“Let’s go now.” Elio’s voice was stronger now that he had hope again. “Maximum distance before the chaos starts.”
“Smart. Just remember to stick to the route. No detours, no heroics. Get to the rendezvous, meet the contact, and disappear. New identities, new lives.”
“Thank you, Foster.” Dominic took a breath, then extended his hand to me. “For everything.”
I clasped his forearm, wolf to wolf. We were both walking wounded, both fighting to find a reason to keep going. For him, it was these kids. For me? Well, I was still working on that part.
“Just live. All of you. Make it count. Get free and stay free. That’ll be thanks enough.”
Cosmo still looked wary, his trust worn thin, but he gave me a nod. Elio mumbled something that might have been gratitude. Before I could walk away, Devi wrapped her arms around me in a fierce hug. I froze, unused to anything so real anymore.
“Come with us,” she whispered into my chest. “Right now. Just leave.”
“I can’t.” I awkwardly patted her shoulder. “Not just yet, anyway.”
“I can tell you’re a good man pretending to be a bad one, Foster. Don’t let the pretend become real.”
Well, hell.
See, this right here was why I lived alone, took care of number one, stayed out of things, didn’t get involved or go around saving people other than myself.
“Time to go, kid,” I rumbled, stepping back. “Dominic, drive like hell and don’t look back.”
With a nod, he led the pups to where my truck waited. The moment they vanished around the corner, I melted back into the shadows, leaving behind only a silent plea for the Moon Mother to watch over them.
#
Two days.
Two days since Dominic and the kids made their escape. I’d thought I’d covered my tracks, thought I’d bought them enough time, but standing here in the heart of Arabesque’s lair with the Dark fume clinging to every surface, I realized how wrong I’d been.
This was a trap. A setup. And I’d walked right into it like a lamb to the slaughter.
She’d sent me to fetch something from her office. I should have known better. Should have sensed the wrongness in the air, the stilted calm before the storm. I’d been so focused on maintaining the facade, on playing my role in this twisted charade, I’d missed the signs.
Until I saw the grimoire. Lying open on her desk, its pages laid bare before me, a temptation and a taunt all in one. I couldn’t read the spell because it was in some kind of pictograms, maybe even hieroglyphics, but there was a slip of paper taped to the bottom corner that had one word written in Arabesque’s handwriting.
Werewolves?
Arabesque was clearly dangling this before me like a lure on a hook. Maybe she even suspected I’d been feeding information to someone. Maybe this was another test of my loyalty. Or maybe it was just her way of flushing out a traitor.
Regardless, the opportunity was too good to pass up.
“Oh, I know this is a setup,” I whispered to the empty room, my heart tripping, “but you made it too tempting, didn’t you?”
Moon Mother only knew what these two pages explained, but she wouldn’t have laid this trap if they weren’t significant. On auto-pilot, my hand slid into my pocket and pulled out my phone. I was probably walking into my own execution, but if the photos got to the right hands and the information was something valuable? Worth it.
My eyes darted to the door, to the shadows that seemed to twist and writhe in the corners. Two clicks. That’s all I needed. Two pictures, a digital lifeline.
First pic. I froze, my breath caught in my throat. Nothing. No alarm, no shriek of discovery. I exhaled slowly, a bead of sweat trickling down my spine. Second pic. Still no reaction or response.
A wave of relief, of giddy disbelief, nearly knocked me over.
I’d done it?
Hell, yeah, I’d done it!
Then a sound shattered the air, a screeching wail that clawed at the inside of my skull. I spun, phone clenched in my fist, eyes wild and searching.
