Which would make it a chimera shifter.
And chimera shifters were notoriously difficult to deal with.
To put it mildly,he thought grimly.
If a chimera shifter had gotten it into its mind that Max was a threat, then there really wasn’t a whole lot that Max could do, no matter how much will and determination he had. He’d be lucky to get out with his life, even without the added challenge of keeping Poppy safe… and there was no way in hell he was leaving without her.
The chimera was approaching rapidly, and now Max could see that there was someone riding on its back. Which was… odd. Chimeras were solitary types, and although he didn’t know a whole lot about them, he did know that this was pretty unusual. Whether it was a good sign or a bad one, though, he had no idea.
Still, he had to hope that the chimera was friendly, or at least neutral. Maybe its cell phone carrier had better signal, or it knew how to get to the nearest hospital.
He clutched Poppy tighter as the chimera circled and then landed in an open area nearby, preparing himself to… well, he wasn’t sure what exactly hecoulddo if the chimera decided to attack, but he knew that if he went down, he would go down swinging. He would fight to the death for Poppy, if he had to.
Either way, he wasn’t going to approach the chimera or its rider, and so he stayed where he was, waiting, nerves on edge.
The rider hopped gracefully off the chimera’s back, and Max could see now that it was a woman in a patchwork skirt and gargantuan shawl, with long blonde hair down past her waist.
A moment later, the chimera shifted into a tall, dark-haired man, whose expression could best be described asconfused scowl.
Oh God,thought Max in despair.Is this yet another guy in this town who’s going to stare at me like I’ve grown a second head? Whatever his issue is, he’s going to have to get over it.
“Stop staring at the poor man, Levi!” the woman exclaimed, and the man – Levi, Max supposed – looked startled. Or as startled as someone with what appeared to be a near-permanent frown could look, anyway.
“Sorry,” the woman called out as she approached. “Levi can look a bit grumpy sometimes, but really, he’s the friendliest guy! A total sweetheart, I promise! You just have to get to know him.”
Max glanced back at Levi, who still looked pretty damn suspicious of Max’s presence. Which was a bit rich, given that he’d just flown here as some sort of bizarre hybrid beast and then turned into a human. If anyone else in Girdwood Springs had seen that little display they would’ve run screaming into the forest, and rightly so.
“Oh!” said the woman suddenly, looking sheepish. “Levi is… uh, that is to say…”
“He’s a chimera shifter,” Max said abruptly, seeing Levi’s eyebrows raise slightly in what was probably an expression of extreme astonishment, while the woman blinked her enormous green eyes, her mouth dropping open in surprise.
“It’s been great to meet you, but I really have to go,” Max went on, acutely aware of Poppy’s weight in his arms. “Unless you have a snowmobile parked nearby, or you can arrange for an ambulance to meet me halfway?”
“An ambulance?” the woman said, before appearing to notice Poppy’s state for the first time and hurrying to close the distance between them, Levi following behind. “Oh my goodness! What happened?”
“An avalanche happened,” Max said, gritting his teeth. Pleasantries were the last thing on his mind right now. “I’m sorry, but I have to go.”
He moved to finish carrying Poppy to the path, still standing as he was in the knee-deep snow, but before he could take another step the woman was there right in front of him. Max did a double take – there was no way she could’ve moved that fast in this much snow. It was almost like she’d drifted over it, rather than walking through it.
“She’s so cold,” the woman said, her fingers brushing Poppy’s face – and before Max could sayThat’s because she was buried under several feet of snow, and she’s not getting any warmer, the woman’s fingers started to glow with a soft, golden light that was barely perceptible.
Max was so startled that he nearly dropped Poppy – only the iron death grip he’d had on her kept her from tumbling to the ground.
He took a moment to try and work out whether he should let the woman continue her ministrations or run like hell, before deciding that he would give her a chance. But she had ten seconds to demonstrate that she was being helpful, tops.
“How rude of me – I’m Margot, by the way,” the strange woman said, not even looking up at Max as the glow extended along Poppy’s body. Max could feel a gentle warmth emanating out from the glow, and for the first time since all this started, he felt a real glimmer of hope.
“Uh, Max,” he said weakly, even as the warmth grew. Was this Margot woman a witch of some kind? It was the only explanation he could think of that made sense. What a witch anda chimera shifter were doing together out in the woods he had no idea, but he wasn’t about to question it.
“Nice to meet you, Max,” said Margot, staring at Poppy intensely.
Max looked down at Poppy, too – and was he imagining it, or was the slightest bit of color returning to her face? Her lips were definitely less blue, he was sure of that.
Hope surged within him. It was too soon to know for sure that Poppy would be okay, he knew that… but this was the most positive sign he’d seen. If this Margot truly was warming Poppy up with magic, then he was more than happy to let her keep doing it.
“Just whatareyou?”
Levi’s voice startled him – he hadn’t noticed him coming up behind Margot. But now, tearing his eyes away from Poppy’s face, he could see that Levi was right there, staring at him with an intense curiosity.
