my teeth and channeled more ley line power. The pain was intense, but it was better than being squashed flat. Had the building stopped falling, or was the pile on top of me getting heavier? I couldn’t tell.
My wolf came back. She spiraled up my arm and disappeared into my chest. The sensation was of a puzzle piece finding its home. Her power combined with mine and the shield held steady.
I could use air magic to try to blast away the debris on top of me, but I worried I would lose the shield if I did that. I couldn’t tell how deep I was buried. If I lost the shield without clearing an opening big enough to get out, the result would be an Alice pancake. On the other hand, I had to get myself out soon, before I ran out of air or my shield broke.
Just as I was about to try an air magic blast, Malcolm’s head and shoulders appeared in the tiny space occupied by my body and the air I had to breathe. I could barely see him through the dust.
“I knew it! You’re alive,” he crowed.
I coughed. “For the moment.”
“Daniel’s digging you out. Hang on—let me tell him where you are.” He disappeared.
I heard the faint sounds of pieces of debris moving. The sounds got louder and closer. The pile on top of me lightened, and chunks of rubble crashed as Daniel picked them up and threw them aside. Holding the shield became far easier as he cleared the wreckage.
Suddenly, sunlight and relatively fresh air streamed through an opening above my head. “Alice!” It was Daniel’s voice, growly and worried.
I coughed again. “I’m here. I’m okay.”
The opening got bigger until there was nothing left above me. I let go of the ley line and let my shield dissipate.
Daniel appeared, covered with sweat and dust, his eyes golden. “Can you get out?”
I got to my feet, woozy from channeling the ley line and holding the shield for so long. The entire corner of the building lay in a pile around me. Sirens wailed in the distance again, and I had a feeling they would be responding to this scene.
“Nora’s gone?” I rasped, doubling over to cough out dust.
“Yeah, she gave up and hightailed it out of here,” Malcolm said. “I think we should do the same before the cops and feds arrive.”
Daniel helped me climb out of the rubble. Bystanders and employees of the businesses housed in the building picked their way through the debris, looking for anyone else trapped in the wreckage.
Thankfully, Daniel had found some basketball shorts to wear, sparing me the sight of my father naked. They weren’t his size; maybe he’d found them in his friend’s truck. When he’d shifted, his wounds had healed, though the silver bullets had left scars.
I followed Daniel to his friend’s truck, parked at the other end of the alley in a small lot. “Come back with me,” I urged. “Moses won’t stop hunting you. For some reason, he’s angry I’m part shifter, and he wants to take it out on you.”
Daniel leaned against the truck. “I can’t believe I have a daughter. All these years…you’re sure?”
“I’m sure. I have it on the highest authority.” That highest authority happened to be an angel named Tura, but I didn’t think now was the time to tell him that. He’d had enough revelations for one day.
“Why the hell didn’t Moira tell me?” he demanded, his eyes blazing gold. He was angry now that the shock had worn off. I couldn’t blame him. “I never would have left. I never would have abandoned her, or you. Why?” He snarled.
“She wanted you to live—to get away from Moses and have a life. I don’t know why, but she believed Moses would have killed all three of us if he’d known you were my father. She and my dad kept it a secret until the day they died. I only found out recently because of a spelled mirror that showed me a forgotten memory of overhearing them talking.”
“She had no right to keep this from me.” He scrubbed his face with his hands. “You look nothing like the picture you showed me.” It wasn’t an accusation, just a question.
“When I escaped from Moses, I had to steal someone’s identity to hide from him. I had plastic surgery and became Alice Worth, who died in Chicago five years ago. My real name is Ava.” I swallowed hard. “Come home with me.”
He shook