Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty-Eight

SIMON

I don't know how long we waited before a bunch of cars with sirens and flashing lights came racing down the rural road toward us and screeched to a halt in a billow of dust. I glanced at the clock, but it didn't tell me much. I did not know when those people had shown up on the rooftop. It had to have been a while ago, because the sun had risen pretty high in the east now.

On any other day, I would be making my way to Mama's house for breakfast about now. I missed it. I missed Ogden more.

Greta was telling their colleagues what she knew, but Conrad hadn't left my side yet.

" They'll take you to the hospital. They'll run some tests to make sure you are okay," he was saying.

I frowned at him. I wasn't sure that look would translate since I was still in my cat form, but I wasn't leaving. No way. Not until we found Ogden . If I pushed, I could probably shift, but my instincts were screaming at me not to—was I more injured than I thought? Shifting had never hurt before, but my body had never been so battered before, either. Whatever the reason my intuition had for warning me like this, I knew shifting wouldn't be easy and I didn't want any of these strangers to watch me fight my way into my human shape.

Pops always said cats were proud and noble creatures, and I was no different.

" At least let the paramedic look you over," the cop said.

" That's just a trick to get me in the ambulance, then they'll take off with me inside."

" I promise not to do that," the paramedic said.

I knew Ogden would want me to get checked over, but all that could wait. Besides , I was already feeling a lot better than when I'd first woken up after my jump.

The arrival of another convoy of vehicles saved me from answering. I'd never been so happy to see the Willow Lake Chief of Police , but when Van jumped out of the first vehicle, I could have hugged him— I probably would have if I wasn't still a cat. They couldn't have made that kind of time all the way from Willow Lake and still obeyed the speed limits. Even from here, I could see Van's eyes blazing with the fire of his hellhound and black smoke billowing from his mouth.

Right behind him was a bunch of other familiar faces too. Dillon was there, of course. But they weren't alone. Hayden , Ash , Gage , and the people who'd come to Willow Lake with the demon were all there too. Seeing them eased some of the aching worry crushing my chest. Before this moment, I never would have expected them to rush to help me. I was just Simon . Just a regular old cat shifter. Nothing special. But here they all were.

Van rushed over to me first, and Gage was right behind him—already in his shifted form—like a big red avenging angel. The dark horns on his head looked especially ominous and threatening under the bright early morning sun. His red, leathery wings snapped behind him when he saw me. The guy was badass, no doubt about it. And right now, he looked pissed. Power rolled off him in waves and even the Aspen Bay Police stopped to look at him as he passed.

" Teague ," Gage called out to one of his people. " Over here."

I wanted to scurry away from the death mage, but I didn't have the energy. Van wouldn't let them do anything to me, would he?

Teague ran over. The paramedic scowled when Gage told them to get out of the way.

" Can I touch you?" Teague asked.

" Okay ," I said with a yawn.

As soon as the mage's hands brushed my fur, his magic tingled through me. I squirmed but resisted the urge to hiss and bite. Gradually , the ache in my bones and my head eased.

" That's enough," I said.

" I haven't finished yet…" Teague argued, but the strange tingling sensation stopped abruptly.

" Am I going to die?"

" No , but?— "

" Then that's enough. Save your energy in case…" I couldn't finish the sentence.

Teague frowned at me, then glanced up at Gage . Gage nodded. The mage pulled his hands away. " Come and find me if anything changes and you start to feel worse."

" Sure ."

The hellhounds knew I lied when I agreed to do as the mage asked, but no one called me on it.

I shook out my fur and sighed in relief at how much easier I could breathe and move now. Would it last? I took a couple of steps by the side of the gravel road. My limbs all behaved as they were supposed to and none of them threatened to give out on me.

Success .

We'd wasted enough time. We needed to find Ogden .

As Teague backed away, Van and Gage closed in around me.

" Talk to me," Van said. " What happened?"

I groaned. Hadn't I already gone over all of this? Then shame flashed through me. Ogden was missing. The least I could do was tell anyone who'd listen what had happened. I just felt so weary.

Hayden pushed through the crowd of people surrounding me. Then he was crouching in front of me. He scowled at Van . " He's still hurt."

" He asked Teague to stop."

" Need to shift." I tried to force my body to change, but I was too weak. I looked at Hayden . " Help ."

Hayden sucked in a breath. " It'll hurt."

" I need help," I argued.

The alpha cupped the back of my small skull in his hand. The power of his touch washed through me. Then he leaned down until his mouth was right at my ear.

" Shift ," he commanded.

My body responded to my alpha's wish. I groaned through the pain. Okay . So maybe I hadn't healed as much as I had thought. I ended up in my human form in a crouch position. I swayed and landed on my ass. Even though I was sitting, I was sure I was still swaying. Was I dizzy? I couldn't even tell, but something wasn't right with me.

Hayden dropped to his knees and grabbed me before I toppled over. He yanked me into his arms with one of his hands gripping the back of my neck again.

" Alpha ," I murmured and pushed my face into his neck. His scent soothed me, even better than my mama's would have—but don't tell her that.

He smelled of grease and new tires and a strange bit like ash again, but under all that, he smelled of home and belonging. His gentle power wrapped around me, and I knew he would use that power to do anything and everything to protect me and my mate, because I was one of his. Even if he didn't aspire to be an alpha, he was still my alpha.

" I got you," Hayden said gruffly.

I relaxed into his embrace.

Then , from the safety of my alpha's arms, I told everyone what had happened up on that rooftop. When I got to the part about the demon, Gage cursed. When I told them about Wesley being killed, Ash muttered something about how he'd gotten what he deserved for betraying his friend like that. And when I described how I'd jumped from the roof to escape the bear, Hayden made a strange gasping noise.

Van and Gage had a few questions, but my answers weren't all that helpful.

" Okay , everyone," Davina , the woman who'd come with Gage , said as she clapped her hands. " Listen up."

She was wearing a fitted red leather jacket that flared at her hips, showing off her curves, and she had on the tallest heels I'd ever seen in real life. Her hairstyle was big—not big and crazy like people wore in the ‘80s, which I only knew from seeing photos of my mama, but big, smooth, and helmet-like. Was that from the ‘60s? Something like that. At any rate, the style was not current, but she was rocking it. And just as every single bit of hair was controlled and in its place, she'd also taken complete control of everyone who'd gathered here. A moment ago, she'd been listening to what'd happened, and now she was issuing commands.

" Okay , people. We're going to start our search here. You're being divided into teams. Each team is responsible for searching their assigned area and reporting back. If you notice anything or feel anything while you are walking around, let me know immediately. I don't care how small or inconsequential. You will report every damn thing. Suddenly have indigestion? Tell me. The urge to sneeze? Tell me. Shivers going down your back? That one you definitely better tell me about. You get the idea? Now , let's go find these fuckers."

No one from either police department questioned her authority as she started pointing at people and assigning them an area to search. With her ease at wrangling all those supernatural beings into obeying her, she reminded me of Mama , except Davina cussed a lot more.