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Then froze at the sound of voices.

Shit.

The clink of the padlock on the iron cemetery gate came next.

I needed to get the hell out of here.Ducking low, I sprinted for one of the large trees that edged the fence line and tucked myself in as far as I could.

Boo chirped, then poked his head out from my jacket.I held my finger to my lips, and he ducked back.

Laughter carried through the darkness.My mother’s.I’d know it anywhere.She laughed a lot, usually at people’s expense.Chatter followed.My sister was with her, and another of my cousins—Harriet, by the sounds.

I’d needed ingredients for Tarrant’s order, so risked coming back to the cemetery so soon.Now I was going to get caught and hauled in front of the witch’s council.

I leaned back as far as I could go as they walked by, trying not to freaking breathe.They were terrible people, judgmental, cruel, but still it hurt.I tried not to let it, but the coven you were born into was part of you, it was in your blood.Being here always felt right, but tonight, standing here, hiding from my own mother, my sister, my familyagain, truly brought home just how unwelcome I would always be.I didn’t belong here anymore.

I couldn’t stay here and risk getting caught.I had to move.When they were far enough away and distracted, I pulled the hood of my sweatshirt up, slipped out from my hiding spot, and ran for the gate.I was just about there?—

“Hey!”my mother yelled.

Oh no.

“Sutton!Is that you?”

“You thieving bitch,” my sister screeched.

I didn’t stop.I ran until I reached my car parked several blocks away, but my heart didn’t slow, not until I was back in my apartment.

Stupid.

I should never have gone back so soon.

They’d make me pay for that.

I was screwed.

I strained against the gurney, fighting the binds strapping me down, panic filling me.The Chemist pulled on his black latex gloves and picked up his scalpel.The door opened and someone walked in.The Chemist paused as they approached.

Poe stood on the other side of the gurney and held out his hand.The Chemist gave him the scalpel and walked away.

“Now,” Poe said, his black eyes dancing with excitement.“Where were we?”

Then he opened his mouth…and howled.

My eyes shot open.

I sat up, heart pounding, then held my breath, listening.The nightmare was awful, and not the first time I’d had it, but it wasn’t what woke me up.Something else had.

Shit, had the witch’s council come for me already?My mother would have called and reported me for trespassing, I had no doubt.The little studio I’d rented over a cigar shop in the center of the city was warded—still.I listened hard, but everything was silent.I shook my head, on edge after what happened tonight.The council wouldn’t come in the middle of the night, not for trespassing, surely.

I forced myself to lie back down.

A howl echoed in the distance, making my heart lurch into my throat.

I shot back up, and Boo stopped chewing the fruit I’d put out for him.I’d heard it in my dreams, hadn’t I?That’s what woke me.That howl had reached through my dreams.Shoving back the covers, I stumbled out of bed and rushed to the window.Breathing heavily, hand shaking, I eased back the curtain.

I knew who I was going to see before I spotted him, because I realized I felt him close.Somehow, I felt him.

A huge hound sat in the dark street below my window, his eyes still green, glowing up at me.