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Sariel’s eyes narrowed. “Did they hold Mikey in there?”
Neo nodded. “They did.”
Before Sariel could voice his concern for Mikey, Reese interjected, “More Guardians are going to find us if we stand around in the open like this.”
We each turned to the end of the valley, which led into a thick line of trees. It was at least another half-hour walk, if my estimation was correct. Things would’ve been easier if we’d taken to the valley's edge instead of foolishly trying to cross it; we could’ve already been under cover of the trees by now, but rather, we’d followed the path, and now we were in the middle.
The grass was tall and unkempt but not tall enough to hide six people trudging through the open space.
“This would be faster and safer if we shifted,” Johnny pointed out while carrying Marilyn, whose knees seemed to have given out. “We’re not dressed for this kind of weather either.”
Sariel took some of Neo’s weight, and I stepped to his other side, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.
“What about Reese and Marilyn? They can’t shift,” Neo pointed out, glaring weakly at Johnny’s back.
“We can always carry them until we’re in the forest,” Sariel said. “Even there, we can keep each other warm if we’re shifted.”
“And what if people see you?”
“It doesn’t matter. Even if they don’t know we exist—which I don’t think is likely, we’re in the Alps. They’ll chalk it up to a trick of the light or label us a yeti or something equally ridiculous,” Johnny said. “Also, what’s the likelihood that there’ll be anyone out there now? It’s getting too dark for whoever went exploring not to have started to head back.”
We glanced to where the sun had begun to sink behind the mountaintops.
“Exactly,” Sariel agreed. “And Neo, you’ll get your strength back faster if you shift.”
Neo shook his head. “Unless you want to traumatize yourself and everyone here, I won’t.”
Marilyn laughed powerlessly. “His half-shifted form is what we usually get,” she said, peeking at us over Johnny’s shoulder. “Full-blooded angels are scary when they shift. Fleshy, too many eyes, always taking an impossible shape, but with wings, I guess. Almost as many wings as eyes.”
Neo and I locked eyes, and he mustered a slight smile. “Half-shifted, I would drain even more energy. Fully shifted, I could carry all of you, but you wouldn’t like it. It’s pretty unpleasant.”
“Whatever,” Sariel murmured. “I’ve already shifted. Who gives a fuck?”
I blanched. “Wait—”
Johnny halted, settled Marilyn on her feet, and quickly began to strip. He handed her his clothes once he was down to his underwear.
“Shift,” Sariel said to me. “Quickly.”
I opened my mouth to say I wasn’t sure I could when I felt my wolf nudge me and growl in anger. She was asking me to trust her.
“Hand me your clothes,” he continued.
I worried that he would say something about Neo and Johnny seeing me naked while I stripped off the light dress I’d been wearing and handed it to him, but I think even he recognized that this wasn’t the time—he’d have to tamp down the urge to be irrational.
“Boots and underwear, too,” he said, and I stripped those down quickly as well.
I shifted so quickly I was genuinely impressed. It’d been so long since I last shifted that my wolf shuddered, shaking out her fur and doing a slight jog around the rest of us.
Johnny’s wolf froze at the sight of us. He was huge, almost as big as a horse—he was a natural-born alpha, and it showed.
My wolf sniffed at him, snorted, and then moved back to stand patiently at Sariel’s side.
He’d taken the pack I’d been carrying and stuffed my clothes into it. He then helped it onto my back and tightened the straps so that it wouldn’t move while we ran.
Marilyn handed Johnny’s pack to Sariel just as Johnny sank to his stomach so she could climb on.
“Reese,” Sariel called, “You’ll ride with Aria, and I’ll carry Neo.”
