Soon, they were free of the swarm of shadows. The crawling masses of darkness had only followed them so far, then given up their pursuit. It seemed Belle would be free of them, for now. The apartment building was still some distance away, but Beast finally let himself relax, though he wasn't about to let his guard down, lest they surprise him and Belle. He knew they could appear without warning, they'd done it to him before.

"Belle...are you...all right?" he asked softly, looking back down at her over his shoulder. He didn't realize he had injuries of his own, but even if he had, Belle came first.