Page 148 of Mortal Shift
I wasn’t so sure that was such a great idea, but for want of a better plan I linked my hand in his and approached the group by his side.
They looked up at our approach. I picked Jax out to one side of the cluster, and he sent a curt nod in our direction. At least we had one ally here.
“Hey, listen up!” Cole called, and the rumble of hushed conversation died quickly to nothing. “I don't know what's coming, but I know our chances are better if we face it together.”
“Says who?” someone called from the back of the group.
“Says Cole,” I said, meeting his eye across the sea of shifters. “He knows a thing or two about surviving, and I know a thing or two about Darkveil. I know a thing or two about surviving here, too, and Cole is right. We're stronger together.”
The rumbling started up again, and I saw a few of the shifters shaking their heads. Lincoln ducked his mouth close to Leilani’s ear, and whispered something rapidly. She nodded in reply to whatever he said, and the pair of them backed away towards the trees, quickly vanishing into the shadows. I guessed that was two less we could count on to be on our side. And it looked like we were going to lose the rest of them, too.
“We don't know what's out there,” I called above the growing noise. “But we know there is something, and we know it's going to come for us.”
“We know Kallan is going to come for you,” Aaron called, and I felt Cole’s sharp gaze snap to him. I placed one hand lightly on his bicep in warning.
“It's true,” I said. “There's a good chance he'll use this trial as an opportunity to try to settle old scores. But this is bigger than old scores. This is a sanctioned trial, and that means not everyone is going to make it out of here alive. But me and Cole? We intend to survive this, and we're done standing around talking about it. If you want to survive, join us. If not,” I flashed them a grin that was all teeth, “you should probably start running.”
The rumbling increased in volume, and then Jax barged his way through the center of the pack, and fell in behind us. The movement stirred a couple of other shifters to life, and after sharing hesitant looks, four more from the group came to join us. The rest shared hesitant looks, and then started to melt away. I turned to Cole with a shrug.
“Five’s better than none, right?”
He smiled grimly. “Seven of us against whatever’s coming. Let's just hope it's enough.”
“It will be,” Jax said. “We're ready to fall in behind you, alpha heir.”
The others nodded their agreement, and I grinned at Cole.
“What is your command, oh mighty alpha heir?” I asked, and his eyes tightened.
“Survive.”
A couple of nervous chuckles met his word, and I shook my head with a wry smile.
“Great. Happen to have a plan to go with that?”
“Yeah, as it happens, I do.” He cast a glance around the clearing and then back at the academy. “But first, we need to get away from here. Follow me.”
Our small group took off at a fast jog behind Cole as he led us away from the academy and into the trees. We ran in silence for several minutes before he stopped.
“If we're going to survive tonight,” he said, “we need to know what's coming for us. I need two scouts to shift and run a lap of the academy, then report back here with anything that looks out of place.”
Nathan, a wiry guy who had one of the best senses of smell in our year, and Alina, a small female who I knew was as fast as she was cunning, shared a look between themselves and then stepped forward.
“We will,” Alina said, and Cole dipped his chin in acknowledgement.
“Good. Be careful, both of you, and whatever you see, do not engage. Meet back here in twenty minutes.”
They nodded, and melted into the trees, discarding their clothes as they went.
“If we're going to be shifting and fighting, we’re going to need food and water to keep up our strength,” Cole continued. “We can't go back into the academy for it, so we're going to need to source it out here. Any volunteers?”
“I will,” a heavyset guy, Ian, said, stepping forward.
“Good. Take Wes with you.”
The pair shifted and bounded off, and I had a horrible feeling that whatever ‘food’ they managed to find was not going to be the least bit appealing to a human. Today just kept getting better and better.
“Well, that leaves three of us,” I said. “What now?”
