He took a risk and shifted back to human, Fenrir forcing the change so quick he nearly vomited once he stood on two feet. Shaking his head, Jono hurried to where Sage and Marek stood, Wade having yet to move from his crouched position. The rancid smell of burning bodies was too much for even the wind and the rain to push aside, and it drifted up to them with a foulness that made Jono’s throat itch.
“How did you find us?” Jono asked once he was in earshot.
“The explosions were kind of hard to miss,” Marek said, teeth chattering a bit.
“Wade and Leon got us out of Bellevue once the veil tore,” Sage said.
Jono wrapped his arm around Sage’s shoulders, providing her support to lean on, breathing in her scent. “You should’ve stayed in the ICU.”
Sage shook her head, wavering on her feet a little. The hospital gown she wore clung to her skin wetly, and she felt cool to the touch in a way that was worrisome. Werecreatures had higher core temperatures, and she wasn’t anywhere close to that heat at the moment.
She looked him in the eye, blinking slowly. “I wasn’t leaving you to fight alone.”
“You can barely stand.”
“I tried that argument with her already. It didn’t work,” Marek said.
Jono grimaced. “Clearly.”
Sage nudged him in the side with her elbow. “Wade got us out from downtown. We didn’t have much trouble flying up here. He seemed to know where to go.”
“Reed’s here. Maybe that’s why.”
Marek lifted one shoulder, drawing attention to the rucksack he carried. “I have Wade’s clothes in here. I wasn’t sure if you wanted him to shift back to human or not, but he was adamant about not running around naked in the streets.”
Another burst of fire from Wade aimed below on the street sent a wave of heat their way. Jono eyed Wade critically. Manhattan streets were too narrow and hemmed in on all sides by tall buildings for Wade to safely traverse even on a clear day, much less the strange twilight they were currently fighting in amidst the veil.
“Wade,” Jono yelled. “Shift back to human.”
Wade twisted his long neck back around, one large golden eye blinking down at him from his wedge head. He spat another burst of fire at the street in a different direction, though the force of it was lessened some. Then he shifted mass with a rapidness that left his body a blur until he appeared as human, crouched between two cars he’d crunched flat upon landing.
“Am I glad to see you!” Wade yelled before sprinting their way.
Marek shrugged off the rucksack and tossed it to Wade, who hurriedly got dressed in clothes that got immediately wet from the rain. Red scales shined along his neck and face, pushing through skin. His eyes remained gold, and the smoke coming out of his nose was torn away by the wind.
“Are you all right?” Jono asked.
Wade shoved his feet into a pair of sneakers, staying low to the ground as gunfire sounded through the air from the street below. “I’m fine. Where’s Patrick?”
Jono shook his head. “Not here.”
A stricken expression crossed Wade’s face. “Still missing?”
“Gerard and the Hellraisers went to get him back with Hermes’ help. I’m hoping they arrive soon.”
“You can’t feel him?” Sage asked.
Jono’s mouth twisted. “We’re past the veil, or it passed us. Until he’s back with us, I can’t feel him through the soulbond.”
Even then, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to. He’d been trying, but whatever distance stretched between them was too far for him to know where Patrick was. Jono could only hope he was alive and unharmed.
An explosion had them all ducking low, Sage nearly falling over. Between Jono and Marek, they kept her upright.
“What was that?” Wade asked.
Jono craned his head around, looking at the smoke rising up from Grand Central Station. “I think they blew the entrances to keep the zombies from getting out.”
“That won’t stop them,” Sage said, one arm tucked around her middle. She held herself stiffly, breathing tightly through her clenched teeth. The scent of pain rolled off her, making Jono feel helpless about being unable to help her. “We learned that in Paris.”
