Page 70 of Wolf of Ashes
I quickly commit our destination to memory. “How will we find you once we get there?”
“We’ll find you,” Jonah says. His focus falls to the panthers and his expression becomes rueful. “Unfortunately, you’ll need to leave your dogs behind. One of them might pass as a mobility assistance dog, but not all four.”
The female immediately growls.
“Looks like you’re it,” I say to her.
“You’ll have to put her on a leash.” Jonah grimaces. “Make sure she’s okay with that.”
The panther growls at that suggestion—not a happy sound this time—but I stare her down. An illusion leash can’t be that bad. “It’s either that or you stay behind.”
She makes a huffing noise that sounds alarmingly like her panther voice before she turns her back on me. As my gaze flows across her, I’m suddenly aware that her fur appears darker than before. When I cast a glance at her paws, it looks like the tips of her claws are silver again.
Fuck. Her canine appearance is wearing off.
“We’ll be there,” I say to Vanguard. “Now, would you rather we exit via the death trap or is there another way out of here?”
I want nothing more than to turn tail and get the fuck out of here before the panthers lose their canine appearances altogether, but I can’t appear too keen to walk through the green door again.
“This way,” Jonah says, gesturing to the far door. “I’ll show you.”
I quickly gather up the panthers and take Diavolo’s arm, facing away from both Vanguard and Jonah when I mouthpanthers.
Diavolo’s expression remains neutral, but I hope he understands what I meant. It seems that he does when, in the next moment, he strides ahead of me, saying to Jonah, “Lead the way.”
Vanguard watches us go as we follow Jonah out into a dimly lit corridor.
The walls appear sturdily built, although the paint is peeling. We pass two doors, each one marked with a different symbol, but Jonah doesn’t offer any explanation about them. Within a few minutes, we approach a door marked with a symbol that looks roughly like a tree.
“This door lets out into a children’s playground,” Jonah says. “There aren’t usually many kids there at night, but you’ll want to keep your Dobermans close or the human parents could get anxious. Many humans don’t know how loyal and brave these dogs can be.” He lifts his focus from the panthers. “Once you’re in the playground, I trust you’ll know your way from there.”
“Sure,” I reply. If the panthers weren’t in danger of losing their canine illusions, I might hesitate at this point, try to find out more from Jonah about the mission ahead of us.
It’s not like we even know what ‘the package’ is, but then, if Vanguard wanted to give us advance notice, he wouldn’t have described it so vaguely. I imagine we’ll find out tomorrow.
As it turns out, Jonah compels me to pause another moment when his now-cool hand snakes out to cup my forearm. “You can keep my shirt.”
He must mean the strip of it that’s covering my eyes.
“Don’t worry. I was going to.”
I’m aware of Diavolo bristling at my back, a menacing form, and the eerie, white smoke filling his eyes as he glares Jonah down. After all, he warned Jonah not to lay a hand on me again.
One corner of Jonah’s mouth tugs into a smile and I’m not sure if it’s for my benefit or Diavolo’s, but he lets go of my arm.
Pushing open the door, I step into a very small clearing, around which is a dense semi-circle of closely-packed trees. The foliage hides from view what lies beyond them, but the city sounds rush back in.
Thank the dark saints my earplugs weren’t dislodged during the fight.
The door closes behind the keeper and the panthers, and then we’re alone in the clearing.
He promptly waves his hand, a soft, green glow forming before he says, “I’ve cast a protection spell around us in case they’re somehow watching us. It will mask our actual movements and create an illusion that we’re stepping away from this clearing already.”
Just in the nick of time, too.
One of the male panthers’ heads suddenly expands, popping back into its rounded, feline shape. Another one’s butt transforms, its tail lengthening and its back claws turning silver. Both animals hiss with displeasure, their voices audibly catlike while their bodies are suddenly an eye-widening mix of big dog and big cat.
“Oh my.” I turn to the keeper. “You need to do something about that.”
