He gave me a wolfish grin and sat like a regal royal dog, curling his tail around his paws as he turned his attention to where Miller was talking to Saar and Hadrian. Deciding that was a good place to focus my attention, I tuned into their conversation.
Saar was still crouched on the ground by Kohara’s side, his hand never leaving Koh’s. Hadrian and Miller knelt with him, Miller gently patting Kohara’s leg.
“None left,” Miller said. “Whatever strike you dealt them last, left hide nor hair behind.” Saar’s eyes flickered to me before looking at Miller.
“Did you find their vehicles?”
Miller shook his head. “No, but we weren’t looking for them. Deciding that getting to you and securing your perimeter was more important, we figured we’d turn back and find their transportation later.”
“We’re assuming someone didn’t just drop them and run,” Hadrian said. “Knowing that they were going to die.”
Saar frowned.
“No,” Tara said, and I glanced at him. His eyes were still closed, his face buried in Tempest’s hair. “They were trying to take me when they got me in that net.”
“This needs a wider discussion,” Hadrian said at last. “But one during which you’re home safe and secure, and healing.”
“I can tell you that your vehicles are right where you left them,” Miller said. “Though I only gave them a brief once over, I don’t think they were messed with.”
The surrounding air lit with a thousand streaks of lightning again. I looked up, enjoying the charge of the air against my skin as the rolling gray clouds moved quickly.
But the clouds suddenly dropped from the sky. Starting with an enormous thundercloud, it came like a missile to the ground, a loud whistle following it. Coming straight toward us.
I tensed, fear skyrocketing in me again. It happened so fast that no one reacted before the now much smaller mass suddenly pulled back and a man dropped to his feet. He brushed his fingers through his flame red hair and shook out his limbs before smiling at Saar.
“Ana,” Saar greeted.
“Anakin Aves,” Gale murmured in my ear. I was thankful for the name tags he was providing. I just needed him to go back and tell me who the Malaks were, and we’d be good to go.
Anakin nodded. His smile started wide but deflated as he crouched down on Kohara’s other side. He brushed a hand through Koh’s hair on his forehead, a haunted look passing through his eyes.
“You okay?” he asked.
Koh gave him a wry smile. “Yes, and even if I wasn’t, you really didn’t do anything at all.”
Anakin laughed, but the sound wasn’t at all genuine. “I have a guilt complex now.” He said it offhandedly, but I realized he was serious when he gave Hadrian a bemused look. “Anyway, we found a couple perched not far from here, kind of staring as if they didn’t know what they were doing or what they should do. Shy froze them and Gannon is dragging them back to The Harem Project. Any luck on the ground?”
“Our wife fried the mountainside,” Saar said.
Eyes turned to me. I hadn’t realized anyone figured out that I’d been the cause of that. I smiled sheepishly. “Sorry? It was a reflex.”
“Later, I’ll question your reflexes,” Miller said, amused. “But making yourself safe was the number one priority.”
“There were a lot,” Saar said, frowning. “So many that we were fucking outnumbered.”
“Twelve storms outnumbered,” Astro murmured, shaking his head. The other two wolves were gradually working their way out of their monster, stuck somewhere between the two right now. I watched in fascination for a minute before turning back to the conversation.
“We should get you off the mountain,” Anakin said, glancing up at the sky. The clouds swirled as the storm became menacing. “Idris is feeling a little uneasy.”
“Idris?” I asked, catching Anakin’s eyes as they flashed my way. A smile touched his lips, but it was Raiden who answered.
“Thunderbird,” he said, nodding to the sky. “That’s why the storms are still circling and have been. We called for the Aves when we called for Nashs.”
I sighed. “It’s nice that you have friends like this,” I whispered.
“Yes,wehave great friends,” Gale agreed. “They’d have come just as quickly if you called.”
I thought about pointing out that if I called, it would be because something would be wrong with one of them. So, of course they’d come. We weren’t friends yet, but I thought we would be in time. Right now, I wasn’t in a huge hurry to make friends. I was still struggling with the friends I had. And ‘had’ may be past tense.
