Abby rubbed sleep from her eyes and pushed herself into a sitting position. “I guess.”

“Shift.”

“Shift?” Her forehead wrinkled in confusion.

“Yeah.” I smiled. “Shift.”

“That’s it?”

“Yup. That’s it. Bril iant in its simplicity, if I do say so myself. I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before.” I thought she’d laugh, or at least crack a smile. But instead, she burst into tears.

I came as close to her as my cage would al ow, wishing more than anything that I could give her a hug. “If we have claws and canines, I don’t think they’ll try anything. There’s no way Miguel can take my cat form in his human form. And if he Shifts first, he can’t get into the cage. If he’s stupid enough to come in as a human, then try to Shift, I’l have plenty of time to take him out before he finishes.”

Abby sobbed harder and threw herself facedown onto the mattress.

I frowned. “Okay, maybe it’s not exactly a brilliant plan, but it’s no reason to cry.”

She sat up, curls clinging to one damp, splotchy cheek. “I can’t do it.”

“Sure you can.”

“No, I can’t. I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t go back to sleep, so I tried to Shift, just to have something to do. But I couldn’t do it. I’m too upset, or tired, or something.” She glanced away in embarrassment. “It’s happened a couple of times before. I get nervous, or upset, and I can’t Shift.”

Well, shit. She couldn’t Shift and I couldn’t snatch a key. Together we’d ruled out both of my escape plans. I closed my eyes, desperately searching my brain for a third bril iant idea. I came up blank. So much for the third time being charmed.

So…back to plan number two. She’d just have to work through her problem.

“Don’t worry about it, Abby. Al you need to do is calm down and concentrate.

Can you do that for me?”

She nodded, but her face showed no conviction. Her forehead was lined in fear, her expression pure despair. She hadn’t smiled since recounting Sara’s murder, and I saw in her tear-damp eyes that she expected to die the same way.

I took a deep breath, trying to relax in hopes that if I did, she would too.

“Clear your mind completely, and try to think about nothing but the process of Shifting.”

“Okay.” After a moment’s hesitation and a nervous glance at the stairs, she took off her clothes, carefully folding them on one corner of her mattress. On hands and knees, she glanced up at me, tension warping her features into a mask of fear and dread.

I sighed. This wouldn’t work unless she could loosen up. “How ’bout if I do it with you?”

“Thanks.” She nodded gratefully, obviously trying to relax.

“No problem.” I stripped and tossed my clothes aside, trying not to let pity show in my expression. The last thing she needed was a reason to be embarrassed, as wel as tired, hungry, and scared. And probably dehydrated. I know my mouth was dry. “You ready?” I asked, lowering myself careful y onto al fours. My left shoulder screamed in protest, refusing to bear any of my weight. I winced, shifting to support myself with my right arm.

Abby nodded, but I wasn’t convinced. She stil looked pretty nervous.

“Okay, now I want you to start at your toes and work your way up, relaxing each body part as you come to it. Okay?”

She nodded again. “Relax your toes, then your ankles, and so on. Do your feet feel relaxed?”

“I think so.”

Shit. If she wasn’t sure, they weren’t relaxed.

I smiled, trying to encourage her. “Now move onto your legs. Relax your calves and thighs.” I spoke slowly, keeping my voice even and smooth. “Can you feel your muscles loosening up?”

“Yes,” she said, but her posture betrayed the lie. I considered stopping, since the exercise obviously wasn’t helping her, but I was afraid that admitting failure would upset her even more.

“When your whole body is relaxed, start to visualize your Shift. Instead of dreading the pain, welcome it because it’s—” I couldn’t speak anymore. My Shift had begun. My routine was so ingrained, so automatic, that my body did what it was told, even though my brain hadn’t meant for it to. I could have stopped it, but that would hurt worse than just letting it happen. So I did my best to let go and let my body take over for a while.

Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. I’d never Shifted with a serious injury and had no idea how badly it would hurt. The first stages were agony like I’d never experienced. My body was literal y tearing itself apart, ligament by ligament and joint by joint. That was one thing for my healthy joints and ligaments, but something else entirely for my wounded shoulder. It was on fire, my injury inflamed by the physical changes forced on it.

The pain eased as the last stages of my Shift came and went, the various parts of my body settling into place. By the time it was over, my shoulder throbbed with the dull pain of an old injury.

I stretched, testing my new configuration of muscles and bones. To my amazement, my shoulder felt much better. It was far from healed, but I could now bear my own weight. Marc had mentioned something similar happening to him once, but I hadn’t thought about it much since. His theory was that since muscles and bones change during a Shift, they began to heal automatical y as they were reattached in new positions.