After he blinked awake, they all got out to stretch while Geir and Tier figured out directions.
With everything that Declan had imagined, watching them was anticlimactic. Geir closed his eyes. Tier closed his eyes. Nothing happened. He figured it was more interesting for them, but to an observer it was boring.
The best part was that Geir touched his ankle, just like he’d touched his shoe last time. That was pretty cute, right?
They stopped twice more to check the directions, and were joined by two cars and a van, all full of angry shifters checking their weapons and making plans at each pause and over the phone in between.
Now that he was more alert, he was actually a little excited about watching the mission unfold. It was exactly like an action movie. His heart beat too fast when he thought of May, but the show of force gave him confidence. The shifters were badasses, and they were going to attack the villains and save the day.
Obviously, someone could get hurt. And this was real life, not entertainment. But with twenty or thirty shifters on their side, and more that the Chief had called in to join them later, how could they lose?
The vehicles turned down a narrow road and at a command squawked over the phone, all of their lights went dark. They inched forward, then parked off the edge of the road, the other vehicles falling in line behind them. One truck drove ahead and turned sideways across the two tire pits, blocking the kidnappers from escaping but leaving their own vehicles free to maneuver.
In near silence, he watched the shifters get out, closing their doors with quiet snicks. Geir moved to get out, too.
Declan grabbed for his hand. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to stand outside. I’ll guard the vehicles and keep you safe.”
Declan personally thought he’d feel safer with Geir in the van with him, but he realized that wasn’t practical. “I guess that makes sense. I’m going to miss all the action, aren’t I?”
Geir glared at him. “I certainly hope so. You’re not leaving the van.”
“I know. I promised.” Declan might have felt cowardly for sitting in the car, but he knew where his strengths lay. He couldn’t fight, had never touched a weapon, and definitely couldn’t sprout his own claws and teeth. As much as he might dream about being a ninja spy assassin, he’d read enough books about those characters to understand his place in this scene.
He was the liability.
In all the movies, he was the one that Geir might worry about at the critical moment, endangering both of them. Which meant that he probably shouldn’t have come.
But since he was here, his job was staying out of the way and telling everyone else’s tales at the end of a successful mission. Maybe he could be a bard and memorialize the night in song. Or better yet, a fantastical oil painting as a gift to the tribe. He’d have to interview everyone, and maybe get them to shift and pose for him. Yeah, that would be epic.
After a quick kiss on Declan’s forehead, Geir hopped out of the van and closed the door with a nearly silent snick. He checked in with Kayla, and then stalked off around the front of the truck. He was still only wearing a pair of crumpled swim trunks and his feet were bare, but he looked powerful and intimidating.
The shifters moved around the vehicles with cool efficiency, withdrawing weapons and listening to commands. All around him, people were shucking off their clothes, revealing muscular bodies, but also plump and slim ones, without a single thought for modesty.
Watching them change was entrancing. One after another, they bent to the ground. In a matter of seconds, feathers sprouted, fur grew, faces elongated, limbs shortened, and tails whipped around. If he’d looked away he would have missed it. He just wished there was a bit more light so he could see them better.
He’d expected mostly predators, but there were small animals, too. A mouse and a tiny lizard looked up attentively. A bat and an owl landed on the branches overhead. But there were also a lot of sharp teeth, and at least a dozen animals that could probably bite him in half.
Declan shivered in delicious excitement. This was better than any book he’d ever read.
Everyone congregated around Kayla and the Chief who were still in their human forms. After a quick conversation, too low for Declan to hear, they took off in a flurry of fur and feathers. Some blended into the woods while others clung to the shadows as they followed the road ahead.
Declan moved to the front passenger seat, justifying the decision with a plan to duck down if he saw anyone coming. He noticed that the window was rolled down a couple inches, so he’d be able to hear what was going on, too.
He peered down the road, but mostly he just saw shadow upon shadow. The moon’s light glinted off one of the taillights on the truck, and he twisted around to see the sky.
The moon was round and gibbous, almost full. At least there was a little bit of light.
For a long time nothing happened, though Declan’s nerves were on edge. He clutched the leather pouch around his neck. He could feel the slight impressions of each object inside. It still had May’s dirty feather in it and the two rocks. He’d taken out the grass and dried it before putting it back in. Over time, he’d also added a piece of driftwood, a bit of snakeskin, and a shiny bit of mica that Geir had given him. He didn’t know if they meant anything, but it meant that he had important people in his life.
And maybe, like May said, it would keep him safe. He ran his fingers over the beads and hoped that everyone else was safe, too.
He heard low rustling in the woods. Crickets chirping. When he strained his ears, he thought he might detect the rhythmic thump of music, but he only heard it in snatches, and he might have just been imagining it. If the kidnappers were listening to music, that would help the shifters sneak up silently, he hoped.
He looked for Geir and could just make out the edge of his shoulder. He was facing away, protecting Declan.
Noise exploded from in front of them. Shouts and yells, then a chorus of howls. He heard bullets, two of them. And children’s cries.
This didn’t sound like it was going at all like it had in his head. He’d envisioned a small shack in the woods, maybe guarded by a single person outside. The shifters would pour in through every door and window, quickly subdue the kidnappers, and return as heroes to ride off into the sunrise.
This sounded much worse. And the noises were a lot closer than he’d expected.
He’d somehow thought that they’d park miles from the location and travel on foot, but the shouts were so close that he could almost make out their words. There was a curve in the road ahead, and it sounded like the action was happening just beyond it.
He clung to the door handle, his heart racing. He wished that he could just see what was going on. Where was May? Was she alright? And what about those other two kids that he hadn’t even met?
It was terrible hearing it all and not knowing what was happening. Some of the noises seemed to be coming nearer, and he realized that he might be in danger, too. He reminded himself that no one could see him or reach him, sitting in the locked van, in the darkness.
He peered into the gloom, startling at each sound. There was a rustling, cracking sound right outside his window. And again. In the trees, close to the ground.
Two eyes glowed yellow in the night, watching him.
Chapter 28
Geir