“You are worth it to me!” Bear boomed and stood on his animal’s hind legs.
Idris didn’t move, watching my bear hover over him.
“We don’t give up our own. It’s all or nothing.” Locke opened the door from the basement. His clothes were in tatters, his hair a mess. “Fucking attack him and the fuckers outside.”
More of the enemy ran into the bar, jumping through windows and coming in behind Idris.
Gunshots rang through the air again. I was pulled to the floor with a jerk of my arm. People were running everywhere, screaming and shouting, trying to find cover. The smell of gunpowder hit me like a wave, making my eyes water and my nose sting. My father’s grip on my arm was tight, but I barely noticed it amidst the chaos.
I looked up at my father. His face was stone cold, his eyes scanning the room for any sign of danger coming near. I could tell he was scared, but he was doing his best to hide it from me. It was clear that he was trying to protect me from whatever was happening in the bar.
I couldn’t very well sit here. I had to help. I couldn’t let the innocent die.
“Let me go!” I struggled against my father. He shook his head and pulled me to his lap. My mother held onto my feet just for something to hold on to.
Bodies were lying on the floor, blood pooling around them. I turned my head away, unable to look at the gruesome scene.
“Get up,” I told myself.
“Yes, get up!” the bear inside me screamed. “Let’s get out there. We shift and help!”
My lip curled into a snarl, and I snapped at my father. He let go of my waist in surprise, and I sprung to my feet and straight to the war that was now traveling outside of the bar.
The street was being painted in blood, the bullets no longer flying but zaps of electricity, fire, and golden parchments of paper zooming through the air. Journey and Grim were circling Idris, but he gathered his fist and punched it to the ground. A shockwave beamed around him, going outwards, and everyone in its radius was shocked and had fallen to the ground.
Are they dead?
I shook my head and ran straight toward Hawke. He had a knife in his hand, going for Idris until a dark black smoke wrapped around his neck, and Idris choked him. He was being hung up in the air, far above the ground.
“Stop!” I screamed, watching him gasp for breath. “Put him down! Please!”
Idris took his time looking at me, letting Hawke dangle above the ground. Fighting continued around us. Blood spilling, spells casting, my body trembled as I felt the bear inside me stir to life.
I felt my shoulder snap, and when I looked over it I saw bone piercing through the skin.
“We are going to shift,” my bear snarled. “We are going to take him down, get rid of him once and for all.”
I groaned, falling to the ground. My knees hit the scattered gravel and my hands scraped against the cement.
“Nadia!” Teddy and Bear roared in my head at the same time.
Too many sounds, too much light, darkness.
Hawke was tossed like a rag doll and skirted along the pavement. Delilah was there in an instant to check on him, cradling her stomach with her hand to protect her baby.
I lifted my head, and Bear’s golden fur shook as he ran toward me. Idris snarled, his long black fingernails pointing at Bear. “Take a load off.” An electrical black charge of purple and blue lightning hit Bear. He froze, groaning until he toppled over.
“No!” I choked, feeling another bone break and fur sprouting over my arms.
Idris made his way toward me. The steps were slow and calculated, and his vision set on me when I lay my cheek on the cement.
This was it. He could take me. Get away from the people I loved, and no one would get hurt.
“Don’t you give up on me,” Bear and Teddy spoke at the same time. “You finish the shift, and you get up. Don’t let him take you!”
“I can’t let him hurt anyone else!”I sobbed. “What if—”
Locke came from out of the shadows. He was bare-chested, with two daggers in either hand. The glint of the moonlight reflected against the blades. “Stay behind me, Nadia, or I swear to the Goddess, Bear is going to teach you a lesson.”
