“Ten minutes,” Dax said. “And if there seems to be any unusual activity, we’ll make a judgment call. Got it?”
Leo nodded and did a complicated hand clap with Dax. Then he slipped from our spot in the vegetation. It wasn’t long before he was strolling up the front walk as if he owned the place. One of the guards stepped in his path, stopping him, and I sucked in a breath, holding it while I waited to see what would happen. But it wasn’t long before the guard stepped aside and waved him in.
“Damn, he’s pretty good at this,” I said. “No nerves. He’d be a good recruit for the Void.”
Dax nodded and draped his arm over my shoulders. “He has conviction, that’s for sure.”
I stared at his hand resting on my shoulder. While I knew we were crossing a line in our professional relationship, I didn’t care. Not in that moment. I was coming to realize that Dax was the one person I could truly count on, and it felt good to just have that connection.
A few minutes ticked by, and I started to get antsy. There was no reason for my unease. The guards were just standing around, unconcerned. Dax’s phone hadn’t buzzed. The house was quiet and no lights had gone on or off. Everything appeared to be just as it had been… until it wasn’t.
Suddenly a piercing alarm went off in the house, lights flooded the grounds, and the guards shifted without warning.
“Fuck me,” Dax said, already pulling his shirt off. He was going into full-on wolf mode. If he was going to battle the wolves already heading for us, he had no choice.
Allcot didn’t hesitate. He flew through the air, more than ready to get down to business. Dax and Link followed, jumping from the vegetation at the same time. I, however, touched the sun pendant I wore around my neck, closed my eyes, and said, “Cloak me in darkness.”
My palm started to burn where the small silver pendant touched my skin, and then suddenly the magic was crawling all over me as I gritted my teeth to endure the sting of it. The burning sensation intensified and ratcheted up to almost unbearable levels, and just when I didn’t think I could endure it any longer, a sweet rush of coolness coated my skin.
I let out a long breath and stepped out of the brush, confident the wolves could no longer see me. The cloaking spell was something I’d recently discovered and was a useful one but not something I could use regularly since it didn’t work on vampires. Vamps were creatures of the night—they could see right through it. But the wolves? They couldn’t, and that made the spell perfect for our mission. I just hoped the house wasn’t full of cult vampires, otherwise I was going to be screwed.
Either way, I’d deal with it.
The front lawn of the mansion was in utter chaos. Link was busy fighting off two shifters. Dax had his jaws around the neck of one and simultaneously used his back feet to kick out and fight off another. One was lying off to the side, breathing heavily with blood pooling around him. It was already a bloodbath, and the fight had barely started.
I walked silently through the carnage and right into the big house. Soft yellow light illuminated the deserted parlor, showing off the ornate, velvet sofa and armchairs. A large portrait of a vampire band hung above a fireplace. The only other decor was an abundance of white roses. Interesting.
A loud crash came from upstairs, followed by a scream.
Pandora. She was screaming for Allcot, panic in her tone.
I reached for my cursed dagger and ran. On my way up the stairs, I was almost bowled over by a wolf making a break for it. He had blood matted in his fur and panicked, wild eyes. I flattened myself against the wall and prayed he wouldn’t feel me.
I was lucky. The shifter flew right on by, unaware I’d been right next to him.
The house was filled with battle cries, snarls, and crashing furniture, making it unnecessary to be quiet, and I ran full out, trying to find Leo and Pandora. Allcot could take care of himself.
At the top of the stairs, I paused and listened. Altercations were happening from both directions. Pandora’s screams filled the hall, and I made my choice. I ran down the hall and burst into the nearest room.
My blood ran cold, and I froze in place, momentarily unsure of what to do.
Pandora hung in the middle of the room from iron chains that were attached to her shackled wrists. Her T-shirt had been torn to shreds, and her skin was full of bite marks. That’s what the shifters had been doing all day? Feeding from her? I wondered if they’d finally shackled her wrists because she’d taken to marring their sorry faces with her nails. She was paler than usual, and blood trickled down her arms and legs.
Allcot was near the window, savagely fighting four wolves. Blood had splattered on the walls and the ceiling.
But more importantly, Dali stood behind Pandora, holding a glowing stake to her back. I was certain, without a doubt, that it was spelled to mortally wound her, the type of spell that would take weeks before she died and cause unspeakable pain.
“Leave now, Allcot, or I’ll kill your precious Pandora,” the dark-haired shifter said.
Allcot’s crazed eyes swept over him and the stake. Then her predicament seemed to sink in because he froze, still clutching the necks of two wolves. Immediately the other two rushed him, one of them getting him by the neck.
Fuck me. This was ugly.
A pleased smile spread over Dali’s lips, and I realized then he hadn’t just been following orders for his uncle. He was a willing, active participant who was getting off on Allcot and Pandora’s pain.
Rage roared to life inside me, and with single-minded determination, I moved silently over to the shifter. I knew the moment he caught my scent because his hand tightened around the end of his stake and his eyes narrowed, scanning the room for me.
I struck and struck hard. My boot landed with a loud thud right in the middle of his chest. He’d been braced for a fight. That much was clear, as he only stumbled back a few feet, but it was enough to get the stake away from Pandora’s back. I leaped in front of him, jabbing him with one fist and swiping my dagger at the hand holding the stake. My blade made impact, and he sucked in a sharp hiss.
“Bitch,” he snarled, meeting my eyes.
“Douchebag.” I glared back, not caring in the least that he’d seen past my spell. It had gotten me in the room, and that was enough.
He lunged, but I was ready for him. I struck out with my dagger, catching him in the shoulder. He howled and reeled back. Without hesitating, I stepped into him and landed a punch to his kidney. He jerked forward, head-butting me. Pain exploded over my eyes, and I lashed out with the dagger again, this time catching his other arm.
“You goddamned whore!” he yelled and threw himself at me, his stake coming right for my chest. I knew I couldn’t survive an attack if he even nicked me with his weapon. I dove to the side, landed on the floor, and rolled, coming back onto my feet. Only he hadn’t followed me—he was once again standing right behind Pandora, screaming we’d fucked up and it was her turn to die.
I ran forward, horror rippling through me, knowing there was no way I could reach him before the stake got her. In a panic, I called on the magic deep in my gut and imagined with everything I had that Dali was frozen in place. It was a Hail Mary, but it was something.
The spell shot from me in the form of a misty white cloud but wasn’t fast enough. His arm was already in motion, the stake just a millisecond from piercing her skin.
I screamed, trying to stop the inevitable in any way I could, and just as the sound escaped from my mouth, suddenly a pure black wolf appeared from nowhere, his large paws knocking the stake from Dali’s hands. The pair tumbled backward with Dali yelling obscenities and the black wolf dodging his blows until he got his jaws around Dali’s neck and the man stilled.
“Eadric!” Pandora called out, her voice hoarse and full of exhaustion.