Nils looks up at me, his eyes wide, trembling with terror.
Blood drips from my claws. My teeth.
Breathing heavily, wetly, I sniff the air, savoring the scent of his fear.But I’m not done with him yet. I’m going to shred him until there is nothing left. I will devour him and lick his blood off my claws. I will end this once and for all.
I heft a massive paw up.
Nils screams—
No. Not Nils.
Shouts from the dance fill my ears, so loud I can hear them all the way here.
Nils says something, but I can’t understand him at first.
Words sharpen in my mind.
Unity Dance.
Bea.
My paw falls to my side.
Protect her!
Instinct drives me. I barrel into Nils and he hits the ground with a heavy thud, like he’s knocked out cold. I run through the entrails, turning them into a tangled mess on my way out. I slam into the door, over and over again.Protect her. Protect her.The door flies off. I run down the hall on all fours, moving faster than I thought possible.
Finally, I’m outside.
The air is rich and heavy with so many scents beyond anything I’ve ever imagined. I always thought I had a good sense of smell, but this? It’s like a store full of different perfumes amplified by a hundred thousand. I can pick out each individual scent that saturates the air—the rich, clean aroma of the courtyard grass; the subtle notes of wet stone buildings and damp walkways; the cool, crisp moisture of evening fog; the coppery tang of blood.
I keep sniffing, searching for Bea’s familiar scent. I have to save her. If I can follow the scent of her favorite sweet pea bodywash, I know I will find her, wherever she is.
I just hope it isn’t too late.
There.Bea’s familiar scent hangs in the air, a tendril leading me toward my sister. I barrel across the campus and am breathing heavily by the time I reach the gym. The doors are sealed shut by the bloody stave Nils painted. Screams pierce my ears, louder than before, from somewhere inside the gym.
I rake my claws over the stave. Wood peels around my sharp claws, curling into ribbons. Once the stave is destroyed, I hurl my body at the doors with so much force that they burst apart, completely knocked off their hinges.
I rise on my hind legs, searching the gym for my sister. Balloons dangle limply, splattered with red. Tables are toppled over, chairs scattered everywhere. Animals swarm the floor. I don’t see anyone around, but I can smell Bea still. I push through the throng of animals into the gymnasium. My sister is here somewhere.
Another bear lumbers toward me, but I give it a warning huff.
It backs off. Good choice.
Nothing is going to stand between me and my sister.
Sniffing the air, I follow Bea’s scent to the side of the gym. As I get closer, my claws slide on the floor, slippery with spilled punch and blood. There’s a tall table held up in the corner like a shield. Boars ram into it, over and over, desperate to reach whoever is behind there.
Bea.
My nose twitches. Not just her, either. I can pick up the delicate floral of Patricia’s Dior perfume. Jim’s Old Spice aftershave. I catch a whiff of coconut oil in Valerie’s hair and Amund’s sandalwood soap.
The table starts to split.
There’s too many boars—I can’t take them all.
Rising onto my hind legs, I give a powerful bellow, hoping to frighten them off.
