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He dead-eyed me. “You wanna walk into that creepy mist and go talk to the murder guru? Uhm, let me think.” Reaching across the window, he booped my nose and grinned. “Not fuckin’ happening. We’re staying here until that mist fucks off.”

“You know, I could just eat him?”

“Pfft, you can’t eat every problem, Kitten.”

“It’s worked pretty well so far.”

“Imma make us all more bubble tea,” Zee said, probably to keep Zander calm. He turned to him and asked, “What’s your favorite flavor?”

With Zee and Zander chatting, I kept my eye on the swirling mist. The street had vanished beneath its folds, making it seem as though this little house was the only one in Whiteacre Falls.

Could loup-garous control the weather? That seemed like something Victor would have mentioned. A Wilson’s Guide would have been useful right about now. “Hey, Zander, do you know if Mia has a Wilson’s Guide?”

“Maybe. It’ll be in the next room over, on the bookshelf.” He pointed across the short hall into the other room.

I headed toward the dining room but stopped short when a blur passed by the window. Or was it just the bush outside, shifting in the breeze? I hadn’t heard anything, though . . . The mist had made me jumpy.

From the window, I checked the yard and found just a whole lot of mist trying to push in. And the bush wasn’t moving . . . Not a breath of wind.

“Adam Vex,” a growling voice rumbled from outside. I peered closer into the gray gloom and spotted a bulky figure emerging . . . Duke.

I moved toward the front door.

“Don’t go out there,” Zee warned as he left the kitchen, fresh drinks in both hands.

“I’m just going to talk with him.”

“From the doorway.” Zee’s smiles had gone.

“Yup, right here.” Opening the door revealed swathes of churning gray mist, but no Duke. “Huh.” Well, that was . . . weird. “You heard him, right?”

“Yeah . . .” Zee peered over my shoulder. “That’s a big nope to the murder mist.”

“He was right there.” Unless . . . it hadn’t been Duke at all. Victor had said the loup-garou was a shapeshifter that could make itself look like almost anything humanoid. Or anyone?

“Meh, he’s gone now. Bubble tea?” Zee shoved a glass into my hand and turned toward Zander on the couch.

“Zee, something weird is going on.”

“I know. I couldn’t find the peach flavoring, so you’ve got a mix of cranberry and blueberry. It’ll work.” He handed the second glass to a beaming Zander.

We had more to worry about than bubble-tea flavoring. I sipped the tea . . . although it did taste good.

An arm looped around my waist and yanked me backward through the door. A snap of wet-cold wrapped around my body, and by the time I realized I was no longer standing in the house, the mist had swallowed everything recognizable.

The steel-hard arm spun me, then flung me down, face first into the dirt.

Knees or paws—I couldn’t be sure which—pinned me to the ground, and a thunderous growl touched the back of my neck.

“You know . . .” I wheezed, trying to breathe around the crushing weight. “This is a really bad idea.”

The growls continued.

“I may not . . . look it . . . but I’m actually . . . a badass.” All that was difficult to say with a mouth full of grass. If I could just get my hands under me, I could shove whoever was on me off.

“Adam!” The rolling mist made Zee’s cry come from all over. I couldn’t see anything much beyond the grass I was face down in.

“Stay out of pack business,” the growly voice said, more animal than man.