the case, keeping an eye on the Thunderbird. “Let’s not linger, though.”
Buck grunted agreement, but made no move to get on the pegasus. He turned the gun over in his hands, staring down at it.
“Lupa,” he said—which was the first time Darcy had heard him address her directly by name, rather than just muttering darkly in her general vicinity. “Your snaky buddy in the basement said the Thunderbird’s a shifter.”
Lupa eyed him, in much the same way that Rory had the Thunderbird. “Yes. Uncegila told me. She doesn’t lie. Not directly, at least.”
Buck lifted his gaze to the Thunderbird, which was still busy yanking bits of metal and cable out of the ground, apparently oblivious to them all. “Any idea who it really is?”
“No,” Lupa replied, sounding a little baffled. “It appeared out of nowhere. Uncegila was certain that there were no awakened Thunderbird shifters left. That’s why she went with her pack in person, possessing my mother’s body, to eliminate the last of the Storm Society. She would never have dared to go to Thunder Mountain otherwise.”
Buck nodded absently, never taking his eyes from the Thunderbird. “Right. I see now.”
Then, in a single, lightning-fast movement, he took aim at the Thunderbird.
“No!” Fenrir and Lupa shouted together.
Buck pulled the trigger.
There was no crash of thunder. No flare of lightning. The Thunderbird just collapsed, silently, its vast form blurring. Feathers curled into wisps of cloud, shrouding them all in dense gray fog.
“What have you done?” Lupa shrieked. Darcy couldn’t see her through the swirling clouds, but her horror resonated down their mental link.
Horror…and something else.
Just the faintest echo, a foreign emotion. It didn’t come from Lupa herself, but from something beyond her; a vast, unseen darkness, lurking just beyond the light of the pack bond.
Triumphant, hissing laugher.
Wind shredded the fog, allowing sunlight through once more. Darcy found that she’d reverted to hellhound form, instinctively protecting Fenrir’s back. He was as white-faced as his sister, staring at Buck in frozen disbelief.
The Superintendent had dropped the gun. He was on his knees, shaking, rocking.
In his arms, he cradled a limp human form.
“I had to,” Buck said, holding the unconscious man, glaring up at them all through his tears. “I had to. He’s Zephyr Frasier-Cole. He’s my nephew.”
Chapter 45
“I’m not sorry.” Buck tightened his grip on his nephew’s lax hand, as though he thought they might try to tear him away. He hadn’t let go of Zephyr since they’d got back to Lupa’s mansion. “He’s my family. I couldn’t leave him like that.”
“This is just what Uncegila wanted, you idiot!” Lupa was still taut with fury. Darcy could tell that she was barely keeping her hellhound in check. “I’ve never felt her so triumphant. She is jubilant right now!”
“I don’t see why,” Wystan said. He’d been checking Zephyr over, with a paramedic’s ingrained skill. “Physically, he seems perfectly healthy. Unconscious, of course, but that’s to be expected, given the shock. I see no reason why he shouldn’t make a full recovery.”
“You still don’t understand.” Lupa pressed both palms to her forehead, closing her eyes. “Vance didn’t just make the serum stronger. He made it permanent.”
“You mean…he’ll never shift again?” Darcy asked.
“His animal’s dead now,” Lupa gritted out through clenched teeth. “And only the Thunderbird’s lightning can cleanse the forests. Only the Thunderbird can stop Uncegila’s brood from hatching into our world. You think it was bad before? This summer, in spawning season, they’ll swarm.”
She turned away, striding out before anyone could respond. Through the pack bond, Darcy sensed her dropping into her hellhound form, sidestepping into hellspace.
“You’d better go after her,” Rory said to Fenrir. “Sorry, but I still don’t trust her as far as I could throw her.”
Fenrir glanced at her in silent request. Darcy nodded at him, squeezing his hand.
“Go find her,” she said, releasing him. “She’s still got Uncegila in her head. I feel sorry for her, but Rory’s right. We can’t risk her running off before the shifter agents arrive to take her into custody.”
Fenrir sighed. “She won’t try to escape. She wants to be imprisoned, and not just to keep everyone else safe. But will go find her. Comfort her, much as I can.”
“Do you think Lupa’s right?” Joe asked Rory as Fenrir left. The sea dragon looked worried. “About the horned serpents?”
Rory’s jaw tightened. “If she is…we’ll deal with it. Somehow.”
“I’m not sorry,” Buck whispered. His eyes never left his nephew’s face. “I’m not sorry.”
After that, it was just a matter of waiting.
The shifter agents arrived, eventually, in