Until she stopped moving.
He slammed up against her.
"You're about to be in daylight."
He glanced over his shoulder to see the truth of that. Had she not stood her ground, he'd have been in some serious pain right about now. "Much obliged." With no choice and with their retreat cut off, he took a step forward to fight.
The coyotes launched themselves at the two of them.
Jess moved to hit one, but they never made contact.
The coyotes slammed into an invisible wall that magically appeared around him and Abigail. Yelping, the coyotes tried to attack again and again-they couldn't.
Yee-haw on that. He just hoped whoever was shielding them was a friend.
Abigail moved to stand beside him. She reached out to touch it, and apparently there was nothing there. She waved her hand around but it contacted nothing. Meanwhile, the coyotes couldn't touch them.
Interesting ...
She frowned in confusion. "What is this?"
"Don't know. But given everything else that's happened so far, I'm not real sure it's a good thing." For all he knew, that magic wall might be protecting the coyotes from something ugly about to happen to the two of them.
As if on cue, an evil growl, low and deep, echoed around them.
The coyotes hesitated at the sound.
Abigail swallowed in fear. When the scariest of scary were wary, it was time to take note. She whipped out her mental notepad to wait on whatever evil was about to pounce.
She didn't have to wait long before a huge wolf launched out of the walls to attack the coyotes.
That was unexpected on several levels. She turned toward Sundown. "Is that on our side?"
He squinted as if trying to look into the heart of this latest addition. "Looks like, but ... hell, who knows at this point?"
Within seconds, the coyotes vanished into a mist. The wolf circled as if he was about to give chase. Until he turned into a man in the middle of the hallway.
Tall, blond, and extremely handsome, he still looked feral in his human form. There was a light in his eyes that said he wanted to taste blood.
She hoped it wasn't theirs.
Abigail held her breath as he moved forward with a deadly glower.
Here we go again....
The wolf flipped the gun out of Sundown's hands. He cracked open the barrel to check its loaded status and shook his head. "Shells, cowboy? Really?"
Sundown shrugged. "Sometimes you just have to try even when it's wasted energy."
The wolf laughed, then handed it back. "I admire the tenacity, useless though it is."
Abigail relaxed as she realized the wolf was at the very least a frenemy.
Sundown leaned the gun against the wall. "What are you doing here?"
"Zarek sent me in, just in case."
Sundown scratched at the whiskers on his jaw. "'Cause shit rolls downhill."
"Yeah, and what upsets Z gets my ass kicked. Have I ever told you how much it chafes me that Astrid gave that psycho bastard god powers? I swear I go to bed every night with the one desire to rip out his throat, and I don't even live with them anymore. Sad, isn't it?"
Sundown bristled as if the wolf had struck a nerve. "Now, that's my boy you're talking about, and I don't want to get crossed up with you, Sasha. But you keep that tone and attitude about him, and we will."
Sasha held his hands up in surrender. "Sorry. I forget you and Ash are weird enough to actually like him. No accounting for taste." He turned that penetrating stare toward her. "And you must be the cause of this disaster."
Abigail was offended. What? Was there some cosmic social media feed somewhere with her photo on it, announcing her as the cause of the apocalypse? "I didn't do anything."
Sundown grinned. "She's in denial."
"Cool. We can feed her to the coyotes then, and I can go back to Sanctuary and continue scoping out this amazing brunette who keeps coming in with her friends."
She wasn't amused by that.
At all.
Sundown ignored her ire. "Speaking of friends ... why did our new coyote buddies run from you?"
Sasha swaggered like a strutting peacock. "I'm that badass."
Sundown snorted. "Seriously."
"O ye of little faith. You doubt my rep? My skills?"
"And your brains."
Sasha tsked. "Fine. I'll be honest.... Absolutely no idea. They had me outnumbered. I should have been easy for them to rip into. Not that I wanted to be their early morning snack, but-"
"The wolf has always been a most natural enemy to the coyote. Wolves are one of the few predators known to hunt them when the season is right. And because of this, the coyote are wary of them by nature. Especially one from an unknown pantheon whose powers they can only guess at. No doubt, they thought retreat was the best course of action. As Sun Tzu would say, 'If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain to be in peril.'"
Abigail turned at the voice of what sounded like an ancient Englishman standing behind them.
He wasn't English. Or anything like what she'd expected from his proper, thickly accented speech.
Barely taller than her, he wore a tan suede jacket with fringed sleeves and heavy Native American beadwork and carved bone all over it. His silver hair was parted into two braids that framed his withered face. However age hadn't dulled the sharpness of his hazel gold eyes, which stared at her with an accusation that cut her all the way to her soul.
She had a sudden desire to take a step back, but she refused to be a coward. So she stood her ground and put on the bravest face she could manage.
Sundown inclined his head respectfully to the man. "Choo Co La Tah, what are you doing here?"
Choo Co La Tah turned that frightening gaze from her to Sundown. "The Unfolding has started, and so I knew I couldn't wait, no matter Ren's protestations. As the Dineh would say, Coyote is always out there waiting, and Coyote is always hungry. I knew they would be after the woman as soon as they caught her scent. If they kill her before we reach the Valley, there will be no one to stop them. Hence my appearance here and now. The two of you must be protected, no matter what happens." He opened his jacket to show a crow that had been resting under his right arm. He pulled it out and, with a grace and dexterity that contradicted his apparent age, set it on the floor.
Letting out a caw, the bird flapped its wings, then manifested into a man. This one appeared to be in his early twenties with jet hair and eyes. Dressed all in black, he was stunningly sexy and even scarier than the coyotes had been.
He was also fanged.
And now all the men were staring at her, making her extremely uncomfortable and self-conscious. She felt like a mouse surrounded by hungry cats who were taking odds on who would be the first to pounce.