Page 27

“Still…”

Sloan’s hand brushed against mine before he tangled our fingers together. With fluid grace, he kissed the top of my hand and his eyes seemed to beam vibrant shades of blue while caught in a stream of sunlight. “She made her choice, and I will make mine when the time comes,” he said, lips caressing my sensitive skin.

“When the time comes…?” I repeated, a little winded when I didn’t even need to breathe. “What—?”

Both of our heads turned, weapons already out and at the ready. In an instant, the air I hadn’t realized I sucked in came whooshing out. A familiar figure stood in nothing but daylight, and their appearance struck me to stone.

It can’t be...

“Grams?”

Sloan grabbed me as I took a step, his voice practically a growl. “No.”

“But—”

“V, you can’t trust him.” The lines in Grams’s face deepened with concern.

“Who, Sloan?” Struggling to understand what was happening, I tried to get out of Sloan’s hold to go to her. His hand tightened. “Sloan, let go. It’s my grams.”

“That’s not your grams.”

Sucking in a confused breath, I was suddenly on guard.

Something about the way Sloan reacted made me anxious. His eyes didn’t leave the woman who I only recognized as mygrandmother. I hadn’t known the Brit long by normal human standards, but as someone who’d fought by his side, I knew what that look was. It was a look I’d seen only once before. With Eros. If whatever this was gave him that expression, then I could only surmise it was a creature neither of us wanted to go up against.

Removing a long dagger from my belt, I prepared myself internally. Whatever this fucker was, it’d regret taking Grams’s form. In seconds, Sloan and the shapeshifter were rushing each other. I barely even blinked before they collided in an explosion of sparks. Electricity in the air, I moved into action. Like I’d been trained to do, I quickly sped across the earth and attacked the thing from behind. It effortlessly defended itself against the two of us, as if we posed no real threat.

And it was likely because we didn’t.

Its speed easily matched ours. If anything, it was faster. My partner didn’t stop attacking or look my direction. It was evident in every move he made that he was aiming to kill it. Even though I was still unclear whatitwas, I figured decapitation in all cases was the way to go. The two of us worked around the Grams Imposter, always a second too late to cause injury.

And then it happened.

Fumes spread through the air, wafting into my nose as swiftly as it fled our enemy’s body. Sloan slowed, blinking rapidly, and my limbs grew heavier with every second that passed. The urge to fight seeped from my thoughts, and my eyes tracked back to Sloan. His face distorted, fighting what was happening, but it wouldn’t be enough.

The pheromones moved through our bodies too quickly, driving out all desire to fight. Thoughts were harder to catch. My head grew as empty as the cloudless sky above our heads.

When the silence in my head drove out all emotion, my weapons fell to the ground. Then my knees hit the floor. Looking across, Sloan mimicked the same position. Head lolling back, I was left empty, thoughtless, and completely compliant to our enemy.

“Fight it, V. Don’t give in,” Sloan bit out, his hand reaching for one of his discarded weapons.

The woman looming over the two of us grinned devilishly. “I thought it would be harder than this, but it seems like neither of you has lived up to your name. Pity,” she said, cackling. “Not that I’m all that disappointed.”

Anger boiled up from my chest and reached my throat. My feisty spirit returned in a rush, bringing with it every vulgar word in my vocabulary. Thoughts clamored one after another, bent on killing whatever this beast was. I gained control of my limp limbs and moved a hand closer to my weapon, using whatever strength I could. It took a lot to concentrate, but slowly, I was getting there.

“Fuck…you…” I finally managed through a lax jaw.

Pivoting my direction, my sweet Grams’s face distorted into an elated smile. She kicked away the weapon I reached for and snickered to herself while she did.

What a bitch.

Despite everything from head to toe being the very image of my grandmother, the smile she beamed at me was nothing like the woman who’d raised me. It swam in malicious, killer intentions, and it had no place on my Grams’s face.

“Imposter…” I hissed, willing my body to move so I could chaseafter my weapon.

Our enemy’s eyes sparked with interest. “Guess I spoke too soon. You really are quite the strong brat, aren’t you?”

A great cloud of pheromones flooded the air around me and the thoughts of anger and frustration quickly fled my head, swept away as if they were never truly there. And again, I was held hostage inside whatever this thing’s power was.