Clarissa sat in the jeep with Bradley and Winters while Bear Shadow and Crow Shadow dismounted with Ethan and his family. Fisher helped the timid Faes unload their suitcases, and Woods got out and took over the vehicle Bear Shadow and Crow Shadow had abandoned. They’d driven the jeeps in as far as they could; any further and the vehicles would get stuck in Louisiana bayou mud. The plan seemed reasonable enough-two Shadow Wolves would maintain forest patrol and would make sure the family was safe behind Sir Rodney’s walls, and then would return to the team on foot. They’d report their findings about Sir Rodney’s fortress to the rest of the paranormal community when they got back. If there were rogue Werewolves in the area, Bear and Crow would be the family’s best defense. Maybe their only defense.
Quiet tension lingered in the air. Everyone was afraid; everyone was on edge. Ethan’s toddler kept his tiny face buried in the crook of his father’s neck. All anyone got to see of the small elf was a profusion of blond curls as he clung to his dad.
Ethan and Margaret’s older ones clasped their parents’ hands, eyes wide with fear and filled with unshed tears. Their glistening, luminescent eyes rapidly changed colors, giving Clarissa kaleidoscope stares that matched their quickening heartbeats.
Her soul ached as she stared at the little girl who couldn’t have been more than six or seven. The child’s forlorn expression made her want to just reach out and hug her. If Clarissa could have, she would have pressed the child’s red ringlets against her breasts and told her it would be all right. However, that would have been an outright lie. Who knew how any of this would turn out?
The little girl’s taller, knobby-kneed brother seemed to be trying his best to keep a stiff upper lip. But the nine-year-old intuitively sensed the danger. Clarissa could feel it deep inside her core. The poor boy’s face was nearly ashen with fear, looking even paler against his dark brown hair and Elfin ears. Clarissa swallowed hard to keep from crying. There was nothing to do but watch a nice family become refugees in their own town all because they’d done the right thing, namely testified against some really bad entities. Where was true justice, she wondered.
Sweating profusely, Ethan urged his family forward into the dense stand of trees. Shadow Wolves hauled luggage while the McGregors toted children. Pure terror gripped Margaret, and Clarissa’s heart shattered as she watched Ethan’s wife move in short bursts of rapid steps, stopping every few feet to glance around like a nervous doe. Her jerky motions only spooked the wolves that flanked them. Every time Margaret stopped, Bear Shadow would tilt his head, his gaze rapidly scanning the terrain as Crow Shadow pivoted and scented the air on alert-which would set off Woods and Fisher in a hunter’s domino effect.
Fear was more than palpable; it was an entity now. Soon it would be dark, and only God knew what would happen then. Perhaps more than anything, it broke her heart to see Ethan gather his family up under duress and have to literally flee into the swamplands with Bear Shadow and Crow Shadow as shaky escorts. But it was the only way.
Clarissa blinked back the renewed moisture in her eyes. Who could do something as horrible as targeting a family that had little kids? Doc and Silver Hawk were right; Ethan had to get out of town before sundown, Old West style. It was clear that he was the epicenter of the spiritual hit. Everything had spun out of control, starting at his establishment.
“I need my cell phone,” Sasha said quietly. “It’s in the pile of clothes we left in the mist.”
Hunter nodded. “But that means we’ll come out of the shadows in Ethan’s bar; in the shadow you found on the stage.”
“Just as well,” Sasha said with a sigh. “If they’re still in there debating, at least we’ll come out dressed and showered and in human form.”
“The better hope,” Hunter said smiling, “is that the meeting was summarily adjourned and they’ve all gone home.”
“Wishful thinking.”
Sasha kept a sprinter’s pace beside Hunter, letting him lead as they dodged corridors, homing in on the scent of her sweat-damp clothes. The shadow lands were always tricky to negotiate. How he did it with such grace and ease always blew her mind. One had to rely on superior tracking skills and attention to the slightest nuances within the practically nonexistent landscape in order to wend one’s way back to a specific point. She was still learning; Hunter had grown up all his life being mentored by his grandfather, Silver Hawk, aka Silver Shadow.
“Here,” Hunter said with a quick sweep into the mist, coming up with a handful of jeans.
“Thanks, but how do you do that?” Sasha accepted the discarded jeans, fishing in the pockets for her cell phone.
“Your scent was in the clothes,” he said with a half smile. “I’d be able to follow that from here to Colorado and back, no problem.”
She smiled but didn’t respond. They were not going to start that kind of conversation when there was so much else that they needed to focus on, and they had to keep their heads on straight.
“Okay,” she said. “Remember the plan. If you feel shaky, go into a shadow to purge it. If you see me get shaky, order me into a shadow or drag me into one kicking and screaming-and I’ll do the same for you.”
“Done. My only concern is encountering one of my men who may have been compromised… They may not go as easily or willingly, and if they spike fight adrenaline in me, I might not be of the mind-set to drag them into a shadow alive.”
“I know.” Sasha raked her fingers through her hair. It was a sobering reality. “I’ve thought about that. You might have to let me take them in… I’m female; hate to say it, but beta males will follow me to the end of the earth, if they think there’s a chance.”
“Which, under dark magick, will make me flip.” Hunter closed his eyes and rubbed the tension away from his neck.
“Then let’s function with a code word-so that you know what I’m doing… like a mental trigger.” She stared at him. “We have to have a way to break the spell trance long enough to give the other party pause and recovery time.”
He nodded. “ ‘Safe haven.’ You say that and I’ll know.”
“All right,” she said quietly, stashing her dead cell phone in her back jeans’ pocket. “Let’s just hope that we both remember when we have to.”
“Stop! Who goes there?”
Ethan looked up at the castle gates and then around at the forest floor, confused. “It is Ethan McGregor of Mead-han Lodainn and me family seeking asylum from Sir Rodney-escorted by two Shadow Wolf allies.”
Fae archers lowered their weapons and smiled.
“Ah, good laddie!” a captain called out. “Lower the drawbridge! Ye may enter!”
But Ethan and Margaret didn’t move. Bear Shadow and Crow Shadow exchanged nervous glances.
“Where is your glamour, man?” Ethan shouted. He gave his son to his wife to hold and then opened his arms and began to frantically motion about. “The entire fortress is exposed, is out in the open! You can see the golden pathway right from the forest floor and the trees are neon coming through the normal human foliage!”
“What, are you daft, man?” the captain said laughing.
Margaret neared her husband and dropped her voice to an urgent whisper. “If I didn’t know better, I’d swear that man had been in his cups.”
“You’re saying this guy is high?” Crow Shadow muttered, shaking his head.
“Watch your mouth, wolf,” an archer said, weaving. “D’not cast aspersions-nothing wrong with a wee pinch of Faerie dust to make a long post go faster.”
“How much dust have you ’ad, man?” Margaret called out, pressing her toddler’s head against her shoulder. “The dust is tainted!” She spun on her husband, her voice tight, gaze panicked. “Ethan, if the Fae’s Royal Highland Fusiliers have been compromised, by nightfall there’s no protection!”
“Aye, the bonnie lass wants to know details of our revelry-”
“She’s a nurse, a healer, and me wife!” Ethan shouted. “And it doesn’t change the fact that your fortress walls are exposed to human view-which means your castle can be easily found. In fact, without the glamour, Vampires or rogue Werewolves can find and decimate the village! Where is Sir Rodney?”
They came out of the shadows and onto the stage at The Fair Lady. But it only took a few seconds to process the threat that greeted them. Three huge Werewolf lieutenants rushed them in human form, eyes blazing wolf, canines ripping through their gum lines.
Sasha ducked, pivoted, and flipped off the stage. Hunter went into a low roll as two attackers sailed over him. One crashed into the bar and the other hit the wall, as a third snarled and circled Sasha, sending Hunter into a death stalk behind him.
“No, wait,” she shouted. “Seung Kwon, we can help Shogun. We didn’t come to attack him!”
Sasha’s words gave Hunter pause as he looked to the far side of the stage.
“Shogun!”
Seung Kwon left the floor, hit the stage, and barreled toward Hunter. In an evasive shake-and-bake move, Hunter flipped out of the way of a claw swipe and landed on his feet beside Sasha while three slow-moving, snarling Werewolf lieutenants circled their leader-his brother.
“You think we are foolish and that our eyes are blind?” Seung Kwon shouted. “Your bitch baits my cousin, the co-leader of the Wolf Federations, into an early transformation, which you both know will leave him vulnerable-and then you both return to finish him off so you can lead alone!”
“No!” Hunter shouted. “I came to help him. He’ll die like this!”
“We have medicine-Hunter has had this happen to him before!” Sasha stared in horror at Shogun’s shuddering frame. “Let us help, and if it doesn’t work, then try to kill us.”
Shogun lay on the floor in so much agony that all he could do was moan. His legs were twisted in mid-transformation, cramped in the position of backward-bent hindquarter limbs. His thumb was distended to where his dewclaw would have been, partly up his forearm, and his jaw was distended into a wolf’s snout, but his forehead, back, and torso were still human.
“Kill them,” Dak-Ho yelled, glancing at his brothers. “These are tricks to take full control of the Southeast Asia Werewolf Federation. Shogun’s dead sister Lei Ho was right!”
“Wait,” Chin-Hwa urged. “The she-Shadow claims she has medicine. They did not kill Shogun before when he had the sickness. If they were going to do it, that would have been the opportune time.”
Seung Kwon walked away, circled Shogun, and pointed at him with tears in his eyes. “You fix this! He transformed only to dominance-battle for you! How could this be possible? The moon hasn’t risen yet. No Werewolf can turn before the moon takes her due-only Shadows can do that. What has your mate’s bite infected him with? That contagion still lingers! It can be the only true explanation!”
“It’s not Hunter’s bite. It’s the dark magick in this region.” Sasha tentatively jumped up on stage. “You have to get him out of here… This is where the epicenter of the spell happened, we think.”
“You lured him here!” Seung Kwon yelled, his voice breaking. “He couldn’t follow you into the shadows and you knew it! He tried to change back to save face and then… You fix this, bitch!”
Hunter was on the stage within seconds, snarling. “Beta, if you address her out of turn once more…”
“Safe haven!” Sasha shouted, spinning on Hunter. She lowered her voice. “Safe haven. They don’t understand.” She turned to Seung Kwon, her eyes appealing to any compassion he owned. Guilt and heartbreak ripped her insides. “Shogun has been like this for hours-suffering. Can’t you see the man’s in pure agony? We can’t just sit around battling or debating this! You can’t wait on the moon several hours from now, that’s not going to make it better. He won’t last till then.”
Hunter lolled his neck and focused on Shogun. “When my system was rejecting the demon-infected virus, my transformations were hard like his. Brutal. They have antitoxin at Tulane… a small stash from just after the war here. It was an emergency supply my grandfather insisted be left here, just in case.”
“It was based on the same meds they used to shoot PCU human soldiers up with-the ones that got bitten.” Sasha began to pace, talking with her hands. “But they’ve perfected it with Shadow Wolf blood in the serum. The demon-infected Werewolf blood isn’t in it any longer. It’s the only chance to get Shogun out of this aborted transformation.”
“This is bullshit! You lie!” Seung Kwon shouted. “How do we know the truth from your lies?”
“Shadow Wolves do not lie,” Hunter said in a slow rumble, walking forward, ready to attack. “That’s why we can wear silver. Scent it in my aura. Truth smells like sterling. Do I look like I’m lying when I tell you that I’ll kill you if you let my brother die, punk?”
A pained gasp followed by a long, agonized moan stilled the group. The sounds of bones snapping caused them all to cringe.
“He’s transitioning back to human form too slowly!” Sasha shouted. “What about this don’t you understand?”
“That’s my brother you are dooming to a suffering death that lacks honor or dignity. I will not allow you to do that just so that you can be his successor.” Hunter’s voice was low and steady as he continued stalking forward. “If you don’t allow us to take this man to the only source of transformation meds we know of, he will go into shock and die.”
“We’re not allowing you to take him anywhere while he’s vulnerable to an assassination.” Seung took a fighter’s stance in front of Shogun’s body, gaze hardened for war.
“Fine, die your way,” Hunter said, preparing to lunge. “It’s either that, or be merciful and shoot him.”
Clarissa stared at her cell phone the moment the call disconnected. Bradley and Winters didn’t say a word; their expressions spoke volumes.
“It was Doc,” she said in a far-off tone. “He just left Tulane with Silver Hawk… headed toward The Fair Lady with antitoxin. Woods and Fisher have gotta bring artillery backup. This is not a drill.”
“What the fuck is going on, guys?” Winters dropped back against the seat, demoralized. “Oh, shit. You mean Hunter came out of the shadows full blown again?”
“No,” she said quietly, as Bradley stepped down harder on the gas. “It’s not for Hunter, it’s for Shogun.”