow bigger. And the fur didn’t sprout naturally from his skin and flow over him in a rippling wave like it did with Reese either. Instead, the strange, spotted hide he was wearing seemed to wrap itself around him, almost as though it was possessed. It clung to his skin, sliding over him like a hungry snake and covering him in a thick, coarse pelt.

  The only part of him that seemed to change, other than growing larger and hairier, was his mouth. It elongated into a gaping snout with sharp, crooked teeth jutting out in ragged profusion. The furry e