“Fine. I’ll stay hidden and safe while you scope out the situation, but you’re not trapping me down here. I’ll stay by the entrance, or dart out of the way if the fighting gets close, but you’re not locking me away for my own good when you’ve spent your entire life being pissed that people have tried to do that to you. We’re in this together, remember?”
Jaw tight, he eventually jerks his head in a reluctant nod. “Youswearyou’ll stay by the fountain unless you need to hide?”
“Are you kidding? I’d make a terrible heroine; not nearly enough empathy. All the NPCs?* would die if they were stuck waiting on me to save them. I’ll stay out of the way and not make shit worse, but like hell am I going to be trapped underground without any way out if something happens to you.”
Because with the way Bellamy strained to move the heavy grate? No way would I be able to budge it on my own without losing my footing and breaking my neck on the way down.
“If it’s not them, we’ll use the distraction to our advantage and make a break for it, consequences be damned,” he declares. “And if something happens to me? Yourun. Understand?” Even though I nod, he presses the issue. “Promise me, Ever. No matter what happens to me, you’ll run, and won’t look back.”
“You want me to lie?”
His nostrils flare, but I use his momentary distraction to reactivate my necklace and slip past him, hauling my body outof the drain and rolling onto the center of a moss covered stone fountain. Pushing to my feet, shock has my feet rooted to the ground.
It looks like a bomb went off in here. The ancient stone temple was already crumbling; the vegetation overtaking the place is proof of that. But there’s enough dust in the air and debris littering the floor to have me coughing and covering my mouth with my shirt. A massive column has fallen, smashing a statue in the center of the room and blocking my view of the fighting. Water pools across the floor, mixing to sludge as it reaches the dirt, tinting pink when it reaches a body nearly buried under the debris I almost overlooked.
Bell rushes over to check the man’s pulse. As soon as he finds it, he lifts a hunk of stone off his legs with a grunt. Dragging him a few feet away from the rubble, he whips off his shirt, leaving an abundance of tattooed skin on display. He wraps his shirt around his head, attempting to tie it off, but there isn’t enough slack to put pressure on the wound to staunch the bleeding well.
Quickly deactivating the cloaking spell, I whisper, “I’ll keep an eye on this guy until you get back. Let me be useful where I can, okay?”
Bellamy scowls, but eventually nods. “If it comes down to it, yourun and hide,understand? Leave him; his life isn’t worth yours.”
“Absolutely, I don’t have a death wish. Still think I should be the one to do recon since I’m, you know,invisible,but screw logic I guess.”
The look he shoots at me makes it clear he’s two seconds away from throwing me over his shoulder and making a break for it, guys be damned. “Don’t you fucking dare.Stay. Here.”
“Heard you the first time,” I grumble under my breath, adjusting his bloody shirt over the guy’s head. Even though Iknow I’m not main character material, it chafes to be constantly reminded that I’d just get in the way.
Bellamy studies my face for a moment, warring with himself, before he rushes off toward the sounds of fighting on the other side of the temple. Reactivating my necklace, I check the unconscious man’s wound. Honestly, it’s not that bad of a gash, head wounds just bleed a lot. Ripping the shirt into a longer strip, I rebandage his head properly. If things go poorly, I’m going to need my hands free, and I’d hate to leave the guy to bleed out while I hide somewhere.
The sounds of fighting are drowned out by a vicious snarl. “Where. Is. My.Mate?”
Ledger.
I breathe a sigh of relief, but it’s short lived.
I haven’t seen a single one of Arson’s shadows, so whatever mimics braved fighting on the front lines must have already stolen their abilities. The only problem? I’m pretty sure Ledger could snap their necks like toothpicks with his bare hands. Not to mention, Arson’s a walking armory. Even with a broken leg, the two of them alone could do a hell of a lot of damage in a short amount of time.
With fresh eyes, I look around at the destruction. When I borrowed Myles’s abilities and screwed up, I blew up a fan. But this… Is this seriously just from breaking through the wards?
AndMylesdid this?
Straining my senses to try and hear what’s going on, I suddenly stiffen. A rush of warmth spreads through my body, twisting and foreign. By the time I realize I must have accidentally latched onto someone’s power, a wave of agony has me doubling over, hands braced on the floor and stomach heaving. The pain is over as quickly as it came, but when I attempt to push myself upright, the only thing I manage is myarm slipping out from under me. Pushing back to shaky legs, I realize damn quickly what’s wrong.
My limbs aren’t responding right because they aren’t human.
Running a quick body check, it becomes abundantly clear that it’s likely Ledger’s ability I borrowed. Wolf-like claws scrape against the stone floor, eerily silent thanks to the necklace still cloaking me.
I’d be thrilled if it was intentional, but as the first splash of drool hits my paw, I’m willing to give over my firstborn in thanks that I’m invisible.
I’ve always wondered if shifters dealt with two warring halves, but it doesn’t feel like there’s someone else controlling my body and me just along for the ride. I’m still wholly in the driver’s seat, my instincts are simply heightened, driving my decisions to where my body responds before I consciously decide to. Strange noise? Head whips that way automatically, ears perked. And when I catch a familiar scent? I’m moving towards it before I can weigh the pros and cons of staying put or investigating.
Bellamy’s never going to trust me alone again.
Can’t even blame him, really.
Following the scent, I reach the fountain, cocking my head when no one is there. But when I see the metal grate Bellamy and I came through slowly sliding, I move on instinct, tackling the air above it. We crash together in the empty fountain, and though I’m internally dying inside from embarrassment, I can’t stop licking what I’m praying is his face.
Nudging his hand with my nose, I don’t stop until he’s running his fingers through my fur, understanding Ledger on a whole ‘nother level now. No wonder he’s so touchy-feely ifthisis what he feels like all the time.
