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I smeared blood over my palms and pressed my hands to my face, then lifted my hands in the air, something I’d never done before, but it felt right. My power grew and expanded, thickening, reaching out.

Come to me. Come to me, all of you. From the forest floor and perched in the trees above, come to me.

It didn’t take long. I heard them before I saw them, a sound that grew in intensity by the second.

Thousands of small feet, flapping wings, chirping and squawking, squeaks and growls and hisses.

The forest floor and the canopy above were alive, moving as one as they came. Squirrels and rats and snakes, birds of all kinds. Possums and foxes, they ran to me, surrounding Nia and I.

My heart pounded as I took them in. “Thank you for coming, friends. I need your help,” I called out. “I know it’s scary, but I need you to show me how brave you are. Who will help me save the wolf?”

My mind was filled with their small voices, their eagerness to help Draven, to do my bidding. They’d seen the wolves here fighting the demons, and they appreciated it. They turned as one and swarmed toward the demons; the ground made of fur and scales; the sky made of feathers.

They attacked, and the demon’s screams echoed around us as teeth and claws and talons tore at the evil invading their world.

It was like the demons were swallowed whole, ripped to pieces by the animals in the forest. Draven stood in the middle, watching as the animals I’d summoned devoured the demons until there was nothing left but ash.

And when they were done, thousands of little eyes turned to me, waiting for my next command. I had full control over them, all of them. It was incredible—and terrifying.

“Thank you,” I said. “All of you. They were bad, and you did a very good thing. We’ll forever be grateful, but you can go now.” I scooped up some of the dirt at my feet, rubbed it between my palms, then over my face, breaking the magic of my blood and releasing the creatures to the forest, something else I just instinctively knew to do.

They left as fast as they’d come, returning to their homes.

My heart was still racing as I turned back to Draven.

He’d shifted back to his human form and was watching me like he had earlier, warily, like he expected me to send the animals after him as well. He didn’t trust me, and I realized that he may never, that he’d forever be waiting for me to turn on him, like Selene and Charity had. I didn’t know what to do about that—except protect my heart even more fiercely.

“Fucking hell, Iris,” he finally rasped.

I didn’t want to talk about it. I didn’t want to see that look on his face another moment. “Do you still have Amy’s scent?”

He nodded and thankfully said no more about what had just happened.

“Are you okay to carry on?” He had a couple of bite marks and deep scratches from the demons, but it didn’t look serious.

“Yeah.” He picked up what was left of his jeans and pulled them on. “Let’s go.”

I got the feeling that he wasn’t ready to talk about what just happened either.

He ran at a slower pace this time, and Nia and I followed. We went deeper into the woods, to a part I’d never been to before.

Then Draven stopped.

“What is it?”

“The scent, it ends here.” He frowned and turned in a slow circle.

I did the same, but there was nothing there. Just a small clearing surrounded by trees. “What’s that?” I pointed to a rocky pile on the ground.

Draven strode over and crouched down to check it out. “What’s left of a stone structure of some kind, maybe a small cabin or a cottage?”

I’d never heard of anyone living in these woods. I turned in a slow circle. Looking for something, anything. But there was nothing.

“Still no scent?” I asked Draven.

“Nothing. It’s gone.”

We searched the area for another hour. There was no recently disturbed dirt, no sign that anyone had been here in years. “What the hell is going on here?”