While I was there feeling sorry for myself, I took the opportunity to review my condition. My huge bruise was still there but it didn't hurt anymore. Which meant that the internal damage was being repaired, that was the most important thing. Upon reflection, super regeneration or not, once the bruise was there, the blood had to clear itself. Maybe it was doing it a little faster for me, but given the size of it, I would look like a survivor of a plane crash for a few more days. If I survive, of course.

I set out to gently roll my shoulder back and forth and prepared myself for the pain that would result, but nothing more than a stiffness and a slight burning sensation. It was pretty good news, because my wound was still red and inflamed and I looked like I had been hit by a bus! I was hoping that these men, who were apparently just big arms, would not be more aware than that of our healing abilities and would expect me to be weak and diminished, which would be an advantage for me. It was also necessary to know how to make the most of it. Alone, I sincerely think I would have had a good chance of getting out of there, but there was absolutely no way I was going to abandon them.

Worth was in a bad shape and probably not even able to run. As for Cassie, I assumed they had drugged her, but I wasn't sure. Even assuming that I was right, I had no idea what effect and consequences this could have on an ordinary human. So there was only Adam left, who, for the little I had seen, didn't seem too badly hurt, at least physically. Nevertheless, he was a scared teenager who didn't know me and I doubted very much that there were big differences between metamorphic and human teenagers. Would he trust me given the natural aversion and fear of shapeshifters towards humans?

Anyway, we had no other choice. I needed his help to have a tiny chance to get everyone out of this mess alive. For the umpteenth time I tried to re-establish contact with Jude, without success. I didn't even feel him around anymore. To be honest, I could not feel the presence of almost any animals near the barn, except a few rodents. I understood, at the gradual decrease in luminosity from the few holes in the roof, that they were waiting for the night. I didn't know if I should be happy or worried about it.

Once it was completely dark, one of the two men took me out of my makeshift cell and knelt me down in the middle of the barn with the others. I noticed that we were all aligned as if we were being executed. The four men armed with guns who framed us, two in front and two behind, completed this idyllic and reassuring picture. Among them I found the ones who had brought us here, the young kid and the big guy. To my right, Worth closed one end of our line, while Adam, to my left, followed by Cassie, composed the other end. We all took a discreet look at each other, a little to reassure ourselves, a little to assess each other's condition. All except Cassie. On her knees, her hands handcuffed in front of her like us, her chin rested on her chest, absolutely motionless. She looked like a junkie in the middle of a trip.

- 'Good. What a lovely bunch we have here! And almost all for us, right, guys?'

I was so focused on Cassie's condition that I didn't hear him coming. The man with the ponytail, whose name I still didn't know, was standing in front of us, also armed with a rifle and dressed like a commando, completing the initial fear he was giving off. Especially since he wore the uniform so naturally that he was probably a real former commando. Our chances of survival had just dropped dramatically, as had my morale.

- 'Here are the rules, listen carefully! You will be taken into the woods separately before being released. We'll give you ten minutes' notice, then the hunt will begin. If at daybreak, you are still alive... you will be free.'

Given the big sardonic smile on his face, it had never happened before and he would make sure it didn't happen this time either.

- 'Very well. Metamorphs, we'll let you transform once you're in the forest. There is no risk of escaping by air, since apparently bird shapeshifters are rather rare. Don't even try to do it beforehand, otherwise you will be shot directly in the head. And if you refuse to change, it will be the same treatment.'

- 'You cannot ask us to transform ourselves in our current state. Especially Worth, he's too hurt to do it. Just like me,' I said in a whiny, muffled voice, as I made a quick prayer to anyone who would listen.

Adam gave me a surprised look, but fortunately didn't say anything. The man approached us and raised the inspector's chin with the barrel of his rifle.

- 'Why didn't he recover? I thought you had extraordinary healing abilities,' he said sarcastically. 'Unless you lied to us and this man is not the shape-shifter he claims to be?'

The terror paralyzed me for a few seconds. Shit they knew! But maybe not everything, I thought at full speed as I tried to find a parry.

- 'When the internal damage is too great, we need care like everyone else. Even if in the end we recover faster. Didn't you know that?' I said, ironically.

I was aware that it wasn't very smart, but I couldn't help it. I saw him lose his imperturbable smile and apparent calm for a second, and that alone was worth it. I thought he was going to hit me... but no. He simply brought his face closer to mine, almost touching me.

- 'You really think I didn't know,' he whispered, a vicious smile on his thin lips. 'The truth is, I don't care! You're all going to end up at the end of my rifle anyway. That is my job here, why I am paid and the only thing that interests me,' he concluded, returning to his original place, before contemplating us with a haughty look as if we were mud worms.

His act was convincing, but I didn't believe it for a second. He didn't know about it. Shaw probably didn't keep him in the loop and he didn't seem to like it.

- 'All right, enough talk. Kill the human being, she is no longer of any use to us. She's so high she won't even be fun to track down. Then take the others to the van,' he ordered before turning around and walking long strides towards the exit.

- 'No, wait! Wait! You must at least give her a chance!'

There, I didn't need to force myself to sound credible, the fear and tremors in my voice were real. He stopped and slowly turned around, staring at me.

- 'This scene looks like déjà vu... no?' he pretended to ask, as if he was interested in the answer. 'And why would I do that? For your pretty eyes perhaps? Sorry, but you're not my type... even in your underwear.'

His innuendo and his scrutinizing gaze were meant to humiliate me, but I was long past that and I didn't give a damn. What would make this guy keep Cassie alive? I had to find an idea and quickly, because one of the men was already pointing his gun at her. Suddenly, it hit me. A challenge! I had to offer him a challenge he couldn't refuse.

- 'I'm not surprised, you're more likely to like them docile and not too fussy about the goods,' I provoked him. 'Women who can kick your ass are not your thing! But I bet you'll never find me in this forest. I'll find you and once I do, I'll kill you, even with a dead weight like Cassie on my back!'

Worth and Adam's frightened and dismayed glances at me gradually matured into understanding and perhaps a hint of hope when they understood where I was going with it. Nevertheless, it was not a foregone conclusion and it was not said that I would get out of it unscathed this time, I thought to myself as I saw him coming at me. He grabbed me again by the hair and stood me up, bringing my face back a few inches from his.

- 'You're trying to provoke me so I can spare your friend. Not a dumb strategy, but I'd still have to be stupid. Which, as you can see, is not the case.'

I felt despair invade me but I did not lower my eyes and continued to provoke him with all the hatred that I felt vibrating in me at that very moment.

- 'You have no chance of getting out of here against seven men anyway, even alone. So with your friend completely high on tranquilizers on your back, um, that's a laugh! Still, it can be fun to watch you try.'

He pushed me back into the line where I slumped on my back. I knelt down again under the mocking eyes of the guards and then looked down again like the others. I've tempted fate enough as it is! I had managed to get a reprieve for Cassie, but I couldn't do anything more for the moment, except rely on luck and Jude... well maybe.

- 'But what is not fair,' he continued, 'is that it gives a definite advantage to your companions. So in the interest of fairness, we will team them up as well. I think our good detective will be a dead weight almost as important as your dear Cassie. Don't you think so?'

I followed his happy and cheerful glance at the inspector, seeing his increasingly sluggish posture and his hands pressing on the ground to hold him back. In addition, his complexion was greyish and he was having more and more difficulty breathing. I met Adam's terrified gaze and understood his resigned look that he thought we were screwed. I had to talk to him, make him understand that there was perhaps still a chance, a very small chance, but still a chance to get out of it.

- 'All right, change of plans! Go get the cars,' he ordered in a loud voice, with a big smile on his face. 'We'll dump them two by two in the middle of the forest, it'll be extra fun.'

After laughing at our expense for a few minutes, the four men split up. Two went to get the vehicles, while the other two, accompanied by their leader, made us all get up. We were accompanied outside where they divided us into groups of two to wait for the vehicles. As they were slow to arrive, they left us there to smoke and just watched us from afar. The escape, although tempting, was not conceivable, so I took advantage of this moment of relaxation to get as close as possible to Adam as discreetly as possible.

- 'Find a tree tall enough and especially very bushy to be out of sight. Climb in and wait for me to join you. We will all have a better chance together,' I whispered to him as fast as I could.

- 'But you will never be able to find us,' he said in a voice even more youthful than his body.

- 'Yes, I will. Now that I have your scent in my head, I'll find you. And we are not alone.'

I had spoken that last part of the sentence so low that I understood that he had heard it only when I saw hope reappeared in his eyes. I put my index across my mouth and he replied with a discreet nod.

A few minutes later, they put us in SUVs, but this time in the back seat, much more comfortable than the trunk, even though we were still tied up. The decision to change vehicles was easily explained by the barely accessible roads we were taking, which went into the heart of the forest. If they had put us in the trunk, I'm not sure we would have survived the trip!

I was in the first car with Cassie; the other one followed us almost glued to our bumper, which gave me an idea. However, for it to have a chance of success, I had to put it into practice quickly before one of the two cars turned away. I tried to figure out roughly in which direction we were going, but I gave up pretty quickly. Too many trees, too dark... too lame at scouting!

Sitting just behind the driver, what I wanted to do was dangerous, but no more so than finding myself in the woods at the mercy of seven armed men. If what I envisioned succeeded, we might have four fewer men to worry about and we would all be together. All that remained was to hope to remain in one piece, and that was not guaranteed. I would have preferred to wear my seat belt but it was too risky, so I stopped thinking and took action.

I threw myself forward as quickly as possible, put my arms over the driver's seat and pinned the chain of my handcuffs under his chin, before pulling with all my might. The dumb guard sitting on the passenger seat didn't even have time to react before the car hit a tree violently. That was what I was hoping for. On the other hand, I had not anticipated that, under the shock, the car would get in the way and the other vehicle would hit us on the side, in a terrible shriek of twisted metal.

The shock was extremely violent and I experienced my second road accident in just forty-eight hours. But unlike the previous time, this one was provoked by me. Although I didn't have my seat belt, I hadn't moved too much. Fortunately or unfortunately, because it had prevented me from being thrown around in the car, but, most of the impact having taken place on my side, it had almost embedded me in the seat. Considering the many places from which I felt sticky liquid flowing, I must have had some serious injuries.

I tried to clear my head and ignore the throbbing buzzing that filled my ears while I looked for Cassie. She had fallen between the back seat and the passenger seat and hit her head against the window that showed an impact, blood, and some blond hair. I quickly saw her chest rising and stopped worrying about her, more concerned about the passenger who was beginning to shake weakly in his seat. We had to get out of that car quickly before he came to his senses.

So I set out to get out of the driver's body and put my arms back over the headrest. The dazzling pain that tore my left flank like a knife stopped my breathing. Not really having much time ahead of me, I still managed to do so, but at the cost of a lot of sweating and nausea. My door was completely smashed in and I had no choice but to go out through Cassie's door. As I dragged myself miserably towards her, two shots were fired and I leaned against the seats, my cry of pain fortunately muffled by the fabric of the seats. It was while painfully raising my head that I saw the guard who had finally regained consciousness and tried clumsily to retrieve his weapon that had fallen at his feet.

As I thought I would never have time to get out of the vehicle before he reached it, his window exploded, immediately followed by his head. I stood there contemplating the horror of the scene, not really understanding what I was seeing, then the back door opened and Worth reached out his hand.

- 'Are you okay?' he asked me worried.

I nodded gently and let Adam help me out of the car. The inspector was in a bad shape. In addition to the puncture marks and broken ribs that forced him to bend, there was a serious head injury that stuck his hair to his skull and left dried bloodshed on his cheek and shirt collar. He was painful to see, but given the look on his face when he looked at me, I couldn't have been any better. In spite of myself, I turned my head towards the front of the vehicle, even though I knew what was there and had no desire to see it again.

- 'It was him or us. They left us no choice,' Worth told me in an authoritative but gentle voice. 'Christina, look at me! Thanks to you, all four of us have a chance to get out of this now. Focus on that and look at me.'

I finally managed to turn my eyes away from the macabre scene that mesmerized me and prevented me from thinking to fix it on Adam who was helping Cassie to get out of the carcass. My friend was alive but still on the edge of unconsciousness when he leaned her against the wheel of the vehicle.

- 'It was well done,' Worth tried to reassure me as he saw my haunted gaze on the bloodshed.

His voice had almost regained its familiar tone, but he had difficulty completely masking his laboured breathing and exhaustion. I forced myself to keep my eyes straight in his beautiful green eyes and immediately felt better. He was right. We were all alive, and if we wanted to stay alive, we had to move quickly. Yes, but where to go?

- 'Are the cars are likely to blow up?' I asked him, looking at the smoking carcasses.

- 'I don't think so, no. But the best thing is to get out of here.'

- 'Please tell me that one of you is better at geography than I am and that you know where we are?'

- 'Unfortunately, no. But the most logical thing would be to turn back and try to find the farm and maybe a phone,' the inspector suggested.

As I had nothing better to offer, I kept quiet, but deep down I didn't think it was a good idea, and a priori I wasn't the only one. Adam began to shake and wiggle his head with a panicked look.

- 'No, we mustn't go back there. You don't know the horrors they keep locked up in the second part of the barn.'

His exorbitant and frightened eyes made him look even younger than he really was.

- 'Let me guess?' I replied wearily, trying to smile but without finding the strength. 'Some kind of big dogs with hyena heads?'

Worth looked at me in astonishment. I had neither the desire nor the strength to explain myself.

- 'I... I don't know,' Adam stammered, looking more and more overwhelmed by events. 'We've never seen them, but we could hear their screams and growls... We've never heard anything like that before and I know that if we go back there, they'll unleash them on us. They said so.'

- 'Anyhow, they must have left some men on duty. It would be a bad idea to go that way.'

I tried to give my voice a minimum of authority, the poor kid had already been through enough as it was and he was scared to death. So it was up to us to take charge.

A plaintive moan distracted us all from the conversation and I rushed as fast as my bruised body allowed me to towards Cassie. She was coming to her senses and trying to get up again to only fall down clumsily in the same place as before. I tried to help her straighten up by taking her under her armpits, but had to forfeit when my ribs ached. Seeing me struggling, Adam helped me and we sat her down more comfortably, to allow her to regain consciousness.

She looked around for a moment in a dazed state, then her gaze stopped on me and never let go of me, as if I were her beacon in the night. At that very moment... she was mine. I finally became really aware that I had found her and that she was alive, something I no longer believed in deep down. I let tears run down my cheeks, expressing better than words everything I could have said. She cried too and we fell into each other's arms. I gently released myself from her embrace and stared at her face as if I was afraid that it would be only a mirage and that she would suddenly disappear. She was my only family, or the closest thing to it, and I didn't know what I would do without her.

- 'You found me!' she said in a dull, foggy voice as if she had screamed too much. 'I kept telling Adam... that if they hadn't caught you... you'd do anything you could to find me.'

I couldn't find anything to answer and just let her see the tremendous appreciation I felt at her words. At least she trusted me.

- 'You would have done the same for me,' I said, gently stroking her cheek. 'What have they done to you all this time?'

- 'We have to get out of here, we've already wasted too much time...'

Worth didn't have time to finish his sentence that a deathly silence suddenly fell on the forest, unless I just now realized it. But one thing was certain, we couldn't afford to waste any more time... We had to move! We made ideal prey, lit by the headlights of the cars that were left on.

- 'This silence is not good. We need to get rid of these handcuffs,' he said hastily, gently shaking a pair of small bloody keys at the end of his index finger.

Adam helped Cassie to get up but had to support her so that she could take a few steps, as the effect of the drugs was not completely gone. She would never be able to run in the forest, so another solution had to be found. We quickly got rid of our handcuffs and left the scene of the crash before going into the undergrowth, too slowly and making too much noise to my liking. They would spot us without any difficulty if we continued like this! The inspector and I exchanged a look. He may have been in bad shape, but he was the only one of us who could shoot properly. And let's be clear, the three remaining shooters, Blondie, Shaw and his son, were clearly after me, so it was up to us.

- 'Adam, do you remember what I told you earlier about the trees? You and Cassie are going to hide and wait for someone to come and get you, okay?'

He seemed about to refuse for a moment, then finally nodded when Worth gave him a gun and a spare magazine and told him that he was counting on him to protect Cassie. They hid in a large oak tree and Worth and I went deeper into the forest where we split up. The idea was that I would be used as bait while the inspector followed me from a distance to take the shooters by surprise. If there was only one at a time, it would be fine, but what if there were more than one?

He also gave me a weapon and showed me how to use it without shooting me in the foot. Then, far too early for my taste, I found myself alone in the middle of the woods.