Wolf Rain (Psy-Changeling Trinity #3)(7)

The E had jumped back when he erupted toward her, watched him in breathless quiet as he hauled himself up. Soon as he was out, he closed the trapdoor before grabbing a large piece of rock he’d noticed in the corner, and weighing the trapdoor down. The weight wouldn’t stop a teleporter, but whether that teleporter had any visual coordinates that would permit him to teleport outside the bunker was a good question.

Alexei couldn’t take the risk, had to move the E away from this location.

“It’s stormy and the rain might’ve turned to ice,” he told the E afterward. “You’ll get wet and cold.”

No flinch, nothing but a steady stare that might’ve been disconcerting if he hadn’t been aware that she couldn’t get into his head unless she was a powerful telepath who wanted to smash his mind open. The latter idea just didn’t sit right—not with the depth of the grief she’d broadcast, and not with how gently she held the body of her aged pet.

Alexei had also never heard of an E who went around doing violence except in self-defense—and even then, they had to be pushed to the furthest edge—so he was going to play the odds and assume she wasn’t an enemy. The whole enemy operative angle made no sense in any case—the “trap” required far too much time and patience with no guarantee of success.

Pulling out his phone, he sent a message to Hawke: I have the E. Taking her to the substation. It was the only secure shelter around for miles. She’s no threat.

The response was immediate. Are you sure, Lexie? Not stated but understood was that the Psy race might’ve left Silence behind, but many of them continued to believe they were the master race, changelings and humans their inferiors to be manipulated and used.

I’m sure, he assured his alpha. She’s more afraid of me than I am of her. The strange flatness was gone; he could taste the sharp bite of her fear below the grief—and yet she’d warned him to hurry when she could’ve tried to run the instant she was out. I’ll message again from the substation—we’ll be slow.

He secured the phone in the side pocket of his cargoes. “We can’t carry your pet’s body far,” he said quietly, very conscious of their relative sizes and making an effort to sound nonthreatening. Before his world fell apart, he hadn’t been apt to growl or snarl except when pushed to it—he tried to channel that distant Alexei. “We have to walk at least a half hour.” No, that was wolf speed. It’d be much longer at her pace.

She clutched her pet closer, but nodded. “In the open.” A whisper. “Under the sky.”

Blood hot with a need to go for her captor’s throat, Alexei nodded. “Under the sky.” Promise made, he exited first to ensure it was safe outside.

The rain was relentless, but it hadn’t turned into snow.

The E came quickly after him, and though the rain soaked her within seconds, she stood staring up at the turgid gray sky with a radiant look on her face, her hair an electric halo that seemed to crackle under the energy of the storm. At that instant, she was the essence of freedom.

His wolf watched her in primal approval. “Let me.” He held out his arms for her pet. “It’ll slow you down and we need to move.”

A glance around at the rocky and inhospitable terrain before she accepted his offer. Her lips were pressed tight and he was sure tears mixed with the raindrops on her face.

Alexei might eschew the type of intimate skin privileges his packmates loved and craved, but he’d never stopped holding packmates who needed touch. It was part of being a dominant, part of being a SnowDancer lieutenant. The E was crying out for comfort—but would likely scream if he engulfed her in his arms. Even the wolf understood they had to go gently.

Gritting his teeth, he hauled his instincts into line.

“Follow me,” he said. “Step where I step.”

The E’s movements were jagged and ungraceful, but she had control of her limbs. He knew she had to be weak—she was too thin and moved with too little coordination for it to be otherwise—but though he kept an eye on her, he didn’t halt until ten minutes later.

He’d taken them on a route that put a slight rise between them and the hidden bunker. No one would spot the two of them unless they came over the same rise. “Here?” He’d stopped at a spot that would be under full sunlight on a clear day.

Her breathing uneven, she nodded and picked up a broken piece of stone, then began to dig. Placing her pet’s body on the ground, Alexei used his claws to accelerate the process. Her eyes widened slightly, but she didn’t stop her movements, and they worked side by side under the chilling rain.

The tiny grave didn’t take long to dig.

She put her pet’s body inside it with gentle hands. Her tears fell like rain as she pushed the dirt back to cover the hole.

When she began to pick up other pieces of stone with fingers that shook from the cold, he realized what she was doing and helped her build the cairn. He made sure it was solid, but before they placed the last stones, he deliberately nicked his finger using a broken stone shard.

The E made a small sound.

“It’s to make sure no animals disturb your pet,” he told her as he rubbed his blood on the inner stones, placing it in enough crevices that the rain wouldn’t wash it away. Every other creature in this area knew that the SnowDancer wolves were the apex predators. The merest hint of wolf scent and any scavengers or curious ramblers would give the cairn a wide berth.