“He’s not, but don’t tell anyone. Fergus asked me to bring Warren over to Revel, where I live.”
“You’re not a wolf?”
“No. I’m fae. Please, can you connect me with Warren?”
“I’m not supposed to, but I’d do anything if it meant getting Fergus back. Give me a sec.”
Mary got in the cab of her modified Four-Runner. She’d had a long bed installed as well as a sling apparatus she used for transporting big animals.
She set her phone on the dash-holder. She tapped ‘speaker’, hit the automatic garage door and cursed the damn thing for being so slow.
Turning the key, she revved the engine and as soon as she had clearance, she drove out, bouncing off the curved driveway and shooting down the street.
A deep wolf’s voice hit the airwaves. “Warren, here. Who’s this?”
“Dr. Mary Somers from Revel. I’m a friend of Fergus’s and a trained veterinarian. He contacted me.” She debated for a moment. She didn’t want to get into the whole dreamglide situation, especially since she didn’t understand why Fergus had the ability to even create one. He was a wolf, not a fae. “That is, Fergus reached me telepathically. He’s in the Graveyard and he’s still alive, though barely. There’s a chance we can save him. But I’ll need your help getting him into the sling and back to my surgery. He said he needs wolf blood.”
A long, tense pause followed, then, “Where in the Graveyard?” Exactly the words she needed to hear.
“Not far from the bombing that took place about three months ago, you know, the one involving the witch, Iris.”
“I know the location. I’m on my way.”
The Graveyard was the roughest part of Five Bridges, full of ditches and cacti. Dozens of small makeshift bridges were the only means a four-wheel-anything could get through the no-man’s land. The large central part of their province kept all five territories separated. But it was a hellish place, given to death.
She drove like a madwoman, but her powerful fae instincts told her every second counted.
When she found Fergus, she screeched to a halt and sent dust, rocks and bits of concrete into the air. She backed up close to him, ignoring the fact that she couldn’t detect the rise and fall of his abdomen.
He looked dead.
She didn’t care. She knew what she knew.
By the time she was using the controls to guide the sling over to Fergus, she felt a vibration in the air and knew Warren was close. “That you, Warren?” she called out. She didn’t turn to look.
“Flying in behind you,” he shouted. “I’ve brought two of my men with me.”
“Thank God for that.”
Warren landed and slid across some of the debris to grab for the far end of the heavy rubber sling. He moved it next to Fergus.
As soon as it was in position, she hurried to unlatch the closest side to her so that it lay flat.
The men wasted no time as they picked Fergus up and slid him onto the sling. Mary worked around them as she grabbed the latches, then locked them in place.
She stumbled heading back to the truck, picked herself up and with bleeding palms worked the machinery.
The wolves kept the sling steady. Like the garage door, the damn thing couldn’t move fast enough. She let loose with a long string of beautiful words. She sensed all the wolves staring at her, but she only had eyes for the sight of Fergus’s black and way-too-dry snout as the sling drew close.
“Warren, get up here on the back of the vehicle, your men with you. Take the Goddamn controls and keep Fergus steady. I’m taking off.”
Warren levitated swiftly toward her. “I’ve got it, Mary.”
She jumped over the side of the truck, landing in the gravel. She slid into the driver’s seat, started the Four-Runner and put the vehicle in motion.
The large tires gave it the traction she needed through the shitty roads and wobbly bridges.
She once more drove like she’d escaped from an institution.