Trusted Bond

that I was
    tiring or that my adrenaline was waning. I felt like I could have run on
    forever.
    For a moment I stumbled, over-thinking. If birds ever questioned
    why they could fly, they never would. The flood of uncertainty made me
    falter, but even then, I pulled up and threw my head back so the cats that
    caught up with me blew by without touching me. The dead stop I came to
    was too fast, too sudden, and the few that had tailed me were gone from
    sight, the slowing down and stopping taking them halfway down the
    street. Something sharp came to my nostrils, and when I turned, I saw
    claws and fangs filling my vision.
    Without thinking, I batted at the panther. I didn‘t even extend my
    claws, just wanted him away from me. No one was more startled than me
    when the cat was hurled through a window across the street, the glass
    almost exploding as it shattered into millions of pieces.
    ―Jin!‖
    My head swiveled around, and looking back at the others, I saw that
    Jamal had shifted back to himself, to his human form, having changed fast
    because he could. The Shu were chosen because of their ability to morph
    from man to animal and back again with blurring speed and Jamal was the
    leader, the strongest, the fastest. It made sense that he was there to
    intercept me.
    ―Stay where you are!‖
    Jamal had commanded me, and as I watched, he raised his hand,
    striding toward me. How a man could be so damn comfortable in the
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    middle of the marketplace naked as the day he was born was beyond me. I
    did not have that kind of self-confidence. If I could have, I would have
    smiled; as I was a panther, I sat down and tipped my head.
    The motion froze him where he stood. To show him I wanted to be
    friends, I reached out a paw to him.
    ―Look.‖ He tipped his head in my direction, wanting me to look at
    myself.
    I was stunned. The paw I had raised was twice the size it normally
    was. I almost leaped back from him.
    ―Wait.‖ He lifted both hands as two of the Shu warriors, both in
    uniform, hurried into the street. One slid a robe onto him; the other
    cinched it tight at his waist. They stayed right beside him, and I realized I
    was looking at Shahid and Taj. Unlike the others, they had not been
    chasing me, instead staying behind, perhaps awaiting our return. ―Jin,
    please… come with me to see the priest. He summons you.‖
    Was he to be trusted?
    ―Jin.‖ Jamal took a step forward, reaching out both hands to me.
    ―Please, I will take you to the temple; I will present you to the priest of
    Chae Rophon, his grace Hamid Shamon.‖
    Was it strange that the priest wanted to see me after so many days?
    ―He was delayed making his way here from the coast, but he wants
    to see you. He‘s at his temple, at his home here in Sobek.‖
    I wanted to trust him. I desperately wanted to see the priest, to have
    him override Ammon‘s commandment and return me to Logan Church.
    He was the only one who could.
    ―You have been summoned before the priest of Chae Rophon. You
    must come with me.‖
    Looking around, I saw the crowd of people. Everyone was speaking
    at once, pointing, gasping, if anyone had a cell phone or a camera, I was
    certain many pictures of me would be taken, but as all electronic devices
    were strictly forbidden in Sobek, as well as cameras of any kind, they all
    had to imprint my image on their minds.
    ―Come with me and I will take you to the man who will allow you to
    see your mate.‖
    Logan.
    I rose to follow him, and there was rustling to my left.
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    149

    ―No!‖ Jamal shouted, ordered, to no avail.
    They were not his men there; they were Ammon‘s. If they had been
    the Shu, I would never have seen them until it was too late.
    My head turned, and I saw the net. Leaping forward, I had thought I
    would accidentally trample Jamal, but instead I found myself on the low-
    hanging roof of the restaurant across the street. Flipping around, I looked
    at a terrace back across the street another three stories up. I coiled and
    sprang and vaulted up over it easily. When I arrived, with so little effort
    exerted, I was stunned.
    After a minute, there were shouts from below, but I didn‘t look over,
    instead waiting as the volley of darts flew passed the terrace, arched high
    in the sky, and then fell like rain back to the ground. They were small, but
    I noticed them distinctly against the blue sky. They were the same darts
    that Laurent Bruyere‘s men had used, and I wondered