"Where the hell did that fog even come from?"
"Don't know. Don't care."
"But you thought you saw someone—"
"Forget what I said. Nobody was there. We searched the place and it was empty."
Did that mean they hadn't run into Animus? I glanced out the window. The fog had dissipated. My heart fell. Animus said he was going to help us, but the poachers had returned as if nothing happened. Was he lying to me after all?
"Should I move that safe out of the way?"
"No, just leave it there."
River sighed. I remembered he told me about the poachers pushing something large and heavy against the door earlier. I grimaced. With our exit blocked from both the window and the door, we were truly trapped. Suddenly I didn't feel so comfortable relying on Animus alone. We needed to get out of here one way or the other.
I expected to see a depressed look on River’s face, but that wasn't what I saw. He looked angry. It was the most animated I'd seen him since the poachers threw us into this room.
He shifted into human form and went to the door. He glared at it as if he hoped it would burst into flames. Pressing his ear to the door, he leaned in close and jiggled the doorknob as quietly as possible. He pushed his weight against it, testing the integrity of the barrier holding us. He scowled and shook his head at me when he made no progress. He came back over to me.
"No good," he mumbled. "They're not bluffing about the safe."
"Then we have to find another way out."
"What happened to your friend Animus?" River asked, raising a brow.
"I don't know," I admitted. I wanted to think he was telling the truth, but I couldn't rely on someone I barely knew. Especially not when the situation had just grown more dire.
I glanced down at my belly. There was a very good chance that I was pregnant now.
River's eyes widened as he realized what I was thinking at the same time. He bristled. "Listen. I'm gonna throw something crazy out there."
"Go ahead," I said.
"What if we just… fought them?"
The idea had crossed my mind before, but I didn't think it was viable. The poachers were two grown men. Meanwhile, River was still unsteady on his human legs and I couldn't reveal my human form because of the plan.
I put my hand on his arm. "I mean this in the most loving way possible, but you're still not used to those legs. And I don't think it's a good idea to reveal my human form, not when we went through all that effort to hide it."
River shook his head. "I don't mean in our human forms."
The meaning of his words struck me. "You mean, fight them as a mer and a beaver?"
"That's right."
That particular idea was new to me. I didn't think River was the type to get into physical altercations—mer folk weren't exactly known for brawling their way out of danger. And as a beaver, I was a fraction of the size of a human man.
But maybe River had a point. We weren't helpless. We both had strengths that humans lacked.
"I'm not opposed to it," I said.
River grinned suddenly. "Did you know that my cousin Zak and his mate Kamari fought Animus the first time they met?"
"What?" I blurted out.
"It's true. Animus was threatening them and their unborn baby. Well, he was threatening basically everyone and everything at the time, but that's not important."
Were we talking about the same spirit? Animus seemed odd when I met him, sure, but I never once felt like I was in physical danger.
