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I make sure I’m square in front of him with Zayne behind me. Fury crouches low, baring his teeth as he rumbles a low growl. No doubt he’s asking me to move out of the way—not happening.

Then my eyes slide to where Josh is standing, and my heart stops. I can see his intention; his eyes are wide, his gaze fixed on Fury. But he doesn’t look afraid. He should be. Then he takes a step forward.

I yell at him, “Get back!”

But when does anybody ever do what I tell them?

Instead, he steps forward, holding out a hand to the wolf like he’s a cute little puppy dog. Where the fuck is Josh’s sense of self-preservation?

“Oh shit.” I hear Zayne murmur behind me from where he’s still sprawled on the ground. “Do something, Amber.”

I can hear the urgency in his tone, but everything tells me not to move. I’m sure if I do, something bad will happen, so I hold myself very still as Josh inches forward.

I see the moment Fury’s attention shifts from Zayne to the boy beside him. Fury blinks and then slowly turns his massive head. Josh reaches out a small hand, looking totally unconcerned, and strokes the huge wolf on his black, shaggy shoulder.

“Good wolf, good dog.”

I see the tension drain out of Fury. He looks at the boy, then drops to his haunches and closes his eyes, breathing in deeply.

I sag with relief, and I realize, deep down, I’ve been absolutely terrified that Khaosti would never come back to me. That Fury would be all I could have from now on. And while I love the wolf—he says far less shit than Khaosti does—he’s not the man I loved. Or love. I don’t know.

I stare at the two of them as Josh wraps his small arms around the wolf and hugs him, burying his face in the shaggy fur.

Wow. I never saw that coming.

Zayne scrambles to his feet and comes to stand behind me. “Your boyfriend’s still a fucking asshole,” he says, “but at least he can’t talk. It’s a big improvement.”

I ignore the comment. I’m just so happy that nobody died in the last thirty seconds. It’s a good day. But also, I’m overwhelmed with the idea that Khaosti is still in there somewhere. That one day, hopefully soon, he’ll feel it’s safe to come back to me.

Josh is leaning against the big wolf, which is sort of cute and really scary at the same time, but I think it’s going to be okay. Somehow, I don’t think Fury is going to eat my little brother.

Except, at that moment, Fury’s stomach rumbles—loudly. He almost jumps, as though he’s shocked himself, and then he lets out a whimper.

Suddenly, I want to cry. He’s so thin. I can only imagine how little he’s had to eat over the last month or so. I should have gone looking for him sooner. Guilt floods me. I’m a bad person.

But at least maybe I can do something about it now.

I turn to Zayne. “Where’s the backpack with the food?”

Zayne sneers. “We didn’t actually pack any dog food.”

I can’t help the snigger that escapes me, but I really don’t want to encourage him. “Shut up. Where is the backpack?”

He nods his head toward the corner, and I move the torch to see it sitting against the wall. And beside it is Nightfall. I smile—a girl should never be parted from her sword.

“We were going to head outside,” Zayne says, “but Josh wanted to be near the mirror to wait for you.”

“Aw, that’s nice. You know, he’s much nicer than either of us.”

“Yeah, but totally lacking in common sense.” He casts a narrow-eyed stare toward where Josh is cuddling Fury, “And he’s got crap taste.”

With a last sideways glance at the wolf and Josh, I hurry over to the backpack. I grab Nightfall and strap her across my back, then crouch down, and rifle through the bag. God, what are you supposed to feed a wolf? I’m sure it should be something raw and bloody and dead. But I don’t eat meat, so there’s nothing packed.

I do find a loaf of bread. It’s the only thing I can think of that he might eat. Other than that, it’s biscuits. I have a very healthy diet.

I grab the bread and head back to the wolf, emptying the whole loaf onto the floor. Fury stares at it for a moment, his lip curling, and then lowers his head and gobbles it all up in two mouthfuls. He looks up at me with an expression that clearly says,Is that allyou’ve got?Unfortunately, it is. I’m not feeding the wolf biscuits—it’s bad for him.

“That’s going to have to keep you going,” I say, “but hopefully Hecate will have something for you.” A little zing of excitement runs through me. I’m going to see Hecate again. “Come on, let’s get out of here. I want to go home.”