Free As Love Shifts by Kat Barrett

have no idea what effect it will have on him. I won’t fuck with a spell from the gray book and that is because they are dangerous.”
    Ever got to her feet. She opened the crate and lifted Lash’s sleepy body from it. “Shut up and go get me the muzzle. I can hide it with a blanket. Then we need to get the hell out of here, fast.”
    She could hear the sound of the wind battering the outside of the roof, the windows rattling in their panes. With an underlying fear in the growing urgency in her mind, she ran into the bedroom and wrapped Lash in the heavy quilt. She grabbed her purse, throwing it to Demetri. “You drive.” And then she headed to the door. It was all they could do to get the door open, the wind first stopping them and then changing direction and ripping it from Demetri’s hands to slam it against the wall. The water had already risen up onto the porch, small waves rushing over their feet and down the hall. Demetri braced the door with his back, allowing Ever to hurry through it and then releasing it to smash against the casing as they trudged through the now calf-high flood.
    Ever was shaking as she tried to open the door and Demetri did it for her, helping her get in and then soundly slamming it behind her. A moment later, he was wresting the driver’s door to get in himself. The wind caught the metal, tearing it from its hinges and sending it sailing airborne like a flat, glimmering kite. He grunted and shoved the keys into the slot, starting the motor. Ever knew that they were going to have to drive very slowly so as not to flood the engine. Maybe once they got away from the house, the land would be higher and not offer them quite as much resistance. It was insanity that things had gone downhill so quickly and so completely.
    Demetri inched along, the rain whipping him through the missing door. He swiped at his face, the windshield wipers barely making a dent in the onslaught of rain. The car was rocking back and forth, battered by the raging winds as he drove up onto slightly higher ground. The car moved faster, the trees to either side of the road violently thrashing from side to side. The sound of cracking branches was nerve rattling and Ever watched out the windows with eyes that felt too big for their sockets. She was tempted to suggest that they get out and walk, but at least in the car, they had some small amount of protection from falling branches.
    A large limb snapped off, grazing the car as it hit the passenger’s side door. She had no idea how Demetri hadn’t swerved the wheel in response to the impact, but luckily he hadn’t. The road had only been cut wide enough for the equipment and to either side was a gully to allow the rain to drain off. Of course, the gully was unseen now, the rain making it look as if it was a solid piece of flat land to either side of them. Ever suddenly realized that Demetri was somehow keeping them in the center where they needed to be, without being able to see exactly what was safe to drive on.
    “Fuck!” he muttered to himself and she focused her eyes on the road ahead. One of the large, ancient pine trees had fallen from the roots and the wide expanse of green needles was entirely cloaking the road. They had hit the end of the line for the SUV.
    “I guess we walk from here.”
    He nodded, driving directly up to the tree and stopping. He turned to look at her, his sodden hair clinging to his face. “The water in the ditches has to be at least three feet deep in places. “How the hell are we going to get through it?”
    “Drive my car into it. We can use it as a bridge to get across.”
    Demetri glared at her. “Seriously? You're gonna wreck your SUV? ”
    “Do you have a better idea? We are only a short distance from the shelter and I can’t think of any other way to get into the tree line to get around.”
    He groaned, pushing his soggy hair from his face. “Okay, brace yourself.” Demetri backed the car up, and, releasing a long and heartfelt