Page 32 of A Token of Blood and Betrayal (Kennedy Rain #4)

My eyes shot open. I stared at the dark ceiling, ears straining for some sound or movement that would explain why my heart was racing. There was nothing, not even a soft creak or pop from the building adjusting to nighttime temperatures.

I counted the seconds, hoping my uneasiness would pass.

Getting out of bed to investigate the scary silence seemed like the worst idea ever, so I tried to blame the spike in adrenaline on a bad dream.

Unfortunately, my brain wouldn’t be gaslighted.

Something was out there. Cowering in bed wouldn’t make it go away; it would make me an easier victim.

I’d slept in my clothes. It only took a few seconds to pull on my socks and shoes and creep toward my door. This could still be simple paranoia. If Thordis was passed out on the couch, it would mean she didn’t sense anything threatening nearby.

Would Thordis consider Canyon a threat? He was the most likely person to hunt me down.

Unless Deagan was wrong about Satine being thwarted by my letter.

Barely breathing, I reached for the doorknob, turned it, then silently cracked open the door.

The couch was empty. The whole living area was too.

Shit, shit, shit.

I padded across the carpet, needing to check on Carrie. Her door creaked when I opened it, but she was still in bed, snoring off the four beers she’d drunk.

Heart thumping in my ears, I walked to the front door and put my eye to the peephole. Nothing lay between my apartment and the boys’.

I pulled back. Maybe that was the explanation. Maybe Thordis had sneaked off to be with John. I doubted John would tell her to get lost if she appeared in his room. I mean, if I were him, I wouldn’t turn her down.

Opening my door, I slipped outside, almost believing I’d solved the mystery.

Humidity made the air feel heavy. Enough time had passed since the storm moved through that there wasn’t a rumble of thunder or flicker of lightning.

The breezeway was just as we’d left it. I walked to the decorated railing, peered down, then bit my bottom lip when a fresh wave of anxiety squeezed my chest.

I’d almost died there two months ago, would have if Eli hadn’t used his magic to instantly grow a bush that broke my fall.

Battering back my fear, I scanned the night for the elemental. I didn’t see him or Thordis.

She’s with John, I told myself.

I moved toward his apartment and tried to turn the knob. Locked. I couldn’t remember if that was normal or not. Carrie and I had a spare key, but I don’t think we’d ever had to use it.

Whether John was alone or not, I didn’t want to wake him and Alex. They needed to stay inside.

I glanced at the door to my apartment, trying to convince myself to go back in, but I didn’t step toward it or toward the stairs.

Damn it, I couldn’t just remain there frozen in place. I needed to investigate, confirm that I was overreacting, then go back to bed.

Grabbing hold of my frustration, I used it to propel myself silently down the steps.

I reached the second floor. No bogeyman jumped me.

I continued down, listening and looking for anything that might be a threat. It wasn’t until I reached the bottom of the staircase that I sighted two dark figures in the shadows.

I stopped abruptly, hand gripping the rail.

“Something’s here.” Thordis’s voice barely reached my ears.

Still, it raised chill bumps on my skin.

My gaze swept over my surroundings, the vehicles filling every parking space, the two buildings across from mine, the shadows beneath my stairwell.

A single streetlight fought against the dark, but it wasn’t strong enough for my human eyes to make out any details.

My instinct, my sixth sense, my general shitty luck told me Thordis was right. Something was out there.

“Kennedy,” Eli said. His tone indicated he’d just noticed me, my presence finally sinking through the concrete beneath my feet and traveling to him through the earth.

Thordis’s head whipped around. “Go back to the apartment.”

I didn’t release my grip on the rail. I needed to know what we were facing, who we were facing.

“Is it a fey?” I asked.

Neither replied, but they moved, Eli drifting closer to me, his gaze on the parking lot.

Thordis focused in the opposite direction, where a small field separated the apartment complex from a railroad track.

Warehouses and office space lined the road beyond that.

Countless places for a paranorm to hide, all around us.

“Wolves,” Thordis said. “Three of them.”

I looked at Eli.

He shook his head. “I don’t recognize them.”

“Take out the southern wolf,” Thordis ordered. She now held two sharp blades. “I will kill the ones to the north. Kennedy.” Her gaze pinned me. “Go upstairs.”

She didn’t wait for me to comply. Neither did Eli. Both paranorms cut through the night. They were more equipped to deal with what was out there than I was. If I didn’t go back to my apartment, I would be a distraction or worse, become a hostage that the wolves used to get whatever they were after.

And they were after me. Had to be. I was the only variable that had changed here. Unless…

I frowned in the direction Thordis had disappeared. She’d been in the Null for the past few years. She’d overreacted when Eli had recognized her. Could this be the past catching up with her? Why would werewolves be after a Valkyrie?

Maybe they were after Deagan’s dossier. I’d hidden it in the trunk where the spare tire should have been.

It didn’t matter who or what the target was. I needed to help, and the best way to do that was to call for backup. I’d left my phone in my room. I turned to run up the stairs—

A bellow of pain shattered the night’s silence.

Eli!

Instinct or stupidity kicked in, driving me away from my apartment building and toward the elemental who’d been looking out for me ever since I’d moved in. Yes, I’d be a distraction, hopefully one big enough to catch the wolf’s attention and give Eli a chance to fight.

I hunched-ran between cars, searching. A grunt and a loud thump came from my right.

“Eli!”

A huge, dark wolf raised its head. Gold eyes locked on me. Blood and flesh coated its fangs. It turned its heavy body my direction, muscles coiling, preparing to propel itself toward me.

It leaped, but only three clawed paws made it off the ground. The pavement broke beneath its hind leg, and a thick black vine encircled it all the way to the knee.

The wolf landed hard, snarled and snapped at the vine.

The vine thickened at its base, chipping at the hole it had created in the concrete until it cracked.

Cracked and buckled and exploded along a giant fissure, debris shrapneling the night.

I crouched and covered my face, protecting it from the gravel, dust, and chipped rock pelting my skin.

When I lowered my arms and straightened, the single black vine had morphed into a savage, tangled undergrowth.

Thorned branches, sharp leaves, and roots that looked like they were covered in a thick, sticky sap wove together, then coiled up and around the wolf, enclosing it in a living, constricting cage.

My heartbeat boomed in my ears, not in a quick, fast rhythm but deep, steady, and resounding. Before that moment, I never would have described plants as lethal or threatening. I never would have dreamed an earth elemental had so much power. I never would have…

I spotted Eli. He sat on the ground, breathing heavily, his back leaning against the side of a red sedan. He watched his creation as it squeezed and squeezed, cutting off the wolf’s whimpers, shrinking it smaller and smaller.

“Run,” Eli said.

My gaze landed on his shoulder, covered in blood and missing a significant chunk of flesh.

Right. Phone. Help. Healing. Eli would need it.

I spun to sprint back to my apartment, almost made it to the stairs.

My peripheral vision caught something shooting toward me. I started to turn—

A huge wolf plowed into my side, launching me into the air. I felt the crack of a rib, heard the snapping of teeth, registered the exact moment my head collided with the side of the building…