Both Dimitri and Skyler thanked the universe for them as well. She smiled at the two of them, sitting in the warriors circle, suddenly being treated as men, although it was Zacarias De La Cruz everyone was listening to.

“The question is, how do we get everyone safely out of here?” Zacarias said. “We could fight our way out, and as a last resort, we will, but out of respect for Mikhail and what he’s dealing with there, it would be best if we found a different way.”

“Skyler and Dimitri need a safe resting place to heal,” Gabriel added. “Both are still in poor shape.” He sent an apologetic look toward his daughter.

The transparent walls around them suddenly rippled again. The ground shifted slightly.

Skyler nestled her hand inside of Dimitri’s for comfort. She knew it wasn’t her fault that the shelter was collapsing—it wasn’t designed to last forever—but she was too weak to fix it.

Dimitri tightened his fingers around hers instantly and shifted his body, just a little to offer more protection. She leaned her head back against his shoulder. The Carpathians and Zev had been discussing various possibilities for some time. She thought by now, they would have figured something out.

“We’ve got enough of us here to slip out and pick them off one by one,” Nicolas De La Cruz suggested. “They might feel our energy, but with a large electrical storm, we could easily slow them down and distract them. We know how they fight. We could take them.”

“You can’t kill every Lycan because you’re angry at them,” Zev protested.

“Why not?” Rafael demanded. “Making war on children makes them fair game as far as I’m concerned.”

Paul and Josef exchanged a long look with Skyler. Josef’s amusement was in his eyes, making the other two smile in spite of the circumstances. Although being invited to take part in the discussion, clearly they were still relegated, by some, to the “child” label.

Because they’re solving this problem so peacefully and adult-like, Josef sent, his tone overflowing with laughter.

It was difficult to keep a straight face with Josef’s sense of humor spilling over to them.

“I guess I’m their biggest problem,” Paul confided in a loud whisper. “I can’t shift.”

“Neither can I at this point,” Skyler said. “I can barely sit up anymore.”

Her whispered words acted as some kind of a trigger for the conferring Carpathians. They all turned and looked at her.

She sank back against Dimitri again. He put both arms around her, caging her in—a small warning to the others that he was running out of patience with the arguing.

“I’ve got to get her out of here now,” Dimitri decreed. “I don’t care about retaliation, only making certain Skyler gets the care she needs.”

“Let’s just fly everyone out of here,” Fen said. “There’s no need to go to war with these people. We have a strong enough force to shield Paul, Zev and our wounded.”

“We have a reason,” Rafael declared.

Zev scowled and started to say something, but Fen shook his head in warning and cut him off before he could engage with Rafael, who clearly was upset over his nephew being shot multiple times.

“There’s no way to tell who is with Gunnolf’s faction and who stands with the council. We can’t lump all Lycans together. Clearly, there’s some internal war going on and whoever is behind the bid for power sees Carpathians as a threat. Until we have a clear understanding of who our real enemy is, we can’t risk injuring—or killing—an innocent.”

“Fen’s right,” Zacarias agreed. His tone brooked no argument, and no one made one.

“Let’s get it done then,” Dimitri said. “We’ve got most of the night left.”

“We can form the shield to allow the escape out of here”—Zacarias volunteered his brothers—“but we will retaliate if fired upon.”

Zev shook his head. “I could try talking to them.”

“At this point,” Fen said, “most of the Lycans believe you are a traitor or have become the Sange rau and we’re protecting you. Your council members, or most of them, are in the Carpathian Mountains. So is your pack. You’ll do more good there. If we can get to the bottom of what’s going on, we’ll have a better chance to stop it.”

Gabriel and Lucian looked at one another and gave a slow nod in perfect unison, as if they had one mind. They’d been battling together for centuries. Strategy was a way of life. Although retreating was abhorrent, sometimes they knew it was necessary.

“Lucian and I will lead us out,” Gabriel said. “Razvan and Ivory can take up the rear. If Zacarias and his brothers shield us, that gives us Tatijana, Fen, Byron and Vlad to carry the wounded. We’ll need one more carrier.”

“I can fly myself out of here,” Dimitri said. “I might be weak, but I’m not dead.”

Gabriel shook his head. “I’m not willing to risk you, Dimitri. You’ve got my daughter’s life in your hands. You’ve been tortured beyond all reason and shot as well. Your body needs recovery time.”

“I can fly,” Josef volunteered. “I brought Paul and Skyler here.”

Zacarias swung around, his dark eyes steely and cold. “Riordan will take you. We will not risk you either.”

Josef let out his breath and ducked his head. He hadn’t expected Zacarias to take an interest in him, to even be on his radar. He was used to arguing with his adopted father and uncle, but Zacarias was on an entirely new level.

Man, how do you live with that? Josef asked Paul, but he was secretly pleased that Zacarias had even noticed him, let alone decreed one of the De La Cruz brothers would actually look after him.

He’s cool, isn’t he? Paul said.

Cool like a caged tiger, Josef replied. He’s a little bit terrifying.

I know. But then you see him with Marguarita and he’s all gooey and mushy with her.

“It’s settled then,” Gabriel continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted. “Tatijana, you take Skyler and follow me out. Fen can take Dimitri. Riordan has Josef. Vlad will have Paul. Byron, will you take Zev?”

“Of course.” He gave his nephew a warning glare. Don’t do anything crazy around the De La Cruz brothers.

They know me through Paul, Josef assured, recognizing his uncle’s gruff caution was more fear for him than embarrassment over something he might do. But I want to get home as fast as possible. Skyler needs to heal and be safe. His uncle knew he loved Skyler and that reassurance was the best that he could give.