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The others slowly pitched in, each wolf’s cry different, distinct. Some low and lively, others guttural and longing, all blending into something—a presence that rang in my ears, my jaw, through my whole body, and blanketed the woods long after they’d stopped.

Kenny rocketed us forward, the howl of the wind replacing the song of the wolves.

I settled into position, focused on keeping my spine arched, my knees locked around his ribs. The powerful shift of his shoulders dug into my legs, my quick gasp lost to the stinging air, my ponytail waving like a flag in the wind as we raced through the night.

The wolves darted through the trees, infiltrating the forest like wraiths. Little by little, the group splintered off, disappearing into the darkness.

I remained hunched, peering over the wild ruff of Kenny’s neck, poised to avoid getting a branch to the face. Still, it was definitely possible with my luck, in a wilderness this dense and at the speed we were going. My wide eyes darted around, teary from the wind—bark, shrubs, bushes all whizzing by in a deep green blur.

A silhouette sprang up on our left, twisting towards us. I flinched, nearly slipping off before I grabbed a fistful of fur.

Obviously, it was just a werewolf—probably Shanley. I waited for the flash of a tail, the streak of a pewter coat. My ears perked for the gallop of heavy paws.

Goosebumps prickled my skin, and an ancient pulse of power rushed up my arms.

My fingers brushed my collarbone, reaching for the lapis necklace as if my mom’s heirloom might miraculously appear. It didn’t, of course.

It’d been stolen off my neck by trusted hands—the very same ones that had cupped my chin and tangled in my hair and grabbed my face for the perfect kiss—and placed into the claw-tipped clutches of the Greater Demon, Finis, leaving me weak. Powerless.

Dry wind stung my cheeks, and for a second, I wasn’t racing through the fresh mountain air, but fleeing the burning darkness, the ruined Boardwalk behind me, Ryder’s vengeful screams echoing in the night, my best friend, Javi, limp in my arms.

The silhouette skittered between the trunks, working to keep its stride.

My pulse galloped in my chest. After I banished Finis to the vile realm she crawled out of, I never actually found out where her hit men went. For all I knew, it could have been one of them stumbling through the thick mess of brambles.

Whatever it was, it didn’t belong with this pack.

It was following us.

The temperature dropped, each inhale an icy stab to the throat.

Ryder. These were his woods. He was out there.

Somewhere.

Like Javi, he’d nearly been killed during the attack at the Beach Boardwalk. Not at the demon’s hands—at mine. And not before admitting he and his brother were part of the Night Stalkers, willing pawns in Chthonia’s game to overthrow the angelic realm of Empyrea, abduct me, and siphon my powers.

And I’d fallen right into his trap.

Bet he never guessed I’d get away.

I could still hear the lilt of his accent, his haunting last words sharper than the arrow he’d been aiming at my heart. Make this easy on yourself, River. We have already fallen.

Here, it was louder than ever.

River.

Here, it was like his essence was woven into the canopy, into the soft crush of leaves.

River.

My heart leapt in my chest. Traitor.

“River,” I heard him call.

Impossible. There was no way that was anything more than the whistle of the wind.

No way I was hearing voices again, especially his, after months of straight silence from the ones who used to haunt me daily—the other three elemental archangels—the Watchers.