Page 14 of Alice Worth and the Elite Death Machine

I hooked my finger into the demon’s silver collar and pulled it free as I rose. I wanted a closer look at the spellwork it held, both so I knew what kind of armor demons used and because I might be able to adapt some of those spells to defend myself and our pack. To keep my hands free, I hooked it into my belt at the small of my back and fastened it closed.

Suddenly, for only the second time since I’d received it as a gift, the wolf’s head amulet hanging on a chain over my heart pulsed frantically, pulling me back toward the house. Sean needed me right the hellnow.That could only mean one thing: theúlfheðnarhad arrived and it was all hands on deck.

To hell with staying quiet. “Back to the house!” I grabbed the demon blade and broke into a run with Ben and Jesse right behind me.

We only made it a half-dozen steps before a huge shadow detached itself from the trees and blocked our path. I backpedaled and instinctively manifested my fire whip. Ben and Jesse lowered their heads, bared their teeth, and flattened their ears.

For a moment, I thought Conor had found us. Then dark shifter magic rose and scoured my skin like a sandstorm. Amber eyes ringed with red flared in the darkness.

The enormous man in front of us had the head and shoulders of a black wolf. What I’d first thought was dark skin was actually tattoos of runes that covered him from his collarbone to his feet. He wore nothing but pelts around his waist and armor strapped around his right shoulder and upper arm. Even from a distance his hands looked as large as dinner plates, each with five elongated digits and viciously scythe-like claws. I saw no weapons, but I supposed he didn’t need any other than what nature had given him.

To my horror, he carried the bloody, disemboweled corpses of two wolves by their necks, one in each of his clawed hands. My breath caught in my chest. Neither of the dead were Sean, but the nauseating sight of the butchered Blue Valley wolves filled me with grief and rage.

Theúlfheðnar’s low growl rolled over us like the rumbling of an avalanche. His fiery amber-red eyes focused on me.

“Well, fuck,” Malcolm said.

Chapter

Six

My vision tunneled.

Conor and his ilk were comfort and protection given form. Theúlfheðnarexuded suffering and death. As facetiously as Malcolm had coined the phraseElite Death Machine, I could think of no better descriptor for this creature.

If Sean had called for me using our amulets, he was in deep trouble himself. I reached to my right, where I thought Malcolm might be, and found his ghostly arm.Go check on Sean, I urged.Help him if he needs it.After a hesitation, I added,tell him we’ve got a problem here but not to come if Noah needs him.

Malcolm zipped away without arguing. He probably understood that I had to know if Sean was okay, and Sean needed to know why I hadn’t come to his aid. The last thing I wanted was for my werewolf to feel torn between protecting Noah and protecting me, but thisúlfheðnarhad taken that choice out of my hands.

I’d never faced such a being before. What was our strategy here?

Kill the monster, I supposed. Any way we could.

Theúlfheðnarhadn’t moved a muscle. What was he waiting for? My magic crackled on my hands and along the length of my whip.

“Faoladh,” he rumbled. He said it like a curse.

At first, I thought he’d asked for the location of Conor or Noah, but his tone wasn’t a question. It sounded more like a greeting or title. Which made no sense at all?—

—Until I remembered the rune on my forehead and Conor’s strange statement:You are a warrior and protector too. I know my own kind.

What the hell had Conor done?

Faoladhandúlfheðnarwere avowed enemies, and had been for as long as shifters kept such records. If I was right and Conor had marked me as one of his own kind, this man saw me as a mortal enemy, not just an opponent. But why would Conor throw me under the bus? Only one answer made sense, and it made me see red.

Could he truly have shown me such kindness and respect and then used me to distract theúlfheðnar?

Absolutely yes, he would, if it meant a better chance of getting Noah to safety. Son of a bitch. The maneuver was so masterful and cold-blooded, I would have applauded if I weren’t so pissed off.

Collateral damage might not bother afaoladh, but Ben, Jesse, and I weren’t collateral for him to damage, and we sure as hell weren’t sacrificial lambs. We were no one’s prey.

There might be a silver lining here, though.Faoladhandúlfheðnarconsidered each other equals in might and guile. I already had his respect.

I stuck the demon blade into the ground at my side like a punctuation mark. Following my lead, Ben and Jesse snarled, preparing to attack.

“This is as far as you go,” I told theúlfheðnar. And since I was repping an ancient line of warrior-protectors, I raised my chin and added, “The Tomb Mountain and Blue Valley packs do not suffer you to live.”

Theúlfheðnarraised his arms, the wolves’ bodies dangling from his hands and dripping blood. He planted his feet, raised his head, and bellowed.

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