Inside Straight

That was the only solace he could cling to, all he could think about if he wanted to keep his sanity. Because he no longer had any control over the body that was no longer his. He stared at the car outside, trying to speak, trying to call out—but something would not let him. Something else had taken command of his flesh, something that was growling, twitching its tail angrily, its muscles ready to leap and pounce. Something…or someone. It was furious, he realized, but it was also, underneath it all, very afraid.

Car doors opened and slammed. John heard his name called out. “John! You in there?”

He recognized the voice. It was Bugsy. The massive figure at his side had to be Lohengrin, though he could see little but their outlines because of the headlights glaring in his eyes. The lioness tensed. She leaped, landing atop a rickety wooden shelf, scattering cans of chicken-noodle soup and beanie weanie everywhere. He felt her take a deep breath. Her lungs expanded enormously and a heat kindled in her stomach, burning like a furnace popped on by a pilot light.

“Mein Gott!” Lohengrin shouted. “The lion again!”

Fortune screamed. He made no sound, though the word reverberated in his skull like an echo in a tiny cave.

The lion let its breath out in a whoosh that engendered a smoky billow of air, but no flame.

a voice said in his head. It had a lilting accent that Fortune couldn’t identify, and was definitely feminine…and tinged with fear.

Her words brought back shattered memories—his first transformation, in his mother’s house…Lohengrin…the sudden armor and sword…fire, smoke, the scream of an alarm. The house burning down around them. Crashing through a window to escape.

John would have sunk to his knees if he’d had control over his transformed body. he asked.

the voice said. There was no doubt that it was a woman.

My God, Fortune thought, I’ve got a woman in my head. He had to be certain.

Isra told him.

There was a long silence, then,

Fortune thought frantically. me what the hell has happened? How did you get into my head? And my friends, out there—>Bugsy and Lohengrin were peering though the storefront.

Isra shook her shaggy head.

He remembered her saying the name, but it still meant nothing to him.

Still nothing. me talk to them.>

The single word was hard, final. She hesitated a moment, then almost plaintively said, …so long.>

—> Fortune swallowed his anger. Isra had the upper hand at the moment, but he’d managed to retrieve his body before. He could do it again. If he could just figure out how.

Isra lifted a paw. Lohengrin’s sword had flickered into his hand. He and Bugsy looked at each other. “What do you think?” the German ace asked in accented English. “This time, she is not attacking. That is good, ja?”

“Ja,” Bugsy replied, “I think that it might be all right. John, is that you? Are you…are you all right?” Isra nodded her leonine head.

Fortune asked. not all right.> “John?” Bugsy was saying. “Can you…ah…change back? If you want to…I sent out a few hundred wasps to find you after you busted out of Peregrine’s house.” He paused momentarily. “Ummm. Sorry about the house and all, but it wasn’t us. It was the lion.” He stopped for a moment, as if realizing how lame that sounded. “She breathes fire. Uh…you breathe fire. Really. You probably know that, though.”

“John,” Lohengrin said. “I am sorry too.”

“Anyway,” Bugsy said quickly. “I’m sorry it took us so long to find you. Trying to rent a car in the middle of the night is a real bitch, and you were really moving there for awhile. My wasps could hardly keep up…uh…but the question is, where should we take you? Do you need to go to the hospital?”

Isra shook her head angrily, a low grumble sounding deep in her broad chest.

“We could call your mother,” Lohengrin offered.

“No,” Bugsy said, “no, not his mother. Simoon’s mother. Isis. She was the one who wanted him to have the amulet. Let’s take him to her. Maybe she can…fix him or something.”

“Is she a doctor?” Lohengrin asked.

“No, I think she’s a god.”

At last, some things were starting to come together.