Page 2

Chapter 1

Adeline

I f she wasn’t already dead, she’d be a little more worried about her fingers turning blue. Or that she couldn’t feel anything from her knees down, or that her face was so cold it felt frozen in place. Since when did snow always fall at such an alarming rate, anyway?

What a preposterous question, Adeline. You know the weather always acts differently up here.

It was useless looking for a dead man, but even though it had been a hundred years, she knew she would find him. It was just a matter of when. It was all she had ever wanted: to know what happened, why he had disappeared, if he was still alive. Under the guise of hunting for were-shifters, Adeline had also been able to track down enough information to find him. Hunting for were-shifters was her way of eliminating her maker’s threat to rule, and the only thing she could think of to keep her search alive.

She shook the snow from her shoulders and tucked her hands under her arms. Flakes of white swirled in front of her, clinging to her lashes and blotting out the rest of the world. The earth tilted precipitously on its axis, and she stumbled several times, landing on her knees. Hardly anything made Adeline feel sick anymore, but this was almost too much. The wind blew viciously, and if she hadn’t covered her face from the nose down mere minutes ago, she would probably have felt like she was suffocating from icy fingers clawing down her throat.

Was she walking downhill, or up? East, or west? Either way, her skin tingled. And not from the cold, either. The sun was rising, and if she didn’t find a food source and somewhere to rest, it wouldn’t matter where she ended up because she’d be too weak to fend anyone off.

Her steps faltered, and she slowed her movements to a crawl, almost resigned to meeting her fate. But she hadn’t come this far to give up now. This storm wouldn’t best her, of that she was determined. She fumbled at the pouch at her waist, her frozen fingers grappling at the glass bottles inside. Finally, she withdrew one; the substance it contained had long dried out. Never once had she needed to resort to the concoction within it. But when she popped the cork and held it up to her nose, a vile scent emanated from the tiny container. She chucked it into the snowstorm, happy to be rid of whatever it held. Her free hand reached into the pouch and fondled the remainder of the bottles with the same dried-out, dark ruddy-brown color.

Useless. It was all useless. The world tilted once more, a violent spin on its axis as the sky dumped even more snow around her, and she scrambled to stay upright. Bile crept up her throat, but if she stopped now, there was no way she would get back up.

Gods damnit, she had to be close. Her research had led her this far, even with the impossible weather. And she had to find the creature before anyone else did, if only so she could understand what kind of a mess she had gotten herself into.

There came an ever-so-brief break in the storm, and suddenly, before her stood an enormous forest. Within the depths of the ancient trees, there was the faintest yellow glimmer of a lantern in a window. Her heart soared as the swirling white flakes picked back up. She locked her eyes on the faint light ahead, determined to meet her fate there instead of out in the wilds.

Could this be the place she had spent decades searching for? Hope soared in her chest, but she willed it to be quiet, unused to fate ever acting in her favor. The final linchpin in her plans for freedom, and she was worried that it would slip right through her frozen fingers. The hunt for this were-shifter had taken her all over the country. She had been tracking this specific creature for so long that the serendipity of the moment was not lost on her. Once she killed the final shifter, she would be free of her maker, free to continue her heart’s search of the last century—Colin.

She was almost certain that this was the creature’s home—all of the pieces she’d put together across her journey had led her to these mountains. This forest. And if it wasn’t? Well, whoever was inside was in for quite a treat.

Though her boots were soaked, her pants coated with ice, and her woolen cloak practically useless, Adeline trudged forward. Just the thought of someone inside that tiny little cabin kept her moving. Perhaps whoever was there would provide her with willing sustenance. Adeline took a few tentative steps up the porch; the wind whipped her cloak around her legs, and it snagged on a beam. She tugged at it, tearing a hole in the material as she made her way to the front door. She raised her fist and knocked, weakly at first, and then somehow, she summoned up the strength to knock louder.

Perhaps no one was home. But then why would they leave a lantern in the window? She would never understand these mountain folk. They all seemed so backward to her, living in some of the harshest environments to do what, trap animals and skin them for money, or cut down centuries-old trees?

She tried the handle. It wasn’t locked, but the door did feel a little stuck. Leaning her shoulder against the wood, she shoved—hard. It swung open, and the cold air propelled her into the tiny log cabin. Adeline spun around and shoved her body weight against the back of the door, and tiny though she might have been, she was one of the strongest vampires in her coven. Finally, with a groan and a creak, the door shut, leaving her standing inside the quiet, empty cabin.