Page 82 of Solar Shadows

Oh shit. This was about to take a creepy turn, right? The way he moved like a caged animal, the strange glint in his eyes, they were leading to something.

I shuffled across the bed, summoning as much asenergy as I could to help me launch myself at the door.

Let’s try the peaceful route first.Good plan by me. Because Hecate only knew what this guy was capable of.

“I’m not rejecting you,” I said. “Not in the bad way. It’s just that the timing is bad.”

He kept pacing. “Like those idiots onThe Sands of Love. Think they’re so high and mighty to tell me I’m wrong. Well, I’m not the one who’s wrong. They are. They’re wrong, Isaac.” He paused, grinning. “That’s why I found a new path.” His eyes moved to me, full of malice. “A better path.”

My breath hitched, the hair on my arms sticking up. “Tony?—”

“Do you pray, babe?”

Don’t call me that.“What?”

“Do you pray to our beloved goddess? The one who gave you power?”

I swallowed, hints of scratchiness back in my throat. “Of course.”

“Good. You should thank her. Just like you should thank me when the time comes.”

Ice flooded my veins while my neck itched with rising stress heat. “What did you just say?”

He smiled, his darn gold tooth flashing again. “Don’t leave, babe. Stay with me. Be mine again. Be by my side when the change comes.”

My stomach dropped, picked itself back off the floor, then dropped again. “What…what…” Words solidified in my mouth, almost choking me. “Who are you?”

“Tony, babe. I’m Tony.”

This wasn’t the Tony I remembered. He never spoke like this, and never looked so insane.

I activated my aura lenses on a hunch, expecting to see the yellow glow of a human, and I did, but also saw the orange of a were-creature.

“By Hecate!” I rasped sharpy. “What…what happened to you?”

“I changed. I changed.”

The blue aura of a witch appeared around the edges of the other colors, making my brain somersault and my stomach do the repetitive dropping thing again, only harder this time, my heartbeat thumping erratically.

Orange and blue? How was that possible? Had there ever been a case of hybrid colors before? Were-creatures and vampires could sire humans through biting or doing a blood swap thing. As a result, the aura color would change, not stay yellow. But never like this. You couldn’t be multiple things at once.

Unless I was wrong.

I didn’t want to hang around to find out. I called to my magic only to find it…restrained. It wouldn’t come out, trapped beneath the surface.

Shit, shit, shit. “What did you give me?”

He came to the side of the bed. “I’m changing, babe. I’m full of power like you. Great power those at the High Coven can’t read on the little systems. I’mon the edge of greatness beyond your wildest dreams. Beyond mine.” He laughed, running a hand through his hair. Part of it broke free from the back sweep, falling across his face. “Can’t you feel the change on the wind?”

From the fae hag, but not you.“I have to go.”

Okay, time to make a break for it.

Don’t you dare trip,I told myself.

“I’m hiding you,” he said. “No one is coming.”

What about Drake?