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Devlin grinned. "Me too." He shifted into a wolf slightly smaller than Dex and me, but no less magnificent.
I sighed, then shifted after Dex did. I sent Hades a request to keep us safe, and the Residence's staff as well. This could all too easily go pear shaped, as they said. I wasn't sure what pears had to do with anything, but I knew it wouldn't be good if things went that way.
I sat back on my haunches and watched the door, all my senses open for sounds, movement, smells. My inner wolf was hoping for some steak. Maybe some chicken. We could escapeafterwe ate.
The rest of me, the logical part, would eat later, when we had the chance.
Footsteps sounded outside. Not boots, just regular shoes. It might be a member of staff. I might just as easily be Viva, but I sensed it wasn't. It was someone else. Someone familiar.
I growled a soft warning to my companions. And cursed Hades that shifters weren't telepathic. We could communicate, of course, but sometimes words were easier.
Dex's returning grunt let me know he knew what I was trying to convey.
Be careful. Don't let this go bad.
The lock clicked and the door swung open outward. Dex's ageing servant, Baffor, stood with a tray in his arms. It looked heavy.
I wanted to tear out the throat of whoever sent him down here with it. Their intention was clear. The old shifter was a shield between them and us.
Their intention be damned. I pushed past Baffor, hard enough to knock him back a step or two. How he clung on to the tray, I didn't know. He could have dropped it, or better yet thrown it, but he did neither. His professional pride at being the Keeper's servant wouldn't let him do anything but absorb the impact of my rush past and step further out of the way with as much haste as he could.
A sniff, and the lack of flying liquid suggested he carried only fruit under the cloches.
Not even coffee. We knew who the real monsters here were, that was certain.
It was fortunate though; hot coffee would burn like fuck, and I didn't want Baffor scalded.
The others rushed out the door behind me. We had discussed our targets, made our plan. We knew what to do.
I went for the closest guard just as he shifted.
His tiger form was bigger than my wolf, but I had momentum on my side. I latched onto his shoulder with my great jaws.
He let out a roar of pain that would have been a bellow in person form. He tried to shake me off. His head twisted this way and that, so hard I was almost swept off my feet.
I clung hard. My teeth passed through fur into flesh, into bone.
He tossed his head, trying desperately to dislodge me.
I bit down harder. The taste of his coppery blood filled my mouth. His flesh tore.
I spat out a chunk of tiger as he spun away. He whirled back, claws and teeth at the ready, but pain slowed his movements.
He lashed out with a giant paw, but I dodged him easily.
I prowled around him now, toying and letting him tire. His injury wasn't fatal, but his orange fur was turning more and more red as his blood soaked into it.
Sucks to be you, I thought, with no sympathy whatsoever.
In the corner of my eye, I saw Kerina and an Arctic fox circling each other. Devlin and Dex both harried a bear bigger than either of them, but slower. He kept swiping, but by the time his claws swung, they were gone and he only hit air.
Don't fuck with wolves, I thought with some satisfaction.
I turned my full attention back to the tiger. I jerked my head toward the stairs which led up into the Residence. I was offering him the chance to run. He could be out of here and gone before Seth knew he'd deserted the cause.
The tiger hesitated, clearly tempted. He could leave here alive, and live his life. Dex might even let him live it without hunting him down for his part in the coup.
That wasn't my promise to make.
