The boy shuddered, his struggle with Change obvious. The moon would rise soon, and she’d seen the self-loathing fil his green eyes every time he’d glanced at Tess’s cage, the smel of a Normal as tempting to him as it was to the other wolves.
Smith’s smile widened, and it was even more horrifying than it had been before. His fangs bared, but that was the only sign that Change affected him at al . Only a very old wolf could have that level of control. “Let’s make this complete. Sasha, let the Normal out. We’l see how young Nemov does.”
A dazed Tess clambered out of her kennel, held upright by the Fae woman, who kept a weapon pointed at her, even though she just stood there and rocked in place. The wolves went wild, slamming against the doors to their cages, howling when they hit the silver bars. The din pounded on Chloe’s eardrums, and she wanted nothing more than to slap her hands over her ears and pretend this wasn’t happening.
Alex stood at soldierly attention, his gaze glued to a blank wal , but his fangs protruded over his bottom lip. His telepathic voice was as calm as ever. Just do it, Chloe. There’s nothing else we can do now except play his game. He’ll just kill us outright if we don’t.
He was going to kil them al anyway. They weren’t on his side, so they were just a liability that had exhausted its usefulness. It was bitterly ironic that for once Alex was the one with the most hope. Chloe couldn’t dredge up a shred of it. Not anymore. Swal owing down a huge lump in her throat, she picked up the syringe and approached her godson. “I’m sorry, Alex.”
Those green eyes moved over her face, his internal voice rough with emotion he didn’t let show. Don’t be sorry. The last month has been the best of my life, and I know how pathetic that sounds, but it’s true. If it has to end this way, I’m glad I had the time. Living with you and Merek. A family. People who stuck it out with me. He tugged his shirtsleeve up, baring his arm for her. His telepathic tone became matter of fact.
Smith’s going to have to shift for full moon, too, as well as any wolf he has working for him. I hacked the security system in this place, and you should have a twenty-minute window right when the moon goes up.
Get out if you can. I wish I could have done more to help you. He didn’t blink, didn’t flinch when the needle pierced his skin, though the trace amounts of silver in the potion would burn like lava in a wolf’s veins. Chloe clenched her jaw and refused to give in to the sobs building in her chest. Picking you as my godmother was the best thing my parents ever did for me. Don’t ever blame yourself for this. I love you.
“I love you, too,” she breathed and dropped the empty syringe to the table. Then she grabbed his hand, and waited for the inevitable with him, this boy who was neither her flesh nor her blood, but was stil hers.
His young body began to shake, and his grip tightened as he fel to his knees with a keen of animalistic pain. She went down beside him, steadying him with a hand on his shoulder. Trying to keep the panic out of her voice, she sucked in a breath. “Alex? Alex, tel me what’s going on. What do you feel? I can try some healing spel s if you talk to me.”
Never had she felt the inadequacy of her healing skil s as sharply as she did now. Treating his bul et wound was nothing compared to this—a poison she’d administered herself. Her heart hammered in her chest, guilt and nausea roiling in her until she wanted to scream.
“No. No!” A large form came hurtling through the open door, and gunfire rang hol owly in the wide lab.
Peyton. Chloe’s heart stopped as the man moved with stunning speed.
The Fae, Sasha, stumbled back as a bul et hit her. She screamed when she slammed into the wolf cages, and those who could reach her latched onto her limbs, her clothes, her hair. Spel s shot out from her in wild sparks as she made noises worthy of the trapped and terrified animals who grabbed her.
Gregor and Smith dove into action to try to tackle Peyton. Both wolves shifted midair, the crunch of bone barely audible over the clamor from Sasha. Blood sprayed from bul ets and teeth, talons and claws.
Peyton’s gaze met Chloe’s for a single instant, and his telepathic command pierced her mind. Run!
Alex was already standing, jerking and twitching as if he were having a seizure, but on his feet. That was enough to spur Chloe into action. She leaped for the tottering Tess, drew back her hand, and slapped her friend as hard as she could. “Tess, get it together. Let’s go! ”
The redhead blinked as if waking up from a deep slumber, but Chloe wasn’t about to lose this opportunity. She grabbed her friend’s arm and hauled her toward the door, shoving Alex along in front of her. He moved, not as fast as a werewolf should be able to, but they were out of the room without being hit by any stray bul ets or spel s.
They reached a door to an outside hal way, and it wouldn’t open. “No. Damn it.” Chloe slammed her fist against it, already feeling the pulsating waves of shielding magic that would be difficult to dismantle, even if she knew how to magical y disarm a door, which she didn’t.
A gurgle came from Alex’s mouth, spittle fal ing from his lips. My hack . . . should have . . .
The door clicked, the smal , lighted panel beside it flashing from red to green. “Yes.”
Hope she’d lost so recently came rocketing back, and Chloe prayed to whatever deity was paying attention that they made it out of here, that they could get help. Wrenching open the door, she gathered every scrap of magic she had and pushed against the shield spel s around the labs. The spel s became a visible blue force field, rippling every time Chloe rammed her power into it. Sweat coursed down her face, stuck her clothes to her skin. A shaky opening began to slice through the shield, and Alex shoved the smal er women through it.
“No, you are coming with us, young man. That. Is. Final.” Chloe latched on to his hand, drew on his energy, and used it to widen the opening just enough to yank him over to her side. She lurched forward, almost face-planted into the floor, and made Alex stumble, both of them shaking. They’d have gone down, but Tess latched on to her other wrist, held her up, and steadied the wolf.
“O-okay.” Tess’s voice was shaky, but her grip was firm as she held on to both of them. “How do we get out of here?”
Swiping the sweat from her brow, Chloe cast a frantic look around. A cacophony of roaring came from the lab behind them, fol owed by the sound of someone crashing into something solid. Or through something solid, like a wal . The thought made ice run through her veins. Whatever they did, getting away from this spot was imperative. There was no tel ing how long Peyton could or would keep fighting, or how long they had before someone came to investigate the breach in the spel shield. She moved to Alex’s other side and grabbed the boy’s arm. He stil swayed where he stood, shivering and panting through clenched fangs.
“Let’s just keep moving.” Chloe pushed them forward and Tess nodded, helping her prop the wolf up so they could shuffle into an ungainly trot. They ignored the elevators and fol owed the signs for the emergency staircase.
Spil ing out onto a cement landing, they faced a sign that said they were on the hundredth floor. Tess leaned over the rail to look down. “I have bad news.”
“I real y don’t want any bad news,” Chloe wheezed as she hefted more of Alex’s weight. The kid was pure muscle and getting heavier by the second. She hoped that was just her perception and that he wasn’t starting a half-shift. They’d never be able to carry him then. Panic made her heart trip, but she refused to give in now.