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“Back off, Yogi! You’re scaring the shit out of me,” Gio said, his voice wavering.
The bear gave a sad whine and turned to the door. Its long claws scraped and gouged the wood floor. He hefted himself up and braced his front paws on the door, which gave a loud crack under his weight. With just two bounces, the door was springing open and shuddering under his weight.
Inside, a tall man with wavy blond hair jumped up on a queen-sized bed covered with twisted sheets and blankets. He shoved the long hair from his pale face and looked as if he were about to scream.
“Out! Get out!” Gio said, squeezing past the bear and giving him a shove out of the door. “You’re scaring him. Go check on the pestilents and find us a good way out.”
Gio grabbed the door and closed it behind Baer the second he was out in the hall. Of course, the damn thing didn’t sit right in the frame anymore. He must have fucked up the hinges with his weight.
“Hi! I’m Gio. I’m here to rescue you,” Gio announced, his spine pressed to the door. There was a sentence he’d never expected to say in his life.
The man dropped slowly to the bed, his wide, sky-blue eyes still locked on the door as if he expected the enormous bear to bust in. “What…who? Who are you?”
“Gio. Gio Russo. You’re Hale Anderson, right?” Gio repeated his name slowly. The guy was in shock, but he couldn’t afford to go too slow. Time was ticking down, and they needed to get out of the house.
“Yeah, I am. You’re here to rescue me?”
A warm smile spread across Gio’s lips and he nodded. “We heard you were grabbed by these assholes, and they’ve been holding you here. We want to get you out.”
“You’re a cop?” His brow furrowed as he looked at the door again. “A cop who brought a bear as backup.”
“Not a cop, but I swear I am a friend.” Now was not the time to tell him that he was a restoration specialist, because that wasn’t going to instill anybody with a sense of confidence. “Look, I’m here with some people who have some very unique skills. But they are outnumbered and in a lot of danger. The faster we get out of here, the faster we can all be safe. I promise, once we get away from this island, we will explain everything.”
“How do I know you’re not as bad as those smelly assholes? That you’re not kidnapping me for your own reasons.”
“You don’t, but…” Gio patted his pockets and came up with his cell phone. He held it out to Hale. “You can have my phone until we can get a new one for you. If you don’t think we’re on the level at any time, you can call for help.”
Hale slowly unfolded himself from the bed and crossed to grab the phone. He looked so fucking young. Early twenties at most.
“Okay, that works,” he mumbled.
“Great.” Gio drew in a deep breath. “Now, I need you to not scream.”
Hale’s wide eyes snapped back to Gio’s face and his fingers clenched around the phone. “Are you letting that bear in here again?”
“No, he’s probably not a bear now anyway,” Gio muttered, half talking to himself. “I need to turn invisible to peek into the hall.”
Hale snickered. Gio rolled his eyes and flexed tired muscles, pulling on his magic. The man gasped, and Gio slapped an invisible hand over his open mouth, which was a little creepy, but Gio ignored it.
“No. Screaming,” Gio enunciated. “I promise we’ll explain who we are, magic, and how you’re getting magic when we are safe. Got it?”
Hale silently nodded, but his eyes had gotten even wider with the promise of him receiving some kind of magic. Well, at least he had the guy’s attention. The rest of the Weavers could explain about pestilents, the Circle, and the end of the world.
Releasing Hale’s mouth, Gio quickly crossed to the door and opened it as quietly as he could. He poked his invisible head out and peered down the hall. The noise outside had gotten even louder. The only problem was that the Weavers didn’t bring a lot of guns. All that noise couldn’t be coming from Grey.
No, it was the pestilents trying to mow down the Weavers. They needed to get out of there now.
To his relief the hall was empty, but the smell of smoke was becoming heavy inside the house. He wasn’t sure if it was the burning trees getting in through open windows or if the house was actually burning. It was unlikely Lucien would burn the house with him in it, but then shit could be going really wrong out there.
The emotional connection with Calder and Lucien was a tangled mess in his chest. All he was getting was fear, anger, and worry, but he couldn’t separate Calder from Lucien. He had to get to his men.
