I winced, remembering Walsh and I killing two of Trip’s prized fighter Ithaki trolls. Walsh almost died and we’d taken Astra. It was a hot mess.
“I mean, technically, it was all part of the deal.”
Sage chuckled. “Trip looked like he was ready to murder us. Let’s be cautious.”
She was right. The last thing I needed was for someone to turn me in to the vampires. I mulled over different ideas for ways to get inside and look for Marmal when my wolf rose to the surface.
‘I’ll go.’
Yes!
I was so used to not needing her that much during my time in the Dark Woods that I almost forgot she was there at times.
I clued in Sage to the plan and she nodded as we pulled our horses off to the side. We were behind some thick trees which afforded us a nice view of the back of the barn.
Sage looked at me expectantly. “Want me to shift and go with your wolf too?”
I shook my head. “No offense, but your wolf can’t walk through walls.”
A grin pulled at her lips. “Touché.”
I slipped off my cuffs quickly and without another word, my wolf leapt out of my chest and onto the ground. She solidified and then gave me a nod as I placed the cuffs back onto my wrist.
‘Find Marmal,’I told her,‘Get her to come outside.’
I was talking to myself. Of course she knew the plan, she was me. Being a split shifter would never be something I would get used to. Closing my eyes, I tuned into my wolf’s point of view and suddenly I was looking out of her eyes. She padded across the rocky ground until she reached a back door.
It was closed.
Sticking her nose to it, she inhaled.
Blood. Pain. Deer. Bear. Fear.
The mixture of smells wafted through a tiny crease in the door and my wolf suddenly went semi-solid. When in my wolf form, I never had to strain to do anything or think about it too much. If I wanted to walk through a wall, I just did it. I wished my human side was more like that. Human Demi questioned everything, even herself.
When she was through the wall, she stayed semitransparent and I knew that she would be invisible to others who looked at her, the same way she’d been invisible during the meeting with the vampires, when only Sawyer saw her.
Weaving through the crowd, I noticed there was a fight going on. I recognized the yelling and the sound of fists hitting bone.
“What’s happening?” Sage whispered beside me, pulling my attention from my wolf.
“She’s in. There’s a fight going on. She’s looking for Marmal.” I slipped from my saddle. I wanted to be ready to run up and greet my troll friend.
“I’ll tie off the horses,” Sage informed me, and I just nodded, seeing through my wolf’s eyes as she scanned the room.
Big male, small male, ugly male, Trip, animals in cages … it was all the same until I noticed a girl hunched over the largest cage in the place.
Marmal.
She was doing something to the dragon! I’d completely forgotten about the dragon creature we’d seen last time until now. My wolf burst forward, weaving in and out of the melee until she was at Marmal’s heels. My beautiful troll friend was covered in dirt, on her knees and scrubbing the talons of the dragon through the cage with a bristle brush and some water. One of the talons had been shorn off completely; the end of it was flat and chipped in some spots.
“I’m sorry, girl,” Marmal cooed to the dragon.
Even though my wolf was invisible, the dragon suddenly jerked her head in my direction, staring me right in the eyes. The light in the barn filtered through the bars, lighting up those milky pearl scales, and my wolf froze, entranced by her deep turquoise eyes. She was the most magnificent creature I’d ever seen.
“What’s—?” Marmal said and turned her head just as my wolf solidified.
Marmal jumped a little. “Who are you? How did you get out of your cage?” She looked over her shoulder, anxiety playing across her features as she scanned the room for Trip. My wolf stepped forward and nuzzled Marmal’s leg, causing Marmal to frown. Reaching out, Marmal stroked my wolf’s neck. “Come on, girl, you can’t be out of the cages or I get in trouble.” She dropped her scrub brush and stood, just as my wolf darted across the room.
