Wolf's Hunger (Mafia Monsters #5) - Atlas Rose Page 0,57

the fence before I found myself on a footpath.

With a deep, soothing breath, I tried to still the tremble inside me and took a step forward. Hurrying even more now, I raced along the footpath, keeping close to the bushes and parked cars, making my way toward the bridge, feeling like I was moving excruciatingly slowly, even though I knew better.

A midnight breeze picked up, flicking my hair behind me as I kept low and ran from one parked car to another. I slipped down side streets, winding my way until I was fairly sure they didn’t have enough agents to cover this wide a perimeter.

My thighs were burning by the time I’d covered three blocks, and felt like lead after the fifth. By the time the moon had sunk lower in the sky, I was in big trouble. I rested, leaning over to brace my hands on my knees, blowing out air like I was extinguishing a hundred candles. My face was burning, sweat ran down my cheeks, and my soles were stinging, and still the bridge was a long way away.

I glanced along the row of cars, spying an older one, one I could try my luck at hot-wiring…Jesus, if Ruth Costello could see me now. She’d fucking clap her hands with glee like the devil at my back and shove me into the endless freefall from the right side of the law.

I took a step, swiping the sweat dripping into my eyes, and registered the sound.

Low.

Threatening.

And utterly familiar.

I jerked my gaze as that low rumble floated on the air toward me, standing the hairs at the back of my neck. “Phantom?” I whispered.

But there was no answer. I licked my lips and straightened. A flare cut through my chest. No, a pang…but was it a warning? I scanned the shadows and slowly took a step. Was it them? My heart suddenly came alive at the thought, shooting adrenaline through my veins like a drug.

But the shadows stayed still, not rushing toward me with open arms. Maybe I hadn’t really heard it? Maybe I was starting to lose my goddamn mind? Grief was like that, letting you sink into madness. This was its own special kind of cruelty, one that crawled under my skin. I could still feel their touch, still smell their scent…still hear that thunderous snarl that did things to my body no sound should ever do.

I pushed on, convinced now it had been the wind, striding past the potential ride and instead kept walking, my pace slower by this time, and cut across the entrance to a park. If I was right, this would bring me out on Holland Street. I wracked my memory, and realized that only three more blocks and I’d be at the bridge.

I chewed my lower lip and looked around. There were no shortcuts after this…it was all houses and streets, the long way around. I turned back to the dark entrance to the park. It was even darker inside, the gloom consuming until there was nothing. Come on, Chase, you’ve never been a chickenshit before, so why start now?

As soon as I took a step, I felt eyes on me. A nervous scan of my surroundings, and I kept walking. My hand went to my hip by habit, and found nothing but sharp bones. Idiot. I let that dangerous part of me push to the surface as I crossed the street and crossed the sidewalk to the park’s gated entrance.

I was sure that was supposed to be locked at night. But there it was, wide open. I focused on the murky distance and the spot where the gates were just outside my sight on the far side of the park. A shiver tore through me, standing the hairs on my arms the second I stepped through the iron gate. That low rumbling sound flanked me once more, making my pulse pick up pace.

I panicked, and my hold on that Unseelie hunger slipped. A streetlight blew with a loud bang on the street behind me. I jumped at the sound, nearly running now, heading for that dark blur five hundred yards away.

I’d made it barely fifty when something stepped in my path. Silver eyes glinted as a gray Wolf slunk forward, black lips curled, white teeth bared. A low growl echoed coming from my left…and then behind me.

I swiveled, stumbling backwards as I saw another, my heart thudding in my chest. Three of them…three massive Wolves. “E-easy n-now,” I stuttered and