4 AURORA
My fingers are frozen into claws. But not any kind of interesting ‘innate animal’ claws.
Just cold human fingers that are so icy they can no longer bend.
I’m huddled on a thick, mossy limb of what feels like the tallest tree in existence.
I try not to think about the intense, agonizing cramps torturing my calves.
Very gingerly, I pull one leg tight toward my chest, flexing the foot to stretch the tendon out, forcing my turnout to lock my hip against the bark so the wind doesn't drop me into the abyss.
Fuck.
What if London doesn’t come back?
Or he forgets where he left me?
That seems all too possible.
Wump—ppp. Wump—ppp.
Yeah, yeah, stupid heart. I feel you.
Looking down is nothing but three hundred feet of dark, swirling fog and jagged branches. Be calm, Aurora. Imagine you are sitting in front of a roaring fire.
Fuck, or even the sweltering, suffocating furnace of the Digger block. Gods, I’d give anything for a lungful of that thick, recycled air right now.
And some alcohol.
I’ve managed to sneak quite a lot of drinks in my sheltered life. Elites like their liquor, and I’d often made off with bottles hidden in my purse or beneath a full skirt. Anything to numb the loneliness of my life.
Right now I’d choose a warm fire, and maybe a negroni.
On second thoughts, not. That crappy Quo teacher always smelled like cheap gin.
His boozy breath had dropped a bombshell. ‘You all missed the Great Awakening, kids. Sucks to be you.’
Well not any more, Hennessey. Aurora Drakeward is on the loose, so watch out. My innate beast is coming.
A dragon?
Maybe. To be honest it doesn’t sit…quite right.
And that’s fucking annoying. Father and Cosmo are dragons after all.
Please, for fucks sake, don’t let me be something cute and stupid. Give me power.
I want the body and tools to tear everything down.
Fuck.
Or I could take after my mom.
What the hell would my mother’s innate beast be? I wonder if it could even evolve given her permanently tranquilized state.
I guess she could be a sloth.
No. That’s not me. I might not exactly feel dragon-fire in my veins, but I’ll be something magnificent.
It’s like I feel a fuse that has been lit, just waiting for the final spark to hit the powder keg. And then…wings? Claws? Teeth?
Whatever it is, it has to be so deadly I can incinerate Warden Voss, those Grieves men, and every fucker who ever hurt Sky.
Any fucker who ever was a customer for that fucked up ‘business’.
It’s only a matter of time before the magic catches up with my stupid, asinine blood.
Yeah, and if I’ve got pointy teeth, I might just have to give London a nip for leaving me up this fucking tree.
It will be like the worst remake of Twilight ever.
The rain is easing off now, which is a relief, and at least up here I can see what’s going on with the fugitive hunt. Lights are flashing all over the place but mostly to the east. At least I think that’s east, who the fuck knows how to tell directions?
As I twist around to shake out one of my frozen hands, something moves out of the corner of my eye. A pale shape cuts through the midnight gloom. A bird?
Yeah, a white bird.
It silently slices through the darkness, circling above me once then flying off into the night.
Imran?
My throat goes all hot and tight. I wish I understood what happened to him. He shifted into an owl, which I loved to see, but Immy was dying.
Can he keep living in owl-form? Maybe the magic saved his soul but not his body. But does that mean he’s all-owl, or is Imran in that feathered beast somewhere too?
Crack-snap.
The sound of a breaking branch comes from directly beneath me and I think I can feel a vibration traveling up the thick wood and straight into my spine.
Is something in my tree?
Fuck.
I haven’t even got my shiv, it must have fallen from my pocket during the chaos. I’m scared to look down, but what help is that?
Just do it, Aurora.
A shape breaks through the swirling fog, clambering onto a limb several below me.
“Kitten!” a cheerful voice chirps. “I found your boys!”
My whole body gives a massive gasp of relief; both that he’s back, and he found Tally and Francois. “Thank fuck! Now get me down.”
“Your wish is my command.” London swings from one branch to another then lands next to me. “Ooh, Kitten, your lips have gone blue.”
“That’s because I’m freezing, London.” As he sidles up beside me, the warmth emitting from his body is ridiculous and wonderful. He pulls me in tight then smashes my face against his chest. It’s actually exactly what I need. It’s broad, hot and has a mat of chestnut curls.
My nose at least begins to thaw.
“So where are the guys?” I ask, voice muffled. He’s blowing hot breath onto the back of my neck and it feels amazing.
“Wolfy is downstairs, but Shane is back in his hidey hole.”
“Rory!” Tally’s voice floats up to me. He’s not shouting, but I can hear the frustration in his tone from just that one word.
Nice though this reheating is, I need to see with my own eyes that Taliesin is OK. “Let’s go, London.”
We make short work of the descent, or rather London does, seeing as he hoists me over his shoulder like a sack of laundry, as he springs from branch to branch with a terrifying confidence that makes my stomach swoop.
The moment my sneakers hit the squelching mud at the root-base, I stumble, but before I can face-plant a pair of warm, calloused hands catch me then pull me close.
Tally.
Just like London, he’s radiating a fierce heat. Or maybe it’s just the contrast of his body next to my frozen one. His amber-gold eyes rake over me, checking for injuries.
I put my hand to his cheek. “I’m OK.”
“Thank fuck.” He just yanks me into a tight, crushing embrace. I wrap my arms around his waist, and try to convey my feelings by squeezing back as hard as I can. Tally pulls back just enough to look down at me.
His face has returned to tense and worried. “We gotta go now, Princess. The hunt isn’t going to stop anytime soon.”
A siren cuts through the trees, emphasizing his point.
“Where’s Francois?” I ask, looking around the dark clearing.
“Tucked away in a cave down the ravine.” His eyes flick to where the white searchlights cut through the mist. “We need to go fast, and not leave human tracks.”
I turn to look at London. “You can’t carry us both, surely?”
Before he can reply, the air around Tally suddenly shifts, turning thick and heavy with a static charge that makes the hairs on my arms stand up. I watch, completely mesmerized, as his human frame expands and is covered with russet fur.
Fuck. He is a wolf.
I don’t know how big wolves normally are, but this beast is almost taller than I am. He huffs a warm cloud of steam into the freezing air, his eyes fixing onto mine as he lowers his massive shoulders, presenting his back.
“Hop on, sweetpea!” London chirps from behind me. “Time for a horsey ride!”
I don't hesitate. Grabbing two hanks of the coarse, thick fur at Tally's neck, I swing my leg over his back, pressing my inner thighs tight against his heavy ribs. The moment I’m secure, the wolf takes off.
London bounds right beside us, his faun legs clearing rotting logs and briars with massive leaps. The wind whips past my face, freezing and wild, but the heat radiating from Tally’s coat keeps my blood from freezing.
The sirens fade into a dull roar behind us as we plunge down a steep, rocky slope into the deep shadows of the ravine, racing toward the dark hole where Francois is waiting.