“This is it,” I murmured to Sam.
He clapped me on the shoulder, flashing me a grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “See you on the other side,” he said. “Good luck. Don’t die.”
“Same to you.”
A mass in the vague shape of a human emerged, its glowing eyes locked on me as the wraith materialized. It sneered as it took more solid shape, gloating over me.
“I see you haven’t learned your lesson yet, wolf,” it jeered.
I didn’t answer. Instead, I simply snarled and shifted, lunging toward it with bared teeth.
All around me, others followed suit. People who had been mourning a minute ago were now bristling with rage as they turned into mighty wolves. The wraith looked around, those glowing eyes narrowing as it realized we had been expecting him. We’d lured it here.
“If your pack has a death wish, then so be it,” it hissed.
It sped toward me at the same time a dozen wolves lunged forward, knocking into it. With an almost bored demeanor, it swiped an arm out, slamming into one of the wolves that had leapt through the air to strike it. The wolf went flying.
Others threw water on the wraith, giving it a more corporeal form. I jumped forward, narrowly avoiding its claws as it swiped at me, but missing him with my own blow as I had to dodge out of the way.
I lunged again, moving in tandem with Sam. It glided away, out of range of any buckets of water or hoses. It raised a hand, and a tornado of sand raced toward me, blowing me off to one side, sending others scattering. One person flew into the side of a building and stilled, not to move again.
The battle went back and forth, none of us able to get in a good blow as the wraith continued to wreak destruction.
I dodged around some debris and moved toward the wraith, bracing through the sand to come at it from the side. Its arm lashed out, dragging across my flank. I stumbled back, panting, the scratch in my side stinging as blood matted my flank. Glancing around, I saw other wolves lying on the ground, not moving as pandemonium erupted all around us.
I grimaced, a low growl forming in my throat as I searched the area, an unpleasant realization sinking in the more I took in.
We were losing.
Just as this sickening realization settled into my core, I caught a flash of bright auburn fur on the edge of the oasis. My heart leapt into my throat as I stared at the tiny cub, her paws just at the edge of the water as she growled up at the sand wraith.
Grace.
Panic raced through me, unbidden, knowing that the feeling was dangerous around the wraith but helpless to do anything about it.
As if it could sense my fear, the sand wraith’s head swiveled toward me, its glowing eyes burning. With growing horror, I watched as its eyes moved from me over to Grace. She saw it watching and crouched, fur bristling as she bared her tiny fangs, looking about as terrifying as a rabbit.
She needed to get out of here. She needed to run as quickly as possible because I didn’t like how much attention the wraith was giving her. It stepped toward her, one arm reaching out. I shifted back to human and ran toward them.
“Grace, get out of here!” I yelled.
Grace’s head swiveled toward me, her head tilting, one ear pricked. Then, she spun on her heels and ran.
The wraith watched with hungry eyes before its attention turned back to me. The creature let out what I could only describe as a throaty chuckle, and the sound sent chills down my spine.
“Interesting,” it hissed. “I can taste your despair over the little wolf.”
“Leave her alone,” I snarled.
Again, the wraith laughed.
“And say no to such a delicious meal? I think not.”It grinned, the glowing eyes burning with malice. “I’m going to enjoy feasting on your despair after I’ve killed her.”
Before I could react, the wraith turned and sped off in the direction Grace had run.
Horror and panic raced through me. If it caught up to Grace, I didn’t know what I would do.
With a snarl, I shifted back to wolf, charging through the crowd, heading after the wraith.
