I close my eyes as the wolf leaps.
Its teeth close around a spot above my shoulder, and my eyes fly open.
With a savage snarl, it rips a chunk of the shadows from the wall and suddenly…
I’m free!
The cackling shadow-voice screams with rage as I jump away from the dark swarm at my back. I land at a crouch in front of the wolf, whose stormy-green eyes are just like Roman’s.
The wolf bares its teeth, gnashing at the shadows it holds between its teeth, as if they’re a solid mass. On the nextcrunch, they disintegrate in a sudden burst of dust that makes it look like the wolf crushed stones in its mouth.
I don’t have time to reach for the beast—don’t have time to see if it’s real flesh and blood or another illusion—before the wolf gives an urgent whine and darts past me, glancing back to make sure I’m following him.
I don’t need an invitation. I’m already running.
Behind us, a cascade of stones rolls across the tunnel floor, rushing after us, and ahead of us, the ceiling is shuddering, little bits of its surface breaking free.
The bronzed wolf gives a yelp and picks up its pace.
We’ve only made it ten more paces when the ceiling breaks and a torrent of stones crashes down up ahead, blocking our path. I expect the stones to pile up, but they keep on falling from the ceiling right through the ground like a deadly waterfall. Each stone is larger than the last, until I’m sure I can’t possibly pass safely through them. I won’t survive being hit and crushed.
I scream when the wolf leaps through the stream of stones. I expect it to fall. To disappear. To die.
Instead, an opening blazes where its body passes through. The wolf skids to a stop on the other side, visible through the gap, and it howls at me, urging me to follow the passage it made for me—an opening that is quickly narrowing.
Within a heartbeat, I shift into my wolf form, race the final few steps, and leap through the rapidly closing gap.
I roll across the dimly lit floor beyond the stone waterfall and come up at a crouch, shifting back into my human form and clothing myself instantly. My heart pounds as I check for new threats.
It’s quiet.
So calm.
Roman kneels only two paces in front of me within a wide circle of sapphire light, his head bowed and his eyes closed.
Behind him, also within the light, Koda sits hunched against the wall, his face pale. Taniya and Malia are huddled on the left, and they both look as if they’ve been dragged through a nightmare, their expressions drawn.
The relief on their faces—including Koda’s—when they see me brings tears to my eyes. My demon wolves are fanned out behind Roman, sitting quietly, appearing completely unharmed, although they lean forward, their bright eyes blazing at me. Even Ruby seems at home among them now.
A quick glance back tells me that the wall behind me is now solid stone.
The falling stones and whispering voice are gone.
So is Roman’s wolf. In fact, Roman himself is sitting where the wolf stood only moments ago. His eyes remain closed, his strong form so still that I hesitate before I drop to my knees in front of him.
My instinct is to hurl myself into his arms. My heart is still hammering and I’m afraid of what the Scourge will throw at us next, but Roman is so quiet that I calm my movements, taking a breath before I speak.
“Roman?” I ask, reaching for him.
His chest rises with a deep, indrawn breath. He speaks but doesn’t open his eyes. “You and your sisters disappeared in the same instant, swallowed by rocks at opposite sides of the tunnel.”
His voice is different. Deeper. If that were possible. “I couldn’t find you until I—”
He stops and I wait a moment before I ask, cautiously. “Until you what?”
He opens his eyes and I gasp. For the shortest moment—so short, I convince myself that I imagined it—the shape of his pupils is different. Shifted.
Like a wolf’s.
