I grimaced. Not exactly the best timing. It would suck if I diedandgot chewed out by Leo. It was really supposed to be an either-or situation.
“I…” I wasn’t really sure what to say, and it turned out I didn’t need to say anything, because a surge of energy suddenly sliced through the air, knocking us all to our asses.
“But didn’t you just kill the brother?” I asked, more confused than ever. Everything had happened so suddenly, I’d hardly had time to process any of it, but I was pretty sure those were the guy’s brain staining the carpet that probably cost more than I made in a year. If not, then I was doing some serious hallucinating.
“There’s more than one of them here,” Leo hissed, already getting to his feet. “Get out of here! You promised.”
Hmm. I had, hadn’t I?
Maybe Iwasnaturally a coward, because running seemed like a fucking good idea. Before I could so much as turn on my heel, six security guards barreled through the hole in the wall. Some were still in their uniforms while some were shifted,and maybe I was wrong, but it didn’t look like they were all enthralled.
Huh, I guessed everyone had a price. Even shifters.
Leo shifted back into his wolf form so fast that the steam he produced was physically hot. By the time it had evaporated, he’d dealt with two of the security guards, and the wolf with him had another one down.
“Leo!” I cried out. “I know that some have to die, but not all our enemies have a choice. Please, don’t kill them all unless you really have to.”
He didn’t respond—he couldn’t in his wolf form—but I could have sworn he lessened the pressure of his teeth on his opponent’s shoulder. Instead of tearing through the half-shifted man’s muscles, Leo simply shook him a few times until the shifter’s eyes rolled back and he went still
Was it impractical to have asked that in the middle of a battle? Perhaps. But there were slaves amongst the brother’s battle fodder, so if we could afford to be careful, why wouldn’t we? Besides, I was sure Leo would be able to tell when lethal force was necessary and when it wasn’t.
At least, Ihopedso.
But I’d promised him I would trust him, and if there was ever a time to put that trust to the test, we were in it.
A groan sounded from down the hall, and I tore my eyes away from my lover to see theKlandagishifter had lost her animal form and was struggling to her feet. She had an open wound on her side. It was so deep I could see her intestines. If she weren’t a shifter, she’d be dead already. If her enhanced healing was going to save her from what would have killed a human, she needed time, and time wasn’t exactly easy to come by in the middle of the battle.
It looked like I’d have to delay my escape aweebit longer.
“I got you,” I murmured as I rushed over to her, ignoring the stinging in my eyes from the thick smoke around us. I wasn’t sure if that was my fault or the warlock’s, but I’d worry about where to pin the blame later. “I need you to take a deep breath because this is gonna sting, okay?”
The woman managed a very weak nod. If she said anything I didn’t hear it over the din of battle. I pulled a small bottle out of my apron pocket. When it became clear that patching up shifters would become a common occurrence in my life, I’d mixed an elixir I could use on the go. It wasn’t anything too special: distilled water, witch hazel, willow bark, vitamin E oil, calendula, aloe, and a little echinacea. I’d added tea tree oil to the first batch, but strangely, it had irritated Ricky’s skin instead of soothing it, and I didn’t want that to happen to anyone else.
The woman hissed as I poured half the bottle over her wound, but the graying flesh began to pink up within seconds. I found the rapid healing of shifters fascinating, but now was not the time to marvel at how her insides rearranged themselves and her skin stitched itself together. If we all lived through the battle, I’d give her some immune-boosting supplements to make sure she had no infections or contaminants inside her.
“Come on, let me help you out of here,” I said once her breathing wasn’t as shaky. “Esperanza can get you to safety once we’re outside.”
“Yeah,” she rasped, holding her arm up to me. I was impressed that she was even able to do that and quickly crouched next to her to drape it over my shoulders. “How are you still up?”
“Pardon?” I asked as I stood carefully so as not to jostle her.
“The gas,” she said simply.
Oh, right. That. A thick cloud of gas still surrounded us, and considering I’d inhaled a fair amount of it, I really shouldhave been snoring on the floor, like all the non-shifters in the ballroom.
“Maybe the smoke bombs I threw were duds,” I said, focusing on getting out. Thankfully, the bear shifter I had barely escaped from wasn’t anywhere to be seen. That did make me worry that we were going to run into him under even more inopportune circumstances, but there wasn’t much else I could do about it.
“Just one step at a time,” I murmured under my breath. It wasn’t exactly the quickest escape, but luckily she had a pretty small frame. She was several inches shorter than me and at least fifty pounds lighter.
Once I had her outside, I didn’t have to wait long before I heard a bird cry and Esperanza landed beside me.
“I’ve got her,” Esperanza said. “Chris already got a whole chunk of the prisoners out, but he went back in and said there were more.”
More? How many magical beings had the brothers taken?
“There were two of the brothers in there,” I murmured, not quite sure what else to say.
“Holy shit,two?Do you know which ones?”
