Trapped

tell her about the vampires? ‹ Oberon asked once she’d shifted.
    Soon. I need to think about it a little bit. She has enough to worry about at the moment .
    When we reached Tanzania, which was humid and warm and full of animals eating one another, we both had our night vision on. Granuaile was giddy.
    » Can I shape-shift now? «
    » Wait a moment. Bind with Oberon first. «
    » Oh! Yeah. Duh! I’m sorry, Oberon, I’m just so excited. «
    › She’s dancing like she has to go to the bathroom. ‹
    » He understands, « I told her. » Okay. So look at the connection between Oberon and me in the magical spectrum. You need to bind yourself to him in the same way so that you can hear his thoughts and vice versa. «
    » Will you be able to hear my thoughts too? «
    » No. The only person I know capable of human telepathy is the Morrigan, and she doesn’t accomplish it through traditional bindings. «
    » What if we’re both in animal form? « Granuaile asked. » Do we use Oberon as a go-between to speak to each other? «
    » I suppose we could. «
    › If you want to drive me insane. ‹
    » But we should probably try to keep that to a minimum, « I added.
    Granuaile nodded. » Poor dog would probably go nuts. «
    › She’s a bit more sensitive than you, Atticus. ‹
    Hey!
    › Give me two months to work on her and I bet she’ll get me a French poodle. ‹
    Do not take advantage of her generous nature!
    › Are you serious? You might as well ask me to stop being a hound. ‹
    Granuaile gave a tiny gasp and her eyes widened. » I heard that! Or the end of it. Why would you want him to stop being a hound? «
    › Hello, Clever Girl. ‹
    » Hi, Oberon! It’s so nice to finally hear your voice! Is ‘Clever Girl’ your name for me? «
    » He’s been calling you that ever since that business with the skinwalkers. Watch out. He’s buttering you up for something. «
    » Is that so? « Her eyebrows asked a question of my hound.
    › Ignore the surly Druid. I have no shadowy agenda. I am motivated by food. ‹
    » And tonight you’re hungry for really tiny antelopes. «
    › That’s right! But I’ll settle for whatever we can catch. ‹
    » Okay. I’ve never hunted before, so you’ll need to give me some tips and forgive me if I screw up, all right? «
    › Tonight I will cut you infinite slack. ‹
    » Good. Because my predator form is a giant black cat. «
    › You’re a cat person? ‹ Oberon whipped his head around to me. › Atticus, you never said anything about that! ‹
    » It wasn’t my choice, Oberon! « Granuaile said. » Gaia chose my predator form. If it had been my choice, I would have been a wolfhound like you and Atticus. «
    That’s true, buddy , I said privately. She didn’t have any say in her animal forms. Besides, what does it matter? She’s Granuaile no matter what shape she’s in .
    › Well, that’s a fair point, ‹ Oberon admitted.
    » What is? « Granuaile asked.
    › He said you’d still be Clever Girl no matter what your shape is. ‹
    » Oh. That’s true. Atticus, maybe we should speak aloud to Oberon whenever we can so we don’t have to always ask him for clarification when he answers? «
    » Yep. Good idea. I’m used to keeping a lid on it, so it will take me some time to break the habit. «
    › Let’s hunt. ‹
    Granuaile and I disrobed and placed our clothes near the tethered tree. We asked the earth to part and conceal our weapons for us.
    » One more thing before you shift, « I said. » I have to fix your necklace. «
    » Oh. « Granuaile raised her hand to the cold iron amulet dangling at her throat. » Good call. I would have garroted myself. «
    » Would you mind terribly if I did this for you? Fix it so that it changes sizes with your shape? I could teach you how, but it would take a while. «
    » No, go ahead, « she said.
    » You’ll have to shift to every form to do it properly, and I know you’ve been dying to anyway. « I moved around her and unfastened her necklace, noting as I did so how much slack and extra chain there was. Then I stepped away with it in my hand. » So let’s take it from the top. Horse first. Go. «
    Granuaile spoke the words that would bind her spirit to the form of the horse indelibly tattooed on her arm. She shifted to a beautiful copper-colored chestnut, sometimes called sorrel, with her mane slightly lighter than her coat. Her nostrils flared and she sneezed. I told her what she looked like as I adjusted the necklace