Page 24 of Hunted

Meanwhile, Valerian’s anxiety was starting to rise.

“Any luck?” he asked.

“I’m working on it,” I said.

“I’m trying not to look at you, but it sounds like you’re just sniffing at the ground with your regular nose.”

“I can feel it working its way out, okay? Just give me a second.”

“If you can’t do this—”

“—maybe if you weren’t distracting me, I would be able to focus.”

“Right. My apologies. I’ll let you do your… whatever this is.”

My body was in the process of transforming. I could feel it. But it wasn’t instantaneous, or effortless—it was arduous, and unnecessarily drawn out. I had never been so conscious of the way my nails became claws, or how my bones bent and cracked, nor had I ever felt my fur grow out of my own skin. There was no pain, there was no discomfort, I simply had to wait.

Considering what both of us needed to do right now was run, this delay wasn’t great for either of us.

When my wolf finally came out, I shook my back again, allowing my silky, silvery fur to grow out fully. All of my senses expanded, some of them exponentially. My muscles were bigger, and stronger. My reflexes were heightened, my eyesight sharper. Not once had I let the mannequins out of my sight, and none of them had moved in the time it had taken me to take on my wolf form.

“Finished?” Valerian asked.

“I am,” I said.

“Can you find us a way out, or not?”

I brought my snout low to the floor and sniffed around. I could smell people, their scents, but they were all over the place. It was difficult to make sense of the information I was receiving. “I’m…” I paused. “Not sure.”

One of the mannequins creaked. I had blinked, and one of them looked to have taken a step toward me.

“You’re not sure?” Valerian asked.

“I don’t know what’s happening. I can smell people, but they’re everywhere.” I paused. “Wait!”

“Wait?”

“I think…” I sniffed the air again. “I think I smell Evie.”

“Can you trace the scent?”

“I can. She’s behind me, somewhere…”

“The only thing behind you is the hallway.”

I hadn’t turned around, but I had already seen all the mannequins on that side of the hallway. There were many of them, and they were crowding the path we had to take to get to Evie. “Everything about this place feels fake, except for her scent. If we want to get out of here, we need to get to her.”

Valerian nodded. “Alright,” he said, and he started moving down the hallway.

“What are you doing?!” I shrieked.

“Clearing us a path.”

Backing away and keeping my eyes on the few mannequins standing nearest to us, I had no idea what Valerian was actually doing. I heard him walk, then I heard him start running. A moment later, I heard a crash, a thud, a series of knocks, and a couple of grunts.

“Valerian!” I yelled.

“Let’s go,” he called out, his voice bouncing off the walls.