Page 136 of The World Undone

He looked rightfully hesitant, but not nearly surprised enough by the presence of a giant supernatural hound as he would be if he were human.

Ralph let out a strange whine I’d never heard before, then spun in a circle, his tail wagging with a vengeance.

Then he jumped towards the man, but instead of attacking, he licked the man’s face, from his chin to his temple.

The man’s lip curled in disgust, but he didn’t dare push the hellhound away. Instead, he stood there, his face slick with saliva, a curl of his hair protruding at an awkward angle, caked in slime.

Unbothered by the man’s ambivalence, Ralph nuzzled the red ball over until it hit his mud-coated shoe, waiting patiently for him to throw it.

I held my breath, confusion fighting for shock as I watched the scene unfold before me.

The man glanced briefly from me to Ralph, and I could see that he was just as conflicted, every muscle frozen, like he wasn’t entirely sure if the hound wanted to play or was simply tasting out his next meal. With a heavy sigh, he bent down slowly, picked up the ball and tossed it far into the woods.

Ralph took off with a happy leap, not even sparing me a glance as he ran off after his prize. Traitor.

The man relaxed, watching the hellhound pounce through the snow like a puppy. “Friend of yours, I take it?”

I’d never seen Ralph take so quickly to a stranger, and he’d always been a good judge of character. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to trust this man just yet.

I arched a brow, not wanting to give an inch. “Who are you? How did you find this place?”

He dropped the pack from his back with a soft thud, then took a few steps closer to me.

I held my dagger up between us, stopping him before he got any closer. “My patience isn’t exactly elastic these days.”

“Neither was hers,” he said, that small half-smile again, though this time it quivered just slightly. “Ever. And I know this place because it’s mine.”

I didn’t drop the blade, but I didn’t push forward to break his skin either. “The Lodge?”

“And my name,” in a move too fast for me to predict or react to, he disarmed my dagger and held it to my throat, “is Saif. Judging by that familiar, stubborn expression on your face, that must make you my niece.”

27

DARIUS

“Fucking hell that’s awful.” Nash’s face was nearly green as his knees started to buckle. He didn’t fall down or vomit though, so that was something. He was still getting his earth-side sea legs, so teleporting was probably extra fucking awful for him right about now. The moment he caught his balance, he was bent next to Nika, calming her. Attempting to, anyway.

“You’re welcome for the free ride,” I muttered. They were rare. Wait until he got a load of how much plane tickets cost.

I turned to Eli, Atlas, and Wade, who’d brought Claude and Nika, making sure nothing catastrophic had happened to them on the trip over.

Nika didn’t appear to have eaten any of them during the shift here, so I was counting that as a win.

Arnell set up the meeting and we’d left as soon as Dec was certain Max made it to the woods, that she’d be gone for a few hours.

She was staying behind, begrudgingly, as was Ro. It was a precaution in case shit went down and we needed help getting out of here—or keeping Max distracted.

Nika snapped when Nash touched her, and for a moment I thought she was going to go full evil dead and try to kill us all. Do The Guild a favor.

Instead, her eyes darted to each of us, lingering longer on me and Claude, like she recognized us. Almost.

Thick chains cuffed her hands and legs, a brace around her neck to keep her from attacking—but she hadn’t yet.

Nash raised his hands, approaching her slowly this time, like she was a wounded puppy and not a feral, overpowered vampire who wanted to drain every ounce of blood from his veins.

Love was a veil sometimes.

Still, when he caught her gaze in his, some of the tension eased from her shoulders. Maybe he was right, maybe she was getting a little better, the balance righting itself—if only just slightly.

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