of ceremonial marking. His arms slid around the man’s neck, my boss, my colleague, my friend, and tightened until he heard a gurgle.
“We need to decide what to do with him,” he said, his smile widening when the man started to struggle.
“I’m trying to make sure I have this all sorted,” I said, seeing Stuart’s hands as I fiddled with the settings on the tablet. I gasped when I dialled the adrenalin flooding us down, feeling suddenly dizzy in response. Caleb hauled Stuart with him when he moved to support me, Zane appearing at my back to grab hold of me.
“You, OK?” the jaguar shifter asked softly, as if it was embarrassing to show concern for someone.
“I will be when we get out of here. Night air, dirt under our feet, remember?”
“I remember, but we’ve got to throw out the trash first.”
All three men looked meaningfully at me, Kaz, Nero, and Jai having gone upstairs. I heard ferocious barking, rising and rising in timbre, then felt a wave of perfect icy cold wash over me when it ended with an abrupt yelp. Diablo? A small part of my brain wanted to reach out, feel for myself what had happened, but as Zane’s arms tightened around me, I held that back.
“You don’t have to take on all the world’s pain,” he murmured.
“Who are you advising?” I asked, looking back over my shoulder at him.
“We need to make a decision about these guys.” Caleb looked up the stairs when the others returned, my heart clenching when I didn’t see Janey with them.
“Janey ran outside,” Jai said. “She won’t get far, but I think we need to spare her…” His eyes ran over the carnage before us.
I nodded, a short, sharp thing, and when I looked up, I saw Gaden had Hollingsworth pinned to the ground, still writhing around on the highly reflective surface, revisiting Amika’s death.
“I’m not going to make a decision,” I said. “I didn’t experience what you did.” My hand went to where my birth control had been implanted, feeling the slight divot there. “And I’m not going to wait around to see you do it.” I felt a wash of dizziness, a threat of what was to come, but I had a bit more to do before I could finally, finally stop.
“I’m going upstairs, finding some fucking clothes, and walking outside to feel the breeze on my face. Join me when you’re ready.”
I knew how to dislodge another’s consciousness from my mind, as many animals unconsciously wanted to hang onto that which made them feel better. I slammed down my barriers as I climbed the steps, but even though they waited for me to get to the top, I still caught the screams. Tears burned in my eyes, fighting to get out, but I wasn’t going to let them. I wandered, pulling my eyes away from the broken forms of the bodies strewn about the place, and had to be particularly vicious when I saw the dead dog. Locker room, locker room, I kept repeating over and over in my head, feeling a shiver down my spine.
Shock, you’re starting to go into shock, and you don’t have long. I nodded, finding a wardrobe with uniforms in it after opening many doors. I slipped the crisp starched cotton on my skin, revulsion fighting with my body’s need for warmth. By the time I walked towards the elevator, they were up the stairs and at my back, blood dripping onto the metal floor of the lift.
“They’re…” Jai said in wonder at what he saw in the carpark as we emerged from the elevator. “It’s the full moon.”
Regret, pain, need, it was all declared loud and clear in his voice as he looked beyond the darkened glass. But his thoughts, his feelings weren’t the only ones bombarding me. Disbelief, dissociation, and so much longing blasted from the other shifters as they padded closer to the door.
They jumped when I slammed my hand down on the emergency exit button, the doors sliding open. The breeze… It felt like the gentlest of caresses for just a minute, but then it came.
The pack, the women, the whole of the Heller clan, they surged forward, cries and wails going up. Jai’s family surrounded him, hands going to his face, his hair, as if touch was the only thing that would reassure them he was back. So much love, I felt it in a dizzying wave, washing all the rough edges in us smooth again.