it open. He flung the hunk of metal to the side and opened the metal coffer.
“It’s empty.”
Before they could process this unexpected setback, they came across a shocking scene.
They’d caught up to the Jeep, in a sense. The open-top vehicle careened wildly, off the road to their left. As Travis watched, he saw a body go flying from it and a distinctive redhead climb over the seats, dropping into the driver seat. Gene stood in the back, one arm looped around the oh shit bar while his free hand leveled a gun toward a hilly area rife with hiding spots.
The distinctive sound of more shots firing filled Travis with cold dread.
Layla uttered a gasp, and Travis gaped as Gene suddenly leapt from the moving vehicle, only to whisper under his breath, “No,” as he noted the reason why.
A cliff loomed ahead. A cliff the Jeep couldn’t avoid.
Off it flew. The vehicle hung suspended in the air, its wheels spinning uselessly, going nowhere but down.
With Jess still sitting in it.
Rawr!
Given the danger to Jess, he couldn’t have controlled his bear if he tried.
He burst free from his skin, nails and hair sprouting with ridiculous speed, the pain of the shift masked by his fear-induced adrenaline. Problem was, large as the Humvee was, given the luggage and the tight area, it confined him.
Not for long. With a roar, he barreled out the back of the Humvee, the rear hatch no match for a determined grizzly.
On four paws, his claws gripping the hard-packed dirt and rocky surface, he tore toward the cliff’s edge, passing Gene, who barked at him to take cover because bullets still hit the ground, their impact creating puffs of dust.
But Travis couldn’t slow his mad dash.
Jess went over a cliff.
Jess. Went. Over. A. Fucking. Cliff !
The scene replayed itself over and over along with the word he wanted to deny but couldn’t help repeating.
Dead. Dead. Dead . No one could survive a drop like that. No human body, not even a shifter, could withstand that kind of impact.
Unless that shifter had wings.
A pissed off kree sound rose from the chasm. Travis skidded to a halt, mere feet from the edge just as a massive bird flapped its wings and rose from the abyss.
Jess.
While he’d never before seen her in her bird shape—the avian species really restricted when it came to shifting because, while the other shifters in their animal shape could pass human detection, massive birds couldn’t—-there was no denying the giant hawk before him with her glorious plumage of brown and white, which ended in a red tail, was Jess. It didn’t take her strident shriek or the angry glint in her eye for him to perceive she was pissed.
Who could blame her? Travis wasn’t exactly a friendly-feeling Yogi at the moment either.
With a screaming cry, she soared high in the sky, high enough he had to crane to see her.
The brilliant sun blinded him, and it must have blinded the gunman as well because, when Jess reappeared, rocketing from the sky as a silent missile, the idiot taking potshots at them never spotted her.
Then again, Travis might have helped with that given he was charging toward him roaring his intent.
Rawr – I’m going to tear into your soft flesh.
Rawr-rawr-rawr-ra-rawr. And then I’m going to tear off your head, shove it up your ass, stomp on you, and make you wish you’d called in sick today to your insurgent boss.
Yeah. That was an awesome grizzly plan.
Except his hawk beat him to their target.
With a caw of triumph, Jess plowed into the guy, clawed feet extended and knocked him from his perch.
With a scream, the fellow fell and landed with a crunch.
Dinner?
His bear, undaunted by the fact that they’d not gotten the kill, still wondered if they’d eat fresh. At home, he’d taught his bear to not kill wastefully, but apparently, he’d need to remind his furry side that they didn’t eat humans.
Not human. Else.
Even before they reached the robed body, his nose detected the fact that the corpse was
“It’s empty.”
Before they could process this unexpected setback, they came across a shocking scene.
They’d caught up to the Jeep, in a sense. The open-top vehicle careened wildly, off the road to their left. As Travis watched, he saw a body go flying from it and a distinctive redhead climb over the seats, dropping into the driver seat. Gene stood in the back, one arm looped around the oh shit bar while his free hand leveled a gun toward a hilly area rife with hiding spots.
The distinctive sound of more shots firing filled Travis with cold dread.
Layla uttered a gasp, and Travis gaped as Gene suddenly leapt from the moving vehicle, only to whisper under his breath, “No,” as he noted the reason why.
A cliff loomed ahead. A cliff the Jeep couldn’t avoid.
Off it flew. The vehicle hung suspended in the air, its wheels spinning uselessly, going nowhere but down.
With Jess still sitting in it.
Rawr!
Given the danger to Jess, he couldn’t have controlled his bear if he tried.
He burst free from his skin, nails and hair sprouting with ridiculous speed, the pain of the shift masked by his fear-induced adrenaline. Problem was, large as the Humvee was, given the luggage and the tight area, it confined him.
Not for long. With a roar, he barreled out the back of the Humvee, the rear hatch no match for a determined grizzly.
On four paws, his claws gripping the hard-packed dirt and rocky surface, he tore toward the cliff’s edge, passing Gene, who barked at him to take cover because bullets still hit the ground, their impact creating puffs of dust.
But Travis couldn’t slow his mad dash.
Jess went over a cliff.
Jess. Went. Over. A. Fucking. Cliff !
The scene replayed itself over and over along with the word he wanted to deny but couldn’t help repeating.
Dead. Dead. Dead . No one could survive a drop like that. No human body, not even a shifter, could withstand that kind of impact.
Unless that shifter had wings.
A pissed off kree sound rose from the chasm. Travis skidded to a halt, mere feet from the edge just as a massive bird flapped its wings and rose from the abyss.
Jess.
While he’d never before seen her in her bird shape—the avian species really restricted when it came to shifting because, while the other shifters in their animal shape could pass human detection, massive birds couldn’t—-there was no denying the giant hawk before him with her glorious plumage of brown and white, which ended in a red tail, was Jess. It didn’t take her strident shriek or the angry glint in her eye for him to perceive she was pissed.
Who could blame her? Travis wasn’t exactly a friendly-feeling Yogi at the moment either.
With a screaming cry, she soared high in the sky, high enough he had to crane to see her.
The brilliant sun blinded him, and it must have blinded the gunman as well because, when Jess reappeared, rocketing from the sky as a silent missile, the idiot taking potshots at them never spotted her.
Then again, Travis might have helped with that given he was charging toward him roaring his intent.
Rawr – I’m going to tear into your soft flesh.
Rawr-rawr-rawr-ra-rawr. And then I’m going to tear off your head, shove it up your ass, stomp on you, and make you wish you’d called in sick today to your insurgent boss.
Yeah. That was an awesome grizzly plan.
Except his hawk beat him to their target.
With a caw of triumph, Jess plowed into the guy, clawed feet extended and knocked him from his perch.
With a scream, the fellow fell and landed with a crunch.
Dinner?
His bear, undaunted by the fact that they’d not gotten the kill, still wondered if they’d eat fresh. At home, he’d taught his bear to not kill wastefully, but apparently, he’d need to remind his furry side that they didn’t eat humans.
Not human. Else.
Even before they reached the robed body, his nose detected the fact that the corpse was
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