Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty-Six

SIMON

I jolted awake. The back of my neck itched. Something was wrong.

" Shh …" Ogden whispered. " Something woke me. I thought something tickled my face, but now I swear someone's watching."

Any lingering fatigue dropped away. The dark and quiet around us suggested it was either very late or very early, depending on how you looked at it. Luckily , I was still in my cat form, so my senses were sharper than if I'd shifted back to my human form. I scanned the shadows of the rooftop garden, but I couldn't see any threats. When I sniffed the air, though, a faint scent of brimstone, ozone, and something herbal irritated my nose. Someone was using magic, but where were they?

" There is magic in the air too," I said just as quietly. I pinned my ears back and tried to make myself as small as possible. " We need to tell the police. "

" I don't think we'll have time," Odgen said.

I would be stronger in my shifted form, but if someone was coming here, I had to protect the whistle so they couldn't use it. My shift washed over me faster than it ever had before. I scrambled to dress as quickly as possible. The weight of the whistle in my pocket was a comfort. If I had it, no one else could get it.

" Shift , Ogden . Hurry ."

But Ogden stayed in his dragon form. I saw the pouch with the tracking device Van had given him lying a few feet away with the rest of his clothing. Why hadn't we dressed again before we shifted? Then he'd have it with him. Just in case.

" Shift and grab the tracking device," I urged him.

But no one would take him again. They couldn't. We'd just found one another. We'd just mated. He was my everything.

We just needed to get out of here. Fast .

" I have a different idea," Ogden said. " The Aspen Bay PD are down on the street."

" Yes . Let's get to them. Then everything will be fine. Come on."

I grabbed Ogden's massive dragon's paw to pull him toward the stairs. He clenched it around my hand. As he moved, little bits of something cascaded off his face. It smelled like a plant. How did that get on him? Whatever . It didn't matter because he scooped me up and held me against his chest. My feet kicked at empty space.

" What are you doing?"

" It's time to fly, kitten," Odgen said.

Every muscle in my body froze at his words. He didn't mean…? His wings swooshed open. Holy Magic , he meant fly fly, as in he was going to fly us off the roof. I braced myself, not sure if keeping my eyes open or closed would be better. Except we didn't lift off the roof. We didn't do anything. His body strained, but his wings showed only a shiver of movement.

" Fuck . They've done something… I can't…"

" What's the matter? Tell me what's going on." My gaze darted over the roof. How could they stop him—a powerful dragon—from moving?

" Hide ," Ogden urged, letting go of me so quickly I stumbled. " Hide . Quickly ."

" No ." I shook my head and tried to take his paw in my hand again. The back of my neck tingled. We were taking too long. We could have been downstairs in his apartment by now. Then there'd only be one more set of stairs. " Shift . We can still get away."

" I … I can't." He gnashed his teeth as his muscles convulsed again. Still , nothing happened. " I can't shift. I can't move. Fuck … They must have used Dracaena …"

" The houseplant?" I knew they were toxic to cats— Mama had warned us all not to chew on those spiky leaves when we were growing up—but this reaction was something else. It impacted his magic. Why was I okay? It had to be something specific to dragon magic.

" You need to protect yourself so you can find me," Ogden continued. " The faster you can get help, the faster you can come get me."

His words felt like boulders crushing my chest. I panted, trying to catch my breath. He couldn't seriously mean he'd let himself be abducted again .

" You …" I couldn't get the words out. " You …"

" Whatever happens, hide," Ogden continued.

" No . I won't let them take you," I shouted, finally pushing the words out.

" Simon , something's happening. That magic has done something to my dragon," he whispered. He struggled, but no matter what he did, he couldn't move. " Can you get away? If you can, go. If not, hide and?—"

Whatever else he might have said was interrupted by a sizzling sound. It reminded me of when Mama cooked too much bacon in her skillet. Ogden's massive dragon's paw pushed me toward the box that'd held the blankets and cushions.

" Please …"

Ogden's whispered plea undid me. I leaped into the box, shifting into my cat form as I did. Whatever magic had incapacitated Ogden had no effect on me. The lid slammed down, closing me inside.

" Begging already?" a stranger asked. I didn't recognize the deep, rumbling female voice. Was this the troll Ogden had mentioned?

I nudged the lid up a little with my head, lifting it so I could peer out. The only troll I knew was Old Thom , who liked to drink Witch's Milk down at the Willow Lake Pub . He wasn't the most personable guy, but he was a pretty harmless fixture in Willow Lake . From what I remembered, all trolls looked similar and spoke with a deep voice. This person was definitely a troll.

Although I sensed she was around my age, she had deep wrinkles and a wide, bulbous nose. Her forehead had a prominent slope, and her long straggly hair sprouted from her scalp about halfway back on the top of her head. She had one arm strapped to her chest. That must have been from the injury Ogden had given her. Good . I hoped it hurt.

Behind her, a strange shimmering circle glistened under the moonlight. An unnatural flame of yellow and orange blazed around the edge of the circle. Wow . That was a portal. I'd heard Jake's demon boyfriend could make portals, but I'd never seen one in person. The day of the bombing he'd made one and shoved half of Willow Lake through it, but I'd missed the whole thing. How was a troll able to do that?

" As if." Ogden laughed. " I don't remember inviting you over tonight. If you really wanted to hear the rest of ‘ Splish Splash ,' you could have found it on YouTube rather than coming all the way here. If you want a private show, I'll need to check my calendar to see when I'm available."

" I don't know how you escaped, but I'm here to take you back," the troll sneered. " I would have preferred to kill you and strip your carcass of scales, but apparently you are too valuable." She was trying so hard to be tough, but she came across as whiny. In fact, she sounded a lot like Warren when Mama made him return something he'd stolen.

I stuck my paws through the gap I'd made between the lid and the box. I curled them over the edge and braced my hind legs. If I could leverage myself just right, I might be able to jump onto the troll. If I knocked her down, maybe Ogden could do something. His magic wasn't listening to him right now, but maybe he could flop on her and pin her down. His dragon was way bigger than she was.

Then a large dark being stepped through the portal. The being's power oozed across the rooftop. It looked a bit like Gage in his demonic form, except this supe was black instead of red. The dark creature—he had to be a demon—surveyed the scene and then nodded toward the portal.

Ogden struggled harder against whatever magic was pinning him to the cushions.

Then three other forms stepped through the portal. One was a mage, one a bear, and the last was… a human? It almost sounded like the start of a joke Clive would tell. Most of his weren't funny, and this one wasn't either. And why would a human be here?

" Good ," the mage said with a satisfied nod. " You ," he pointed at the demon, "go back and prepare the dragon's cage again. Obviously , you fucked up the magic on the last one and that's how he got free. Don't fuck up again." The or else was left unsaid.

The demon dipped his head in acquiescence, then stepped through the magical doorway, returning to wherever he'd come from. As soon as he was out of sight, the portal vanished. The remaining four supes rushed to Ogden . The scent of magic increased. Ogden groaned and thrashed, but he was no match against the powerful magic they wielded.

A giant shape descended from the sky, circling lower and lower until it landed in a flurry of feathers on the roof. The gigantic bird transformed to a man I recognized from the photo Van had shown Ogden . This was Wesley .

How difficult would it be to claw his eyes out? I didn't think I could murder anyone—even him—but I could maim him.

" You have him again," the traitor said. " Give me my money."

The troll snorted.

" You wouldn't have known he was up here if I hadn't told you," Wesley argued. " And you wouldn't have been able to portal here without my help. I took the risk. I flew over and put those ground up leaves in his mouth while he was sleeping. You couldn't have done this without me."

Had he missed seeing me? I was a lot smaller than Ogden's dragon, even in my human form, so maybe he had. If he had seen me, I didn't doubt he would have turned me over to gain their favor.

" Look at the amount of crushed Dracaena on the ground. You wasted at least half of what we gave you. You couldn't even get that right." The mage turned away from Wesley .

" And we're the ones who have to do all the work to get him back where he belongs," the human complained.

" Wait …" The bear lifted his nose and his face distorted in a partial shift. " I smell another." He snarled at the traitorous bird shifter. " Is this a trap?"

" What ?" Wesley's eyes bulged. " No . Of course not. I would never…"

" Gus , I am tired of his games," the mage said, sounding bored as he sent a significant look toward the bird.

The bear grinned at his new prey. His teeth elongated as he closed the distance between them. Wesley backed up.

" What are you…? No . Wait . I just want my money. That's all…" Feathers erupted from his skin as he started to transition to his animal form.

The bear lunged for him and sank his teeth into Wesley's neck before the bird shifter could fully transition or utter another plea or protest. The sickening sound of breaking bones and the distinctive smell of blood gushed through the air. I choked back the bile that rushed up to my mouth. I'd wanted the traitor hurt, but…

But …

I hadn't been prepared for what that meant.

I hadn't been prepared for him to die.

The bear opened his mouth and Wesley's partially shifted body landed with a thud on the patio. He was a mess of feathers and distorted body parts. That's when I heard it… the gurgling breath. The wet, spluttering noise. The bird wasn't dead, like I'd thought. Not yet. But soon. Everyone knew it. A shifter could survive a lot of injuries, but not something like that.

Blood bubbled out of his mouth with each breath he struggled to take. His clothes looked like they were sinking into his skin. I'd never thought about what it meant to shift with our clothing on. It was just something we shifters did. And now I doubted I'd ever be able to shift again without remembering what Wesley looked like right now.

My future nightmares would feature Wesley's dying and mangled body, I just knew it. Trembling , I forced myself to look away. I couldn't help him, but I could still help Ogden . He was in trouble. But how would I do anything against someone who killed effortlessly and without remorse? I could kill a field mouse like nobody's business, but a person? No .

A pulse of light pulled my attention away from Wesley . When the glow faded, Ogden appeared in his human form, naked and vulnerable. I didn't know how they'd done it, but he was no longer struggling against them. He was eerily still. From what the intruders had said, I was confident they would keep him alive, but what if they hurt him? He was so vulnerable right now. They could do a lot of damage to him before his injuries would be dire enough to end his life.

" Why do we have to do this? Why can't we take him through a portal?" the human complained.

" Shut up, Edgar ," the mage snapped.

" Portals do weird shit to some supes," the troll explained in a surprisingly nice tone to Edgar . " We can't take any chances that the portal will do something unexpected, like cleanse his body of the magic Teddy used to sedate him."

" You quit talking too, Vala ," the mage snarled. " We need to get him out of here. Help me lift him."

The mage didn't seem like a Teddy . He was too mean to share a name with cuddly bears. As he beckoned the others forward, an ugly ring on his finger caught my eye. The gaudy mass of tarnished metal and uncut stones was not only hideous, it shimmered with magic. That was not a normal ring. Was that the ring Gage's team had been worried about?

Edgar made a face at Teddy but grabbed Ogden's arms. Teddy and Vala each grabbed one of his legs. Vala was almost useless since she only had one functioning arm, but somehow, they carried him toward the staircase without dropping him .

At the top of the steps, Vala frowned. " This won't work. We can't all fit down those stairs like this."

" Can we just push him and pick him up at the bottom?" The human peered down the steps. " He's a shifter, right? He'll be fine."

Teddy rolled his eyes. " And risk breaking his neck after all this? I don't think so."

Gus , the bear shifter who still had blood around his furry mouth, shifted and stomped over to them. He grabbed Ogden from them, hoisted my defenseless dragon up, and tossed him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. Then the group descended the stairs and went out of sight.

How long before I could go after them? I didn't want to wait too long and risk losing them. If it was just about me, I'd have stayed hidden in that box for the next two days before venturing out. But those creeps had Ogden .

I held my breath and began counting. Why I was counting, I didn't know. But it was helping me stay calm while I waited to follow. Should I count to a thousand? Five thousand? Ten ? What might be the best? If I followed them too soon, they would just capture me too… or worse.

At that thought, my gaze strayed to Wesley .

Blood pooled around him now. Although in the dark, it appeared to be a black stain. I didn't want to see what it would look like when the sun rose.

A clang resonated from somewhere in the building. Did that mean they'd gotten out? Already ? I had to act. Losing one of my nine for Ogden would be worth it.

I shook my head to dislodge the thought of losing anything or anyone, then the shaking rolled over my whole body. That wasn't helping. Ogden needed me. I swallowed down my fear. Ogden thought I was brave. I could do this. For him.

In one motion, I pushed the lid off my hiding spot and leaped free. I detoured only long enough to snatch up the pouch with Ogden's tracker in my mouth, then I raced to the staircase. My phone was in the apartment, so I could grab it on the way through. I'd have to take a minute to shift to tuck it into my clothing, but I'd need to shift anyway in order to call Van and let him know what'd happened. The door leading into Ogden's apartment was ajar. I nudged it with my head to move it out of my way, more concerned with following the people who'd taken Ogden than anything else.

The door didn't swing open as I expected. I pushed harder.

Then the smell hit me. The sickening scent of blood in the air had distracted me so I hadn't noticed the lingering stink of bear. The door suddenly moved, and there, at the top of the stairs, was the bear shifter. He was in his human form—he wouldn't have fit in the stairwell otherwise—but blood still coated his human teeth, which gleamed menacingly from the shadows.

" Gotcha ," he crowed triumphantly as he lunged for me.

I jumped away. The fur on my back and tail puffed out in surprise. I retreated, arching my back and hissing around the pouch, although pretending I could intimidate the deadly predator by making myself look fractionally larger was laughable. My head didn't even reach his knees, and after he shifted, I'd be no bigger than his massive paw. Not to understate the obvious, but this was bad.

" Come here, kitty kitty," Gus coaxed as he prowled toward me. He even did the whole pspspsps thing, the a-hole. " Everything is going to be okay."

Hysterical laughter threatened to rip out of me, because really? Did that approach ever work to put his victims at ease?

I continued to back away. I couldn't let this beast catch me. He'd either kill me or kidnap me as a bonus prize from the night's endeavors, but either way, it'd mean I couldn't help Ogden . The bear stalked me across the roof. His teeth gleamed in the faint ambient light. His breath stank of blood and gore. His eyes glinted with predatory intent.

Then he shifted.

He was gigantic.

The bear lumbered forward on his enormous paws with their enormous claws, bringing his enormous mouth with its enormous teeth closer to me with every step. My heart was pounding so hard I feared it'd give out. But I focused on my one goal: Save Ogden .

When my tail hit the short parapet wall at the perimeter of the roof, I jumped in surprise. The bear laughed. Laughter should have been a reassuring and cheerful sound, but he embodied all the sick and demented joy he got from having his prey cornered.

I gulped.

It couldn't end like this.

I scanned the area, looking for an escape. There had to be a way to get out of this. But to get to the staircase, I'd need to get past the bear first. And even then, he'd be right on my tail. I was fast as a cat, but I doubted I could outmaneuver a seasoned predator.

What was left ?

My gaze darted wildly over everything again until it landed on the short parapet wall.

And then I knew what I had to do.

I was a cat shifter, which meant I could do things cats did and that included surviving falls from great heights. The key to survival was to ensure the height wasn't too high and to stay in my cat form. I knew this. Of course, I could still die, but I had better odds of surviving than most, particularly since I still had all nine lives.

I sent out a short thank you to Clive for being an idiot and trying to leap like a flying squirrel when we were kids. And to Mama for teaching us what Clive did wrong that day.

This would take one of my nine lives.

I hoped it'd just be the one.

No , Mama wouldn't lie, not about something like this.

I'd even written that stupid paper about it.

But this was so much different. This was real.

Puke shot up to the back of my mouth, and my heart felt like it'd jumped into my throat right behind it. I trembled. I was seconds away from hyperventilating and passing out.

But Mama wouldn't lie. I had to trust that. I had to believe it. I had to?—

The bear lunged at me.

I jumped.

Right over the short brick wall and into nothing.

I was flying.

Like Ogden .

Except … I really, really wasn't. I was hurtling through the air. Fast . Right down to the ground a bazillion miles below me. What had I done?

I screeched in fear. The pouch, which I'd forgotten was in my mouth, dropped out of my mouth to free-fall with me. All I could do now was pray to the Eternal Magic that I'd survive.

Cats always land on their feet. Cats always land on their feet …

As the gravel alleyway got closer and closer, I forgot how to breathe. I forgot how to do anything at all. This was going to hurt. Real bad. And losing one of my nine? That'd hurt worse.

I wanted to close my eyes, but I couldn't. I wanted to cry for my mama, but my tongue wouldn't work. I wanted to shout out to Ogden that I … I … Holy Mother of Magic , I loved him.

I loved Ogden .

That was my last thought before I hit. Then everything disappeared under a wave of pain and darkness.