Page 67 of The Blood Queen

No, I didn’t dare jump to that conclusion.

Fallon was staring as if she was afraid to ask. “Is it possible?”

Through the pack bond, she added, Set said the smoke is always red.

And every witness had reported black smoke when Julien…

Two men came racing back. They’d found a back entrance. An escape route. In a world that treated the odd ones the way this world did, no species built safe houses without hidden exits—more than one.

We raced along the slick cave floor, following the flow of cold air, and emerged into the opal light of afternoon.

A stark emptiness flowed through my gut. Because Noa’s scent was fresh, desperate. In the snow, I read the tracks. Two, one leaving dragged footprints. Then more prints, paws from racing hybrids. Another set from someone with two feet, boots.

“I know where she’s going,” Mace said.

Because we were within sight of the Alpha’s Woods. Where two passages would lead into Sentinel Falls. And a third passage after that, leading to the house of memories.

Passages Noa sensed and used.

Passages Ago would discover if he tracked her. Followed her footprints until they disappeared.

Would he find the second passage opening? Only Sentinel Falls wolves could push through the magic. No one else. But if one of Ago’s hybrids had come from our pack… someone Mosbach hated enough to sell…

I broke into a run.

CHAPTER 17

Noa

“Hurry.” My arm tightened around Julien’s waist. The magic was still wavering from the intruder’s disruption; someone else had entered the passage far behind us, but my skin still rippled beneath the chill. We neared the exit, steps from safety and the second passage. Once we reached Sentinel Falls territory, I’d syphon until my hands burned, and I’d do more than send sparks from my fingertips.

“Almost there,” I whispered, helping Julien over a slick patch on the rocks. “A little slog through the snow, then a second passage.”

I meant it to reassure him.

Julien bared his teeth in a worrying smile.

“Planning on biting someone?” I teased, wanting to lighten the mood, but his snarl was low-pitched.

“Ago’s behind us.”

The magic must have recognized someone—or something—with Ago, or they wouldn’t have found the passage.

One more let’s-fuck-with-Noa jab from fate.

I was swearing more now than I ever had, but I found it cathartic. An explosive word instead of an explosion from my fingers. I saved that up for Ago—the explosions. This time, when I got my hands on him, I wouldn’t stop until nothing was left except a vampire husk I would burn. See if the smoke really was red.

More snow as we pushed through the protective magic concealing the passage and aimed for the second one leading into Sentinel Falls territory. Julien worried over our footprints in the snow, worried about the trail we left behind. If Ago found us, Julien wouldn’t have the strength to fight. We’d both end up dead or back at High Citadel. Pinned to a wall.

Concern tightened his mouth. His chest rose each time he breathed, and those actions were always odd to me, making him seem so… human. As if being a vampire hadn’t changed him…

I gave up hoping for concealment and opted for speed. “Hurry.”

Julien worked at keeping up, but with every third step, he grunted, then hissed in a breath.

“Leave me,” he ordered between jagged gasps.

“I’m not leaving you,” I gritted. “I don’t need the bone-crushing guilt.”

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