Emme’s eyes widened. “Um. Don’t you mean Aric?”

A cloud of pain and torment darkened the marvelous emotions Aric’s kiss had stirred. “No. I mean Misha.” I went to the window and looked out, expecting to find Misha on our front lawn. I shoved my feet into my UGGs and barreled down the stairs.

“Dude, wait! What’s wrong?”

I didn’t bother with the porch steps and landed on our front walk in a crouch. My tigress stirred, pawing at the ground, growling. Her eyes replaced mine, and she took in our surroundings in one sweep.

“Celia…? Honey, what’s wrong?”

My head jerked back to the house. Emme clasped her hands against her mouth. Shayna and Taran exchanged glances, sensing my tigress rising to the surface.

I couldn’t mask my increasing angst. “Get the car keys. Something’s wrong.”

Shayna rushed inside, but Taran yanked the keys out of her hands when she emerged. We piled into the car. “Where’re we going?” Taran asked.

“South.”

Taran scoffed. “South where?” She pulled out of our development onto the main road. I pointed. “I don’t know. Just south, that way.”

“Dude…we’re not going back to Zhahara’s…are we?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. But I think Misha—” A dull ache throbbed in my chest, similar to when you heard someone you knew died. “Oh, my God. Misha’s in trouble.”

Our Tribeca bounced along the dense gravel. The wind intensified, sweeping pine needles and leaves into our path. Taran swore. “This isn’t a road; it’s a goddamn work in progress.”

Taran wasn’t kidding. White rocks kicked up, dinging our windows and side worse than those friggin’ bits of rock that flew out of construction trucks. Someone had begun to lay a foundation, but never completed the task. I dialed Aric, worried he hadn’t returned my texts. “Aric. It’s Celia. I hope you’re okay. You know how you told me to call you before I march into danger?” The increasing worry threatened to suffocate me, making it hard to speak. “Well, I’m marching into danger, so I’m calling. Please call back.”

I disconnected and ran my hand through my hair. Taran swore again when a rock chipped our front windshield. “Celia, are you sure about this?”

“I’m not sure about anything, but we’re making too much noise. I think it’s best to pull over and walk.”

“Shit! Walk where? We’re in the middle of the woods.”

Shayna played with her phone. “Koda’s not answering either.” She leaned in from the back. “They must be in deep if they’re not returning our calls. I’ve tried him four times, Liam twice, Gemini three times—”

Taran glared into the rearview mirror at her. “How do you have Gemini’s number?”

Shayna shuffled in her seat. “Ah…”

Taran clenched her jaw tighter. “Shayna, how do you have his number? Even I don’t have his damn number.”

“He, uh, gave it to me a few nights ago in case I, ah, ever needed anything.”

Behind me, Emme held the phone away from her, trying to keep Bren’s growls from rupturing her eardrums. Because that’s what was missing from my life: another pissed-off werewolf. “Why are you going after that a**hole? You should have called me, goddamn it. How the hell am I supposed to track you now?”

Emme spoke reasonably. “I’m sorry we didn’t call, Bren. But Celia felt an urgency to help—”

“An a**hole! Just say it, Emme. Celia felt the urge to help some master vampire a**hole! Son of a bitch, you couldn’t have waited fifteen freaking minutes for me to get there?”

“We’re off Highway Eighty-nine in South Tahoe. Take a right at the white fir sapling and the first left onto a gravel road.”

“Take a right at the white fir sapling! Are you crazy? There’s a million fu—”

Emme disconnected her call. “Bren says he’s disappointed we didn’t call him sooner. He’ll try to track us now and will hopefully join us momentarily.”

Emme missed her calling as a White House spokesperson.

“He hates me.” Taran gripped the steering wheel tight.

I cut my eyes from the road. “Who?”

“Gemini.”

I groaned. “Taran, he doesn’t. I think he’s just a little shy.”

“Do you think it’s all the swearing? Son of a bitch, is that it? I swear too goddamn much?”

“Well, dude, you could try toning it down a little.”

Shayna jumped in her seat at the sight of Taran’s death glare. “Listen, Miss I Have Every Damn Wolf Eating from My Hand, I don’t need—”

“Taran, stop the car!” I rushed out as the trees cleared and a house came into view…an empty, half-built house. Only the foundation and skeleton frame had been completed in the McMansion. There was no roof, and the second floor hadn’t been laid. I ran around the house, sniffing the air for any hint of vampiric aroma. Nothing. Nada. No trace of magic at all…except for Tahoe. The house sat on top of the hill. I trekked to the back, where I had a view of another monstrous estate situated near the edge of the lake, a few acres from where I stood. The road we’d taken must have angled back around. This estate resembled a giant Tudor…or I should say about seven Tudors pushed together. A two-acre-wide maze of hedges ran from the side of the house to the bottom of the small cliff where I stood.

Taran wiped her muddy shoes on a flat rock. “So much for Misha’s reverse speed dial. Can we go now?”

Shayna bounced to my side. “Koda just texted back. They’ve been searching the last judge’s property in wolf form, so they haven’t had their cell phones on them. He’s worried and says to stay put. He’ll locate us through my phone.” Her ponytail swung happily as she shifted her weight from side to side. “He’s so sweet. But I can just text him and tell him we don’t need them.”

My tigress eyes locked onto the back of the estate. A wood door banged open and out ran a vampire…dressed in a Catholic schoolgirl uniform.

“Shayna…?”

“What, dude?”

My voice fell into a distressed whisper. “We need them…now.”

I barely heard the taps as Shayna’s fingers swept over her keyboard. Emme muffled a scream. Ana Clara’s long hair sailed behind her from the speed at which she ran. She tried to go through the hedge instead of around. Yellow-and-black magic sparked from the branches as she bounced off like she’d rammed a stone wall. Blood poured from her nose and from a thick gash on her head. She stumbled to her feet just as four severely infected vampires burst the hinges of the back door.

“Emme, grab her with your force!” I jumped up and down, waving my arms. “Here! Run here!”

Emme’s magic stirred. “I can’t. She’s too far. My power can’t reach her!”

We watched in horror as Ana Clara staggered into the wretched maze, the bloodlusters right behind her. “Left, goddamn it, go left!” Taran screamed. “Right. Now right!”

Ana Clara struggled even with Taran’s instructions. The first bloodluster approached, tracking her by blood. She drew closer, closer, Ana Clara screaming as she closed in.

Swoosh. Swoosh.

Shayna’s arrows found the bloodluster’s head and chest. She exploded close enough to smear Ana Clara’s back with putrid green ash. Another bloodluster neared. Shayna followed with two more arrows. One pierced an eye, the other a shoulder, but it didn’t hinder him. He pushed on, his thirst propelling his legs faster.

He tackled Ana Clara and raised a claw in the air. Shayna nailed him with an arrow through his palm and a thicker one through his temple. The infection hadn’t advanced too far. His blood spilled red, distracting the other vampires. Ana Clara crawled away, sobbing as the two vamps feasted on the other. She rushed to her feet and sprinted.

And so did I.

Emme screamed. “Celia!”

I couldn’t watch any more. I leaped off the small cliff, landing in a shift, and surfaced as far as I could into the maze. “Ana Clara! Run to my voice!” I continued shifting. The magic prevented us from crashing through the wall of hedges, but it didn’t penetrate beneath the earth. Every time I emerged, I called to her. And every time her sobs grew louder. I surfaced once more, out of breath from shifting. My heart thundered against my rib cage as I searched along the endless labyrinth of green until I finally caught sight of her.

Ana Clara tore around a bend, crying, grunting, her arms pumping wildly as her bare feet dug into the muddy ground.

“Hurry, Ana Clara. Hurry!”

The hedges twitched and crackled. Black-and-yellow mist rose into the sky. I no longer felt the sting of dark magic prick against my skin. Oh, no. The barrier had fallen.

One of the bloodlusters crashed through the thick branches between me and Ana Clara. I shifted him through the ground and kicked his head from his shoulders. Another bloodluster broke through, then another, and another.

Shit.

All the air was squeezed from my lungs as my feet left the ground. Ana Clara and I flew through the air on the wobbly wings of Emme’s force. Four bloodlusters chased us below. My head jerked to find Emme. She and my sisters were only a quarter of the way in through the maze. We moved fast. But it wasn’t fast enough. Six more infected vampires crashed through the thick field of green, heading toward my sisters.

“Run. There’s more. Run!”

Ana Clara screamed as a Zhahara-size bloodluster leaped up and yanked her out of Emme’s force. She crashed with him on top. He tore into her like a piñata, spilling her insides. I jerked my head away when two more piled on top of her. She screamed. She screamed the whole time. Until the silence announced her end.

My sisters ran, Emme dragging me behind her like a kite.

But they were too slow. Taran turned and launched a stream of lightning. The vamps leaped out of the way…and onto my sisters.