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Luken linked his hand with mine as we moved through the forest. We were closer to the village than I’d realized. I repressed the part of my mind that said Luken had deliberately set camp when we could have made it to the village that night. We had a mission to accomplish and it was hard enough pushing through my doubts. Should we be risking everything to save these random strangers?

The scent of smoke grew heavier, and the orange glow of fires lit the night. There was shouting, but not the shouts of battle. Luken tugged my hand, changing our direction sharply.

“They’ve left the village. If we’re going to save the women and children, we have to follow the warlocks,” he said.

“And you can track them in the darkness?” I asked anxiously. I squinted, but even though the forest was clearer than it had been a few nights before, I couldn’t distinguish any footprints or signs of passage.

Luken pulled me a little closer. “I can smell their magic. It’s a very distinctive path. No doubt their camp will be shielded.”

We flitted through the trees for another half-hour before Luken abruptly came to a stop. He drew his sword, growling under his breath as he shifted his stance to shield me. I huffed in surprise and moved to a fighting stance, lifting my staff in two hands. We moved forward cautiously. I strained my hearing, but all I could pick out was the quiet of Luken’s breathing… and a strange whimpering noise.

The scent of blood hit my nostrils a second later. Sweet, with savory undercurrents. My mouth watered. I inhaled the scent and barely repressed a groan. If it smelled this good right now, how much better would it be when I was a full vampire? I eyed Luken’s neck as we continued to move forward slowly. If his blood already tasted good to me, how much better would it be after this transformation was complete?

Focus , I told myself sharply. I’m not ready to be a vampire yet.

“Who’s there?” a voice rasped.

Luken dug into his pack and pulled out a flashlight, which he flicked on. My eyes adjusted to the light almost instantly. A few feet away from us, half-hidden beneath a bramble of blackberry vines, was a man. His yellow eyes gave him away as a shifter. Blood smeared his face and chest as he stared up at us.

“Who are you?” he demanded.

I strode forward, ignoring Luken’s attempt to stop me. “My name is Lara, and this is my husband, Luke. We heard the attack on your village and came to help.”

The man groaned. “I lost their trail. I was trying to follow, but I lost them.”

Luken crouched near him and helped pull him from the bramble. “It’s alright. I can track them down once you’re bandaged up.”

“Don’t waste time on me, I—” The shifter stiffened as he slumped against Luken. His nostrils flared, and he snarled, suddenly sounding stronger. “Vampires! You’re vampires!”

“No, we’re not,” I said automatically.

Luken dropped the shifter and jumped away as the man punched at him. “You must have a good nose to smell through my glamour.”

The shifter stumbled to his feet, swaying back and forth. He came at Luken again, swinging clumsily. Luken sidestepped him, an annoyed look on his face. It was easy for him to continue to evade the attempts to attack as the shifter stumbled around as though he was drunk. He kept turning wide circles and punching at Luken, only to nearly fall when Luken stepped aside.

“Really?” Luken said in an exasperated tone. “We’re not the ones who attacked your village.”

“Fucking vampires,” the shifter seethed.

Luken caught the shifter’s fist and shoved him away. “Elara, please pin him down before I accidentally kill him. I can smell the alcohol in his blood; he’s going to bleed out if we don’t tend to those injuries.”

“You might as well release the glamor,” I said as I stepped forward. I grabbed the shifter’s arms and twisted them behind his back as I kicked his feet out from under him. He howled as we went down. I pinned him in place with a knee to his back. “Listen, we’re here to help. Stop fighting and tell us what we’re up against.”

The shifter struggled against me. “All vampires should die!”

“We should just knock him out and go after the orcs,” Luken said.

I glanced up at him to find his amber eyes glowing. He’d released the glamor. I bit back as a flutter of anxiety went through me. That meant my scars were visible again. Shaking my head roughly, I turned the shifter, kneeling over him to pin his arms beneath my legs.

“We are here to help,” I repeated. “I had two shifter friends, and I owe them both my life. If I can help your shifter village, I will do it. How many orcs are there?”

He stopped struggling, glaring at me in distrust.

Luken wrapped his arm around my waist and lifted me off the shifter. “I don’t like seeing you in that position with another man,” he whispered in my ear.

A thrill shot through me, and I fiercely squashed it.

“What’s your name?” Luken said, louder, his arm still around my waist.

The shifter slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. “Bain. My mother and sister… the orcs… they were talking about fighting rings. I have to get them back.”

“How many?” Luken asked, his voice clipped.

“I… I couldn’t tell. It seemed like there were dozens, but when I attacked them, I went right through them,” Bain said.

I pulled away from Luken and inspected Bain’s injuries. Most of the blood clinging to him wasn’t his own. He had a shallow gash across his chest and several lacerations in his scalp, but he was in better shape than I first assumed. I patched him up as best as I could with the limited supplies I had.

“They were using a type of glamor to confuse the village,” Luken said, rubbing his chin. “How many were taken?”

“I think it was just my mother and sister.”

Luken smirked as he straightened. “There can’t be many of them, then. I thought the magic smelled weak. Elara, take the shifter back to the village. I’ll take care of the orcs.”

“No!” Bain sprang to his feet. He swayed but steadied himself. The alcohol must be processing out of his system. “I’m coming with you. I won’t trust a vampire to save my mother and sister!”

Luken opened his mouth, but I laid a hand on his arm. “No arguing. We don’t know how much time we have.”

Frustration crossed his face, but he nodded. We continued along, Luken leading us and Bain taking up the rear. I pressed my fingertips to the back of Luken’s shirt, not daring to use the flashlight now. My heart thrummed in my ears.

“Let me take out the guards when we get there,” I whispered to Luken.

He stiffened.

“I’m the most trained in stealth,” I added.

“I’m a vampire. Stealth in my middle name,” Luken answered in a harsh whisper.

Bain hiccupped. “What was that?”

“Shh,” I snapped at them both.

Luken reached around and pulled me down behind a bush. With an impatient hand, he grabbed Bain and tugged him down as well. His glowing eyes lit the space we were in, and he muttered something, weaving his hands in a complicated pattern. Before us, a shimmering bubble appeared. Inside, vague shapes moved. It solidified in a black-and-white view, like we were looking through night vision goggles.

The orcs were clearly confident in their magic. I counted five bodies lying in sleeping bags around a medium-sized fire. Their weapons lay in easy reach but not directly in their hands, and nobody was standing guard. Near the back of the camp was a large cage in which were the two shifter women. I squinted at them. They appeared to be unharmed, carefully shaking the bars of their cage, looking for a way out.

Luken’s arm snapped out, grabbing Bain suddenly. He twisted the shifter to the ground and clapped a hand over his mouth. Bain shoved at him, his eyes alight with fury in the night.

“If you wake them, they could kill your mother and sister before we have the chance to free them,” Luken snarled in a whisper.

“I’ll go in and kill the orcs,” I murmured, resting a hand on Bain’s shoulder. “You’re still drunk and injured. You stay here until I’ve taken them out.”

Luken turned his eyes on me. I felt the protests in his gaze. He had magic. He was quicker, stronger. He would be at less risk if the orcs woke up before they could all be killed.

In truth, it would be best if the three of us could sneak in and take out the orcs together. Bringing Bain along was a mistake, after all. Out of all of us, he was the one who risked giving us away. Even now, I didn’t trust that he wouldn’t stumble into the orc camp while Luken and I assassinated them.

“You need to stay here and keep him quiet,” I whispered to Luken. He opened his mouth, and I shook my head. “Don’t worry. I promise not to die and ruin all your plans.”

His gaze darkened, and his lip curled back over his fang. He looked like he was on the brink of saying something, but I slipped through the bushes before he could speak. My heartbeat was steady as I drew a knife. The orcs were all sleeping as I crept through their magical barrier into the camp. Inside, the light was dim but manageable. A gasp came from the caged women, and I crouched near the edge of the magical bubble, touching a finger to my lips as I glanced at them.

I crept soundlessly to the first orc. In one swift motion, I sprang on him. I straddled him, clapped a hand over his mouth, and slit his throat. His eyes opened, confusion and pain mingling. He didn’t have time to realize what was happening. He lost consciousness in thirty seconds. In a minute, the pumping through his carotid artery had slowed. I moved off him and sprang for the second.

Just as I landed on him, knife already slashing through the orc’s throat, Bain suddenly stumbled into the camp. He knocked into the cage. What was he doing—

Luken sprang in from the other side, taking out a third of the five warlocks. But the noise Bain made had woken the other two. I lunged for the one nearest to me as Luken went for the final one. As I plunged my knife into the throat of the warlock, his hand jerked up. A flash of light blinded me. Something slammed into my ribs, sending me flying. I landed hard, unable to draw in a breath. Darkness swarmed my vision. Luken’s voice shouted and an answering cry of pain.

The orcs were dead. Who was crying out? Bain? No. I fought to breathe as I opened the bond, sending one thought through— don’t hurt him .

The emotions that rippled back through were intense. Angry. Afraid. Pain, too. Then Luken’s face appeared above me. His hands pressed to my chest.

“This is why I didn’t want you to go in alone,” he snapped. “Of course, you’d get yourself attacked.”

“I?” I protested, but my lungs hurt too much to throw the accusation back at him. If he’d followed my plan and kept Bain in place, I would have killed the orcs before they knew I was here!

Luken snarled, his frustration snapping through the bond. And… was that guilt? He swept me into his arms before I could fully process it.

“Enough of this,” he said, his voice tight. “I’m taking you home.”