She’s out here. I can feel her.

The wind flushed against Alec’s face, the flap of his wings catching against the non-existent breeze. There was an almost dead stillness to the night that made him uneasy. It was too calm, too quiet.

Alec dipped lower, his green eyes blazing through the night on careful watch. He wished he’d thought to call on members of his weyr to help him with the search, but the less who knew what he was doing, the better.

He wasn’t entirely sure that Laurel had taken his words at face value. For all he knew, she had put fairies outside his mansion to keep an eye on him, as well as on Raven and Drake, to keep them all in line.

I just need to find Briar and put her somewhere safe. Then I’ll walk away for good, he lied to himself. He soared lower, his nose picking up the faintest scent of something…

His majestic head whipped around, the scales of his nostrils flaring as he tried to figure out exactly where he had sensed the movement, but just as quickly as it had come, it was gone.

Come on, Briar. Where are you?

There was a relief to knowing that Raven and Drake had gone. Having them in such close proximity to Briar had made him nervous, even though he was sure that wherever Briar had gone, she wasn’t apt to run into them again.

Then he saw the lights, and he froze, suspended in the air.

That’s Raven’s Challenger. Why is it parked there? He waited, staring intently at the vehicle as he tried to determine what to do next. If he made his presence known, the demons would likely just take off before he could see what they were up to, and Alec could tell they were certainly up to no good. Gracefully, he let himself to the ground, ensuring he was out of the car’s view if Raven should happen to look into the darkness behind.

What are they doing? His huge frame melded away back into his mortal form, and he ducked off to the side, the hairs on his arms rising as he peered closely. From where he stood, though, he could see nothing, not even the figures inside the car.

I hope they’re not getting it on. That would just make me a weirdo standing here, he thought with disgust. He was just about to move away when a gunshot rang out. The flash illuminated the interior of the Challenger, and suddenly, Alec heard Raven yelling at Drake.

His heart in his throat, Alec resisted the urge to bolt forward, something instinctive holding him back as Drake hurried around from the passenger side toward the backseat of the car.

“Oh…” Alec choked, watching as Drake pulled a body from the rear of the vehicle. He left her on the ground and jumped back into the car, the duo racing off into the night as Alec flew forward.

“No!” he groaned, dropping to his knees. “Oh, Briar, wake up!” The gunshot had clearly pierced through her chest. If it had missed her heart, it would be nothing short of a miracle. “Briar! Briar, open your eyes!”

But she was lifeless, a limp body in his arms, blood pooling around the hole in her shirt. Anguish and fury raged through Alec as he rocked her in his arms.

“I’m sorry,” he moaned. “I’m so sorry!” He buried his face into her hair, choking back his cries of pain. There was nothing left to do but take her off the lonely road.

Time didn’t mean anything at that moment, and Alec waited for his shudders to subside before he rose, gathering her limp body in his arms. What am I going to do with her? I can’t bring her home. I can’t call anyone…

As he stood in shock, trying to make sense of his next move, Briar stirred in his arms. Alec gasped and looked down at her face. It was still pale against the darkness, no breath moving in her chest. He was just imagining things.

He held her closer and kissed her forehead, and as he did, her skin was warmer to the skin of his lips somehow.

“Briar?” he mumbled, looking at her through red-rimmed eyes. “Briar, can you hear me?”

Her full lips parted, and she released a sigh of pain, her eyelids fluttering slightly.

“BRIAR!” he yelled, falling to his knees again to lay her on the ground. “Briar! Open your eyes!” Slowly, she managed to part her lids, her face gradually regaining color, but her breaths were mere whispers, wheezes which terrified him.

“We need to get you to a hospital,” Alec growled. He knew he had to shift, no matter what the consequences of her seeing him were, and he did, watching her eyes grow huge with shock and terror. Briar struggled to speak, but he had already placed her on his back and flown upward, well into the night above the clouds where they wouldn’t be detected.

“Alec?” she whispered. “Alec…”

Alec didn’t respond, his tail swirling upward to cast him forward like a sail. In minutes, the lights of Miami appeared below them as Alec began his descent. He landed behind Mercy Hospital, uncaring if he was detected or not. His life was already over now that he had shown himself to Briar, but that didn’t matter—not when her life hung in the balance.

He transformed back into his mortal form, Briar sliding meekly onto the pavement before he swept her back into his arms and bolted toward the emergency room exit.

“Alec,” she breathed, staring up at him in shock. “W-what… W-what…?”

“Shh,” he told her warningly. “Just be still, Briar. You were shot.”

“Raven,” she mumbled. “Raven and Drake.”

“I know,” he told her urgently. “But you can’t tell anyone that, all right?” The glass doors parted, and to his surprise, Briar started to struggle in his arms.

“Put me down,” she muttered. “I can walk.” He paused and looked down at her, the chaos of the emergency room ignored.

“You were just shot,” Alec said quietly. “You need to relax.”

“No,” Briar murmured, looking down toward her chest. Alec’s eyes fixed where she stared, and together, they watched as the bullet slowly shoved itself out of the gaping hole in her chest. “What is happening to me?” Briar mewled. “What is going on?”

“What happened, sir? Is this a gunshot?”

Alec’s head jerked up, and he stared at the intern who approached him, reaching out for Briar. Instinctively, he pulled her back and shook his head.

“No,” he said quickly, turning away. “False alarm.”

“Sir! We need to take a look at her. She’s covered in blood! Both of you are—”

But Alec was already sprinting out of the hospital, running toward the shadows before they could be caught.

“I was shot!” Briar cried. “I felt it! I felt myself die!”

“You need to calm down,” Alec instructed her. “Just be calm.”

It wasn’t until they were several blocks away that Alec finally put her down in an alleyway and sank against the brick wall, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Look at me,” he told her. When Briar obliged, her shocked face gaping, Alec saw that all of her color had returned. “Look at your wound,” he instructed. “Let me see it.” She didn’t argue as he moved to look down her shirt and sighed deeply. “It’s healing. You’re healing.”

“What does that mean?” she squealed, touching the hole and wincing. “How is this possible?”

Alec had his suspicions, the very same ones which had struck him when he’d first seen Briar at the hospital earlier in the day.

“Never mind that now,” he said gruffly. “We have to get you somewhere safe.”

Briar scoffed weakly. “Safe? Like your house?” she asked sarcastically. “Did you send them after me?”

He gawked at her. “You can’t be serious right now. Of course I didn’t send them after you. I brought you to my house to keep you away from them.”

“Then how did they know where to find me?” The panic in her voice was almost tangible, and Alec reached for her, pulling her into his arms.

“I know you’re freaking out right now,” he told her in his stoic way. “But you have to believe me when I tell you that you need to stay with me, all right? We’ll get you out of this situation, but you can’t run off again.”

Briar released a stifled sob, and she buried her face into his chest. Her body trembled against his, and Alec forced himself to think.

“When they find out you’re alive, Briar, they’re going to come after you again. We need to find their stuff and get them off your trail.”

“Why didn’t the gunshot kill me? How am I still standing here? How is my body healing?”

The questions flooded him like a torrent, and Alec didn’t know how to answer her in a way that would placate her. If he told her what he thought was happening, she would definitely run again, and next time, Raven wouldn’t fail at killing her—especially if she found out what Briar was.

“I have a cabin north of here,” he said softly. “I’m going to put you in a hotel room and go back for the car. You can’t leave. Do you understand?”

Briar drew back, her eyes narrowing as she looked at him.

“Did you fly?” she asked suddenly, as though the memory had just come flooding back to her. “Like in the sky?”

“Briar, you need to listen to me closely. I will answer all your questions, but only after you’re out of harm’s way. Sitting out here in the open is only going to bring trouble for both of us. Do you promise to stay with me?”

She nodded very slowly, as if she was trying to convince herself that she was agreeing.

“There’s a reason we were brought together,” Alec told her tenderly. “I’m supposed to protect you, but you need to let me.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why are you supposed to protect me?”

He sighed and hugged her again. “There are some things that just can’t be explained with words. But you have to admit that it feels right between us, doesn’t it?”

“I have no idea what’s right at the moment,” she countered, and he couldn’t help but laugh.

“Fair enough.” He stared down at her face. “You have to admit that nothing bad has happened to you when you were with me, then. How about that?” Begrudgingly, Briar stared up at him and nodded again.

“Yeah,” she conceded. “I’ll give you that.” He smiled warmly and kissed her lips.

“Everything is going to be okay,” he promised, but as she returned his embrace, Alec wondered if he wasn’t lying to her. She’s got a target on her back, and now I do, too. How is anything ever going to be okay for either one of us again?