If I could take out at least one, the odds would be more even. And if it came down to us against them, Ilianna was a mare, and more than capable of using her teeth and feet to protect herself.
But even a mare can't outrace a bullet.
Fear rose, sharper and harder, but I shoved it aside. Mom hadn't said how she would die—just that she would if I didn't get here. Well, I was here.
And Ilianna wasn't going to die.
I reached to my left and grabbed the top of the fence, hauling myself onto it and balancing somewhat precariously.
And found the first shifter.
He was crouched on the roof of one of the buildings that backed up against the lane, his attention on the top end of the lane. The rich gold of his hair said it was the lion shifter, and the glint of silver in his hand told me he was armed.
Just like that inner voice had feared.
God, there were days I cursed being clairvoyant. It only added to the fear, and this situation was bad enough without intuition heaping more shit on top of it.
I scanned the rest of the rooftops and trees, but couldn't spot the other shifter. His scent was coming from the left—the opposite side of the lane from the lion shifter—but that was about as defined as the location got.
I glanced at the ground, looking for a weapon. The small backyard was concrete and basically held nothing but rotting leaves from the nearby gum trees and a stack of bricks.
But they were better than nothing.
I jumped down lightly, took off my helmet, then picked up three. Spiders crawled out of the middle holes and I had to resist my instinctive urge to drop them. They were mainly daddy longlegs and harmless, but my skin still crawled as one of them scampered across my hand. I blew it off, resisted another instinctive urge to jump up and down on the thing, and made my way back to the fence instead.
But as I hit the top of it, Ilianna appeared down at the far end of the lane. The lion shifter raised his gun.
"Ilianna, run!" I screamed.