Page 36

Not a scent. Not a vibration. A sound—low, muffled, distant. I tilt my head, tracing it. Two engines.

Most people would miss it. But I’m not most people—and I’m not fully human. My body tenses before I realize I’ve stopped moving. I close my eyes, focusing on isolating the frequencies.

Yeah. Two vehicles. Both familiar—but wrong for this hour.

I toss the towel onto the sink and break into a run. The floorboards groan as I hit the stairs. My heart picks up, pounding the same way it does before a hunt. I hit the bottom step and rush to the kitchen window, jerking the curtain aside.

A BMW and a beat-to-hell Jeep Cherokee pull into the drive. I blink. Once. Then again.

Erica’s Beamer doesn’t surprise me. Maybe she wrapped up a gig early and wanted to see my brother. But the Cherokee?—

That’s Stacy’s.

I don’t hesitate a moment longer, rushing to the front door and calling her name as I step out onto the porch.

“Stacy? What the hell? You’re supposed to be in New York.”

Erica’s already out of the car, moving fast. Her posture’s tight, wired.

“We were attacked last night,” she says. “Wolves. In Michelle’s parking lot.”

“What?!” I exclaim, my voice cracking. “In the city?”

It’s not only surprise—it’s dread, slamming into my chest like a hammer. Stacy slides out of the passenger seat slowly, her face pale, and her movements stiff.

“Yeah,” she says, her voice so soft I almost miss it. “I’d probably be dead if it weren’t for Erica.”

Holy shit.

I run closer and crouch to look at the Cherokee. The damage is brutal. Half the bumper’s gone, jagged edges scrape the gravel. The buckled hood looks like it took a direct hit from something massive—like a tree or maybe a monster.

“How the hell did this happen? And how the fuck did you drive it all the way to Dawson?”

Erica crosses her arms, unfazed as always.

“I ran over one of the bastards,” Stacy says. “As for how…she took some coaxing, but we limped her here.”

“We can fix it,” Sam says, appearing before I open my mouth.

He steps up beside me, his jaw set.

“Girls, did I hear you right? Our kind attacked you in the city?”

Stacy lifts her hand, holding up two fingers.

“Two. Now that I think about it... the parking lot was perfect for an ambush. Completely dark. They waited until everyone left and just—pounced.”

Raul shows up too, his expression a thunderstorm that’s about to break.

“A bold-ass move,” he growls. “Did you get a good look at them?”

Erica nods. “Yeah. One was gray with black legs. The other was black with a white patch on his chest.”

Sam frowns. “You sure?”

“Yes,” Erica says, firm. “I was using my magic so I saw them clearly. Why?”

Raul’s brow furrows. The fire in him cools to steel.