Page 45

Blasted Arizona sun - I’ll never understand how anyone can bear it. Spring has just begun and yet I feel as though I’m in the throes of summer. Francis, well, he finds my suffering too amusing. Only a vampyr would relish such a torment, what with their cold blood. Shifters don’t fare well in this dry, desert heat.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Why would a shifter soldier be talking of a vampyr as though they were friends?

I will let him have this joy, however. He lost most of his brothers in Scotland, where the fae managed to break through our defenses only four months ago.

The priestesses are working tirelessly to close the veil here in Sedona, and are nearly through with this one.

Or so we’re told.

They say the barriers between our worlds have nearly all been spelled, and soon we’ll keep those wicked fae soldiers away from our females and pups for good. And away from the vampyrs, who they were surprised tosee alive and thriving in this world.

The fae cruelty is unlike any I’ve ever known. Even compared to the horrors the humans committed against each other in Europe, the ruthlessness in which they fight, delighting in tearing us apart with their sorcery, makes one wonder if the Moon really does protect us after all.

My heart pounded—could this be real? Or even a true account? Nothing in our history mentioned fae, or vampyrs and shifters fighting together.

I picked up my phone to start taking pictures of every page— there was so much to go through—when I noticed the barrage of texts and calls I’d apparently missed.

…Archer, you need to drive your ass up here ASAP.

Fuck. It was my first day finally getting some research done, and I already needed to leave. This diary could be the breakthrough I needed to finally fill in all the missing pieces, though.

I weighed my options, then sent a silent apology to the library and archive gods and tucked the diary into my bag. I was almost afraid it would disappear if I tried to find it again, and I didn’t have time to get photos of the whole thing.

I reached through the bond to gauge the emergency in progress. Nolan was enraged and terrified, and Elias was worried. But Camden, Julian, and Marlowe were fine. Happy, even.

Whatever was going down, they weren’t involved in it yet.

I cursed the other part of this horrible timing—it was the height of Chicago rush hour. I’d be lucky if I made it back before midnight.

Me: I’m on my way.

I winced at the bag holding the stolen diary as I left the library, and headed back to Maiingan Hollow.

18

CAMDEN

Marlowe looked so perfect I could hardly stand it. The dress hugged her curves in all the right places, and every time I got my hands on her, I fantasized about ripping the thing off her once we got home.

I knew it wasn’t fair to Julian or Nolan, but fuck it.Iwas pack leader, andIwas having her all to myself tonight.

If only that part of tonight could come sooner. Things were somewhat tense after my fight at work, and I needed to smooth things over and play the good, genial host. My dad had been great at this, and after he’d died, James had asked me to take up the mantle, spouting some BS about needing youthful energy to make the parties more fun.

Whatever. Dancing with Marlowe was fun, too.

My fingers grazed across her stomach as I circled around her, her smile playful and coy. She rolled her hips suggestively to the beat, beckoning me to come closer.

I stepped up and she straddled my thigh, grinding and throwing her arms around my neck to hold on.

Moon, I was going to lose it. Every movement she made released more of her sweet perfume into the air, my cock straining hard against my pants. I needed to stay until closer to the end, but I didn’t know how much more I could take without release. A quickie in my truck or the bathroom was hardly fitting for everything I wanted to do with Marlowe after being apart for so long, but it would probably be worse to blow my load on the dance floor.

I was about to whisper in her ear and ask if she wanted to find somewhere private when Julian cut through the crowd, a panicked lookon his face as he held out his phone.

“Guys, have you checked your messages? We gotta go!” Marlowe’s smile disappeared and I growled, hating whatever

Julian freaking out was putting a damper on the mood we’d been building. I pulled out my phone and made a big show of checking my messages, but soon my expression fell. “What the fuck?”

Marlowe turned my wrist so she could see, her phone still with her purse and coat at our table. “What is it? What’s wrong?”