“What now?” Rue stared at Kelsey. The blue of her eyes dimmed with desperation.
For the first time in Kelsey’s life, someone was looking to her for guidance. She swallowed. I need to come through for her and Danny. Now or never.
Time was running out.
Kelsey’s gaze darted back and forth along Ninth Avenue.
Gray clouds looming above them added to the feeling of impending doom; their gloomy color reflected in the dull grays of the street and buildings.
Kelsey tried to calm her racing thoughts. What would Danny do, now that he was so close to the First Change? She remembered the confusion and pain of that time in her life. Danny’s thought process and his senses were no longer human. He was thinking and feeling like a wolf, reacting entirely on instinct.
“East,” Kelsey said. “He’ll go east, away from Shelby’s apartment and the warehouse and all the places that scared him. And away from the crowds.”
Rue veered right, into a quieter one-way street.
Kelsey followed. They fell into a fast jog, with Kelsey sucking in air through her nose, trying to catch a whiff of peanuts. Her skin prickled as if electricity were running through her veins. Her feet ached in the confines of her shoes, but she never slowed.
Next to her, Rue struggled to keep up.
When they reached Eighth Avenue, Rue asked, “Where to? Farther east?”
The weight of responsibility rested heavily on Kelsey’s shoulders. She paused and sniffed the air.
Burgers, sushi, tobacco, and the solvents from a nearby dry cleaner’s. And...
Kelsey froze. Peanuts!
An image of Danny, running down the street, scared, accompanied the scent.
Kelsey gasped.
Rue touched her shoulder. “What is it?”
“I think I’ve got his scent trail!” Kelsey gestured to the left.
They started to run again, faster and faster, with Kelsey in the lead.
Peanut-scented air streamed past Kelsey’s nose. Heat flowed through her until she felt ready to burst with the joy of running and finally getting near Danny. Yes, yes, yes! Find him!
The scent led them past a FedEx truck parked halfway on the sidewalk, then veered right at the next corner and—
Nothing.
The scent trail ended as if cut by a knife.
Kelsey stumbled to a stop and looked around. Instead of Danny, she discovered something else.
The two Saru they had encountered before were walking down Eighth Avenue, peering into every side street.
Oh, shit!
“Run!” Rue whispered harshly, just low enough not to alert the Saru.
“No!” Kelsey grasped her elbow. “If we run, they’ll catch us.”
The Saru, both of them fellow wolf-shifters, hadn’t seen them yet, but fleeing prey would inevitably attract a predator’s attention.
As fast as they could without running, they walked in the opposite direction, away from the Saru.
Around the next corner, Rue paused and peeked back. “They’re not following us.”
Kelsey slumped against the nearest wall and rubbed her itching arms, willing the tiny hairs not to lengthen into fur. Her fingertips ached as if claws were about to burst forth. Even with her senses sharpened by the mutaline pumping through her, she still couldn’t detect Danny’s scent. Had he doubled back?
Impossible. We would have run into him, then. She glanced around the corner.
The Saru stood in front of a Japanese restaurant, noses in the air. Had they caught Danny’s scent, or were they just hungry?
Luckily, Rue and she were downwind of the Saru, so Kelsey hoped the two men hadn’t discovered their presence. She let her gaze slide over the point where she had lost Danny’s trail.
There was no safe place for Danny to hide, just a rusty old gate. The late-morning sun glinted off something on the ground. Kelsey leaned forward to take a closer look.
A padlock, silver key still in the lock, lay next to the hatch behind the gate.
Kelsey frowned. She nudged Rue. “That hatch...” She pointed.
Rue took a careful peek around the corner too. “It probably leads to an emergency exit shaft. Subway tunnels run right below us.”
“Subway tunnels,” Kelsey murmured. A dark, cavernous space, away from humans and bright lights. Her breath caught in her chest at the thought of being stuck down there, but then she remembered what her father had always told her. No Syak suffers from claustrophobia. Hidden dens mean safety.
She licked dry lips. “We need to go down there.” Her voice trembled.
“What? Why? You think Danny is hiding in one of the tunnels?”
“I don’t know, but his scent trail ends right there.” Kelsey pointed at the gate. “And after 9/11, I bet authorities have become more careful about preventing easy access to the subway system. The padlock can’t have been open for very long.”
Rue glanced around the corner again and then leaned against the wall next to Kelsey. “Shit. They’re still there.”
If their Saru training had been anything like Kelsey’s, they had learned to be thorough. They would stay until they had explored every inch of the vicinity.
“We need a diversion,” Kelsey said. “I could try to lure them away while you slip through the emergency exit.”
“And then?” Rue shook her head. “Even if I find Danny somewhere in the subway tunnel, I wouldn’t know what to do. I need you there to guide him through his First Change.”
No, no! I can’t do that. Not down there. Just the thought of going down into that dark, damp tunnel, deep beneath the surface, made Kelsey’s heart race. Her throat tightened until she thought she would suffocate. She bent at the waist and gasped for breath.
“You okay?” One of Rue’s hands settled lightly on her back.
The contact made Kelsey’s lungs work again. She straightened. Rue’s hand slid off her back, and she missed the soothing touch. “I’m not an alpha. Only dominant Syak can mentor a pup through the First Change.”
Rue looked her in the eyes, the intensity of her gaze forcing Kelsey to keep eye contact. “You’re the most dominant Syak available. I know you can do it.”
“Rue, I...” Kelsey squeezed her eyes shut. “I can’t go down there. I...I’m claustrophobic.”
Rue gripped Kelsey’s hand in both of hers. Her calluses rasped over Kelsey’s damp palm. “I know you’re afraid. I’m scared shitless too, but we can do this—together. For Danny. Okay?”
The spicy ocean-and-pines scent increased, settling over Kelsey like a security blanket. She opened her eyes. “Okay.”
“Then let’s think of a better way to get those two thugs away from the emergency exit,” Rue said.
A sudden idea formed in Kelsey’s mind. She slid her hand from Rue’s and reached for her cell phone and the card in her coat pocket. Rafael Soto, she read on the otherwise unmarked card. Like her own business cards, the Saru’s card listed no academic degree, company name, or address. Just a cell phone number.
“What are you—?”
Kelsey pressed her finger to her lips, turned on her cell phone, and dialed. When the Saru picked up his phone, Kelsey cleared her throat. “This is...Cherry.” She glanced around frantically, searching for a faux last name. A few feet away, a teenager of about Danny’s age passed by, bouncing a basketball along the sidewalk. “Um, Balls. Cherry Balls. We spoke a few minutes ago when I was with the human woman.”
The Saru snorted, and Rue clamped a hand over her mouth but couldn’t hide her grin. “Balls?” the man repeated. “And here I thought you specialized in women.”
A flush raced up Kelsey’s neck, and she was grateful for Rue’s human hearing that prevented her from listening in on the Saru’s end of the conversation. “It’s a pseudonym,” she said. “I don’t want to shame my former pack by using my real name.” She put all the guilt and regret she had felt after Garrick’s death into her voice.
“I’m sorry, Ms. um...Balls, but I’m in the middle of an urgent investigation, so whatever you want will have to wait.”
“That’s just it. I’ve seen the boy you’re searching for.”
“What? Where? Are you sure?”
“Can’t be too many Syak pups wandering around New York, disoriented and all alone,” Kelsey said.
Whispers filtered through the phone. The larger Saru had probably caught a whiff of his partner’s excitement and now wanted to know what was going on.
“Where was he heading?” the Saru asked.
“He was wandering north in the direction of the Rockefeller Center,” Kelsey said, grateful that the phone didn’t transmit the scent of her lie.
“Thanks for the information,” the Saru said. “I need to go.”
“Wait! There’s something else you need to know.”
Rue gestured wildly and gave her a what-the-heck-are-you-doing stare.
Kelsey patted her arm. “It seemed like the human cops are looking for him too.”
The Saru ended the call among streams of curses.
“Two birds with one stone,” Kelsey said as she turned off her cell phone and put it away. “I know how the Saru work. If they see any police in the vicinity, they’ll create a distraction to lure away the police officers from the area. If we hurry, we can get Danny out of the area without running into the Saru or the police.” She hoped her short phone call hadn’t allowed Tala Peterson’s team to locate her.
“Brilliant!” Rue beamed at her. “I could kiss you!” She put her hands to both sides of Kelsey’s face and did just that.
Before Kelsey could melt into the kiss, Rue moved back. “Uh, I…sorry.”
Kelsey didn’t want apologies. She wanted Rue to kiss her again. The memory of Rue’s kisses made her skin burn. Cut it out. This isn’t the right time, and Rue is not the right woman for you anyway. Kelsey lowered her gaze and looked at her watch. Quarter to eleven. The quonilol Danny had received would wear off soon, if it hadn’t already. She peeked around the corner. “The Saru are gone. Let’s go.”