Her eyes dipped to my bare feet, which she then focused on Calder. He nodded wordlessly, going into the back and taking out a duffel bag. He handed it to me, and I found sweatpants, a sweater, and some slides inside.
I almost burst into tears putting them on, the feeling of so much soft, warm fabric on my skin comforting and overwhelming at the same time.
And shoes… shoes! It was like walking on clouds, my arches cradled by foam.
“Got everything?” she asked.
I shook my head, still unsure whether this was real or if I was dreaming as I rocked back and forth on my feet, getting used to the feeling. I already knew I’d likely blister quickly, but I didn’t care. “My cat…”
With a loud whistle, Ember came out from where he’d been hiding under a cabinet, clearly just as ready to submit to the alpha witch as I was. She took a ribbon out of her bag and tied it around his neck.
“Vael zi thren,” she said in Old Lundarian. Ember’s eyes and the ribbon flashed green from the command to trust and follow, his tail twitching as he waited for us to leave.
“Come.”
We did as instructed, only stopping for a moment to give Calder a hug.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“Be well, Sage,” he whispered back.
As we walked out the door, the woman handed me one of the scent-blocking charms, which I crushed, the act so nostalgic I almost started crying again.
A ring was then slipped on my finger.
“Glamour,” she explained.
I caught my new reflection in the car window.
My curly hair had gone stick straight, the color turning nearly black. My eyes were light blue, and my canines a little longer and sharper, marking me as a werewolf. My skin turned a few shades darker, giving me the first healthy glow I’d had since moving to Noctis.
The car, an inconspicuous Goblin, groaned to life, and we pulled out from the alleyway onto a side street.
My old neighborhood slid past us in a blur of lights and shuttered storefronts, the familiar shapes warped by fear and adrenaline. Every block felt like a mile, and I sat rigid in the passenger seat, hands knotted in the hem of my borrowed sweater, listening for sirens that weren’t there. For the low, inevitable thrum of Victor’s power closing in on us.
“I’m Morgana,” she said, one hand on the wheel, the other resting loosely on the door, as if this were nothing more than a late errand run. Her crow familiar sat on the headrest behind her, black eyes sharp, head swiveling with each passing intersection. “And he’s Vesper.”
I struggled to get the words out. “N-nice—”
“Breathe,” she said without looking at me. “It’s okay. I’m not expecting conversation. Just wanted to let you know who you were riding with.”
I tried to calm myself down. The air tasted different in the car. Metal, plastic, and old upholstery, layered with herbs and spellwork. Not a hint of blood or Victor.
But my heart still hammered against my ribs, each beat screaming that this was too easy. That at any moment, a handwould wrap around my throat, and I’d wake up back in the penthouse with Victor’s voice in my ear, telling me I’d dreamed it all and he was going to punish me for even considering leaving him.
We passed a patrol cruiser idling at a corner. I flinched so hard that Ember grunted softly at my feet, yet Morgana didn’t slow, and the cop didn’t move.
The skyline loomed ahead of us. Windows glowed like watchful eyes, waiting to report me as soon as they caught me in their stare, while buildings cut into the surrounding darkness like a gaping maw, ready to swallow me whole again.
You won’t escape him for long, a cruel little voice whispered in my head.He will always find you.
The Goblin rolled onto the arterial road leading out of Noctis, and the traffic thinned. The landscape flattened from skyscrapers into low warehouses and dark stretches of concrete. Morgana flicked on the radio to fill the silence.
You’ve tuned in to The Fang twelve-sixty FM, Noctis’s home for jazz after dark. Coming up, we’ve got Desmond Alucard’s “Rhapsody in Red,” followed by…
The city limit sign came into view, illuminated by a single flickering streetlamp.
NOCTIS — CITY-STATE BOUNDARY
