Page 79 of Shadow City: Silver Wolf

At least, the adrenaline was helping ward off the fogginess threatening to overtake me again.

With my luck, it'd be that damn crow that got away yesterday from the battle scene. He must have reported straight to their leader in order for them to have sent more people to capture me so quickly.

As the flapping grew louder, my body tensed. Whoever was coming wasn't trying to be quiet. Instead, they were announcing their arrival.

When a familiar rose scent wafted toward me, my heart started beating once more.

Rosemary.

As if she’d heard her name, the dark angel flew between the two large trees and landed several feet away. Her long, straight mahogany hair was pulled into a low ponytail, emphasizingher piercing purple stardust eyes. She wore a black shirt that matched the color of her feathers and contrasted with her fair skin.

Her forehead wrinkled as she took in the scene.

I blinked a few times, trying to wrap my head around the fact that she was here. "How did you find me so quickly?"

"I've been flying around ever since I was alerted that someone had kidnapped you." Rosemary pulled in her wings, which then disappeared into her back. "I was about to turn around to head north when I heard squealing tires. I thought I’d better check it out."

"Well, I'm glad you did." I ran my fingers through my tangled hair. "Luckily, he was alone, or I might not have gotten the upper hand."

She strolled to the bear and squatted next to him. "He killed himself?" she asked in surprise.

"Yeah, he did." I was still reeling over that fact, too. "I took him down, and he went for his belt. I thought he was getting ready to fight again, but he took a pill."

"I swear, things have gotten even more interesting since you showed up." Rosemary stood. "We need to get out of here before someone finds us."

"Yeah, but how?" If a human pulled up right now, we would have a huge problem—but it wasn't like I had a shovel handy. "There's no way we can hide the car and him." It was daylight, so anyone driving by would be able to see us from the road. "But we need to check the car out before we leave. He might have left something important in it."

"Fine. See if you can find anything incriminating. I'll deal with the bear." She bent down and picked up the huge man all by herself.

"What are you going to do with him?" I got that we needed to divide and conquer, but that bear was huge—and dead weight, now.

Her wings appeared behind her once again. "I'll figure something out." She took off, flying low and using the trees as cover.

I watched her disappear—gaping and shocked at her show of strength—before reality snapped back around me.

There was no time to stand here idly.

The driver’s door remained open, and the engine was still running. The bear had been so focused on reaching me that I was almost surprised to find he'd put the car in park.

Rosemary found me.I linked with Griffin as I surveyed the tan interior of the sedan. The car looked to be several years old, but in good condition. I ripped off a piece of my shirt, using it to avoid leaving fingerprints, and leaned over to pop the glove box.

Where is she?Griffin asked.Are you hurt?

No, but the bear shifter who kidnapped me killed himself.I filled Griffin in on everything as I searched the car. There was no registration, which didn't surprise me. They could've stolen the car, for all I knew.

A shrill ringtone came from the backseat, and I glanced over my shoulder and saw a phone. I reached over the seat and grabbed it, but before I could answer, the ringing stopped.

This had to be a burner phone, which would come in handy. Maybe when things settled down, we could call the person who was trying to capture me. At least I hadn't come up empty-handed.

Rosemary stepped from the trees again. She hurried to me, alarm etched on her face. "A few cars will be passing by soon—we need to go. Otherwise, you'll have a ton of questions to answer." She stretched her arms over her head. "Unfortunately, I can’tcarry you after dealing with that bear. We’re going to have to take it by foot."

"No worries." I appreciated that she’d handled him by herself. She’d managed to do it faster than if I’d tried to help. And she was right, we had to move. But unfortunately, I couldn’t shift into my animal, which would make everything take longer. There were already enough people who knew that I was a silver wolf; I didn't need to add more to the equation. And I didn’t want to take the possibly stolen car, so, walking it was.

"Well, come on." She grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the tree line.

We walked in silence until we were deep enough into the woods that no one could see us from the road. I kept an eye out anyway, thankful that the trees and bushes were in full bloom. I was moving slower than I liked, still impacted by the drug they'd given me. At some point, this stuff would have to wear off. It didn't help my paranoia that there was a tickle in the back of my mind, hinting that I was forgetting something important.

After a few minutes of silence, Rosemary said, "Tell Griffin that we'll be at Shadow Lake shortly. We’re about five miles away. He can pick you up there."

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