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Lyrica stepped forward—and froze. A surge of panic cut through her, numbing her more thoroughly than the cold ever could. “Oh no,” she whispered, dropping to her knees beside the still figure sprawled in the snow. The nude woman had completely frozen over. Lyrica’s gloved hand reached out tentatively toward Tekii Bultungin’s lifeless form . “Poor Tekii.”

Tekii lay on her back, her sightless eyes fixed on the sky. Ice coated her skin, from the top of her head to her blue feet, the frost creeping into her flesh. Lyrica leaned closer, her breath catching as she studied the marks on the woman’s neck—deep bruises blooming across her too-pale skin.

“It wouldn’t have taken long for her to freeze out here,” Genevieve whispered, her voice shaky behind Lyrica.

Lyrica swallowed hard and leaned in to study the woman’s face. Red and purple dots speckled the whites of Tekii’s open eyes, her corneas clouded and lifeless. Slowly, Lyrica pushed herself to her feet, stumbling slightly as she tried to back away. “I think she’s b een strangled.”

“What?” Genevieve’s voice rose an octave, her panic unconfined and broadcasting wildly. “No, she couldn’t have been. I figured she ended up out here sleepwalking or something and f roze to death.”

“She’d never sleep in the nude,” Lyrica said, her voice barely audible as she shielded herself from Genevieve’s emotions. None of the kidnapped females would even consider that. A violent shiver racked Lyrica’s body, the chill cutting through her layers. “It’s too cold out here. We nee d to get help.”

Genevieve’s teeth chattered. “How? I mean, who s hould we tell?”

Lyrica paused, the girl’s words sinking in. “That’s a good point,” she said, her voice tight. She glanced around, her thoughts racing. Vero, Paxton, and Hunter remained away on their mission. The Kurjan and Cyst soldiers who had stayed behind had sworn allegiance to Paxton, but Lyrica still didn’t trust them—not fully. How could she, considering their people had kidnapped her?

Genevieve chewed on her bottom lip, uncertainty written all over her face. “Should we wait for Paxton to get back? I mean…it’s not like we can save her now.”

Sorrow welled up in Lyrica, tightening her chest. She had liked Tekii. The thirty-year-old woman had been kidnapped from Palau, somewhere in the Pacific Islands. She often spoke fondly of her homeland, sharing stories about her culture and traditions. Tekii had been counting the days until her release—she would have returned home wi thin the month.

“No,” Lyrica said firmly. Her gaze dropped back to Tekii, her friend’s lifeless form a haunting reminder of the fragility of their safety. The reality of the woman being naked speared terror through Lyrica. “I need a light.”

“I don’t have a light,” Genevieve replied quickly. “We don’t have cell phones that work out here yet.”

Lyrica sighed, the weight of their isolation pressing down on her. Months without a working cell phone still felt surreal, but there were bigger issues at hand. She crouched again, leaning closer to examine Tekii’s neck. Her breath caught. “Is that a bite wound?”

Genevieve took a step back, her eyes wide with fear. “I—I can’t tell. We need to get her into the light. Should we even try to mov e her, though?”

“I think she’s frozen to the ground.” Lyrica straightened, her gaze darting around the darkened camp. The cold bit into her skin, the night’s still ness unnerving.

Everyone was either on a mission or resting in bed right now. Sure, sentries patrolled at all times, but considering they lived in the middle of nowhere, nobody from the camp would venture into the mountains or the icy river. Especially in this weather. They were effectively trapped. She stood. “We can’t just leave her out here like this.” Chewing on her lips, she looked back toward the main lo dge. “Come on.”

Genevieve’s nose had turned a bright red and she pulled her scarf up to cover her face. The wind whistled and fought them, but Lyrica led the way back to the lodge. She hurried through the back door. Heat instantly assailed her, pricking painfully against her freezing skin.

Genevieve winced. “I h ate that part.”

“Me too.” Even her feet protested with furious sharp pains as she moved into the main gathering room.

The familiar space usually provided an odd comfort. Several large sofas formed a cozy TV area, and the rest of the room held pool tables, dartboards, and even an air hockey table. Vero and Paxton had worked hard to make this new camp livable—more than just livable, comfortable. For all the harshness of the location and circumstances, they’d succeeded in carving out a safe haven. More supplies arrived every other day or so. Soon they’d have a city built with outly ing homesteads.

Comfort felt flee ting right now.

The lodge housed several private bedrooms for the leaders and coordinators. Lyrica’s quarters were on the top floor, in the eastern wing, a secluded sanctuary she barely had time to enjoy.

“Come on,” Lyrica whispered, heading to the west side and up the stairs.

A wide, heavy body instantly blocked her way when she reached the top. “What is going on?” No familiarity or warmth showed on the young soldier’s face.

Her mouth still felt frozen as she tried to speak. “Hi, Liam or Collin.” Identical twins, the two vampires protected Hope, Paxton’s mate and their cousin. They’d helped everyone move to the new territory and seemed to be good friends with Paxton. Unfortunately, Lyrica’s empathic abilities hadn’t developed to the point where she could read the emotions of most immortals, so she couldn’t tell if he wanted to be helpful or not. “I need to sp eak with Hope.”

“It’s after one in the morning, and it’s Liam,” he said shortly. “I will be pleased when Hope’s home is finished being constructed and we’re not here in the middle lodge. It’s too…exposed.” While his emotions remained veiled, the irritation in his tone came through loud and clear. The vampire did not want to stay in Kurjan territory, and the second Hope decided to return to Realm headquarters, he’d be rig ht at her side.

However, Lyrica had seen the way Paxton and Hope loved each other. If she left, so would he. Right now, he seemed intent on ruling the Kurjans, which was a good thing, so Hope wouldn ’t go anywhere.

“Lyrica?” Liam growled. “I don’t like how easy it is for anybody to reach this landing. You’re trustworthy, but this has shown a breach in my security that I don’t like. We need to move to a single st ructure. Soon.”

Lyrica tried not to take a step back. When Paxton’s home was completed, Vero’s would follow, as they sat next to each other against the mountain in a more defensible area. She’d miss being close to Vero. No. Hope. She’d miss Hope. “The homes will be very nice,” s he said lamely.

Liam’s gaze narrowed. “What is the emergency? It’s late.” The handsome soldier was definitely on edge and she couldn’t really blame him, considering he was a vampire in Ku rjan territory.

“I really need to talk to her. I found a dead woman.”

“ Dead? Explain.”

Lyrica’s back went up. And people thought she was bossy. “No. I would like to speak with Hope, and I’m absolutely fine if you want to listen over her shoulder.” Sometimes the only way to deal with these overbearing males was to stand right up to them, even if they were a foot or more taller than her. She had the abil ity to drown a person with statistics and PowerPoint presentations, for goodness’ sake. Not all fights were w on with swords.

He studied her with alert green eyes, and she really wished that Vero had returned. Why she’d rather deal with him, a stubborn and slightly mean immortal, was something she chose not to investigate. Of all people, the enforcer for the entire Kurjan nation could not be her soft place to land. There wasn’t one soft thing about Vero Phoenix. Talk about a ridiculous feeling for her to embrace.

Finally, Liam took a step back. “All right, stay here.” With that, he turned and strode back to knock on a door, even his footsteps s ounding grumpy.

“What?” Hope yelped from inside. She threw open the door. “I clocked off the mission when they headed home to get some sleep. I s Paxton okay?”

“Yeah. They’re still on their way back,” Liam said. “Lyrica’s here and wants to s peak with you.”

Hope walked into the hallway, wearing a short and cami set and nothing else. Her blue eyes appeared cloudy and her auburn hair was wild and curly around her face. A spiraling blue tattoo wound up both sides of her neck, which she’d explained as being the marks of a prophet. Apparently Hope was one of three prophets in the immortal world. “Lyrica, what’s wrong? Why are y our lips blue?”

“I went outside,” Lyrica said. “W e have a body.”

Liam instantly put himself between her and Hope. “Now it’s time you tell me all about this dead female. I’ve allowed you to speak with Hope, and now you coop erate with me.”

Allow? Did he actually just use the word “allow” with her? Lyrica’s nostrils flared as she tried to draw in more oxygen and not belt him in his gut, which would surely just hurt her entire hand. Even a well-aimed kick probably wouldn’t harm him. These immortals had way too many advantages ove r all humanity.

Hope pushed him to the side, obviously not intimidated by her much larger cousin. “I’m as well trained as you are, buddy, and you’re just pissing off my friend here. She doesn’t hide her emotions ve ry well. Move.”

“You might be trained, but you don’t have my strength or speed ,” he retorted.

Ah. There were the arguing cousins Lyrica had become accustomed to seeing. Enough of this interplay. They had a problem. A big one, and Lyrica needed to deal with the matter so she could go cry and mourn her friend. Away from all these badasses. “It’s Teki i. She’s dead.”

Hope’s jaw droppe d. “Dead? How?”

“I don’t know,” Lyrica said quietly, with Genevieve hovering at her side. “I’m not a doctor, but I think she might’ve b een strangled.”

Hope’s eyes widened. “All right, just a sec. Let m e get dressed.”

Liam grasped her bare arm. “I’ll take care of it, cousin. If there’s somebody out there murdering females, you are remaining here under guard with Collin. In other words , you stay in.”

“Not a chance.” Hope wrenched free. “Did she fr eeze to death?”

Lyrica shrugged, her entire body aching from both cold and grief. “She’s definitely frozen, but her body showed signs of strangulation, and there was a bite mark on her neck. A deep one.” The only thing she knew about strangulation came from television crime shows, but she’d seen enough Kurjan bite marks to recognize one.

“Okay. Give me a minute.” Hope turned back into her room.

The image of the dead woman’s lifeless eyes wouldn’t leave Lyrica’s mind. Who would’v e murdered her?