dead, wolves weren’t shifting into men, and there weren’t medieval-looking warriors in her living room. Doing the only thing she could, she shut her eyes and prayed that she’d survive.
Not a minute later, a warm hand touched under her knees and a strong arm wrapped around her back. “Are you all right?”
Nexi dared to open her eyes. “Are you out of your goddamned mind?” she snapped, overwhelmed by panic. “I’m anything but all right.”
With a gentle touch, the green-eyed warrior helped her to sit up, and she hissed as her wounds complained. When she took in the state of her living room, nothing made any sense. Before she shut her eyes there were wolves and blood. Now the house was empty except for her, the warriors, and her broken coffee table. “What? The wolves? Gone?”
The warrior tightened his arms around her. “We need to get you out of here.”
“Like hell.” She pushed away from him, her eyesight blurred. “You are…I don’t know what you are, but—” Yes, the men had helped her, but… “That wolf turned into a man…then into a wolf…”
The other warrior, who stood a few feet away, slid his sword into his scabbard. “Take a deep breath. You’re safe now.”
“Safe.” Fighting through the near-crippling pain, she forced herself to stand on wobbly legs. “You’re…you are…?”
“Guardians.” His soft hazel eyes appeared oddly familiar and reflected a gentle nature. It should’ve comforted her. It didn’t. Her blood ran cold. Then the warrior added, “All you need to understand is that I’ve come for you.”
She blinked.
He approached with slow steps, so unlike the warrior she’d witnessed moments ago. “I’m afraid there’s no easy way to tell you this.” He stopped a foot away. “I’m Drake—your birth father.”
“You’re…what?” The world somersaulted around her. “I have…oh, God…I gotta sit down…”
Drake yelled, “Grab her, Kyden. She’s going to faint.”
Chapter One
I’ve found you, fur ball.
Nexi peered from behind the large oak tree and spotted the small log cabin nestled in the thick forest. The porch light cast a warm glow into the night. Fog settled over the lush grass, and the night was dark, eerie.
Stepping away from her hiding place behind the tree, she strode forward and gripped the dagger tightly in her hand. Keeping the silver blade pointed outward, she climbed the cabin’s porch steps, taking each one slowly to avoid detection.
Once she arrived at the front door, she wrapped her hand around the door handle. Rich hunger for revenge burned in her veins and made her intent on one thing: to slaughter the werewolf who escaped the night of her parents’ murder. Not caring what awaited her, she stormed inside, dagger pointed, ready to kill.
The simple cabin had two large brown couches near a wood-burning stove, a kitchenette behind the living room, and a quilt-covered bed resting in the back. And that was it; there were no other rooms to investigate. No secret hiding places she could see.
No damned werewolf.
She cursed, shut the front door behind her, then trotted down the steps to return to her hiding spot. On her way across the yard, she glanced at the space to the right of the tree, which looked much like a heat wave, indicating that the portal to the Otherworld remained.
In some places around the world—or the Earthworld, as supernaturals had called it—there were permanent portals to the supernatural realm. This portal had only appeared because Nexi had travelled to this cabin from the Otherworld. Once she passed through the portal again, the gateway would vanish.
Magic had its perks. Quick travel was one of them.
Nexi shook her head at how normal all this magical stuff seemed now. Just over a month ago she’d never believed in anything that went bump in the night. Now she knew all those things existed, and in fact, she was one of them.
To her horror, she had learned that her birth mother, Tillie, had been murdered by a power-hungry vampire, Lazarus. All those years ago, her birth father, Drake, had protectively decided to block Nexi’s supernatural abilities. He had planned for her to live and die as a mortal. Now with her return to the Otherworld and the removal of the block on her true identity, there was no going back.
She was no longer plain, human, Nexi Jones.
She was Nexi Jones, part guardian, part witch.
Looking away from the portal and to her hiding spot until the werewolf returned, she hurried her steps. She wasn’t ready to return to the Otherworld yet. Not until she had the werewolf’s head