Besides, he thought as he crept forward, no matter how hard this part was, the part before it had been harder. It wasn’t that long ago that they had all been locked up in their separate cages, and even this amount of freedom had seemed like a ridiculous fantasy.
All they had to do was get out of here. Once they were out of the caves, Sebastian would lose home field advantage. Sure, he knew the forest better, but at least it was an open space. They could maybe even call for help.
Logan stopped dead in his tracks.
He did it so suddenly that Iz ran into him, giving him a little jolt ofconnectionagain. He had to fight off the desire to give into it.
She was a more powerful tidal wave than his hellhound had ever been.
“What is it?” Iz said, trying to peer around him. “Is it Sebastian?”
“No, I just thought of something.” He patted his pockets, but he couldn’t find his cell phone.
Was he the kind of person who forgot his phone a lot? Was it a bad sign that he couldn’t even remember if he was that kind of guy or not? Or had he just gotten in a knockdown, drag-out fight with Sebastian before Sebastian had stuck him in the cage? His phone could have easily fallen out of his pocket during all that.
The actual moment of his imprisonment was completely blank to him.
He forced himself to stay in the moment. “Do you still have your phone?”
Iz’s lips parted into a perfect O, and she immediately started fumbling at her pockets. “Yes, but it’s been weeks, I’m not sure—”
“I’m not either, but not everything ages in shift-space.”
She nodded distractedly as she seized on her phone. “I still smell like laundry.”
You still smell incredible, Logan wanted to say. He kept his mouth shut.
As soon as Iz raised her phone, the motion-sensitive screen lit up.
“Oh my God.” The haunting blue glow showed on her face, revealing that tears had sprung up in her eyes. “My battery’s still charged. I don’t have any signal underground, but as soon as we get out of here, I can call for backup.” She brought the phone to her mouth and kissed it. “I don’t care how filthy phones are supposed to be, this is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
For him, that honor had to go to the stunning smile on her face as she pocketed her phone again, but he had to admit that full battery icon was pretty ravishing too.
The light off her phone screen had revealed more than just a smile and tears of relief, though. He could see that she looked even more drawn than before; she had the tense, white-knuckled look of somebody who was trying to fight through ever-building wooziness.
Help her, his hellhound said, its ears pricking forward.Share with her.
Do you have anything left?
For our mate? We will always have something.
“I think I can give you a little energy,” Logan said. “Not much, maybe, but a little. The telepathy never works when I’m human, but this ... I think it might.”
She looked at him, her sea-green eyes almost reflective in the dark like a cat’s. “Even when you’re not boosting something special? Even in your human form?”
His hellhound was poised inside him, certain and ready.
“Yeah,” Logan managed to say. “I think it’s because—you know. Like I said before, it’s easier with you. Can I touch your hand?”
“Will it hurt you?”
He had no clue, but he said, “I’ll be fine,” because he knew it was the only sure way to get her to give him her hand.
Sparks traveled between them, like tiny bits of static. He could feel his strength ebbing out, passing into her—
—and she used some of that newfound power to immediately push him right back out, sealing up the connection between them. He could still feel the lingering trace of that temporary bond, which was like nothing he’d ever felt in human form, and then the last of it dissipated.
“Iz—”