when Darcy was yelling at Uncegila. She definitely made the motherloving demon flinch.”
“It would not surprise me if Darcy can exert at least some influence over Fenrir, even when he’s possessed,” Wystan said. “I can’t believe that even Uncegila could force a shifter to harm his mate.”
“We can’t afford to pass up anything that might give us an edge,” Candice said. She exchanged a long look with Wystan, some silent communication flashing between them. Candice nodded, turning to Rory. “Darcy can have my place. A straight-up fight isn’t really in my wheelhouse. And anyway, someone’s still got to feed the animals.”
“All right,” Rory said. “So I take Edith, Seren takes Joe and Wystan, and Callum carries Blaise and Darcy.”
“Hold up,” Buck said. “I’m coming as well.”
Joe’s eyebrows shot up. “I thought you’d sworn never to get involved in, as I believe you put it, ‘motherloving shifter nonsense.’”
“Giant snake demon tries to burn down your home, a man’s got to take it personally,” Buck retorted. “That’s twice now that this motherloving creature’s gone after me and mine.”
“That’s an interesting point, actually,” Wystan said, frowning. “Diana wasn’t the only person the demons targeted first last night. They went for the Superintendent before any of the rest of us. There must be a reason for that.”
“Buck could touch the demons,” Darcy said, remembering how her own foot had gone straight through one. “Just like the rest of you. But I couldn’t.”
“We know Buck’s sister was a member of the Storm Society,” Edith said. “Maybe you really are descended from Thunderbirds, Superintendent. Just like Diana.”
“I am not a motherloving shifter,” Buck retorted. He switched his glare to Rory. “But I am your boss. I’m coming. Unless you all want to spend the summer flipping burgers and waiting tables instead of fighting fires.”
Wystan rubbed his forehead, looking pained. “This is beginning to feel like one of those logic puzzles about crossing a river with a goose, a fox, and a sack of grain.”
Rory had the expression of a man trying to herd cats, who’d just discovered that half of them were tigers. “Superintendent, with all due respect, there isn’t space.”
“Yes, there is,” Blaise said. “Buck can have mine. I’ll stay behind.”
“You sure?” Joe asked her. “Not like you to back down from a fight.”
Blaise stared at the floor. “I have to. I nearly became the Phoenix last night. My animal is still fighting me, yearning for the flames. It doesn’t care what—who—would burn as well. But I do. I can’t risk my dad’s life again. Not for anything.”
Rory touched her shoulder, his golden eyes soft with understanding. Then he straightened, all business once more.
“All right then.” Rory looked around at them all. “Let’s go put an end to this.”
Chapter 39
The moment he stepped out of hellspace, he knew.
It was more than just the lingering scent of his sister. Fenrir stared down into the shadowed valley, at the dark river curling through it like a vast, lazy serpent, and thought: Home.
Birdcat landed next to him, Stone Bitch on his back. A moment later, Shadowhorse’s hooves touched down on the other side. Deep Bitch’s sleek, predatory body hovered over them all, fins spread to balance against an invisible current, air pulsing through her gills like water.
“My word,” Icehorse said from atop the shark. He shaded his eyes, gazing down at the mansion that rose out of the thick forest that carpeted the valley. “And I thought my family’s ancestral house was ostentatious.”
Stone Bitch slid off her mate’s back. She pointed up at the narrow metal towers that encircled the valley. “Look at all the lightning rods. Whoever lives here, they’re seriously worried about thunderstorms.”
Man-Alpha grunted, helping The Bitch dismount from Shadowhorse. “Then I guess we’re in the right place. Any sign of Lupa, Fenrir?”
Fenrir lifted his head, scenting the wind. The scents of the valley called to him, promising safety, promising home…
*Can’t tell from here,* he said. *But all this territory is hers. Ours. Family has been here for a long, long time.*
The Bitch nodded. “Since the late 1700s, according to my research. The Malverys came over with the first European colonizers.”
*Older than that.* The hair stood up on his spine. Because that feeling of home reached deeper than his hellhound instincts… *Didn’t mean human family. This is serpent country. This is mother’s land.*
Birdcat shifted, one hand reaching out to clasp his mate’s. He glanced at Shadowhorse, who’d also resumed human form. “Can you sense if Lupa’s down there, Cal?”
The pegasus shifter shook his head. “I can’t