Page 79 of Curse of the Wolf
He tumbled out, landing on the road, one of the tires almost rolling over him. A great shattering of glass sounded.
I looked in time to see the bipedfuris reach through a gaping hole in the windshield and rip out… a piece of the vehicle. A circle attached to a shaft with broken wires dangling from it. He pitched it into the ravine as the driver—Radomir—screamed.
There was a bend in the road ahead. If the vehicle didn’t turn to follow it, we would smash into the rock wall.
I barked a warning and leaped off the roof, assuming Duncan would do the same. But he reached through the windshield. Trying to pull out Radomir?
I barked another warning. Duncan glanced around and saw the danger. He crouched to spring off the roof of the vehicle before impact, but something long and metal thrust through the broken windshield. It startled him and must have hurt because his face contorted with pain.
He kicked at the object that had attacked him, a bladed weapon Radomir had grabbed, but the vehicle hit the rock wall, and Duncan lost his balance. After smashing into the cliff, it bounced toward the ravine and over the edge. Duncan twisted and jumped as it fell, but he couldn’t reach safety.
Horrified, I stared as the vehicle and Duncan disappeared from my view. Fear gripped me, and I couldn’t move for several seconds. Not until a thunderous crash sounded far below. The vehicle landing.
Dread walked with me as I padded to the edge of the cliff and peered over.
The armored vehicle had stood up to bipedfuris claws, but even it hadn’t been able to endure the fall. It lay smashed at the bottom, Radomir thrown out, the lower half of his mangled body sprawled in the stream.
And Duncan?
He lay on the far side of the waterway, not moving.
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The wolf magicdidn’t leave me until I found a way to the bottom of the cliff, the scent of the stream and burning leather and heated metal guiding me toward the wreck. As soon as it did, leaving me a naked human woman in a dark forest, I struggled to find my way with dulled senses. The tears leaking from my eyes would have made it hard to see even if there had been more light. At least the night was still and quiet, and I could hear the gurgle of water.
I patted my way through the trees, hoping that Duncan had somehow survived that fall. As a bipedfuris, he had great stamina and strength, not to mention the regenerative ability of werewolves. But he’d been dying before all this started, weakened by that damn curse.
The tears blinded me, and I dashed them angrily away. If Duncan was alive, he would need me to keep my shit together, to call for an ambulance.
“That would be easier if I hadn’t lost my clothes.” And my phone? That might have disappeared too. I hadn’t thought to throw it clear before I’d changed. Even if I had, it would have been buried under rubble by now.
I stubbed my toe on a rock. Frustrated, I howled. In this form, it sounded more like a maniacal scream. I didn’t care. I was so tired of having these enemies and of everyone I cared about being threatened. Duncan might be dead, and this hadn’t even been his battle. Radomir hadn’t ever cared about him, other than wanting to use him. He and Abrams had been after my family’s artifacts.
Duncan had risked his life—no, he might havegivenhis life—for me.
Ahead, a magical glow made me pause. Was that… the medallion?
I remembered how it had started glowing in the building, its magic helping Duncan, helping both of us escape from the rubble.
Not caring about stubbed toes, I hurried forward, hope propelling me.
When I came out of the trees by the stream, I almost stepped on Radomir. He and the mangled SUV were on the same side of the waterway as I was. No, he was still half in it. He must have died upon impact. His eyes were frozen open, his spine twisted at an impossible angle. I couldn’t summon any sympathy for the bastard.
I jumped across the stream, wincing at a rock under my bare sole, and scrambled through grass and leaves toward Duncan. His wolf magic had also left him, and he lay on his back as a naked human, but the medallion remained active. Its glow wrapped around him, the air buzzing with its energy.
Surely, it wouldn’t do that if he were dead?
As I crept into the influence of the light, I hoped it wouldn’t object to my presence. My mom’s medallion had never zapped me or pushed me away, but who knew what this one would do?
Its glow was warm, however, and inviting. It spread over my skin like spring sun, pleasant and welcoming. The magic drewme closer to Duncan, and, in the light, the rise and fall of his chest was visible.
“Thank the moon.” I dropped to my knees beside him and rested my hand on his chest.
Magic beamed up from the medallion, enveloping us both. As I had a couple of times before with these artifacts, I sensed a touch of emotion from it. Satisfaction? Over us defeating one of our enemies? No, I decided. This was about… Oh, that was it. Duncan had proven himself.
By defending me? One of the Snohomish Savagers? Or just by being willing to risk his life and give everything to fight an enemy?
I didn’t know, and the medallion didn’t say, but its energy continued to bathe us both for long moments. It soothed, or maybe ithealedthe wounds I’d received during the night’s battles.
