Panting, Cita skidded around a tree.
Aspen balked and the leadline tangled on a low branch.
With a muttered curse, Cita jerked to a halt. Sucking in a shaking breath, he untangled the line and coaxed Aspen around the tree.
The patient mare laced her ears back as she stepped clear.
The unconscious woman draped across her packs shifted and began to slip off.
Cita swore again and shoved the healer up. He dashed the tears from his cheeks and yanked the leadline.
"Come on, Aspen," he choked out. "We have to hurry."
**You're on the wrong side,** Aki counseled. He searched the rear and sides, peering around trees and up rows.
"I don't care!" Cita shouted.
Snorting and throwing her head up, Aspen backed away.
Rashida slipped off, falling into a limp heap under the horse's hooves.
Further spooked, Aspen whinnied, dancing sideways.
The leadline slipped from Cita's numb fingers. He snatched at it wildly.
As the mare shied away from Cita, the leadline slithered further out of reach.
Falling to his knees, Cita glared. His breath sawed in his throat and his eyes stung in the crisp air.
Aki sighed and shook his head. He twirled his daggers and eased toward Aspen.
Her ears flickered, but she held her position.
Aki took another step forward. He reached toward the dangling lead.
A gust of wind rattled the trees. Aspen shied again.
"Now what, genius?" Cita jeered.
A black, furry shape sauntered around a tree and sat on the leadline.
**Wha —** Aki grinned and started laughing.
The feline glared at him and lifted a paw to clean it.
Cita sighed and bowed his head.
"I don't know if I can do this."
**What choice do you have?** Aki flipped a dagger and caught it. **You can't lean on Bilal anymore. I'm stretched thin as it is; Mr. Smith —**
"I know that! Don't talk to me about him!" Cita beat his fist against the ground. Then he froze.
Stillness reigned.
He turned his narrowed eyes on Aki.
"You knew."
**Huh?** Aki poked a finger into his ear, pulled it out, and inspected the nail.
"You knew that thing … that demon was here. You knew this would happen."
Aki spread his fingers wide and wobbled his hand up and down.
**Well, I hoped if you faced the demon, you would remember.** He hastened on, **And you've gotta admit that worked! At least a little bit! The rest of it …**
He hung his head.
**The demons we met before … they didn't turn girls into wolves.** Aki paused. **Are you going to do what it wants?**
"What else can I do? This is all your fault!" Cita accused. "Why didn't you at least stop Bilal?" Flames flicked around his icy fingers.
**Don't be stupid! He can't even see me! Why didn't you stop Bilal?**
"That doesn't make sense!" Cita rested his aching head on the ground. "Aria can see you. T—" Cita choked.
"Tobias could see you. Sometimes," he concluded in a whisper. Tousled brown hair and a crooked grin flashed through his mind. "Why did we leave? If we'd stayed in the Nexus — stayed with Tobias — we wouldn't have met him."
The soughing of the wind through bare branches replied.
Cita looked up.
Aki was gone.
Cita sucked in a shaky breath. He pushed to his feet and stumbled forward to collect the leadline. He patted the patient mare. "Sorry, kitty. Sorry, Aspen. I'm just a screw-up."
He led Aspen back to the fallen healer, careful to keep to the horse's right side. He tied the leadline to a low branch and wrestled Rashida back into position.
"Did you want me to …" Cita turned to pick up the tiny cat.
She hissed and stalked off.
"I guess not." Cita untied Aspen and set off at a slower pace, following the feline.
*****
Nocturne's hoofs landed on the moist earth while skeletal tree branches arched overhead. Aki leaned forward and patted the flaming neck.
**Almost there,** he whispered. **Quietly now.**
Nocturne placed his hooves with even greater care. The edge of the forest approached.
A bellow of agony split the stillness.
Aki's knees clenched on Nocturne's flanks. The stallion leapt forward. They whipped past trunks until they clattered out into the stony clearing.
Bilal lay on his stomach with his limbs stretched wide, pinned by crackling arcs of energy. A crackling spike impaled his leathery wing. Blood stained the matte black surface as it quivered restlessly against its prison. A sharp black bone erupted from his right shoulder, and Bilal panted.
A small, grey wolf pup whimpered in a cage of lightning.
"What have we here?" The sultry voice caressed Aki's face. "Did you not trust me with your precious warrior? You had to send a piece of your flaming soul back to guard him?"
He jerked back, startling Nocturne into a rear.
**No,** he snarled as Nocturne crashed down to four feet.
The stallion whirled in place. Aki snapped his head around to track the heatwaves that marked the demon's core.
**No, I don't trust you,** he concluded.
"Cita…?" Bilal gasped weakly. His head twisted awkwardly. His golden eyes were dull and hollow. "Cita … you must run!"
**And that's all you care about?** Aki cried. He turned Nocturne back to the forest. **Cita this and Cita that. And when someone needs to bleed — when someone needs to burn — that's the only time any of you want me. Get yourself out of this mess, old man.**
Crackling lightning sprang up, blocking Aki's path. A rich chuckle answered Aki's foul curse.
"Not just yet, I think. This is getting interesting."
Aki glared at the demon, only to be distracted by golden eyes blinking into focus.
"I see. Not Cita. My deepest apologies. I am not sure how I made that mistake. Aki."
**Wait.** Aki frowned. **You can see me. Like, really see me?** He waved a hand up and down his buckskin-clad frame.
Bilal's lips quirked. "Yes. I see you. Braids and all." His back arched as another round of energy coursed through his flesh.
Wide-eyed, Aki watched the black bone grow. He fingered his daggers, wondering if they could sever the warrior's bonds. He nudged Nocturne forward, but an arc of energy crackled through the air and grounded at the stallion's hooves.
"Ah ah ah … you're not playing by the rules!"
**Neither are you!** Aki challenged. **What good does it do to release him if you've broken him beyond repair?**
Laughter echoed through the clearing.
"Break him? Never! I'm making him better."
Aki blanched and doubled over against Nocturne's neck.
Nocturne reared, dumping Aki onto the ground. Blue flames slipped through the yellow lightning, releasing Nocturne to vanish into the trees.
"Hmph. So nice of you to join us. Won't you stay awhile?"
Aki scowled up at the heat-distortions.