“Run the perimeter. See if you can scent anyone—then get right back.” He snapped the command to Finley and Keeffe.
Finley’s eyes were still glued to my face, worry pulling his mouth into a tight line.
They nodded, disappearing into the shadowed woods.
“You’re gonna make them run in there?”I pointed to the forest. “In the dark?”
Pogue lifted an eyebrow. “You really do have so much to learn, don’t you?”
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
My eyes snapped back. Something strange was lingering in the woods.
It was that feeling you got after walking through a spider web—like tiny invisible legs crawling over my body.
I was being watched.
Heart racing, I scanned the area, searching for whoever was out there. My foot stepped forward, leaving the warmth of Pogue’s grip.
“He’s watching me,”I whispered to myself.
A metallic click echoed as Lochlainn drew his gun. His eyes cautiously searched the forest as he stepped to my side.
“Who?” Pogue demanded.
I hadn’t even realized he was already at my other shoulder. The space around him darkened.
He held two crescent-shaped blades that caught the moonlight. I hadn’t seen him draw them—let alone, carry them.
Their markings curled upwards, like swirls of moving air. They were beautiful.Unlike any patterns I’d ever seen.
My inkling pulsed in warning.
“I don’t know, I—Ifeeltheir eyes on me. My senses are screaming.”
A sound broke the eerie silence—multiple feet at a gallop. Then, a bone-chilling howl bounded through the trees.
Panic swelled as I stumbled back a few steps.
“It’s all right—it’s just Keeffe and Finley in Ossory form,” Lochlainn said, as if I’d actually know what that meant.
Ossory? What the hell was that?
My head tilted in confusion.
Pogue interjected, “Human translation:werewolves.”
I gaped, ignoring his side-eye. Did he have a sense of humor after all? But his face was at odds, remaining fixed.
My god, he was being serious . . .
I felt a pinprick of hurt that Finley never mentioned being a goddamn werewolf. But I suppose it wasn’t my business, and to be fair, I had my own secrets too.
But come on, a freaking werewolf?
Keeffe’s voice echoed through the trees.
“We should get out of here! There’s another body about 400 meters east—also decapitated andveryfresh.”
