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“We did, and I can hear it right now.” Fergus gestured with a toss of his hand toward the distant block wall topped with barbed wire. “It’s heading down the alley just as you said it would. So, how do you want to do this?”
“I’ll let Emma tell you what she saw.”
Emma kept her voice low as she talked about the number of girls in the truck, six in all, the warlocks in charge, the fat shifter in the office, as well as the two guards in the facility. “But the images scrambled at that point, which means I can’t be sure how many we’ll be facing. There could be more guards in the facility or some in the strip-center building. We won’t really know til we get in there.”
“Doesn’t matter.” Fergus’s lips turned down. “We’ll deal with whatever we find.” He gestured to the ground at his feet.
Vaughn saw that he’d drawn a rough map.
“The complex has an exit here.” He tapped his foot on the western edge. “And one that leads at the back onto the southernmost street. The alley is right there, fifty yards away. It ends at the desert. Do you see it?”
Vaughn nodded. “Yes.”
“My men will come in from the western exit, in wolf form initially. You come in from the front and we’ll see what happens.” Vaughn didn’t know a whole lot about the shifter experience except that battle and transforming into wolves went hand-in-hand, a necessity of their alter condition.
Vaughn nodded. Emma met his gaze and dipped her chin once. Brannick did the same.
The teams split up. Vaughn watched as each of the shifters, with barely a thought, moved fluidly into their wolf form then loped across the open land to the west of the storage facility. He wasn’t sure where their weapons went, but apparently part of the shifter ability was transforming everything they held or wore into their wolfness.
Within a matter of seconds, they’d disappeared.
He was about to hold out his arm to Emma, when he realized she was levitating. Stunned, he gripped her arm, fearing she’d fall.
But she smiled at him. “I’m okay. I’ve picked this up from you, Vaughn. I don’t know what’s going on between us, but right now I can levitate as though I’ve been doing it my entire life. I must have gained the skill from you, and it rocks.”
She didn’t wait for him, either, but rose in the air and sped in the direction of the alley. He caught up with her, stunned.
Brannick flew on the opposite side of her. He caught Vaughn’s gaze. What the hell? Did you know she could fly?
He shook his head. Had no idea.
Something strange is going on between the pair of you.
I know.
The ghosts appeared and flew near Emma. He felt it as well, just as Emma had said. They were a team.
Her voice entered his mind. Let’s save us some girls.
~ ~ ~
Emma couldn’t believe she was five feet off the ground, tracking toward the alley. She knew some of the most powerful spellcasters could levitate, but she’d never been able to. When Vaughn had moved her off his boot, however, for a few seconds she’d found herself suspended in the air if only an inch above the ground.
After she’d met Officer Fergus and received his warm, respectful greeting, she’d done some surreptitious practicing. Stranger still was the sure knowledge the new ability came fully formed.
She knew she’d be able to fly with Vaughn’s skill, so she did.
Of course the real question surfaced almost immediately as in why she could suddenly do this remarkable thing. But she had no answer. Her instincts, however, leaned toward her growing relationship with Vaughn.
They’d crossed a critical threshold in the past few hours and their new-found intimacy seemed to be having an effect on them both. Vaughn could see the ghosts and he’d played a role in her spellroom that allowed Emma to find the future.
As she, Vaughn and Brannick turned into the alley, the Willow Creek truck was already backing into the storage facility. The obese shifter was waving his arms in a loose manner. “Keep going.”
Vaughn shot forward, rifle in hand, and called out, “I’ve got a better idea. Shut it down. Now.”
The slovenly shifter reached behind his back and drew his pistol. Vaughn whipped in his direction and fired once. The shifter fell, shot through the chest.
Vaughn levitated toward the truck. By then, the two warlocks had their hands in the air, the engine off.
