“Yes,” I said. “But Bryn, he’s—” I stopped myself. Maybe Ansel would change if Bryn were there to help him. I didn’t want to make her any more afraid than she already was.

“He’s waiting for you,” I said, and she smiled.

When the door was finished, I gazed at it, puzzled. Something didn’t look right. I couldn’t see the room we’d come from. The image behind the portal was dark and hazy.

“Is that where we’re going?” Mason asked, also wary of the darkness that lay before us.

“Yes,” Adne said uneasily. “I’m not sure why it’s dark.”

“It’s not important,” Connor said. “Anyway, we don’t have a choice; we have to go back. If something’s wrong, we’ll know when we get there.”

“Very reassuring,” I said. Bryn drew a quick, nervous breath and I squeezed her hand, sorry I’d said anything.

“But true,” Connor replied. “Ethan, lead the way. Wolves, go right behind him and put on your game faces, just in case. Calla, Adne, and I will follow you and close the door as soon as we’re all through.”

“Game faces?” Bryn frowned.

“He wants you to change forms,” I said.

“Happily,” Nev said, and was a wolf in the next moment. Mason and Bryn both shifted. The three wolves circled one another, licking, nuzzling. Sabine was watching Ethan. She glanced at the other Guardians but didn’t shift.

Connor smiled sadly at me. “Go on, that’s where you belong.”

My fangs were already sharpening when I returned his smile. “Just don’t try to pet me.”

Welcome back, Calla. Bryn licked my jaw. We’ve missed you.

Nev and Mason crowded in, pushing at me with their muzzles.

Are we okay? I asked.

You tell us, you’re the alpha. Nev nipped at my shoulder. I figure if this is our pack now, we’d better make the best of it.

I wagged my tail. Fair enough.

Can we get out of here now? Mason pawed at the ground.

I glanced at Connor, who watched me, a mixture of awe and curiosity playing over his face.

Sabine gazed at us, but she kept her distance, remaining in human form.

Ethan raised an eyebrow, glancing from her to our pack, as though her choice to stay away from us surprised him.

“Looks like we’re ready, Ethan,” Connor said. “You want to lead the way? Now that you’re a whole man again.”

“Go to hell,” Ethan growled, blushing when he cast a sidelong glance at Sabine.

She was still staring ahead, eyes distant, and she wrapped herself tighter in his jacket, shivering. I didn’t think it was from the cold.

“Why don’t you follow him, Sabine?” Connor said.“Stick close together.”

She nodded, disappearing into the portal. My packmates rushed after her. I hesitated for a moment, watching them go, glancing back at the alley that led to Eden. That place had changed everything. It had taken my brother’s soul, claimed Ren as its own, and become Monroe’s grave.

Instead of following the pack, I returned to my human body and faced Connor. “What if—”

Connor shook his head. “No looking back.”

I was surprised when he stepped forward, pulling me into an embrace.

“We all lost something today,” he whispered, resting his chin against the crown of my hair.

Adne watched us silently; tears standing in her eyes reflected the subtle, wavering gleam of the open door.

I nodded, leaning into him for a moment before I shifted into wolf form and leapt into the portal’s murky depths.

TWENTY-FOUR

A BLAST OF HEAT PUSHED me back, throwing me toward the door from which I’d just emerged. For a moment I thought something had gone wrong with the portal and I was trapped between worlds, tumbling into oblivion, and would soon be burning alive. I couldn’t see. Thick smoke filled the air, stinging my eyes, filling my lungs. I shifted forms, wanting to call out to the Searchers, but I dropped to my knees, coughing, grasping in front of me blindly.

“Calla!” A hand grabbed my arm, jerking me sideways. I could just make out Ansel’s face through the smoke.

“You have to get out of here,” he hissed, drawing me farther from the portal.

“What’s happening?” I said, choking on the smoke. At last I could recognize my surroundings. I was back in Purgatory’s bare entrance. Flames jumped along the walls, gutting the Searchers’ hideout.

“There are two more by the staircase!” I recognized Ethan’s shout.

“Keep moving,” Isaac yelled a second later. “Don’t let them corner you!”

Ansel pulled me into a crouch on the floor as a dark shape slipped in and out of the smoke plumes a few feet away from us. Fear slid beneath my skin when I realized it was a wraith.

“Keep still,” Ansel breathed into my ear.

My heart slammed against my ribs. Where was Shay?

I heard screaming but couldn’t tell if the sound came from a man or woman.

Adne and Connor’s silhouettes were illuminated against the light of the portal.

Connor flinched at the heat and began to cough. “What the hell?”

I saw the wraith turn, moving away from our hiding place but slithering toward them. Ansel tried to hold me back, but I pushed him away, lunging toward the confused pair.

“Run!” I shouted, slamming into them, knocking them away from the glowing door.