Page 17 of Running with Direwolves
Still the direwolf did nothing.
“Grady, we have to be quick.” Tarl looked at Sienna. “Show him the key.”
Quickly Sienna dug into her pocket. “Here. I can open the cage, but only if you’re human.” Would he shift? Could he shift? Or had Tarl been stringing her along with this crazy story?
But then Grady pushed onto his back legs, and his fur seemed to blur and his limbs lengthened and became flesh colored. The face that emerged was slim and stubbled, his hair jet black.
“Oh, fuck,” she muttered. “He really is a man.”
“Hurry.” Tarl snatched the key from her and unlocked the cage door. He rushed in and scooped Grady close.
Grady clung to Tarl, his eyes closed, his jaw tight. “You came for me.”
“Of course. I would never leave you. I’d die with you rather than leave you.” He pulled back and stared into Grady’s eyes. “I’d never desert you.”
“Clothes.” Sienna dropped to the rucksack and began pulling out jeans, a sweater, and sneakers. “Get dressed.”
Grady was beside her, getting dressed, breathing fast. He was slimmer than Tarl, his muscles less defined, it was clear he’d been starving.
As soon as he was dressed Tarl rushed back the way they’d come, glancing around as he did so. Grady followed, Sienna behind him. She locked her keys away. Her heart was clattering and adrenaline had made her knees a little weak and shaky.
“Wait,” she said as they reached Ted’s office. “I’ll go in first, distract him.”
Tarl nodded. Grady was looking around, his eyes darting this way and that, peering into every shadowy corner.
“Hey, Ted, can you hear that?” She stepped in with her hand cupped around her ear.
“What?” He was tapping the screen of the camera Tarl had moved. “Hear what?”
“I think the grays have stopped?”
“Ah, yes, good, but this camera has stopped too. What the heck?” He poked at a few keys on his pad then frowned at the black screen.
Out of the corner of her eye, Sienna saw Tarl and Grady slipping out of the office. For two big guys they were incredibly stealthy.
“Ah, crap, I’ll have to go and check it.” Ted stood, scraping the legs of his chair. “God knows what’s happened to it, pesky squirrel again probably, they jump on them, see, and move them to face the wall.”
Sienna didn’t hang around. She slipped out of the officeand off zoo premises with her entire body buzzing and her mind whirring with the enormity of what she’d just done.
Chapter Five
Tarl and Grady were waiting for her within the darkness of a large overhanging tree.
“Now what?” she asked quietly.
“Your place?” Tarl said. “You’ll need a few things to take with you.”
“Yeah, lets get the hell out of this city.” Grady’s voice was deep and rasping. “I hate the damn place.” He frowned.
“How will we travel?” Sienna asked, feeling slightly nervous of Grady. He had a wild look about him, his eyes and hair, and he was a fraction taller than Tarl.
“Train,” Tarl said. “North.”
“I’m never fucking going back to Montana,” Grady said, beginning to walk toward the tunnel. “Where the fuck did that ranger come from?”
“No idea.” Tarl grabbed Sienna’s hand, gave her a reassuring smile, and they caught up with Grady. “But forget that now. We need to look forward, concentrate on getting to Eastern Canada. Keep Sienna safe.”
“Why isn’t she safe?” Grady threw her a glance as he strode along.
