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Dragon Dance - Beyond the Dark Anthology

Wearily, she started climbing the wooden steps to her third-floor apartment. The complex was relatively new, and most of the tenants were young professionals saving for their first homes. Glancing across the parking lot at the next building over, she saw most of the balconies were decorated with blinking colored lights. Several Christmas trees gleamed through glass doors, draped in swags of garland and hung with colorful ornaments.

Maybe she should use her days off to decorate her own apartment. Christmas was only a week away, but she’d been too busy to even think about it.

When she reached her floor, something glowing and gold attracted her attention.  A tiger, reclining like the Sphinx on the wooden floor, striped in light and darkness. Apparently her neighbors had weird taste in Christmas decorations.  Then it looked at her and licked its chops.

Arial froze, her eyes widening in astonished fear.

A gloved hand flicked on the switch beside her front door. Blinding yellow light washed the tiger away, leaving Tracker standing in its place. "Sergeant Dean?"

She must have been imagining things. Fear made her voice sharp. "What the hell are you doing here?"
His masked head tilted. "We need to talk."

"Tracker, it's four in the morning, and I've had a rough night. It can wait." Her heels rang on the wooden floor as she headed for her door.

"No, actually. It can't." He took a step closer, tall and broad and imposing. She stopped warily as the awareness of him flooded her senses -- his scent, his size, his warmth, radiating across the narrow space to envelop her.

Arial shook off the impression and dug her keys from the pocket of her jeans."Fine. Come inside. No point in freezing our butts off out here."

But despite her crisp words, her hand was shaking too badly to get the key in the lock. Leather-clad fingers closed over hers. "Let me."

She released the key as if it burned and watched him turn it. He opened the door and stepped inside with the air of a man alert to possible threats. His back looked damn near as wide as the door. Deep inside her, something purred feminine approval.

Arial forced herself to ignore it and stepped inside after him. She flicked on the overhead light and watched him prowl around her living room like a cat. He looked big and dark among the sunny yellow walls and cheery orange furniture. All black leather and outrageous masculinity.

"Nice place."

"Thanks. Look, what's this about?"

He turned. Despite the stern mask that hid so much of his face, there was something compassionate in his expression." Since Phillips touched you, you've been ... seeing things. Colored lights. Glowing auras." For an instant, a tiger's eyes shimmered in the eye slits of his mask.

Unnerved, Arial jerked her gaze away and managed a shrug. "The doc thought it was a concussion, but the CT scan didn't show anything."

Tracker took a deep breath and blew it out, like a man about to impart unpleasant news.

"When Phillips grabbed you, his powers Triggered yours. Those lights you're seeing are a symptom of the transformation."

Arial blinked at him, bewildered.

"What are you talking about? What transformation?"

Even through the eye-slits of his mask, she could see the compassion in his gaze. "I'm sorry, Sergeant. You've become a Hyper."