Bloodlust - Helen Harper Page 0,96

be. I waddled towards the eagle enclosure, trying to keep my eyes open for any of my team or any sign of Endor. The reeking odour from within the costume was really rather remarkable. I was fairly certain there would be some scientists somewhere who could bottle the smell I was being enveloped in and use it to develop an entirely new species. Still, at least it meant when I passed by a small group of shifters, including Lucy, they didn’t get a single suspicious whiff it might be me inside the costume.

I flapped my wings and attempted to move faster. I’d lost a lot of time getting back to Clava Books to pick up the furry disguise, make the phone call I needed, then get myself to the theme park. It wasn’t as if I exactly had the power to open up my own portals after all. Still, it appeared as if I’d not missed much, judging by the amount of Otherworlders I saw milling around, looking not in the slightest bit inconspicuous. They could at least try to blend in, I thought irritably, as I watched a mage and a faerie accost a couple and demand to see some identification. Like that was going to work.

An itch was starting to bug me at the back of my neck. I twisted my head to try to relieve it, but failed miserably and wondered vaguely whether this was what it felt like to be an actual shifter: hot, sweaty and prickly all over. A small child ran up and hugged my rather enormous and bulging stomach. I patted him on the head and tried to side-step. Unfortunately his parents had already decided this would be an optimal shot for the family album, and I had to submit to several moments of posing before they moved on. I supposed at least I didn’t have to pretend to smile.

I quickly shuffled forward, in order to ward off any further photograph hunters, and wished I could see more out of the large penguin head. My peripheral vision was almost entirely obscured. How in the hell Aubrey had ever managed to follow me while wearing this, I had no idea. Considering how awkward the costume was, he hadn’t done such a bad job as I’d thought at the time. Right now I wasn’t even completely sure I was heading in the right direction.

Aiming for what seemed to be a signpost up ahead, I concentrated on moving as fast as I could. Thanks to the mesh blocking my vision, I pretty much had to shove my face an inch from it to work out that it was saying the eagles were just up ahead. Thank fuck. I smiled grimly and plodded on, flapping my arms in order to make sure that people kept out of my way. Perhaps they’d just think I was trying to fly.

I hit a slight incline in the path and tried to propel myself upwards. It was fine for a few steps but, as the path got steeper, it started to seem impossible. My massive belly kept getting in the way until I was barely managing to inch my way up. I turned to my right and tried side-stepping instead. It wasn’t much better but at least I felt as if I was making some kind of progress. Unfortunately I was suddenly inundated with streams of people exiting from a door behind me – and all walking in the opposite direction. I was banged and shoved and lost my balance, slowly toppling over. I supposed that one good thing was the vast penguin suit cushioned my landing. In fact, I barely felt it. I was, however, now sliding slowly down the path, still surrounded by people, and entirely unable to bring myself back upright.

“Hahahaha! Look at the stupid penguin,” someone said.

Great. Yes, look and laugh. Don’t try to help the stupid penguin stand back up though. That would spoil all your fun, I thought, annoyance seething through me.

“Here, let me help you,” said a smooth and spine-chillingly familiar voice.

Oh, shit. It was Endor. Red began to seep across my eyes, and I felt the burning begin, tearing through my veins and squeezing my heart. He yanked hard on one of my wings, pulling me back to my feet. I stared at him through the penguin’s head. What was he going to do now? The one major drawback of this stupid costume was that there was no way I was going to