Anora tensed, holding her breath as she waited for Ahllasta’s answer. Though the woman didn’t take long, it was long enough to make Anora shift her weight uneasily and her hound to let out a low, impatient growl. 
	Anora raised her chin slightly when the woman spoke, expecting a counter proposal, but this time, Ahllasta didn’t bother further speaking. Instead, the woman reached into one of the pockets in her cargo pants.
	Anora’s hound growled warningly, its body hunching, ready to attack. Golden electricity swirled more frequently within its translucent form. The mist from one of the hounds she had released gathered in front of her feet, ready to spring up into a shield as a second defense. But the precautions proved unnecessary.
	Her gaze darted between the beastly woman’s and the sphere she had pulled from her pocket. The thread it dangled from hardly looked like it should be capable of holding the object up as Ahllasta began to spin it.
	Anora suppressed a shudder as she noticed the woman’s gaze did not once flick from her.
	“What—?” she began, but didn’t get to finish her question. She gasped and stepped back when Ahllasta tossed the spinning sphere through the wall.
	Before Anora could reform her question or her hound react to her thoughts and emotions, the small puff of plaster dust the top-like item left became a storm with a loud, cracking thud. 
	Anora stumbled back, blinking quickly to keep the dust from her eyes. Her hound let out a shocked, angered yelp, its form wavering for a fraction of a second. Before the dust had time to think about settling, she heard the man’s surprised voice, his clouded form suspended not far from her. With little more than a flick of her wrist, Ahllasta had the man down for the count.
	Anora blinked down at the unconscious form of the man bound by the impossible thread. 
	“That’s one way to keep him busy,” she muttered. Her face contorted as she tried not to sneeze.
	Her attention quickly snapped back to Ahllasta, for a moment wondering if the statement meant she was going to loan them her car. But her heart sank as the woman slid Darsby to her, Anora’s magic swelling around him too late to stop her, and shouldered him. 
	She intended on going with them.
	“[i]What?[/i]” She gawked after the woman, horrified, Ahllasta’s gaze still unnervingly on her. Her hound mimicked the question with a growling snap of its jaws.
	Anora’s eyes narrowed at the order as the woman turned and headed to the front door. Her hands clenched at her sides. Ahllasta and Darsby had one thing in common, it seemed: they both expected her follow orders unquestioningly. Like a lost pup with no mind of its own. But at least Darsby had answered her questions.
	[i]What’s with these people?[/i] she thought, scowling.
	She hurried after the woman as Ahllasta made it to the front porch. Anora sent her hound ahead of her, the rest of her mist dissipating. 
	The hound slipped out the door just behind Ahllasta. On quick, silent feet, it jumped the railing of the porch, turned mid-air, and slid to a stop just below the steps to block the woman’s path. It bore its fangs at her, daring her to try to pass it.
	“[i]I’m[/i] coming,” Anora growled, stepping outside onto the porch, “but like heck I’m letting [i]you[/i] come with. [i]You’re[/i] the reason we’re in this mess!” More mist swirled over her now open and ready hands, tendrils wrapping up her forearms.
	The power usage nagged at her. She wasn't accustomed to using her powers as much as she had in a single day. It pulled at her energy as if she was in the middle of a workout rather than summoning magic, reminding her she needed to be careful. She still needed to save enough strength to drive Darsby and herself out of there. The adrenaline pumping through her and the energy bars in her pack would help, but neither would get her very far. That much she knew from experience.
	Doing her best to not give away how using her powers affected her, she took a cautious step to the side to flank Ahllasta and put a bit of extra distance between them.
	“I doubt we have time to argue,” she began, her words coming out in a nervous rush, “so put Darsby down and [i]the two of us[/i] will be on our way.”
	Her hound growled in agreement, the crackling sound low and feral.