When I saw that they were there before me, cold despair filled my entire body—it was all I could do to keep from throwing myself down and begging them to trade.
Because they each had one of the incubators. Two werewolves in their half-wolf form, fending off a circle of angry shifter-warriors. Several of the shifters, including the Shields, had taken their animal form.
The babies’ defenders, I noted, included the newcomer who had come through the rift.
I was glad to see he was fighting on our side.
I charged at them, those werewolves who held my babies hostage, only coming up short when I discovered that they had actually taken the infants out of the bassinets. On one side of the room, Shane the herpetologist had picked up an IV stand and was brandishing it threateningly.
There’s no way to get the babies and get out.
In that instant, I knew I had only two options.
One was to let these monsters take the infants that I had already sworn to care for.
The other was to take them myself.
I made eye contact with Kade, hoping he could read my intentions in the look I gave him.
I glanced around one last time, hoping I was doing the right thing.
At the very last instant, Kade’s eyes grew wide as he finally figured out what I was planning. But it was too late for him to stop me.
I charged forward, shifting as I went, so that the two wolves in their wolfman form were prepared for a snake. They weren’t prepared for the giant half-snake, half-woman who towered over them at the last moment, snatching the babies out of their arms and pulling that window between world as wide as it would go.
As I dove through the open air, leaving behind the scent of the hospital and trading it for something absolutely foreign, full of dust and smoke.
I hoped Kade had understood the last thing I yelled.
I love you. Take care of Serena.
I almost heard it echoing away behind me.
WE LANDED HARD ON THE street in some strange world. Both babies, when hit by the magic inside that window, had shifted into serpent forms. I heaved a sigh of relief, certain I wouldn’t have been able to function with two premature human babies in a strange world.
As I glanced up at the shimmering rectangle in the air, I saw two more shapes hurtling toward me, and for just an instant I had the wild thought that maybe Kade had come with me and maybe Eduardo had decided to come as our protector, as well.
But the two men who came tumbling out of the sky were Shane and the man who had traveled through that window to get to our world in the first place.
I focused all my attention on the rift between worlds and shoved it almost completely closed. I hadn’t been sure I would be able to do that.
As the stranger stumbled to his feet, brushed off his pants, and glanced around, he said, “Well, I guess this isn’t my world, either. But it looks like you might be able to use some help anyway.” He stuck out one hand. “My name is Coit Dugger. Looks like you had some pretty serious trouble back there. Maybe you’ll be able to keep it from catching up with you here.”
I stare blankly at Coit’s hand.
“Yeah. I just thought you could maybe use some help with some snakes,” Shane said, grinning at me. “Couldn’t let you do this alone.”
Tears prickled behind my eyelids and I fought to shove them back down.
Because whatever else might be true, I knew that although I had managed to get lost, I wasn’t done with Kade Nevala.
I would find the third infant born this week, and all four of us would go home to Kade.
The wolves would pay for everything they had done. Including Janice’s death, and Kelly’s, and the life of every other shifter they’d slaughtered today.
I’d get payback. And it looked like I was going to have some help to do it.
I knew one thing for sure.
This is not the end.
LOVE THIS BOOK? BE sure to get In Someone Else’s Skin, Book 3 of the Lindi Parker Shifter Shield series.
You can read about other characters from this book in these books:
Darkness There tells the story of Tomás and Bron.
Laugh Out Love tells the story of Shadow and Jeremiah.
Rift Magic tells Coit’s story.
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About the Author
USA TODAY, Wall Street Journal, and New York Times bestselling author Margo Bond Collins is a former college English professor who, tired of explaining the difference between “hanged” and “hung,” turned to writing romance novels instead. (Sometimes her heroines kill monsters, too.)
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The Shifter Shield Series
The Abracadabra Apocalypse Series
Once Upon a Fairy Tale Night (A Fairy Tale Retellings Box Set)
Moon & Fangs (An Urban Fantasy)
Tiny & Fierce (A Reverse Harem)
Heavy Metal (A Blaize Silver Urban Fantasy Collection)
Her Big Bad Wolves (A Reverse Harem Novella Serial)
Margo Bond Collins writing as Ivy Hearne
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The Hunters’ Academy, Year 1
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