“We plan to,” Brady says. “Maybe even in a couple of hours. Can’t we just postpone—”

  “I’m sorry—no,” she says, the slightest edge to her voice. “The magic governing the sanctuary is quite specific. You have two choices: Come with me to see the assembly, or leave this place now.”

  I gulp. As unappealing as the whole initiation thing sounds, after what happened on the way to the summit, I know my best chance of staying safe is within these city limits. “You heard the lady. Let’s go.”

  Brady narrows his eyes, but he’s powerless to resist my order. When Evelyn turns and starts up the street, he follows her. I take up the rear and close the door behind me.

  As Evelyn leads us, déjà vu overwhelms me. We follow the same path we did our first day here, after Luke was caught snooping. But this time when I pass through the wooden double doors of the large brick building, the front row of pews is filled with people who turn to watch us as we enter. They’re all dressed in emerald cloaks, despite the summer heat. On the raised stage, behind the lectern, stands Cedrick. He’s dressed in the same green cloak as the rest of the assembly, except there’s a large amethyst stone pinned like a brooch to his.

  Cedrick indicates the two heavy wooden chairs to his right, and Brady and I take our seats. My heart hammers in my chest. I haven’t given any thought as to what might occur in this situation since I didn’t intend to be here for it. This feels like the time I had to give a memorized speech to my entire senior English class—except I don’t know any of the words.

  Dread settles into my stomach as Cedrick turns to us. It doesn’t abate when he smiles.

  “Welcome, newcomers,” he says in a voice that fills the whole room.

  “Welcome,” the assembly intones back. Evelyn, who has donned a cloak, takes a spot at the end of the row on the right. By my quick count, there are twenty people in the pews—men and women of varying ages. The younger ones could be in their thirties, while some of the older ones look as if they could be in their seventies.

  “The sanctuaries have existed for centuries,” Cedrick continues in the same booming voice. “They offer refuge to those who seek it. They offer safety to those who need it. But we can only ensure this protection through the magic that flows throughout the city. And to remain here—for your sake as well as ours—you will be bound to the sanctuary and its laws.”

  Brady lifts his hand. “Wait—question.”

  Cedrick ignores him. “Your responsibilities to the outside world do not apply here. We all share one common purpose: To live in peace. There are no sides here, no factions. The werewolf, the witch, the vampire—we live in harmony.”

  The promise of the sanctuary is appealing. But peace like that can’t come without a price. I’ve glimpsed what that cost is for the vampires, but how are prejudices like the one displayed last night overcome by a simple initiation?

  “Your life outside this city doesn’t exist within it. Here, everyone begins with a clean slate.” Cedrick pauses and meets my eyes for a moment before glancing at Brady. “No one can enter with the purpose of harming a resident. And although some have tried to break through our defenses to remove a person by force, none have ever succeeded. We shall protect you for as long as you choose to stay.”

  As one, the assembled witches rise to their feet. Chanting swells, reverberating through the space and into my body. Brady and I exchange glances, but that’s all we can do. He opens and closes his mouth, but no sound comes out. I attempt to stand, but it’s as if an invisible force pins me down.

  The chanting continues. I try to make out the words, but I don’t recognize them. I have no idea what language they’re speaking.

  A tingling sensation sweeps through my body, starting at my toes and working up to my head. Although my experience with magic is limited, I can’t help thinking they’re casting a spell on us.

  The question is what spell is it.

  The chanting stops abruptly and I draw in a deep breath. Brady wiggles his fingers experimentally.

  I don’t feel any different. I glance at Brady, who shrugs.

  “We don’t keep secrets here,” Cedrick says as if his speech wasn’t just interrupted by chanting. “Whatever your reason for seeking refuge, speak it plainly now. No matter how dark, we will not cast you out. Put your old self to rest so you may move forward.”

  I try to swallow, but my mouth has gone dry. It takes a few tries before I can force words out. “There’s a bounty on my head,” I say, followed by the words I intended to keep to myself: “because I’m a hybrid. I’m both a werewolf and a vampire.” I pause, waiting for a gasp, for some indication the assembly is surprised by the revelation, but they remain silent. “Ever since I turned, all I’ve wanted is to live as a werewolf with my pack, but people are afraid of me—or they want something from me. I came here to avoid being taken for bounty—or worse.”

  Cedrick nods. “Thank you.” He glances past me to Brady.

  I look at Brady, too. He opens his mouth but stops immediately, meeting my eyes, an expression there I can’t quite read. The cuff. Of course. I told him before we entered the city limits he couldn’t tell anyone the truth. “Go on,” I murmur, hoping it’s enough.

  His lips twitch and he doesn’t break eye contact. I nod to encourage him, and he opens his mouth.

  A boom thunders through the air. The serene expressions of those seated in the assembly are replaced by looks of surprise and fear.

  “What was that?” I ask, leaping to my feet.

  Another boom sounds and I know the answer before Cedrick speaks: “The sanctuary is under attack.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  The witches are much spryer than I would have given them credit for, and half of them make it outside before Brady and me.

  The scene is chaos. People run through the streets, deeper into the city. Smoke rises ominously from near the perimeter.

  Evelyn brushes past me and I snag her elbow and tug her to face me. “What the hell is going on here? I thought this place was a safe haven?”

  “It is,” she says, her voice shaking. “In all its history, no force has ever prevailed against any sanctuary. The magic is too strong to allow harm to come to it.”

  “Evidence to the contrary,” Brady says.

  A hand presses down on my shoulder. “You two,” Cedrick says, his other hand on Brady’s shoulder, “get to safety.”

  Before I can respond, he pushes between us and rushes toward the nearest plume of smoke.

  “Didn’t he just get done telling us no one’s ever successfully attacked a sanctuary?” Brady asks. “What the hell kind of force is out there?”

  “I’m less concerned about who and more concerned about why.”

  Another explosion goes off so close it shakes the ground.

  Brady places a hand on my shoulder for an instant. “There have got to be hundreds of people here with some pretty dark stuff in their past. Don’t start thinking this is all about you,” he says, but he doesn’t sound convinced.

  “If those vampires and weres from earlier realized I came back here, why wouldn’t they come after me?” I ask. “Especially if they know Jack’s at the summit.”

  “Do you really think a handful of weres and leeches have enough power to break through the enchantments surrounding this place?”

  I shake my head. “Not unless they have help.”

  “From who? Witches? Aren’t they all pacifists? Why would they blow up a sanctuary to get to you?”

  I wish I could answer him. The truth is, witches belonging to the council once headed by Jack’s cousin Cassandra turned on her for supporting me before they tried to take me into custody. In the view of Kiara, the witch who claimed Cassandra’s leadership position, my existence poses a threat to both the supernatural community and humanity. And it isn’t just witches who have used magic against me. Xander and his gang used concealment spells to break into the enclave once. At the time, we assumed he’d compelled a weaker-minded witch to make charms for him, but what if that wasn’t the case?

  “If you think they’re here for you, sticking around here isn’t a good idea,” Brady says.

  I nod. Even if this attack has nothing to do with me, the sanctuary has been compromised. I’m not safe here anymore. “Agreed.”

  I take a few steps into the street, not sure where to go. Dozens of people run screaming from the direction of the smoking buildings, but others run toward it.

  Brady hooks my arm with his hand. “Shift.”

  “What?”

  His mouth twitches. “If they are here for you, they know what you look like. Word about the bounty came with your picture attached. But there wasn’t anything about how you look as a wolf.”

  I stare at him for a moment, unsure how to respond. He hasn’t mentioned this until now—even though it could have been useful earlier. “Thank you.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” he mutters before dropping to all fours and shifting.

  I shift, too, and follow Brady’s light brown wolf up the street toward the commotion. We don’t belong to the same pack, so we can’t communicate in this form. I can only assume he’s heading in this direction because this is the one way we know we can get out.

  I keep a lookout as we go. Several pairs and even groups are engaged in hand-to-hand combat. When I see Evelyn squaring off against two red-eyed vampires, my wolf’s first instinct is to assist her—but I fight it. I don’t want harm to come to her, but I know the smart thing now is to get away.

  Brady and I aren’t the only wolves on the street. Others streak in from between two buildings about a quarter of a mile up the road. Half of them leap at the residents of the sanctuary who have come to fight off the intruders, while others press inward, heads swiveling left and right as they search for something.

  Dread sinks in my stomach.

  Brady barks for my attention and points his snout toward the tower of smoke up the road. I think I understand: if people are getting in that way, it’s possible we can get out.

  We pick up speed as we draw nearer. Once we’re out, I don’t know where we’ll go. As much as I’d like to go back to the enclave—to see Lillie and Maggie, to talk with Cassandra—I know going there will only make my friends unsafe. Seeking refuge with Brady’s pack is also off the table—seeing as some members, including Brady, have already displayed their desire to capture me and turn me over.

  Brady turns the corner around a building and growls. I poke my head around to see what elicited the response. It’s the guy who fought Luke last night. He stands several yards behind the outermost building, holding a pencil-thin metallic rod above his head. It stretches out for three or four feet on either side of him and all the air between it at the ground shimmers as if a thin waterfall flows from it. A steady stream of vampires and werewolves pass through the area on either side of him—all within the confines of the twinkling area.

  He’s letting them in.

  Before I can rein in the impulse, I charge forward. I jump and snap my jaw shut around his left arm. He yells out in pain as I yank him away from the barrier. He swings the metal rod and it crashes against my spine, but I don’t release him.

  Brown fur streaks into view. Brady clamps his teeth around the guy’s neck and rips at his flesh.

  “Ava!”

  The sound of my name draws my attention, but it’s the aroma that drifts past my nose that makes me release the guy’s arm and turn. Sage.

  Mel.

  On my first day as a werewolf, I took Mel’s spot in the pack, and she never forgave me for it. She went so far as to reach out to the witches’ council and reveal my status as Jack’s half. After losing a dominance fight for alpha status, she was cast out, taking a dozen weres with her.

  A cruel smile curves her lips. “You thought no one would recognize you in that form, didn’t you?”

  Aside from Mel, Brady, and the guy from last night, the only other people in view are those on the other side of the barrier. But that crowd thins steadily as people run off to find another point of ingress.

  I step toward her, shifting back to human form. “It shouldn’t surprise me you’re here,” I growl, my wolf closer to the surface than usual. “I should’ve known you could be bought with the promise of a bounty.”

  She snorts. “You would think that. But I’m not here for the money. I’m just here for you.”

  She charges. I leap sideways, but I’m not fast enough to get out of her way entirely. She knocks into my shoulder, sending me careening backward.

  Before I regain my balance, Mel knocks into me again, ramming her shoulder into my chest. I grab her around the waist and pull her down with me. She rolls when we hit the ground and springs up on her feet. She aims a kick at my face, but I’m too fast. I leap to the side and ram into her before her leg hits the ground again. She stumbles backward but keeps her footing.

  I want to hurt her. More than that—I want to kill her. If it weren’t for her selfishness, things might not be as bad as they are now. If she hadn’t told Kiara I’m Jack’s half, the witches might not have feared me as much as they did. If she wasn’t so mad about me displacing her in the pack, she wouldn’t have fought Jack—she wouldn’t have left and taken other members with her. Marisol would have remained in the enclave and Xander never would have gotten his hands on her. He never would have made me turn her into a hybrid—and she would still be alive.

  All the anger and rage that has simmered within me since Marisol died bubbles to the surface. A scream rips itself from my throat and I charge her. She tries to evade me, but I’m too fast. The force of the impact picks her up off the ground and we don’t stop until her back slams into the wall of the building across the street.

  “You think I’m the enemy,” she chokes, “but I’m not.”

  “I’m not the enemy either, but that’s how you’ve treated me since day one. This whole time, I’ve done nothing wrong—but you’ve done everything wrong.”

  She pushes away from the building just far enough to allow her to evade my grip. I grab for her again, but she takes off at a run up the street.

  I dart after her. I can’t let her get away with all she’s done.

  She’s fast, but I’m faster, and I overtake her before she gets more than a few buildings away. I wrap my arms around her and yank her to a stop. One of my arms wraps around her neck in a chokehold. She flails, but with one arm pinned, there’s not much she can do.

  The building in front of us explodes in a shower of fire and brick. The force of the blast knocks me off my feet and I slam headfirst into a cinderblock wall.

  My ears ring. I open and close my eyes over and over again, but nothing makes sense. It seems the world is upside down. I try to push myself to my feet, but my arms are like jelly. I can’t stay here, but I also can’t get away.

  Hands jostle me. I try to strike at them, but my arms won’t cooperate. In the next moment I’m lifted up off the ground, and then I’m moving. My body is at a weird angle, and there’s something hard beneath me. I bump along, the sky above me looking oddly like the ground.

  I’m being carried. It’s the only explanation. Someone who came for the bounty realized who I am and flung me over his shoulder.

  We’re moving again, and everything is a blur. I try to kick and thrash, but my movements don’t disturb my captor. I try screaming, but my voice is hoarse.

  This is it then. After everything, whoever wants me will have me soon.

  The blurring scenery slowly comes into focus. Dirt. Fallen branches. Roots. Tree trunks. I’m in the forest. If I can get away, it’s possible I can hide. Even disoriented as I am from the blast, I should be able to outrun just about any werewolf or vampire who would give chase.

  I kick out with my legs, pleased when they obey me. I pound my fists on my captor’s thighs.

  In a flash, he flings me over his shoulder and onto the ground. My back slams down hard, knocking out my breath.

  “Would you calm down?” Brady glares down at me. “Carrying on like that isn’t helping. I’m trying to figure out where we can go that’s safe.”

  I stare at him, baffled. “You?”

  “Yeah, me.”

  My mind spins. “But you... You don’t like me. You think I’m unnatural.”

  He nods. “I still do. But I respect the convocation, and I haven’t heard their ruling yet.” He crouches down beside me, his expression darkening. “Besides, you saw what happened. No one should’ve been able to break into the sanctuary, but they did. Weres and vampires were working together. And that guy was using something magic to let people in. I don’t know who wants you, but I don’t think they’re after you just to take you out of play. I’m betting they have something far worse planned, and I don’t want to find out what it is.”

  I stare him for a moment, unsure how to respond. “Thank you.”

  He shakes his head. “Don’t. If you think this is a sign of my friendship, it’s not. This has everything to do with self-preservation. Now, are you good to walk? Or do you need me to carry you some more?”

  Chapter Nineteen

  The forest is quiet as we lope through it, our paws making no sound as they pad over the ground. Even the small woodland creatures seem to be creeping along, and the birds only call out in infrequent bursts.

  The sun is sinking lower toward the horizon. Brady and I need to find somewhere to hunker down for the night. Traveling through unfamiliar woods in the dark is a recipe for disaster.

  As we move along, I continually stretch out with my mind in a vain attempt to contact Jack. I don’t know if it’s the distance that keeps me from connecting or whether the blow to my head has done something to mess up that ability. I stop and shift back to human. After a moment, Brady does the same.

  “I thought we agreed wolf form was better for now?” He crosses his arms over his chest.

  “Have you been able to make contact with anyone from your pack?”

  His arms drop to his sides. “No.”

 

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