Even though they’ve rejected me.
Even though they’re my enemies.
Since we can’t afford to waste time, we don’t. It’s a day’s journey to the Rockies, and then from there, god knows how long it’ll take us to find the Devil’s Teeth and walk the ravine to the tree. The sun’s setting before we finally take a bathroom break and snag some dinner from a fast-food place right off the interstate. Then we’re back on the road as the stars begin to come out.
We reach the southernmost mountains early the next morning and find a visitor center in a quaint town at the foot of the first peaks. The sweet little old lady at the counter has never heard of the Devil’s Teeth, but she gives us information on the biggest Rocky Mountains visitor center in the area. Unfortunately, the Rockies cover quite a large area, and we need more to work on than we have.
At the next visitor center, we hit pay dirt. The park ranger running the information desk knows the Devil’s Teeth, though he’s always known them as the Devil’s Fingers. They’re a myth, he tells us, but legend says they can be found near Black Mountain.
Black Mountain sits way off the beaten path. We park in a small town called Red River, load up our packs, and disappear into the woods on foot. Once out of sight, we shift and begin the upward trek.
It feels good to be in wolf form, racing through the wilderness. Here, the desert is a distant memory, and the air is cold and bracing when it blows through my fur. I feel more in my element now. Less connected to the emotional human side of me, even though my wolf still can’t stop yearning for the feral shifters. At least in wolf form, I can focus on the ground beneath my feet and drown out the way my soul screams for them.
We reach the foot of Black Mountain just before sundown and shift back to human form briefly while we gaze up at it.
Malix sucks at his teeth, then remarks, “Don’t know about you all, but I don’t see anything remotely toothlike.”
I can’t help but agree. The mountains here are smoother and more rounded than I expected, all of them covered in dense forest that stunts their mountainous appearance even further. These rounded mounds rise all around us, but none of them are the sharp, jagged fingers we were told to expect.
Kian grunts. “We’ll have to search on foot.”
“After we rest,” Frost adds, giving Kian a look I can’t read. I wonder if he’s hurting, then I wonder why I care.
We hunt for dinner, the four of us working much more seamlessly together than I want. After feasting on some of the fattest deer I’ve ever seen, we catch some sleep and set out again at first light.
On our second day in the mountains, I have another poison attack.
We’re halfway up the peak of Black Mountain in the hope that a more aerial view will help us find the Devil’s Teeth, when the pain hits without warning.
I yelp and collapse to the ground, desperately trying to shift back to human form so my wolf doesn’t get hurt. Agony ripples through me, all the muscles in my body responding by twitching and seizing. My magic struggles to take hold through the white-hot pain. I cry out, the sound inhuman, my limbs caught mid-shift, my fear rising.
Fuck. What if this is it? What if this is the end?
Then Malix leans over me in human form, concern evident on his face. “Look at me, Amora.”
I can’t move my limbs or my head, but I still have control of my eyes. I try to focus on him, but he’s just out of comfortable viewing range. So he moves closer and carefully lifts my head onto his bare thigh. He cups my face and angles me so that our eyes can meet.
“Breathe, kitty,” he murmurs. “Breathe with me.”
Even as my body continues to twitch and the pain sears my insides, I follow his instructions.
Deep breath in, deep breath out.
Over and over.
His sunshine and fresh air scent swirl around me. That scent falls into me, chasing away the worst of the pain and helping me finish shifting back to my human form.
Finally, the attack ends. I don’t sit up right away—I feel weaker than before, like the poison did more damage to me this time.
Like I’m running out of time.
Frost kneels beside me and holds out a bottle of water. “Drink. Flush your kidneys.”
Malix helps me sit up, and I take the water from Frost’s hands. He looks pale, the golden tan of his skin taking on an almost ashen hue.
“Frost?” I murmur. “Are you okay?”
He frowns and shakes his head, then lays his hand over his abdomen. “It’s hurting me too.”