This wasn't working. Gabriel wrenched his ankle free of the clinging hair, but it wasn't working--it wouldn't work--not in time. They'd be caught before they reached the stairwell at this rate, unless there was something they could do to break the hair.

Luckily, there was.

"Don't stop," Gabe ordered Ryusei. In the blink of an eye, between one yanking step and the next, Gabe segued neatly into the black-as-black mountain lion, fur ruffled and teeth bared. Claws extended, the Archangel lashed at the hair, breaking the strands trying to contain his changed shape and then the ones around Ryusei's feet, fast and efficient as the plain stumbling run couldn't be. As soon as Ryusei's feet were free, the lion whirled on graceful paws to go back for Soushi.