“I’m serious. Really, really serious.”
He shoved something into her hand. “Get your shoes. We’ve got to go now.”
It was a small wooden circle of smooth, polished wood, something dark that might have been mahogany. A hole drilled through the top had a thin piece of leather threaded through it, long enough that it would be easy to slip over her head and wear beneath her shirt.
She’d expected something mystical looking, like an impressive gold medallion with ancient runes. But what the hunk of wood lacked in looks, it made up for in power. Even holding it made her palm tingle.
Marcus made an impatient noise and she started. Without a word she slipped it over her head and tucked the wooden disc beneath her shirt. It warmed against her skin, but the tingling feeling faded after a few seconds. By the time she found her shoes, she hardly noticed it.
She pulled them on in silence and looked at Marcus. “Okay.”
He laid his hands on her shoulders. “If Da—if Charles finds us, I don’t know what he’ll do, but it might be bad. Are you prepared for that?”
Mackenzie swallowed. “He told me that he’s going to have a psychic come in and make me agree. Wipe my personality and tell you I had a change of heart. I’ll risk just about anything to avoid that.”
“Me too.” One hand fell away from her, and the other slid down her arm and wrapped around her icy fingers. “Come on. We’ll have to shift and run for it, but I have more clothes and things waiting for us at the property line.”
“Okay.” She squeezed his hand. “Thank you, Marcus.”
“Shh,” he hissed as they headed out of her room and toward the stairs. “Thank me later.”
They descended the staircase quietly, without incident, and she was on the last step when Marcus went rigid. She smelled it a heartbeat later—man, what she’d come to recognize as wolf, and expensive whiskey.
“Eddie.” Marcus’s voice was tense.
He lounged in the doorway, much as he had earlier, peering at them through bleary eyes. “Well, well.”
Her mouth went dry. She tightened her fingers around Marcus’s, unsure of what to do. “Hello, Eddie.”
The big man didn’t say anything at first, just raised the nearly empty bottle in his hand. It stopped short of his mouth, and he heaved a rough sigh, his eyes on Marcus. “Go on. Run.”
“Eddie—” She couldn’t see Marcus’s face, but he sounded apologetic. Almost guilty.
“For fuck’s sake, Marc, get out of here.” Eddie motioned for the door, and his voice dropped to a raw whisper. “Go.”
When Marcus didn’t move, Mackenzie stepped off the staircase and yanked on his hand. Her eyes found Eddie’s, and the pained look of loss and misery in his eyes tugged at her. “Thank you.”
He turned away.
Marcus finally pulled her toward the door, and they slipped through the invisible barrier and out into the night. He led her away from the house at a brisk walk and around to a row of hedges. “Take off everything but the talisman. You’ll need it.” He kicked out of his shoes and started removing his clothes.
She followed suit, stripping off the borrowed clothing as quickly as she could. The night breeze was cool enough to make her shiver as she stood in front of Marcus, naked except for the talisman that hung between her breasts.
She ran her fingers over it lightly. “What will happen to it when I shift? It’s not gonna fall off, is it?”
“You shift first. I’ll adjust it and make sure it won’t. I know how much to tighten mine, but I’m not sure about you.”
“Okay.” She shivered again, more from nerves than the chill. She closed her eyes and concentrated on finding that inner spark of magic and letting it flow through her.
Her hours of practice made it easy. A few heartbeats and she opened her eyes to a very different world. Sights and sounds and scents assaulted her at first, but she was already growing used to the confused jumble. Marcus smelled like safety, and her instincts moved her across the space separating them. She bumped her head into his leg, terrified and needing the contact even if it wasn’t nearly as satisfying as it would be when he had shifted as well.
He knelt before her. The leather cord had two slip knots, each end tied around it, and he tugged them apart until he could barely slide two fingers between the cord and the heavy weight of her fur. “There. Follow me, but we have to be quick. I won’t stop unless you do, not until we get past the last ward.”
She acknowledged his words by nudging his hand with her head and backing away so he could shift as well. He did, his scent and form changing until he stood before her on four legs. He uttered a deep, purring growl, turned and ran.
It wasn’t so different from her dreams, racing across the side yard and into the dark woods, except for the fear pounding through her veins. In her dreams, the danger had been vague, nebulous. Here it was real. Known.
She ran, as fast as she could, until her lungs and muscles burned. She couldn’t stop, though, had to keep pace with Marcus. Just when she thought she could go no farther, he stopped, panting.
Then Marcus was human again, kneeling on the ground by a large hollow log. “Jesus Christ.” He clutched at his side and grimaced as he dragged a black bag from the log.
Mackenzie was too exhausted to shift immediately. She collapsed to the ground and panted for breath, wondering faintly if she’d even be able to change back at all.
It took several minutes for her to find the energy to reach inside and resume her human form. She stretched out on her side on the forest floor, pine needles and branches poking uncomfortably against her skin. The cold ground leached the heat from her body, but she hurt too much to move.
Marcus had already dressed in a pair of jeans when he returned to her side. “Get up, Mackenzie. You’ve got to get into some clothes and get to the car.” He dragged a black T-shirt over his head and helped her sit. “Come on.”
She had no idea how she summoned the strength, but somehow she got the button-up shirt and sweatpants on. The sneakers he’d brought for her were too big, but she put them on her bare feet. “How far to the car?” She rose on shaky legs.
She swayed, and he pulled her into his arms. “Just over this rise here—” He stumbled but regained his footing. “Okay. I’m okay. Let’s go.”
Marcus carried her to a dark sedan parked at the edge of the woods, out of sight of the road below, and set her next to the passenger door. The car alarm blipped, the locks disengaged, and he jogged to the other side. They both scrambled into the car, and Mackenzie tugged at her tangled seatbelt with a low curse. “Where are you planning to go?”
“I was hoping you’d have some ideas.” He turned the key in the ignition and the engine purred to life. “Boston, probably. At first.”
She had to call Jackson before she did anything else. “There’s some people I can call, I think. The ones who were helping me. If you have a cell phone, maybe I can call information…”
“There’s a disposable one in the glove compartment.” His hands tightened on the wheel. “Just in case he decides to try technology instead of magic to find us. I doubt it, but I don’t want to take any unnecessary chances.”
Mackenzie found the phone and powered it on before she realized she had no idea if Jackson’s cell phone would even be listed. She could probably find a number for his office, though, or maybe someone at the bar could tell her how to reach Nick.
The tiny clock on the cell phone blinked on, and she groaned. “Jesus, I didn’t realize it was three in the morning.”
“I got things settled and ready as fast as I could.” He sounded apologetic. “It took me several days to free up some money and find someone trustworthy to help with the magical things like the clothes.”
She froze with her finger on the keypad. “Our clothes are magical?”
He spared her a quick glance as he flipped on his blinker and turned onto what looked like a main highway. “Had to be, so Charles can’t track us. Well, not as easily.”