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.Catch gulped behind his gag.The Ghost Train?What the fuck was happening? The girls thought he was part of the freak show, so no point expecting help from the next carriage.He had to get out of this before Mason came to finish him off.Only, why hadn’t he finished him off? It was a damn sight more trouble to tie him up in here than kill him.Two more carriages came and went before Catch figured out the only way he could get free was to shift, and even then it was a risk.He wasn’t sure how far his wolf limbs would bend without breaking, but he had no choice.The moment the screen shut him in the dark again, Catch released his wolf.He screamed against the gag, the changes in his muscles and bones setting his body on fire as effectively as if he’d fallen into burning oil.The cloth fell from his muzzle and a howl escaped.Lights flashed in front of him as another carriage approached and the occupants screamed.To Catch’s intense relief, as a wolf he could wriggle free of the restraints and he crumpled to the floor.Even in his agony, he had no choice but to shift straight back.He needed hands to use a phone, to open doors and to strangle Mason.Cleaner than ripping out his throat.Catch writhed in agony as he transformed, confused bones swelling as tendons twisted and fur turned back to skin.He bit his lip to keep from screaming and tasted blood as spasm after spasm racked his body.As the last faded, he crouched, cold and shaking, on the floor.His clothes lay in tatters.Empty pockets.No phone.No weapons.Catch felt his way around the space where he’d been contained.When he touched a furry paw, he jerked back but a flash of light showed him the model of a werewolf propped to one side.Six feet tall with snarling fangs and red eyes, it looked like a comic book figure, nothing like the sleek wolf Catch had been moments before.Not hard to figure out what had happened.Catch been substituted for this ugly brute as one of the scream-inducing monsters.Pity it wasn’t wearing clothes because Catch was stark naked, though the model gave him an idea.There had to be figures in here wearing something he could steal.By the time he emerged from the back of the ride, he’d scavenged a torn shirt and ripped jeans from a zombie and made a few more passengers scream at the sight of his naked body.Catch still hadn’t figured out what the hell was going on, and until he did, he’d tread carefully, not least of which because he had no shoes.Mason obviously wanted him out of the way, though not permanently.He probably hadn’t realized he’d tied Catch up behind a door that would open to reveal him to riders of the Ghost Train.Though maybe he had.Bastard.He raised no eyebrows on his way through Winterval.Enough people were in costume that he didn’t stand out.Another zombie even waved a gory plastic arm in greeting.Catch scowled and kept to the shadows as he limped back to the hall.He ached all over.Fast shifts sucked energy and played havoc with his metabolism.He needed Plasmix, answers from Mason, to know Turner and Matty were okay and he needed a weapon.Any order would do.No, it wouldn’t.He needed Matty and Turner to be safe.Diana Rolfe stepped in front of him, holding a plastic box.“Where’s Turner?”Christ.She’d actually made him jump.Catch put it down to the bang on the head.He was usually much better at creeping around unseen and hearing others who did the same.She hadn’t even been creeping.Shit.He didn’t need to confront trouble until he’d eaten, maybe her if she talked too long.“He only gave my cake four out of twenty.” She pouted.“I want to know why.”“I haven’t seen him.”She peeled the lid off the container and pushed it under Catch’s nose.“He must have made a mistake.You try it.”Catch didn’t want cake, particularly not that burnt offering, but he did want the knife lying next to it.He wouldn’t be lucky enough for it to be solid silver but it looked silver-plated.He ripped a dangling strip of material from his shirt and wrapped it around his fingers, as he pretended to wipe his hand.“Go on, take a big piece,” Diana said.If Catch had more skill using the pathetic amount of thrall he possessed, he’d have convinced her he’d eaten the cake when he hadn’t.Instead, he cut a slice, stole the knife, closed up the container and filled his mouth.“Lovely,” he said after he’d forced himself to swallow.“I think I saw Turner by the ice rink.If you see him, tell him I’m in the hall and need to speak to him urgently.”“Is he in costume now, like you?”Catch couldn’t resist.“Yes, he’s come as a vampire.”Once she’d gone, Catch tossed the rest of the cake aside and touched his finger to the silver blade.The burning sensation was instant and he sighed in relief.The knife wasn’t sharp but better than nothing.He strapped it to his calf using another strip of material to keep it off his skin, made sure he could reach it fast, and sidled round to the back of the hall.A broken window later, he stood inside the kitchen.The knife block sat next to his hand, he might as well help himself to another weapon.Gripping it tightly, he edged into the entrance hall.As soon as he heard Turner’s voice in the drawing room, Catch remembered he should have helped himself to Plasmix too before he left the kitchen.He could barely think straight, but when the next voice was Gabriel’s, thinking became irrelevant.With every molecule in his body yelling Protect! Catch leapt for the drawing room door, but before he reached it, the front door opened.He spun round.Too slow.It was bad enough that Dava stood there, but it was far worse that he recognized one of the four guys with her.Seth McNulty.SBI like Catch and a fucking traitor.Dava clapped her hands in delight.“I caught Catch! At least Gabriel won’t be completely pissed off.One out of two’s not bad.Get him,” she snapped.Two guys jumped.Seth kicked the knife out of Catch’s hand and pinned him facedown on the floor.The other guy toed the blade well out of reach.Catch grunted in pain.That had been humiliatingly easy [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]