Page 86 of Shifter's Homecoming

Shit! Rowan clawed at her neck but it was all missing, the ribbon, the serum, all of it. Something moving below caught her eye. Her serum and ribbon were floating on top of the water.

She didn’t know what to do for a minute. She didn’t dare look around at any of the fighting going on. Her only choice was… was what? She looked up and down the length of the crane itself, keeping her eyes focused on only that one rusted metal line, trying to decide which way to go, which way would provide the most safety until Trent could get to her.

A slim maintenance platform ran under the crane, and from the looks of it, the spot she was on and the very base of the crane that sat on the ground were the only ways to get onto it. She could climb down to it, then make her way to any spot she wanted along it, and then ifthat thingcame after her, she could move away from him in either direction.

It was the only plan she had. She scrambled down, holding on tight, taking her steps slowly, one at a time, not daring to look around. She kept throwing looks at the water directly below her, hoping like hell that she did not drop in it. It looked and smelled deadly enough to kill her immediately. After she’d gone many feet, she noticed that all she could hear was splashing and the rushing of the fire on the wind all around, and the snaps and pops and glass breaking from her lab burning. No sounds of fighting came to her anymore. She might have heard someone call out but she couldn’t be sure.

And yet, the speed of her heart ramped up a notch. Anxiety rippled through her, with a feeling like something was almost upon her. She did not dare look around… what if someone was bleeding somewhere, she would fall in the poisoned water—

Trent’s voice sounded, loud, strong, and commanding, turning her head.

“Rowan, look at me.”

Rowan looked.

He was in the water— Blood arced above him—

Her world went dark.

***

Trent reached the shore and climbed out, shifting, shifting again, then turning whip-fast to evaluate the situation. Reed was laying on her side up on a platform covered with spikes and ten feet high in the air above the crane. Rowan was jumping onto the crane. Remington was in the water close to the lab, sputtering and shifting and heading for shore. Troy had almost reached the other side of the reservoir. One of the felen was in the water and the other was running up the base of the crane.

Rex had gotten away from Remington and was running up the tree bridge as his fucked-up animal, headed straight for Rowan. There would be no way that Trent could get to him before he got to her, no matter what he did, and even the felen on the crane might not make it. Trent worked over strategy in his mind, lightning fast, and he knew what he was going to have to do, no matter how much he didn’t like it.

Back in the water he went, shifting right away, calling out instructions as he swam and shifted, shifted and swam.

Remington and Troy, Korvelle and Lynus, you’ve got to get to Rex before he gets to Rowan. He’s heading for the crane now.

Reed,Troy said in his mind.

She’s ok, Troy, she’s got to be. Focus on Rex.

I’ll destroy him,Troy said, and his voice was low and deadly.

Graeme, Trevor, I don’t know if anyone can hear me, but I need Graeme here, and I need him here now. Our mates are hurt.

His mate wasn’t hurt yet, but she was about to be.

Trent swam as hard and fast as he could, watching Rex race up the tree bridge, closing in on Rowan, who was climbing hand over hand on the slim railing below the crane, not very far from where she had started. There was no way anyone would get to him before he got to her.

“Rowan, you have to let go!” he shouted, but she didn’t act like she’d heard him.

Rex ran along the top on all four legs, just above her, sneaking looks at her, looking like he was about to swing down and bite her at any moment. He got closer and closer and Rowan didn’t look around at all, she didn’t even know he was there. Rex would be on her before she even had a chance to react.

Trent prayed she fainted at the sight of blood in this world.

He shifted one time to a man, but with extra-long canines. “Rowan,” he shouted as loud and forcefully as he could. “Look at me!”

Her head turned. She looked right at him. He did not hesitate. He ripped his upper arm open with his own teeth, digging for bone, making sure he hit an artery. There was no pain. His blood arced out high in a deep crimson spray under the light of the moon and the constellation Orion, high above.

His mate went limp. She tipped and she fell, gravity turning her slack body until she was plunging headfirst into the poisoned water. Trent swam hard to catch her, shifting to heal, then shifting back, again and again, his eyes locked on his mate’s lax body.

Her fall seemed to last an eternity. Trent’s entire future fell with her, his hopes, his dreams, everything he’d ever wanted in his entire life, all of it fell, threatening to tear his sanity in half.

Rowan, still limp, hit the water with a splash, and went under, disappearing from view. Trent took a deep breath and dove under, eyes wide open, tracking the bubbles, still shifting to wolf and man and back again, the poison threatening to overwhelm even his healing abilities.

He couldn’t see her. He couldn’t see anything. The poison burned his eyes and his ears and his nose. He knew she had to be right there. He shifted to a man and stayed that way, fighting against the agony that was trying to force him to the surface. He reached out, grabbing, finding only water—

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