Lucas was closest to them, and when we were only a stride away, he stumbled and grabbed the guard’s bare arm.
The guard shook off Lucas’s hand and said in Formal. “Watch it, you idiot.”
Lucas straightened and muttered, “Sorry.”
Then we were past them. But one guard raised his head, nostrils flaring. My gut tightened, but he just stared after us with a slightly bemused expression. Was it me he was sniffing? Maybe Cody? And who knew what Lucas smelled like, being part Dragon and part Morph...
But the entire group passed the guards without incident, and Cody kept us going until we’d rounded another corner. Then he looked upward, pulling the rope off his shoulder. He found a spot where shadows from a row of large trees would shield us from prying eyes, then gestured to Maddy.
She frowned, and a moment later the tiny owl appeared. Valki flitted over the wall and vanished. Maddy took us farther along, her eyes flashing as she talked to Ben, who was in contact with the bird.
She stopped, and the owl reappeared to perch in a tree. “Here’s good,” Maddy said.
Logan paced a little away from us. “Aboout anoother hundred feet woould be better.”
Maddy glanced at him and her eyes flashed, then she read the puzzlement in my expression. “Logan is a Seer,” she explained. “Short range, though.”
The owl took off again, and a moment later, reappeared a little farther down.
Maddy nodded. “There’s a building blocking the view from the main house to the wall. But this is a better blindspot.”
Cody offered one end of the rope to Logan. “If you can, fasten it when you get over. Otherwise, you’ll have to brace it yourself. I’ll send Maddy and Anna over first. They can help if it’s needed for Lucas and me.”
“Noo woories, I’ll be fine,” Logan assured.
“Hold on,” Maddy said. She laid her hands on Logan’s shoulder, and I watched as his front paws grew longer fingers. I stared. Was Maddy helping him do a partial?
She caught me looking, and her lips twisted as she shot Cody a glance. It was Logan who turned to Cody.
“Yoou need to knoow that oour male Dires cannoot shift to human without Maddy’s help.”
Cody stiffened. “Is that what happened to you? Did you get locked in your beast?”
Logan nodded his broad head. “Yes. Shifting froom human to beast is noot an issue.” His sapphire gaze regarded Cody warily, and I wasn’t sure why.
But the Sabre merely nodded. “That is an important detail for the team.”
Logan seemed relieved as he took the rope in his mouth, eyed the razor wire along the top, then crouched.
I never actually saw the leap, only the blur of motion. Logan left a tuft of blond fur on the razor wire, but he disappeared on the other side. The rope trailed over the top.
Almost immediately, Maddy said, “He’ll brace the rope. Doesn’t trust any possible anchor points.”
And then, out of nowhere, a pulse of dread lanced through me. I was aware of fighting, my arms chained as I was dragged along the floor.
Matt...
9
Matt
I woke up really stonkin’ hungry.
My body was still trying to heal, and my stomach rumbled.
I blinked as I looked around. Where were we? Four of Xumi’s Dragon minions had arrived to knock us cold with some kind of shot, and we’d woken in a different place.
This room had much the same layout—no doubt considered five-star for sadist torture chambers—but by the dampness to the air, it was below ground rather than in the upper levels.
