Prince of Shadows by Susan Krinard

Alex nodded. “I agree.” She stared hard at Kieran. “You choose, Kieran.”

He shrugged. It didn’t matter if he humored them in this. He studied the map of British Columbia and let his finger fall where it would.

“Kamloops,” Alex murmured. She smiled crookedly. “Good a place as any, I suppose.”

“It’s always good to have a destination,” Julie said. “Any idea of what you’re going to do when you get there?”

Kieran met her gaze. “As much an idea as I have of my past,” he said. “But maybe something will occur to me when we get there.”

“I’m sure of it.”

She refolded the map and passed it to Alex. “You keep this. I have another one.” As Alex tucked the map in the breast of her jacket, Julie turned to Kieran, slapping her gloved hands.

“I have an idea of the best place for you to cross the border into Canada, at Manitoba. We’ve already cooked up an excuse for your absence here that should last until you get over the border, and hopefully beyond.”

“I have another idea,” Kieran put in. “The police will look for a man and a woman, but they won’t expect to see a woman and a wolf.”

Alexandra studied Kieran with cool self-possession. “You mean to shift and cross the border that way?”

“Yes.” He looked at Julie. “I won’t change until we get out of this area. When we reach the border, Alexandra can cross alone. I’ll go separately, and meet her on the other side.”

“That’s open country up there,” Alexandra said. “No wolves, Kieran.”

He smiled grimly. “No one will see me.”

“You haven’t learned to control your shifting,” she protested.

“I will control it. I have no choice.”

Her lips narrowed into a thin line, but he knew she had no argument to throw in his path. “You’re right. It would be the best way.”

Silence settled among them like a fourth ghostly presence. Julie coughed behind her hand. “It’s still over two hundred miles to the northwestern border on the back roads. You’d better head out. The truck’s parked just behind the house.”

Alexandra gazed at Julie and swallowed. “Julie, I—” She moved suddenly into Julie’s arms, and the two women embraced.

“Hey,” Julie murmured, patting Alexandra on the back. “I know this has been a rough time for you. I just wish I could be there. But you won’t be alone. Not if you don’t want to be.” She leaned close to Alexandra’s ear. Kieran heard a faint whisper, just too low for him to decipher. Alexandra stiffened and pulled free of Julie’s hold. Confusion washed over her face before she mastered it.

“Thank you. For everything you’ve done,” she said to Julie. But she was looking pointedly away from her friend and Kieran both. “Come on, Kieran.”

She started toward the main house, her strides long and reckless. Kieran watched her until she disappeared into the darkness. Julie moved up beside him.

“I’ve got one more piece of advice.” There was a glaze over her eyes, moisture that gathered among her dark lashes like dew in summer grass. “Be sure you know what you’re losing before you let it go.”

She turned to follow Alexandra.

* * *

In the chill of false dawn Alex waited a few hundred yards off a country road just over the Minnesota-Manitoba border, her truck parked behind a cluster of trees and her heart a leaden weight in her chest.

Kieran wasn’t coming.

Alex worked her fingers convulsively and stared at the ancient, sputtering neon sign of the cheap motel along the highway. She’d stood here for hours, fighting exhaustion, remembering their parting at the border when he had shifted with such surprising ease. Reminding herself that Kieran had said he knew her scent better than anything in the world, that he could find her anywhere over a ten mile radius. She had never thought to question his conviction.

Now she questioned. She tried to stop the scenarios that played out in her mind: Kieran spotted and shot by a nervous farmer. Kieran losing control and shifting back in plain view of someone, or simply being recognized and captured as a fugitive.

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