once Valor and Briggs discovered Lazarus’s house in New York was empty they’d come to her family’s home, because help would be good right about now. In fact, it surprised her they hadn’t beaten her there, since she’d spent some time with Drake and came to the location from her willow. But maybe Lazarus had made this move on purpose, and Valor and Briggs had a world of trouble waiting for them, too.
Now staring at her childhood home, she knew one thing for certain: Lazarus made a big mistake coming to her parents’ house. Returning there reminded her of all she’d lost—a life with the people who loved her unconditionally—but her present had been forged there as well.
Lazarus had brutally stolen her past away. He damned well wouldn’t take her future, too.
No more lives would be lost.
Not on her watch.
Shutting her eyes, she inhaled deeply to settle her nerves. The danger ahead loomed over her, and she accepted she might not leave this house alive. But how dare this vampire think she’d idly sit by and watch him destroy the world around her.
He apparently didn’t know her at all.
After a long exhale, she sucked the air sharply into her lungs, then approached the house. On her way, she scanned the wraparound porch where she used to spend hours reading with her mother on Sunday afternoon.
Nearing the wolves, she shoved the thoughts of her family aside, and she called the guards forward. “Come on, boys. Let’s play.”
Both men exchanged a look before the shorter one said, “It’s you.”
“You know,” she said through clenched teeth. “I’m getting really sick of hearing that.” The moment the words passed her lips, the wolves shifted, and as they lunged forward, so did she.
When the first wolf reached her, she plowed her thumbs deep into his eyes sockets, and he dropped like dead weight near the porch steps. His howls cut through the silent night, and Nexi turned to the other wolf.
He came at her with teeth snarling and spit flying everywhere. As he flew through the air, he shifted into his human form. Nexi gasped as they collided, which turned into a groan as her back scrapped against the paved walkway.
The man jumped off, threw a punch, but she blocked his move and slammed her fist into his gut, followed up by a hard knee to his groin. He dropped to the ground, his hands bracing himself. “F-f-fuck.”
Men always had a disadvantage.
Without hesitation, she reached for her sword, then slammed the blade deep into his heart. Blood pooled from the wound as the man gargled. With a quick twist of her sword, the man went silent and she withdrew her blade.
A low whimper had her twirling around, and she discovered the other wolf, rubbing his paws over his bleeding eyes. While she always was an animal lover and seeing such a sight probably would have upset her before, this was no furry sweetheart. These werewolves were damned.
Once she reached him, she plunged her sword deep into his chest, then pulled it out just as fast. Surely, anyone in or around the house had heard the commotion she’d caused, but no one came out to join her.
She hesitated, listening hard, and she heard voices carrying on from the backyard. Keeping her sword tight in her hand, she strode around the side of the house when suddenly she realized she wasn’t alone.
A ridiculously large werewolf waited near the raspberry bushes with a crowbar in his hands. Raspberry bushes that she planted with her father—bushes that wolf shouldn’t be anywhere near. Before she had a chance to step forward to ensure he realized his mistake in coming to her house, he ran at her yelling like some beast out of the Amazon. She couldn’t withhold her snort of laughter. “What’s this, the Hulk?”
The man attempted to swing the bar at her head, but she slipped under his arm and positioned herself behind him. Kyden had been right—this was a vulnerable position for the werewolf to find himself in.
Raising her sword, she turned sideways, then she shoved her blade straight through his back and twisted. The Hulk went down with a heavy thud, dead as a doornail.
Without a hitch to her step, she yanked her sword from his back and continued on, walking around the side of the house. In a few short steps, she rounded the corner to enter the backyard. She inhaled the scent of rich, lush flowers from the garden that had been her mother’s passion,