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I fling my arms around her neck and she steps inside, returning the hug. The pistol at her hip knocks against my stomach, a warning that I need to be careful and that she’s prepared to kill if necessary. The next thing I see is Will standing over her shoulder, his eyes flitting left and right to make sure we’re not being followed.
“Where is he?” Will says. “We’ve gotta hustle.”
“He’s…” I pause and shake my head. “I don’t know how we’re gonna get him out of here.”
I step aside and Soledad’s face falls when she sees the hulking wolf in the corner, still gasping for breath. Javi twitches at the sight of her—maybe because she’s someone he doesn’t know, and his wolf is on guard.
He has amuchstronger reaction when Will steps inside.
Javi gets to his feet, his shoulders hunched, his spines rising with his hackles. He snarls, a garbled sound that doesn’t quite hit right—probably because his head is still spinning, his eyes rolling in his head as he stumbles.
“This is him?” Soledad whispers.
“They drugged him,” I say. “He’s been like this all day and he needs help.”
Will edges around the room, keeping his eyes on Javi. They’re both big guys, but I think Javi is just a smidge bigger, and I don’t think Will can carry Javi if he passes out again. Javi snaps his jaws at Will, his eyes darting toward me.
I put my hands up.
“Slow down,” I say.
“We have a limited amount of time,” Will warns. “The Valkyries only have as long as Boyd and the others can distract the Gulf people. After that, we’re on our own—and they’ll know something’s off when Boyd dips.”
“The Valkyries are here?” I ask, my eyes wide. “Then we should help more of the women. They don’t—”
“Not all of them,” Will says. “Just a few. It’s a small force, but they were gracious enough to let us use their ship.”
Javi staggers and loses his footing, sagging against the wall. I rush toward him and kneel in front of him, taking his head in my hands to look into those familiar green eyes. Even when he’s like this—out of his mind and shifted—I would recognize his eyes anywhere.
“You need to come with me,” I whisper. “If there’s any of you left in there…please, Javi, this is our ticket out of here. We have to go.”
“I can try to carry him, but I can’t guarantee he won’t come at me,” Will says. “He’s giving off all kinds of warning signals to everyone but you.”
“Because he’s my mate,” I say, snapping at my friend more than I planned. “Sorry…I’m…”
“It’s okay to be defensive, babe, but we’ve gotta go,” Soledad says. “I brought a sedative. We could dose him with it and—”
“We can’t!” I interrupt. “He’s a recovering addict. It could make things worse.”
I smooth my thumbs over Javi’s cheeks and look into his eyes.
“Please,” I say. “Follow me. For me…for our baby.”
I hear Will suck in a breath, and Soledad shifts on her feet. Well, it’ll all be out there soon anyway—and when we’re back in the den, everyone will know.
When we’re back in the den.
“We’re going home,” I say, standing up and running my hand over Javi’s coat.
I take a step backwards and he somehow manages to follow me, padding forward. He casts a wary glance at Will, and another at Soledad…but he follows anyway.
I look at my friends. “Let’s go,” I say.
They lead the way, Will well ahead to scout out our path while Soledad trains her gun in the space behind him. The citadel is a strange, winding structure—always has been—and there’s a chance someone is waiting to strike. We avoid our enemies though, and we’ve almost made it to the entrance when my senses tingle, a strange scent hitting me.
I turn around.
“Two?” I whisper.
