Laser fire lit up the night, brighter than the fire from the explosion. “Someone’s heading north, if those shots are anything to go by.”
“And someone else is heading up this hill,” Karl said. “Listen.”
For a moment he heard nothing, and then came a soft heel scuff and the sharp clatter of rock tumbling down the slope. He tapped Karl on the shoulder, and then pointed to the right. Karl nodded and rose to his feet, moving away as silently as a shadow.
Gabriel shifted shape. The wind flowed under his wings, thrusting him up past the tree line. Whoever was climbing the hill wasn’t very fit. He could hear their panting as clearly as he could smell the acid tang of the fire.
He swept down the slope, wings brushing the highest tips of the gum trees. Rodents scattered, their high-pitched squeals of terror music to his hawk hearing. He ignored them, gliding on. Shadows ran through the trees just ahead—female, rather than male. Their shapes alone told him neither was Sam. Yet both were shapes he knew. He dove through the trees, changing as he neared the ground.
“Lyssa,” he called softly.
She turned with a cry of relief, all but falling into his arms.
“Oh thank God, Gabriel. I thought I’d never see you again.”
He frowned. The woman in his arms was trembling with fear, and the front of her shirt was covered in blood—blood that he could smell more than see. She was also more drawn, and a hell of a lot skinnier, than the Lyssa he’d seen only yesterday.
The second woman stopped and turned around. It was Jan, as he’d half expected. “You okay?” he asked, over Lyssa’s head.
Jan nodded but wrapped her arms around her body, as if in an effort to stop her sudden shivering. The bushes to his left rustled. He tensed and then relaxed as Karl stepped through. Jan ran to him. Karl hugged
her so tightly Gabriel thought he’d squeeze the life out of her.
He stepped away from Lyssa, holding her at arm’s length, his gaze searching her pale face. “Tell me what happened.”
“A police officer freed us. She told us to run up this hill.”
Relief coursed through him. Sam, surely. “She’s still down there?”
Lyssa’s blue eyes regarded him curiously. “You know her?”
“We’re working together.” As Lyssa would have known, had she actually been the shifter who’d spent the last few months at his brother’s side. He glanced at Karl. “We have to get them out of here.” Before Kazdan came looking for them—and before Sam got caught again.
He touched Lyssa’s arm and helped her up the slope. Karl all but carried his wife—maybe the sudden relief of seeing him had sapped all her strength—and it seemed to take forever to reach the top. Gabriel bit back his impatience, his need to go find Sam, and helped Lyssa over to the car. Family came first, and Lyssa—the real Lyssa—was family.
When she was safely settled in the backseat, he closed the door and leaned on the top of the car, watching Karl help his wife into the front.
Karl met his gaze once she was in. “Thank you,” was all he said.
They’d been friends for a long time, and Gabriel knew that the simple thank-you encompassed a whole lot more—including thank you for letting me help, thank you for trusting me again. He nodded. He’d confided in Karl for nigh on ten years, trusting him with all but his brother’s secrets, and his brother had in turn trusted Karl with the one secret that mattered. Now that Karl had proven to be vulnerable to attack, they’d have to arrange for the information about Stephan to be wiped from his mind. But that didn’t mean he was no longer worthy of trust or friendship. And had the situation been reversed, had it been he in Karl’s position, he would have done exactly the same thing. Most men would have. And most men would not have taken the risk of bugging the blackmailers. That more than anything told him where Karl’s allegiances truly lay.
“I want you to get the rest of your family and get the hell out of Victoria. Go to New South Wales or Queensland or wherever for a while. Tell no one—not your company, not Jan’s folks, not your folks.” He hesitated, then got out his cell phone, handing it to his friend. “I’ll call you when it’s safe to return.”
Karl took the phone and nodded. “What about Lyssa?”
“Take her with you. For now, that’s best.”
Gabriel bent and lightly tapped the window. Lyssa wound it down and studied him expectantly. “You’re not taking me to Stephan, are you?”
He shook his head. “Not yet. Not till it’s safe. Stephan will kill me if I lose you now.”
“Is he all right?”
“He’s fine. Don’t believe the news reports, no matter what they say. I’ll let him contact you as soon as I can.” He shifted slightly to let Karl climb into the car. “You’re safe with Karl and his family. I’ll see you in a couple of days.”
She nodded solemnly. He glanced back to Karl. “Be careful.”
“I’m not going to lose anyone else to that creep,” Karl muttered. “And you’re the one who should be careful. He seems to know an awful lot about your family and your friends.”