Page 73 of Darkness Bound (Night Prowler 5)
“It will be a few days from here, depending on how quickly we move,” said Leander quietly, nodding a welcome to the silent, watchful animals who’d come to guide their way through the forest to the colony where the rest of them awaited.
Bollocks! Days? Who knew what trouble that wretch of a Queen could stir up by then! Sweating profusely in his formal, fitted vest and cravat, Edward’s fury grew.
There was nothing to be done about it, however. He’d just have to keep his fingers crossed that Caesar might discover her and take care of that part of the Plan by himself. If truth be told, Edward was more than a little afraid of the Queen . . . and not entirely sure she was as ignorant of his duplicity as she seemed.
He assured himself that didn’t make sense—certainly she would have had him killed immediately if she knew—just as Leander instructed them to remove their clothes.
“I’ll Shift last and ensure the saddlebags are in place, and the children are secured. Then we’ll begin.”
He nodded to Olivia Sutherland, Grayson’s young wife, who’d been assigned to care for the twins in their mother’s absence. From what Edward had seen, she’d done a thorough job, cooing and clucking over them just as she did with her own small baby, but for some odd reason she was becoming more and more pale since they’d left Sommerley.
Afraid, most likely. She’d never been outside her home colony in her life.
On the sand, the men lined up the specially made nylon bags that would strap around their bodies in animal form, holding the clothing they now wore and the few mementos they’d been allowed to take. Then with the exception of Leander, Olivia, and two other females who held the children in their arms, the gathered group disrobed silently and swiftly, Shifted to panther, and stood waiting.
Edward was last.
He’d long ago decided he preferred his human form to the animal one. He didn’t want to be human, but he enjoyed fine clothing and fine dining and all the elevated pleasures of the highest of their society, such as eating with a knife and fork, not tearing into steaming, bloody flesh with his fangs. He was not looking forward to running around in the jungle like so many primitive beasts.
Which he was, to be sure . . . but he was also British, for God’s sake! He was a viscount! His rainforest kin living in the wilderness were, in all likelihood, no better than savages!
He couldn’t wait to get the hell out of here and head on to Morocco, where Caesar, he guessed, knew how to serve a proper meal.
With a sigh of regret and more than a little distaste at being forced to take off his clothes in front of others—more savagery, no doubt the natives went naked all the time where they were headed—he stripped. Then he shed his shape like a snake shedding its skin, and Shifted.
Standing on four paws on the hot riverbank in the blistering tropical sun, he sighed again, only this time it sounded like a hiss.
Leander folded and packed the clothing, while Olivia secured another custom-made satchel around her husband’s body that would carry the twins, snug in fur-lined pouches, secure on his back. Their own child went on the back of another male, a sturdy, reliable Assembly member with an equally sturdy wife. Once the bags were packed, Leander strapped them to the waiting animals, careful to make sure the buckles were neither tight nor loose, then removed Hope from Olivia’s arms.
“In you go, love,” he murmured to the baby, tucking her into one of the pouches. She gazed up at her father, silent and impassive, eyes round and unblinking, and Edward repressed the shudder that always wracked him when he looked too closely at the twins. There was just something . . . off about them. He glanced away as Leander repeated the procedure with Honor.
“Ladies,” Leander invited. The two other women undressed and Shifted, but Olivia stood frowning, the fingers that she’d been using to unbutton the front of her dress faltering, then freezing in place.
King of the Jungle, thought Edward with a sneer, watching the worry lines on Leander’s face deepen. How far the mighty have fallen!
“Olivia?”
She glanced up at Leander. Blinking, glancing around in confusion, she said, “I-I’m sorry. I’m not sure what’s wrong . . .”
Edward’s ears pricked, as did the others’. The calls of the birds and the burbling of the river took on a sinister cast.
“What do you mean? What is it?”
She moistened her lips, obviously panicking. Squeezing her eyes shut for a moment, she concentrated, then released her breath in a rush. “I can’t! I can’t do it!” she shrieked, shaking her hands as if trying to rid them of crawling spiders.
“Calm down, it’s all right!” Leander strode to her side. Several feet away, her husband lifted his huge, wedge-shaped head and stared at her with brilliant yellow eyes, long silver whiskers twitching.
Olivia looked up into Leander’s face and whispered in horror, “I can’t Shift, Leander. It’s . . . it’s gone. It’s just gone!”
Can’t Shift? Tosh! What’s she getting on about? Edward stared at her in confusion. Of course she could Shift—they all could. From puberty on, their latent Gifts became realized. Some later than others of course, but all eventually discovered their heritage. And their Gifts certainly didn’t come and go like some kind of head cold!
Except . . .
Edward’s gaze cut to the twins, nestled on Grayson’s back. They were both staring at him with inscrutable calm, like tiny Buddhas. Together, they smiled.
All the fur on Edward’s neck and haunches stood on end.
Tension gripped the group, palpable as a squeezed fist. The six animals watching from the tree line slunk forward on silent paws, hackles raised, ears upright.
