I nodded, the motion feeling a bit strange with my wolf-musculature. The witch turned to the door and placed his hands on the ground.
It only took a few moments, but it was still fascinating to watch as he summoned magic, the energy spreading out until it looked like there was a giant, endless hole stretching down into the depths of the world.
“That should give them pause. And if any fall, their mind will trick them into feeling like they actually are for a couple of minutes.”
If I could have whistled in this form, I would have, because that was a handy trick. But even though I couldn’t emote in that way, the witch seemed to get it.
He gave me a little salute. “Hope you two survive. I’ll think of you two every time I play my guitar.”
Then he vanished back through the wall, and I took off.
It didn’t take me all that long to catch up to Cherry. When I did, rage clouded my vision. She was pinned up against the wall, the basilisk’s massive, clawed hand around her throat. Her feet kicked at his scaled chest.
I was so fucking sick of people trying to hurt those in my charge! The howl I let out came straight from my soul, and it was possibly the most alpha sound I’d ever made. Strange, I’d never really considered myself much of one, but now, I felt it coursing through my blood and dominating my thoughts like it had always been an integral part of me and not something I’d let fall to the wayside since I was the third alpha son in our family.
The massive, humanoid-lizard’s head jerked my way, his second set of arms rising for a fight. But that split-second of distraction had been enough. Cherry pulled that tiny metal tool out of her boot, then jammed it into the creature’s eye.
Resourceful.
Cherry might not have been a wolf, but she fought with teeth—thankfully not literally. The basilisk dropped her, and she kicked the creature hard in the shin.
Despite everything that had happened, I had to admire her for that.
The basilisk was far from down and out, and I didn’t want to waste the opportunity Cherry had carved out for the both of us. Charging forward, I slammed into his shoulders with my forelegs. He toppled back, his head slamming into cobblestone behind him.
Between that and the pit the witch had conjured, surely we’d gotten ourselves a decent gap between our pursuers.
Once the basilisk shuddered and went still, Cherry started running again. I was able to catch my breath as I moved alongside her. She was fast for a human—I had to give her that—but that wasn’t saying much since I was a wolf shifter. I could have left her in the dust, and the Whisper would likely give up on getting to me if she had the faux psychic, but that wasn’t even an option in my mind. We were both getting out, or neither of us was.
I couldn’t say why I had such strong feelings for a woman who was essentially a stranger and had confessed to lying to me. Yes, I’d been rather awed by her powers, but apparently those were fake. So, just what was motivating me and my wolf to defend her so fiercely?
I didn’t know. I promised myself I’d think about it once we got to a safe place. But right now, answering that question wouldn’t help either of us survive.
As we ran through the halls we had navigated so leisurely before, I couldn’t help but think how my family would feel if we succumbed to our pursuers. I couldn’t imagine Penelope flying here to rein in Jackson, and Chris definitely wouldn’t be up to the task. I also didn’t want to imagine how Jackson would react to losing another one of his siblings. It was bad all around, really.
So, we’ll just have to survive. It would be too inconvenient otherwise. Think of all the meetings I’d have to reschedule!
Obviously not a practical thought, but the levity helped combat the dire situation closing in on us, and the next thing I knew, Cherry and I reached the heavy door. And then we were back in the normal world.
I never thought I’d see you again,I thought to the stars above, happy to see them even without the moon. If it had been full instead of absent, I probably would have been able to givethe Whisper and her men more of a run for their money. While we could take our animal forms independent of the moon, it did give us an amazing boost when it was at full power.
“What now?” Cherry asked. “They’re not gonna stay in there. Do we run for it? Call an Uber?”
My first instinct was, naturally, to run. With our headstart and my wolf speed and stamina, there was no way they could catch up. But a beat later, the more human side of my mind reminded me why that wouldn’t work for Cherry.
While I was large and an alpha, I wasn’t a fuckinghorse,so it wasn’t like she could ride me. So… what? Did I abandon her even though she’d come back for me? That grated against every ounce of honor I had.
I’d have to hold the line, stay and fight while she sprinted to the nearest public area. Although I had no doubt the Whisper’s men wouldn’t mind pouring out into the streets to chase us down, I didn’t think they’d want to do something around hundreds of civilians when we magical folks were still on relatively thin ice with the humans.
But before I could figure out how to communicate any of that with Cherry, there was the guttural punch of an engine revving, then a light shining in our faces.
The peace was nice while it lasted.
I braced myself, readying to attack as the blinding illumination came closer. It veered to the side before it was in range, then came to a stop. I blinked a few times, then finally saw the shape of a motorcycle.
“Get on,” a gruff voice ordered before something sailed toward Cherry. She scrambled to catch it, and when my vision cleared completely, I saw it was the biker from before, his kitten friend’s head only barely visible above the collar of his jacket. “You, wolf, follow behind.”
A man of few words. I appreciated that.