take it?”
I felt my claws pop as I conjured it. “Yeah,” I said. “I guess so.”
“You’re a wolf, Archer. So track. Find out where she came from and get her back.”
“You want me to what, throw her over my shoulder and drag her back kicking and screaming?” I asked.
“If that’s what it takes. This is your screwup. So fix it. I want that girl back here with all of her coin by tomorrow night. We clear?”
“Yeah,” I said. I held my breath as J.C. got closer. I could have ripped his face off in an instant. Half fae or not, I was faster. Stronger.
But then I’d never get what I came here for. I let out a breath. J.C. wrinkled his nose as if I was the one who smelled bad.
“The girl,” he said. “Get her back or you’ll spend your life eating garbage out in the Neutral Zone. If I decide to let you live at all.”
I slammed the door on my way out. Even J.C. knew he was lucky I hadn’t thrown him through it. I left through the back door and sniffed the night air.
Phaedra. Her scent hit me hard and strong. I shifted into my wolf in one fluid movement. Black as midnight. Strong as steel. I howled at the moon then tore off after the girl I knew I should have let get away.
3
Phaedra
A light hand brushed my cheek just as sunlight spilled through the gap in the curtains. For a moment, I thought I heard a wolf’s howl in the distance. It vibrated through me, raising the hairs on my neck.
“Phaedra!” My mother shook my shoulders. She sat at the edge of my bed, her bright smile shining more than the sun.
I looked like her, people said. The same angle to our jaw, the same straight nose and high cheekbones. The same fire magic running through our veins. People would mistake us for twins but for the streaks of silver at her temples now. She had delicate lines around her eyes and mouth but was otherwise ageless.
Dragon magic. Mating with my father could make her live a thousand years along with him.
If any of us survived at all…
“Phaedra,” she said. “You didn’t come home last night.”
I sat up. “I didn’t?” I said, holding my hands out, turning them to show her I was real.
“Funny,” she said. “I mean you were supposed to be back by midnight.”
“Relax,” I said, throwing off the covers. “I didn’t turn into a pumpkin. I didn’t leave my glass slipper behind.”
She rose. “It’s not a joke, Phaedra. You know I was against sending you to that place.”
She’d brought a tray of coffee and donuts. My stomach growled as I grabbed a glazed one. I heard movement downstairs. Heavy footsteps. My father was pacing. It occurred to me then how this likely played out. She probably made him promise not to charge in here if she promised to get answers out of me.
I poured myself a cup of coffee. “Come on,” I said, grabbing a second glazed with a napkin. I walked into the hallway.
“Come on,” I repeated, beckoning her with the donut. “I don’t want to have to tell this story twice.”
She rose. The tiniest sparks crackled around her as she threw back her hair. She was worried. More so than I realized.
We found my father standing in the kitchen. Topping six and a half feet, he filled the room. Deep lines of worry creased his brow but softened a bit when my mother went to him and let him draw her into his arms.
“Okay,” I said. “I went to the Golden Taurus. It’s...it’s bad there. They’re dealing. I saw hundreds of people. Most of them were spell-high. And they’ve got everything. Great big tanks filled with some mystical concoctions sourced from fire, water, wind and earth. It was an earth mage who tried to sell to me. His name is Rye. Didn’t get a last name.”
“If that’s even his real name at all,” my father said. His eyes went dark. I saw the skin ripple near his wrists. He itched to shift. Anger did that to him. Here in Durness, he had the luxury of freedom. Our coven owned the great wilderness surrounding our property. After the shifter attacks seventeen years ago, my father was the one who brokered a treaty with the U.S. government. To them, he was merely Finn Brandhart, billionaire real estate mogul and philanthropist. They had no idea they were dealing with one of the