EmbracedbyaWarrior by Marisa Chenery Read Free Book Online

and not
feeling the pull of evil, he wondered if whatever had accosted him had been the
one to make him shift. At that moment, Darius hated the fact that he had no
control over his shifting ability. He had a sneaky suspicion that he was stuck
in this form.
    Knowing he couldn’t stay out in the open in the state he was
in, that the risk of being spotted was too great, Darius took off at a run
toward his car. He kept to the darkest spots along the road, hoping like hell
he didn’t hear someone shouting in alarm behind him. He had to go back to his
place and talk with Anubis. The god was the only person he thought of who could
fix him.
    At his sports car, he pulled on the door handle on the
driver’s side. It didn’t open. Shit. He carried his keys in his jeans
pocket, which were now gone wherever they went when he shifted. Darius tried to
will them back the same way he did the number of weapons he had at his disposal,
but that accomplished nothing.
    “Ah, fuck,” he said under his breath.
    He was going to have to smash the window. The longer he
stood there the greater the chances of him being seen. Thinking this was going
to hurt, but not in the physical sense, Darius pulled back his arm, then
punched his fist through the car window. He quickly unlocked the door, sweeping
the broken glass off the seat and onto the road before he got inside. He
instantly felt cramped with the steering wheel too close to his furred chest.
Of course he was much bigger in this form, and he’d never driven while in it,
either. Darius adjusted the seat to accommodate his larger size.
    With no keys, he had no choice but to hotwire his car.
Luckily it was something he already knew how to do, having gone through a
period where he’d wanted to learn just for the hell of it. In a matter of a
minute, the engine roared to life. Darius took the longer route to get home, to
avoid as many main streets as possible. It being so late, there weren’t that many
people around to see him drive by.
    At his place, he had to break one of the small windows that
lined either side of the front door to get in. The amount of glass repairs he’d
have to have done were racking up.
    Darius headed straight to the small temple just off the
living room. Standing before the altar, he closed his eyes to concentrate and
sent out a call to the god he served. “Anubis, I have need of you.”
    What troubles you, Darius? Anubis’ deep voice filled
his head.
    “Something happened while I was out on the hunt tonight. I’m
stuck shifted.”
    Show me.
    Darius played the whole conversation with the disembodied
male voice in his mind as Anubis watched the scenes play out. When the god
didn’t say anything right away, Darius asked, “Do you have any clue who the
voice belonged to?”
    It was a demon. Normally, his kind wouldn’t have the
power to force you to shift, especially while in the underworld. I have a
feeling this one has found a way out of it and into the mortal realm.
    “A demon? That doesn’t sound good.” Out of all his years of
serving Anubis, not once had Darius come across one.
    It isn’t. Let loose on mortals, there is no telling what
a demon will do. But it seems for now he’s set his sights on you.
    “Is there anything you can try to get me to shift back to my
human form?”
    Let me see what I can do.
    Darius felt the god’s presence move inside him. He gritted
his teeth as Anubis tried to bring on the shift, only to have it stop, keeping
Darius trapped in his present form. Anubis brought it on several more times
before he pulled out of Darius’ body.
    I can’t get you to shift.
    “So I’m stuck like this?” Darius did not like the sound of
that.
    I don’t think it’s something permanent. It has the feel
of a spell. Dark magic, to be exact. But it’s not a very strong one. If it
were, I never would have been able to start the change at all. I have a feeling
it will wear off.
    “Wear off? How long will that take? I could be trapped in
this form