Page 48 of Elusive Mate

“Aubry Hawthorne, leader of the Shadow Sisters. You don’t have to explain yourself or your situation to me. I would like you to know two things. The first is Colby will never betray you. Period. End of. And the second is that he really does believe Hendrix cares for you.”

Zenya smiled. “I think Colby is just a hopeless romantic.”

“If he made you believe that, he was lying. There’s nothing about Colby that I would characterize as hopeless. He is, however, a hopeful romantic. He believes in fated mates and that love conquers all.”

“What do you believe?”

“I believe it’s freezing cold, and we need to get you out of here. Mark my words, Hendrix is coming—whether it’s because he loves you or just because he thinks you belong to him. He isn’t going to let you go without a fight. We’re kind of having to do this on the fly, so we need to get moving.”

“I’m ready to go.”

“Good. Let’s get away from the main house,” Brie said, leading her away from everything. “I grabbed you a waterproof duffle and put some other things in it. We’re going to get you out of here and then set you down with a GPS tracker and have you shift and go to the safe house like that.”

“I’m fine with that. That had been my plan when I left Ice Storm: travel as a tiger, shift and get out of Alaska and into Canada as a human, then shift back. How am I getting away from Windsong?”

“Well, that’s going to require a little magic.” Zenya looked at her quizzically, and she continued. “Did you know that most people think caribou and reindeer are the same creature?”

“I had no idea. And I need to know this because?”

“Because they aren’t really. Caribou are the purebreds. Reindeer are caribou-shifters. You know what the difference is?”

“Uh, one can shift into a human?”

“Well, that too,” laughed Brie.

“And the other difference?”

“Reindeer really do know how to fly.”

Zenya laughed nervously, thinking the leader of the Shadow Sisters had lost her mind and gone off the deep end. “Sure, they do,” Zenya said, nodding slowly.

“You know, Brie, I find it easier just to show people,” said a pretty young woman with hair the color of gingerbread.

Brie introduced them. “Noel Samuels? This is Zenya. Zenya, Noel.”

“She’s joking right? Like you’ve got caribou hitched to a sleigh or something…”

“I’m afraid nothing quite so fancy. It’s just me. I’ll shift; Brie will help me into a harness and attach your duffle bag to the back, then give you a leg up. You hang on tight, and off we go.”

Zenya was now convinced either both of them were crazy, or she was. There was a swirling mist full of ice and lights the color of the aurora borealis. Instead of thunder, she was almost sure she heard jingle bells. And in the place where Noel had once stood, there was a reindeer. An honest to god reindeer—antlers and all.

“We’re not crazy, I swear,” said Brie as if she could read Zenya’s mind. She held up a harness and put it on Noel. “Come on,” she said, drawing Zenya forward. “Up you go.”

Brie helped her up onto the reindeer’s back. Brie attached the duffle to the part of the harness behind Zenya. Noel trotted around in a circle, stopped, and turned back to look at Zenya. Grinning like a fool, Zenya gave her a thumbs up. Noel began to trot again, then picked up speed until she was galloping. Then, as if by magic, the ground began to fall away. Zenya knew she should be terrified, but she wasn’t. It was smooth and wonderful. She’d never wanted to be anything but a tiger-shifter, but she was pretty darn sure she’d have traded that to be a reindeer in that instant. She started laughing, and Noel looked back at her.

“Nothing. I’ll tell you when we land,” Zenya said, smiling.

Zenya had no idea how long or how far they flew. She was pretty sure that somehow they had moved like hellhounds between the worlds. Everything around them had gone on soft focus. She knew she would never forget the enchanting way it felt to be flying through a velvety night sky on the back of a reindeer—no motors, no gliders, nothing—just her, Noel, and the night. Brie was right. It was magic.

The sun was just starting to peek over the eastern horizon when Noel began her descent. It was as smooth as when she’d taken off. Zenya removed the harness and stood back as Noel shifted back into human form.

“Did Brie put some clothes in here for you?”

“No, I won’t need them.”

“Well at least take this,” Zenya said, pulling off her jacket and handing it to Noel, who was shivering. “The least I can do is keep you from freezing to death.”

“No worries,” Noel said slipping the anorak on. “As soon as I know you’re okay on your own, I’ll shift back and make my way back. I’ll find a place to hang out today and then tonight, I’ll shift and head back to Mystic River and my mate, who will be torn between being pissed and thinking what we did was really cool. Trust me, really cool will win.”

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