Page 5 of Heart of a Dire Wolf
The alarm cut off in mid-blare, leaving his ears ringing like a bell.
A tiny, delicate-looking woman fell on her ass and swore, then shifted into a pygmy hippopotamus, shredding her clothes as she did so. She bellowed and waddled toward another cell, where a big badger climbed onto her back. They headed up toward the hub.
Nic continued down the corridor, repeating the escape instructions while scanning for his mate. He hoped he’d still be able to smell her if she shifted.
Snarls and screams of pain arose behind him, and familiar magic surged. The tusked, thick-skinned guard had arrived, and was using her fireball magic. He mentally ordered the bobcat twins to stay well away, then turned, preparing to let his vengeful tiger deal with the sadistic guard once and for all.
Before he could begin his shift, a huge moose shoved the guard into the nearby cell bars. Her body arced and scorched. She shrieked and struggled to free herself, but her horns had melted onto the bars, trapping her head. A scarred brown bear came out of the cell to rake powerful claws across her leg, leaving furrows that seeped green blood. A screaming gorilla pulled the nightstick off her belt, broke it, ignoring the arcing defensive magic that burned his fur, and drove the jagged end into her throat. Her body twitched, then collapsed. The cell’s magic continued to surge.
A new wave of water pushed against his legs. Magic flared and buffeted his senses like a hurricane. Suddenly the deadly magic in the bars was gone for all the cells.
Nic turned to the twins, who were following him like ducklings. “We’ll never have a better chance. Use the mental map I gave you and show people the way out.”
Their eyes rounded, and they looked terrified. “Will you come for us?” asked one.
Becoming a temporary protector to two bobcats hadn’t been part of his escape plan, but he couldn’t let them down. “Yes, I will, but it might take time. If they send hunters, use your human brain and the strength of your cat. Go back to Utah.” He pulled them into a strong, brief hug, which was all the reassurance he had time to give them. “And stay away from strip clubs.” He pointed to a pair of mongooses, who were having trouble with the soapy water. “Help them, before they drown.”
The twins gave him one last panicky glance before turning and wading toward the struggling mongooses.
Nic turned and focused on his goal of his mate’s cell, another sixty feet down the corridor. Time was running out.
