She pushes her big head against me, and I hug her. The silver is sucking my strength but I manage to hang on long enough to get down the stairs to the exit. I nudge open the door and look out long enough for a blast of bullets to send me back into the darkness.
"We're pinned down." I try Nash again, with no response.
My earpiece crackles.
"Sam, can you hear me?"
"Yeah."
"Hacked your-" static takes over her voice. "They're on their way."
"What?"
"Hang tight, Sam. You're getting backup."
~.~
Layne
SAM GOES limp and I snarl, pushing against him. The world is narrower and wider at the same time, full of scents and unfamiliar instincts. My claws flex against the concrete. I want to destroy the world.
The building rocks. Fuck. I need to get us clear. We can survive bullets but not a building collapsing on us.
I think.
Catching Sam's belt in my teeth, I drag his unconscious body to the door.
"Layne?" he mumbles just as the building shudders again. He seems to come awake, hoisting the gun. "All right. Let's get out of here. Kylie, tell me when." He wraps his belt around my neck, hooking his arm into it. "Ready?"
I nod. "Three-two-one."
I slam into the door and race into the sunlight.
Rubble rains down on us, along with gunfire. Sam returns some fire as I drag him along, fighting to reach the woods. Bullets spatter the dirt in front of us and I stop short.
"Layne, go," Sam urges. "Nash is covering us."
We're a few hundred feet out from the woods when an engine revs. Sam's van darts between us and the trees.
The side door slides open and Declan sticks his head out.
"Come on, wolfie! Quit necking with Tony the Tiger and get on with ya!"
"It's Layne," Sam shouts.
"Is it? Jay-sus." The Irishman hoists a machine gun on his shoulder and hops out of the van. He sends off a burst of bullets in the direction of enemy gunfire as he walks towards us. "That's one fecking big kitty."
When he reaches us, he grabs Sam's other arm, supporting him the rest of the way.
We're almost to the van, when something white swoops overhead. I turn, snarling, and swipe blindly at snowy wings.
"Layne, stop," Sam rasps. "It's Laurie. He's an owl."
An owl. Of course. I wonder why I never asked what kind of shifter he was. I guess I assumed he and Declan were wolves, like Sam.
I leave the owl to flap away, and leap into the van, covering Sam's body with my own.
"All in?" Parker asks from the driver seat.
Declan slides the door shut and hops into the passenger seat, settling his gun out the window. "Go."
Parker hits the gas and the van hauls back in reverse. As we back up, the building crumbles. A body in black fatigues leaps from the roof just in time for the giant owl to grab his arms and soar with him to the safety of the trees.
~.~
Sam
MY BODY THROBS with dull pain and an out-of-reach itchy feeling that tells me my shifter healing is working. Someone moves the pillow I'm lying on, and I can't stop my groan.
"Sam? Sam? You awake?"
"Try this." A smooth glass touches my lips just before liquid sloshes into my mouth and burns down my throat. I come awake, sputtering.
"What the fuck?" someone shouts. Layne. "You can't give him whiskey!"
"He's a wolf!"
"He's recovering. That's it-everyone out."
"Kitty's angry-"
"Now." Layne's voice is tinged with a snarl. My nose twitches with the thick smell of fur.
"Layne?" I open my eyes. She slams the door and whirls, dark hair flying around her pale cheeks.
"Sam? Are you all right?" She hurries back to my side and puts a water bottle to my lips. "Drink this. Should wash away anything that Irish idiot gave you."
I sip slowly, holding her eyes. Her brow is creased, cheeks flushed, but she's unmarked. Of course, she won't scar now. She's a shifter.
"Just try to relax." She gives me a rueful smile. "You've been out since our escape. It's after dusk. Parker says you might've gotten silver poisoning because the bullet was in so long. My fault. It took the guys a while to convince my tiger to let me shift back."
"Where are we?"
"Nash's place. He's back too, although he took off for a long walk. I may have yelled at him for going rogue and leaving you."
"Cats are territorial." I smile weakly.
"Yeah, well," Layne makes a show of fussing with my blankets, "He better watch it. I'm just as big and bad as him."
I catch her hand. "You're magnificent."
She blushes. "You should sleep."
"Is that an order?"
"Yes." she starts to head away.
"Layne."
She turns, catching the serious note in my voice. Wariness flickers over her expression.
"I'm so fucking sorry. I really am. I was a goddamn idiot. You were right-I chose darkness over you. Hate over love. And I know Smyth is already dead, but I need you to know-I have my head out of my ass now.
"You're the only thing that matters to me. You make me feel sane. Worthy. And I'll do anything in the world to prove that to you."
She returns to my side, perching her curvy ass beside me on the bed. "You did choose me. I saw you at that lab. You only cared about rescuing me. Getting rid of Smyth was an afterthought."
I wrap an arm around her waist, pull her closer. I don't ever want to let her go again.
~.~
Layne
I WAKE NESTLED into Sam's hard body. He kept me tucked against his side all night, one arm looped around me even as he slept.
The changes in my body since Smyth turned me have me up early. I'm full of energy and heat. I haven't taken my medicine in twenty-four hours, but I feel no need for it. The tremors are gone.