the door.
It opened before she had a chance to knock. Callum looked down at her, a small frown on his handsome face.
“Fenrir’s gone,” he said, before she’d even opened her mouth.
God bless pegasus shifters.
Right now, a knack for finding people seemed like the most useful shifter power in existence. Callum could make a fortune if he branched out into her own line of work. Darcy fleetingly wondered whether you could turn into a pegasus by being bitten by one.
“Yeah, he must have run off sometime within the last half hour,” she replied. “Can you tell where he is?”
Callum looked off into the distance, eyes unfocusing. “I’m not sure. I think I can detect a life force that feels like his, but it’s right on the edge of my range. And it’s…odd. Flickering in and out. Is he in hellhound form?”
“Maybe. I think he must have left because he could tell the serum was wearing off. He got dressed, but didn’t put his shoes on. I’m really worried, Callum. We have to go find him.”
Callum’s frown deepened. “If he’s shifted, I may not be able to track him. I can’t sense hellhounds when they go invisible. I’ll try, though. Diana’s still up feeding Beth. You can wait here with them, if you like.”
“Like hell I will,” Darcy retorted. “Fenrir’s in trouble. I’m coming with you.”
The faintest hint of a smile flicked across Callum’s face. “Thought you might say that. Here. It will be fastest if I carry you.”
Callum knelt, hunching over as though to offer her a piggyback. She glared at him, folding her arms.
“I can walk, thanks,” she snapped.
Callum gave her a patient look over his shoulder. “But not fly.”
“Oh. Right.” Feeling silly, she draped herself over his back, clasping him around the neck. “So now what—whoa!”
Something that her brain couldn’t quite process happened underneath her—and she was abruptly a lot higher off the ground. She squeaked, grabbing hold of Callum’s silky auburn mane.
The pegasus turned its head, looking back at her with one dark equine eye. It blew out its breath in an inquiring snort.
“I’m fine.” She managed a shaky smile, trying very hard not to look down. “This is fine. Let’s go.”
The pegasus snorted. Darcy swallowed a shriek as powerful muscles bunched underneath her. Vast wings unfurled, reaching for the sky.
“This is fine,” Darcy repeated to herself, palms sweating. “This is aiiiiieeeeee!”
She threw herself flat against Callum’s neck, holding on for dear life as the ground dropped away. Ice-cold wind raked at her face with the force of a hurricane. The pegasus’s broad back lurched sickeningly with every wing-beat. She felt like she was clinging to a plank in the middle of a raging ocean.
Like a lot of girls, Darcy had gone through a pony-obsessed phase. None of her childish fantasies about riding a glorious pegasus through snow-filled skies had ever included a deep desire for a sick bag.
I am not going to spew all over a magic shapeshifting firefighter. She clamped her mouth as tightly shut as her eyes, and prayed for it all to be over.
In what was either two minutes or an entire lifetime, Callum’s hooves touched down again. Darcy half-slid, half-tumbled off his back. Falling to her knees to kiss the sweet, sweet ground would have to wait.
“Fenrir?” she called, staggering upright.
With a surge of relief, she made out an unmistakable dark, looming form through the thickening snow. He’d been standing with his back to them, gazing down the empty road, but he turned at her call.
“Darcy.” She found herself enfolded in his warm arms. “What are you doing here?”
“I w-was worried a-about you,” she got out, through chattering teeth. She slapped his chest, fury chasing away the chill. “You idiot! You promised you wouldn’t run off!”
His muscles tensed under her cheek. “I know. Am sorry for worrying you. But I had to leave the base. To…get my animal under control again.”
Callum had shifted back to human form. He stared off down the road, brow creasing a little.
“Callum?” Darcy asked. “What’s wrong?”
Callum blinked, seeming to come back to himself. “I thought I sensed…no. Gone now. Are you sure you’re all right, Fenrir?”
“Yes. I’m fine.” Fenrir’s arms tightened around her. He turned so that his broad chest sheltered her from the wind. “You shouldn’t have let her come out in this. She’s freezing.”
“She is also right here.” Darcy shoved at Fenrir, relief giving way to annoyance. “And can make her own decisions, thanks. At least I didn’t run barefoot into a blizzard. We need to