Bad Kitty (2 page)

"Looking for these?" Laurel held up the keys
Kitty had been hunting for. "Your overconfidence is astounding."
She circled Kitty. "But that's okay because before we're through
you're going to wish you were dead instead of exiled."

"Shut the fuck—" Kitty's head snapped back
as Laurel slapped her across the cheek. Tears she refused to shed
burned in her eyes. No matter what happened she would never give
these women the satisfaction they sought.

"Is that the best you've got? Fighting like
a girl?" This time the hit came from someone else and knocked her
into the porch railing. Pain exploded in her head and immediately
her ears began to ring. She tasted blood.

"I've waited a long damn time for this so
you're going to listen to every word I have to say."

To hell with that.
Kitty tuned out Laurel and battled to her
feet
,
only to be
slammed to her knees. Fear shot through her mind as the true state
of her predicament sank in. They were going to kill her. Her last
moments would involve a handful of catty women out for revenge and
an ordinary house in the middle of the neutral zone. Her heart
sank. How had things gotten to this point? All her life she'd
followed her father's rules, even clan rules for the most part. The
fact she used her father's power to cause havoc now and again
seemed minor in comparison to this. The taste of bitterness
irritated her tongue. Didn't she deserve better?

"For years you've used your perfect face and
perfect body to get whatever it was you wanted. What would you do
if that were no longer an option? Would you simply find another way
to make people suffer? Or would you turn into your father?"

Kitty didn't want to listen to this. She'd
only done what she had to. No more, no less. How exactly did that
make her so much different than everyone else who was looking out
for themselves?

"Jealousy doesn't become you, Laurel. You
should know that by now."

Another blow to her ribcage toppled Kitty to
her side, knocking the wind out of her again. That one came from
what suspiciously felt like a fucking baseball bat. She couldn't
keep taunting them if this was how they were going to respond.
She'd be dead in minutes. She had to think.

"Aww, poor Kitty. You have no idea do
you?"

The venom in Laurel's words unnerved Kitty.
Her former childhood friend appeared to be hanging on to sanity by
a thread.

Kitty tried to get
up
,
but Laurel
grabbed her wrist and pushed her down. "You think this one little
tiny mark is punishment enough?" Laurel pressed painfully into the
neutral zone brand on her wrist. "That being magically labeled as
an outsider is enough to make up for all the torment and suffering
you've caused? Yeah, you have no idea. But I'm going to show you.
An eye for an eye, right?"

Laurel crouched down and entered Kitty's
line of sight. Her anger twisted the woman's normally pretty face
into an ugly scowl.

"I never meant to—"

Laurel twisted Kitty's wrist to the breaking
point, making her scream. "Don't even bother. An apology now would
mean nothing. But this..." Laurel stretched her free hand in front
of Kitty's face and extended her claws. "This is what we call a
proper payback."

Kitty's old friend swiped those lethal claws
across the left side of Kitty's face, slicing into her flesh. The
scent of blood filled the air and for one stunned second, Kitty
went numb. Then the searing pain of burning from the inside out
sliced through her. She tried to breathe and couldn't. Pain so
intense robbed her of any semblance of coherency. Her eyes opened
wide and she looked at the woman she'd once called friend as the
shock of what she'd done sank in.

"That's right, little miss Kitty, it fucking
burns doesn't it? Trust me, it's about to get a whole lot
worse."

From behind her someone tore through her
shirt and clawed at her back, arms and legs. From some dim part of
her brain, Kitty registered the screams tearing through the air as
she thrashed in their grip, frantic for escape. The stench of
burning flesh mixed with blood filled her head as she fought wildly
for freedom. Fire crawled along her entire body, getting worse the
harder she fought. When Kitty's brain began to shut down, the
animal inside her took over and fought for survival, clawing its
way to freedom.

An idea popped into her head. Maybe there
was a small chance.

"Enough," Kitty screamed. "Just kill me.
Please," she begged. "Just do it. For the love of God do not make
me listen to any more of your insane drivel."

The blow she'd been hoping
for came in the form of a right cross to her jaw, knocking her on
her ass. She prayed for a blackout that never came. The pain,
however, exploded in her head so fierce she couldn't draw a breath.
With her mind reeling
,
she almost didn't notice when the hands holding her down
broke free.

A glimmer of hope threaded through the pain.
She swiveled her head and met Laurel's gaze. The smug look did her
in.

With the last burst of
strength she could gather, Kitty charged her, moving as fast as
possible before the others had a chance to stop her. Together they
slammed into the side of the house with Laurel's head taking the
brunt of the blow. Someone came at her from behind, punching Kitty
in the side of the head so hard she saw stars.
Thankfully
,
she
managed to keep a hold on Laurel. Kitty kicked and snarled at the
others as she tried to fight them off.

A fierce growl erupted
from Laurel that turned into a high-pitched scream. Kitty froze for
a second before she was thrown backwards. She twisted to land on
her feet but failed. Her shins skidded across the rocks in the
garden
,
tearing
through her pants and digging into her skin. The burning across her
face and body felt like she'd been doused in gasoline and set on
fire. This was it. Her one and only chance. Kitty dug deep for
every ounce of energy she could muster until her skin tingled and
bones popped.

"Shit. She's changing. Hurry, grab her!"

Kitty ignored the commotion behind her and
twisted to her hands and feet mid shift. Her clothes shredded and
the excruciatingly painful shift finished in a blur. By some
miracle she probably didn't deserve, she was free. Already in
motion, she ran for the woods behind the house. Escaping into the
cover was her only chance. Cats yowled behind her, letting her know
the rest of the women had shifted and were likely in pursuit.

The shift had spent more energy than she
could afford but adrenalin pushed her onward. She didn't want to
die like this. Once under the canopy of trees she didn't slow her
pace to give them any chance to catch up. Every advantage she
possessed due to her DNA was mirrored in those who chased her. She
ran over rocks, roots and natural crevices until her lungs burned
and she wanted to vomit. It was difficult to hear anything over the
blood rushing in her ears and her heart racing. She pushed on
without looking back or letting up for even a second.

When she splashed through
the first river she ached to stop and drink. A new luxury she
couldn't afford. The pads of her paws had split and cracked ages
ago, or at least many miles behind her. When the sun finally dipped
down below the horizon Kitty couldn't take another step. Nothing
she'd tried had doused the fire under her skin. She slowed her pace
and ducked behind a large boulder to shift and gather her strength.
If they caught her
,
so be it. She already felt like she'd been thrown from a
cliff, might as well go for the real thing. Maybe she'd get a
chance to take one or two of them with her. Kitty snarled with
anger so strong it ached in her bones.

Her chest heaved as she
collapsed against the cool surface of hard rock. Everything
ached
,
from head
to toe. And despite the shift, which should have helped her heal,
her skin still burned out of control. Through sheer desperation,
she stilled her body and listened for signs of the others. Nothing
but deafening silence met her ears. Even the small wildlife sensed
a dangerous predator and moved on. At this point she didn't care if
they found her. She'd gladly choose death if it meant the end of
this agony.

Never in her life had she traveled this far
by foot. Glancing around all she saw were the same trees and dirt
that covered the region, but there were no obvious signs of where
she'd ended up. With the moon about to rise, she'd been running so
long she had to have left the neutral zone hours ago. There were
only two possible locations, one of which put her in more danger
than the people chasing her.

Curious about the
whereabouts of the women who wanted her dead, she peered from
behind her hiding spot. To her surprise
,
there was no one around. Either
they'd given up at some point or they were lying in wait for her to
shift. Speaking of... Kitty noticed her paw and front legs shaking
from the effort of holding this form. With her energy this depleted
she had no choice, she couldn't hold the magic another second. A
wave of energy flashed over her and her cougar body disappeared to
be replaced by her now bruised and battered human form.

Unlike the other shifters
in her clan, her feline form was not an equal state. Without the
energy to maintain the cat, she automatically shifted back to her
human form. She had no idea what it meant
,
but instinct cautioned her to keep
her anomaly a secret. Not even her father knew about this strange
quirk. He'd had a long list of reasons why she failed him as his
offspring, he didn't need another.

It was quickly growing
dark and she desperately needed shelter, and a doctor.
Unfortunately she had nothing left
,
energy wise
,
to move. The chill in the night air raised goose
bumps on her arms and legs. Maybe a few hours more of this and
she'd die of exposure and whatever poison they'd forced on her.
Exposure sure as hell beat getting ripped to pieces by a group of
she cats out for revenge. Sensitive bitches. Nothing she'd ever
done to them warranted a death sentence.

Without a stitch of clothing left to cover
with, she'd never make it through the night. She needed the cat to
get her through this. Kitty focused inward and reached for the
elusive animal and the magic that made her who she was. A slight
twinge in her legs and arms made her hold her breath. Maybe...

She focused and concentrated, dug deep and
willed the change. Nothing happened. Shit out of luck.

Her only hope of survival at this point
would be human medical attention. She was quite certain a few of
her ribs were cracked and she would be surprised if she didn't need
some stitches to sew her back together again. Hell, even a hot bath
might coax the cat to heal her.

However, the constant burn under her skin
really worried her. What the hell had those women used on her? So
much for the quiet and boring exile Kane offered her. Bitterness
burned almost as much as the vile poison.

She laughed out loud, a twisted and dark
sound that should have frightened her. If she had enough energy
left for fear.

"Well, well. What do we have here?"

Kitty jerked at the sound
of the voice behind her. The automatic instinct to move and hide
left her writhing in more agony.
Fuck!
She wasn't going
anywhere.

A man—no—she sniffed the air—several men
moved closer, forming a tight circle around her resting place. Not
human. Kitty bared her teeth and snarled.

"I thought you said you smelled a dead cat,
Bobby. She don't look dead to me." He paused, looking her over from
head to toe. "She does look a bit like a used up chew toy
though."

"That's okay. Either way she don't belong on
our land. Her trespassing gives us the right to do whatever we want
with her."

Kitty shivered and forced her body to turn
and face all of the newcomers who stunk to high heaven. God, didn't
they know how to bathe? That slight movement forced a new eruption
under her skin. Her mouth opened to tell them exactly what she
thought of that idea and instead a scream erupted.

"Jesus Christ. Shut her up. What the hell
kind of noise is that?"

One of the men rushed forward and clamped
his hand over her mouth. In automatic survival mode now, she bit
him. He reared back and she screamed again before he backhanded
her, sending her flying across the clearing and into a tree. She
fell to the ground with a painful, heavy thud. Black spots blurred
her vision again as she tried to gather some shred of willpower to
get up and fight. Again, nothing happened.

"Here kitty, kitty, kitty. You don't have to
snarl at us and play hard to get. I think you're going to like us.
Maybe if you play nice and do your job well, we'll let you live—for
now."

Bile rose in her throat as the three men
approached her. She closed her eyes against their faces as a
massive surge of fear gripped her insides.

Please let me die. Please let me die. Please
let me die. Anything else but this. Please.

She knew her prayers would
go unanswered so she did the next best thing she could. She used
the fear
,
pushed
through the pain and agony ripping through and struggled to her
feet. The men before her grew blurry. The forest spun around her.
Her legs shook and she held out her arms to keep balanced. A loud
noise drew her attention
,
but her eyesight had worsened. The black edges
around her vision were growing larger and all she could make out
were fuzzy images in front of her. It was impossible to hear
anything over the blood now roaring in her ears.