I’d only spotted three. So, wow. Points forhernight vision. Part of her mixed shifter ancestry, perhaps?
What she did next came from the witchy side of her family, though. I stared as she melted into the shadows by the door. Literally. One minute, she was there, and the next, she was gone. Danielle’s front side vanished too. Her back wavered like a mirage, then disappeared as well.
I said, stay close!Gen hissed into my mind.
Stretching my nose as far as I could, I stepped forward. My nose tingled, then my ears and face as I eased through a wall of darkness. And, oh. There was Gen, with Danielle huddled behind her. The space around them was pitch-black, and the world beyond grayer than before, as if we were peering out through a dirty lens.
Closer!Gen urged.
I glanced back. My head and shoulders were within Gen’s bubble of darkness, but the rest of my body was in the gray zone that marked the outer world. I pressed forward, making myself as small as possible.
Watch your tail, dammit.Gen gestured.
My tail prickled as I yanked it in.
Slowly, I realized what Gen was doing. She hadn’t found a dark area to hide in. She wascastingit. The air around us warmed and wobbled as she wrapped shadows around us like a cloak.
A very lumpy cloak,she muttered.Do you have to be so big?
I hunched, telling myself I was a soldier cramming into a foxhole instead of a guy hiding behind a woman. And Gen was right.Stay close and don’t make noisewas a better plan than taking on four vampires. And as for heroics…a good soldier knew when to lead and when to trust the skill sets of others.
And what a skill it was. Forget camouflage, face paint, andunder the cover of nighttactics. Gen could wrap shadows around herself and around us.
She shuffled forward, paused, then rushed toward a tree. My fur tingled, and the shadows stretched, reaching their breaking point. Another step forward, and the feeling eased again as we reached a thicker pool of shadows under the tree. So, the more natural shadows Gen could draw on, the better.
“Stop. Shh!” One of the vampires whipped around.
We froze.
All four vampires looked in our direction, though none focused on our precise spot. So, whew. Gen was doing a damn good job hiding us.
But she couldn’t hide our scent. I steeled every muscle in my body when one of the vampires sniffed the air and stepped closer…closer…
Shit,Gen shouted into my mind.
Hold still,I whispered.
But he’s getting closer!she protested.
Danielle, I noted, had her eyes squeezed shut. Not an effective strategy, but at least she didn’t scream and give us away.
Hold still,I told Gen.But be ready to move, fast.I glanced around.See that big pine? Go there.
I said, no heroics,she retorted.
Call it diversionary tactics,I rumbled back.
As the vampire approached, I crouched, then leaped for his throat. Shouts broke out from the others, but surprise was on my side, giving me a head start — something I sorely needed to kill the vampire then retreat into the forest and double back to the shadows of the big pine.
As a tiger, I knew all about blending in. But, whoa. Gen was nowhere to be seen.
In here,Gen called into my mind.
I looked around.In where?
Her camouflage was that good.
Three more steps, then turn right.
