Hearing the awful snarl and hiss behind her, Cate pushed herself to run faster. Her muscles quivered. Her lungs burned. Her mind rebelled as the monster chased her across the garage.
Huge wings flapped. A gust of air shoved her forward.
Panic and fear collided, amalgamating into pure terror as she stumbled mid-stride. Moving too fast to stop the momentum, she tucked her head and rolled into the fall. Luck pushed her into a full revolution, popping her back onto her feet. She kept moving, pumping her legs, using her arms to increase her speed.
Nothing but a lost cause.
Cate knew she was already dead. No way could she outrun the beast. The thing was too big. She might be running for her life, but it was nothing but a pipe dream.
She tried anyway, refusing to admit defeat. Her footfalls slammed against the smooth floor, propelling her toward the stairs. The one way out, her salvation if she made it that far. The landing acted like a beacon. She zeroed in, concentrating on reaching the steps and the hard left turn at the top that would take her up. The second she turned the corner, she’d be out of danger, at least for a minute or two, free to find a place to hide while Dillinger in monster form figured out how to follow her up the narrow stretch of staircase.
Heart hammering, eyes pinned to her target, she jetted between two columns. Time slowed down. Her body kept moving as the chaotic clamor inside her head quieted. Her thoughts crystalized. All the garbage in her life cleared out, leaving nothing but the important things behind.
Rannock, the Dragonkind warrior meant and made to be hers.
Nicole, the sister she loved more than classic cars and mechanics.
A new start in a foreign country full of people she’d never met, but already considered her family.
Running for her life did that to a girl—boiled things down, gave her perspective, sharpened instincts to a fine point while granting unwanted reality checks. Driving her to do better. Be better—kinder, smarter, more self-aware—before the universe wrote The End and closed the book on her life.
Funny how that happened.
In the moments before death, everything went still. The present became clearer. The past echoed louder. Every heartbeat yearned for the future, wishing and wanting as blood rushed in her veins and painful breaths rasped against the back of her throat. Each second she lived was a gift. Moments to be enjoyed, instead of endured.
Gratefulness streamed through her.
Seemed odd, but she was thankful. For lessons her father taught her, no matter how twisted. For the sister she loved. For having beaten the odds and found Rannock in a world where nothing came for free.
Not life. Not death.
And certainly not love.
Sprinting past a row of standing racks, Cate grabbed one. Full of discarded parts, the tall shelf tipped. Metal hit the ground with a crash. Boxes bounced off the floor. Tools pinwheeled over knotted cables as old car batteries went flying.
Less than ten feet behind her, Dillinger slammed into it, getting tangled up in the mess. Wings bent at odd angles, he ran into a pillar. Antlers clanged against concrete. Red fangs flashed as the monster howled. The snake tipping its tail snapped at the wires wound around his paws.
Seeking some cover, she zigzagged in behind another column, then ran flat out. She heard the monster flail. A battery whistled over her head. She ducked as more crap flew toward her. Momentum pushed her forward. Muscles burning with fatigue, she vaulted up the steps. Her toe caught a bad edge. She started to fall.
A huge paw swiped at her. Hooked claws nicked the back of her shirt.
“Rannock!” she screamed without knowing why. Her mate couldn’t help her. Not now. Never again. He was miles away. She was alone and—
Sharp teeth clamped down on the back of her thigh.
Shock stole her breath. Pain gave it back.
Cate screamed again.
“Damn it, Dillinger,” a voice growled from somewhere above her. “Let her go.”
With a low snarl, the beast tightened its grip.
Clinging to the railing, she jerked.
“For fuck’s sake, brother.”
She recognized the voice. “Rathbone.”
“Hold on, honey. Give me a sec…”
Tears blurring her eyes, she held on, curling her arms around the railing, hooking her elbows around the spokes. Movement flashed in her periphery. A sharp crack sounded. Bright blue light flashed behind her and—
Boom!
A bomb went off.
Wind whipped around her head. Car alarms went off. The pressure around her thigh eased. More flashes of light. Another crack ripped across the garage. With a whine, Dillinger let her go. Sharp teeth slid away from her skin.
Turning on the steps, she looked up into Rathbone’s face. Blue eyes glowing, he grabbed the front of her shirt and threw her, one-handed, up the stairs. She landed with a thump on the landing. Rolling to a stop against the wall, she reached for the back of her leg, feeling for damage. Shredded denim. A few scrapes and scratches on her skin. No puncture wounds.
Eyes wide, she stared at Rathbone. Surrounded by a burning ball of electricity, he wielded a multi-tailed whip made of lightning. Electricity lashed the air. The fine hairs on her body stood on end as a shield appeared in his other hand. Her mouth dropped open as the whip swung overhead. He snapped his wrist. Strips of lightning flashed, driving Dillinger back across the garage. Supercharged current electrified the air.
Fury in his eyes, Rathbone glanced at her. “Move, Cate. Get out of here.”
“Where?”
“Upper hallway. Get to the side entrance. Rannock needs you.”
Numb inside and out, Cate pushed to her feet. Pain kicked. Holding the back of her bruised thigh, she obeyed and, with one last look at Rathbone, scrambled up the stairs on her hands and the balls of her feet.
Turning the corner, she raced the rest of the way up. Reaching the top in record time, she sped into the upper hall. She slid to stop, trying to orient herself. The side entrance. She must find the side entrance. Rathbone said Rannock needed her. She needed to—
A curse sounded a few feet away. “Jesus, Cate. What happened?”
Her gaze snapped to the right, landing on Noble. Heart racing, shock setting in, she stared at him in incomprehension.
Noble frowned. “Are you all right?”
She shook her head.
“What happened?”
“Dillinger attacked me.”
“Lion with wings, antlers, and a viper tail?”
Cate nodded. “What was that thing?”
“One of Dillinger’s forms.”
Chest heaving, she threw him a wild look. “One of them?”
“The least cooperative one.”
“Terrific,” she said, doubling over, trying to catch her breath. Inhale. Exhale. Simple enough, but as her adrenaline drained, her hands started to shake. “Rathbone said… I need—”
“Rannock.”
“Yeah.” Swallowing past her sore throat, Cate pushed up from her knees. “Where’s the side entrance?”
Noble pointed down the hall, in the opposite direction. “All the way down. Hook left at the dead end. I’ll show you.”
Alarm rang her internal bell. “Only if you promise not to turn into something weird.”
His mouth curved. “Dillinger’s got the market cornered on monsters. Rathbone and I are normal.”
She doubted it.
Nothing about the Shadow Walkers approached anything normal.