The pulsing changes direction slightly, and I make a sharp right turn.
“Do you always drive like you’re stealing the car?”
he asks, his knuckles white where he grips the seat. Good to know even a wolf fears car accidents.
I don’t. But he should.
“Only when I’m stuck with backseat drivers.”
I tap the brakes just to make him lurch forward.
“If my driving bothers you so much, you’re welcome to get out and follow Caine’s car.”
“And miss this stimulating conversation? Never.”
The fishhook tug feels like it’s trying to yank an entire rib out. We’re close.
I slow down, eyes scanning the street ahead. The strip mall on our left houses a pizza joint with gaudy neon signs, a laundromat, and what appears to be a vape shop with blacked-out windows.
Tempting. It isn’t like I’ll ever have to worry about cancer, and the flavored ones are quite delicious. Birthday cake in a puff? Yes, please.
“Hold on,”
I murmur, pulling into a parking spot.
Jack-Eye leans forward.
“Are we here?”
“No. I just wanted a smoke break,”
I say, deadpan.
He stares at me, like he’s considering actually believing my words. How cute.
I squint through my windshield, rolling the window down just a little, enough to let the air in. The taste of mixed energies washes over me-human mostly, stale and ordinary. But there, moving among them, a bright silver thread of something else. Something other.
My tongue slides over my teeth, a little sharper than usual as the urge to hunt rises. The tugging has ceased, leaving only the faintest vibration.
“Whoever took Grace might be here,”
I say, keeping my voice low.
“Or at least, someone connected to them.”
Jack-Eye tenses beside me, and I can practically feel the predator rising to the surface of his skin. His hand drops to his waistband, where I know he’s carrying at least one knife.
“Easy, big bad,”
I say, placing a restrictive hand on his arm. He’s warm and surprisingly solid. Lycans have always been a dense breed, though.
In muscle, not brain.
Though… maybe both is more accurate.
“You don’t know what we’re dealing with. If you go charging in teeth bared, we might spook him and lose our only lead.”
His jaw clenches, but he nods.
“What’s the plan, then?”
“I track the signature, figure out who’s carrying it. You stay in the car until I signal.”
He barks a laugh.
“Not happening.”
“Wasn’t asking permission,”
I say, already reaching for the door handle.
“Caine would have my head if I let you walk in there alone.”
“Caine’s not my alpha.”
I turn to face him fully, letting my glamour slip just enough for him to see what lurks behind my human facade, my slitted eyes are usually enough to get the point across.
“And neither are you.”
To his credit, Jack-Eye doesn’t flinch, though his nostrils flare slightly.
“Impressive party trick. Still coming with you.”
I consider turning him into something small and warty for about three seconds, but decide it’s not worth the energy expenditure.
“Fine. But no wolfing out, no threatening anyone, and if I tell you to back off, you back the hell off. Understood?”
He mimes zipping his lips, which might be more convincing if his canines weren’t slightly more prominent now.
The bell above the pizza shop door jingles, and both our heads swivel toward the sound. A young man exits, balancing three large pizza boxes in his arms. His hoodie’s pulled low over his face, but there’s something in his movements-careful, deliberate, constantly scanning. It sets off alarm bells.
Well, that, and the energy radiating off him.
“That’s him,”
I whisper, reaching for the door.
Jack-Eye’s hand locks around my wrist, surprisingly gentle for someone who could probably crush my bones without trying.
“Wait. Let’s see where he goes. If he leads us back to where they’re keeping Grace-“
“Since when are you the reasonable one?”
I mutter, but sink back into my seat.
I sniff discreetly at the air, but there’s no hint of Grace’s scent. Maybe I’m wrong.
The man slides the pizzas into the back of a battered Honda Civic, then climbs into the driver’s seat. As the engine starts, I turn the key in my own ignition and pull out of the parking space, leaving just enough distance between us and the Civic ahead.
The energy signature pulses steadily now, like a beacon drawing me forward. If it leads us to Grace, we might actually have a chance of getting her back before Caine tears this entire city apart looking for her.
I reach for the fluttering brown sparrow darting through the room, but my fingers close on empty air as Bun zips toward the ceiling.
“Damn. You were so close,”
Ron says.
“Yeah, damn,”
Jer echoes.
Sara sighs.
“You’re not supposed to use bad words.”
Meanwhile, I’m waving my hands frantically as I shout,
“Bun, please come down!”
The tiny bird chirps manically, wings beating frantically in hunger-induced chaos. She’s been shifting nonstop for twenty minutes-from bunny to kitten to fish (a terrifying thirty seconds of flopping), and now this. My heart hammers against my ribs even as I wonder how a toddler who can barely walk a straight line has already figured out flying.
“She’s losing it,”
Ron says beside me, craning his neck upward.
“The pizza’s taking too long.”
Jer nods grimly.
“Sugar crash. Plus she’s still growing.”
He sounds so wise, but I don’t think her growth has anything to do with her current state of mania.
I watch helplessly as the little brown bird dives toward a particularly threatening-looking piece of wall.
“Can’t you guys do something?”
Sara crosses her arms, shaking her head.
“She’s too fast. Last time she went bird, Owen had to use a net.”
“And Sara can’t figure out how to fly, so she’s useless,”
Jer adds.
“Shut up, Jer!”
The sparrow swoops directly over our heads, chirping what sounds suspiciously like swear words. Except she’s a toddler, and I’m pretty sure she only knows about fifteen actual words.
Ron sighs, sounding so resigned, you’d think he was asked to work overtime.
“I’ll get her.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.