the foyer, leaving the door open a crack, the way it had been. The place was eerily silent. I glanced toward the landing at the top of the marble staircase, admired the modern interior, and elegant décor, but saw no signs of the mage. We headed slowly toward the kitchen, the only place in the house we’d visited. We were halfway there when there was a loud crash somewhere in the house.
I stopped abruptly, putting a hand out to stop Rosalina. “I think we should get out of here and call the police.”
She nodded, and we started to backtrack the way we’d come when two figures appeared in front of the exit. One was a black wolf, and the other a man. I recognized both of them immediately.
Blake Foster and Jenson Boyle.
The wolf was as massive as I remembered, his head reaching past Jenson’s elbow, his shoulders heaving with anger. His eyes shone yellow as he fixed them on me. The mage was dressed all in black and wore the same leather cloak I’d seen on him before. His bright red hair stood on end as usual, but unlike the last time we’d met, his eyes shone copper, not blue, which meant he’d powered up his magic to the next level. Not good.
I stepped in front of Rosalina. Red stirred, itching to come out, but I held her back as my mind sped, trying to figure out a way out. If I shifted, it would mean a certain fight, one I couldn’t win, not without wolfsbane bullets or magic of some kind.
“You’re trespassing,” I said, my voice sounding steadier than I felt.
“Hello, little tracker,” the mage said. “Fancy meeting you here.”
The wolf growled in turn.
“Where’s Damien?” Rosalina’s voice trembled with emotion, revealing her fear. She thought they had hurt him.
“Unfortunately,” Jenson said, “he’s not here. I wanted us to have a tête-à-tête, see how we measure up now that I’ve earned my copper wings.” He gestured toward his eyes.
Rosalina let out a shaky breath of relief.
“But enough talking,” the mage said as the wolf stepped forward, lowering his head and growling deep in his chest. “I think both Blake and I have a score to settle with you, little tracker. You’ve been slippery, but what do you know? You’ve come to find us.”
“Run!” I said, turning then pushing Rosalina toward the kitchen.
I didn’t have to tell her twice. She ran full pelt with me on her heels. The wolf’s sharp claws clicked against the polished floor as it tried to gain traction. At the kitchen’s entrance, we veered right. A stream of magic whooshed behind me, narrowly missing me as I turned. The attack flew wide and hit the shelves on the opposite wall, blowing Damien’s espresso machine into millions of little pieces.
“Find a way out,” I urged Rosalina as I invited Red to the fight.
The shift happened in the blink of an eye. My clothes ripped into hundreds of tatters, flying across the kitchen and landing on top of the island and floor. I turned to face our attackers as Rosalina exited through a door in the far corner.
I willed her to run faster and find the final door that would lead her out of here. In the meantime, I planned to give her all the time she needed to get to safety.
I let out an ear-piercing growl and stood my ground.
Jenson and Blake came around the corner and skidded to a stop when they saw me.
“You were right,” the mage said, “the little tracker is a werewolf. What a surprise.”
Blake shook his big head in challenge. He looked pissed, really pissed, and he wanted payback. I had bested him and put him through a lot of pain, now he wanted to do the same to me.
Words to taunt him entered my mind, and I almost pushed them forward using my alpha powers, but something told me to stop, not to reveal what I was. Maybe there would be more I could learn, if he didn’t know I could hear his thoughts. Red fought against my reasoning, wishing to express her dominance, but she quickly caught my drift and, to my surprise, went along with it. More and more, it seemed our thoughts and feelings were not opposed and we were reaching an understanding.
Nice. I can get used to this, Red.
The mage huffed as the black wolf advanced. “Okay, she’s all yours, but you owe me.”
Blake leaped toward me, teeth bared, eyes blazing with hatred.
I jumped out of the