Page 65 of Season of the Wolf

After talking Richie out of tagging along, insisting that he go check in on our parents instead, I was off to a running start. Roz had been on my mind since leaving the school lot, so I dialed her while we rushed through the woods at top speed.

She picked up right away and I wasn’t ashamed of how happy I was to hear her voice.

“You’re okay,” I panted.

“I am. Are you?” The quick response was an indication of fear.

I didn’t want to lie, so a vague, “I’m okay right now,” was true and made no promises I may later have to break.

“Where are you?”

At her question, I breathed into the phone, weighing my response before saying it aloud. “Doing what I can to help. It’s insane out here.”

“Which is why you need to get inside, Nick. You need to get to higher ground,” she urged. Her voice was nearly frantic now.

“Just … promise me you’ll stay in the house,” I practically begged, preparing to do just that if it came down to it.

“Promise me, Roz.”

She was still quiet, failing to say the words I so desperately needed to hear.

But then, her voice came back and I sighed with relief at the sound of it. “I promise, but you have to do the same. As soon as you can,” she added.

I nodded despite her not standing before me in the flesh. “I’ll do everything I can to get home.” And that was the honest truth. Iwouldfight hard, do all I could to stay safe while also keeping those I cared about out of harm’s way.

However, as the world seemed to fall apart around me, I wasn’t sure that was a choice I even had anymore.

I ended the call and our small group moved through the streets quickly, but in silence, contrasting the sudden panic that seemed to have spread like wildfire. Anxious faces hurried past as bodies flooded from buildings, as the emergency sirens wailed. Doors to many of the shops and restaurants had been left wide open as those inside bolted with one thing on their minds—escape.

As we ran, a second blast cracked through the air like lightning. An outcry of horrified screams followed. I turned toward the falls. From this distance, it was out of view, but there was no mistaking how the cloud of smoke that rose had thickened, blotting out a swatch of stars in the otherwise clear sky.

“We have to hurry,” I said in a rush, doubling our pace as we fought our way down the crowded sidewalk. While most were rushing toward higher ground, safety, we were headed straight into the mouth of madness.

The theater came into view and I crossed the street haphazardly, narrowly scraping past a delivery truck that hadn’t seen me.

At the sight of the thin crowd straggling out, my heart sank.

What if she found them and already left?

What if they were never here to begin with and she was wrong?

When my feet stopped on the pavement, one of the guys spoke—one with a clean-shaven head and permanent scowl set on his face, like angry was his default emotion.

“Why aren’t we moving?” his voice boomed in a deep tenor, one woven with a heavy accent. I glanced his way, only now really giving any of them a hard look. With their size exceeding mine and their scents throwing me off, I kept my guard up.

There was the telltale smoke of a dragon, but … lycan, too. It only took a moment to realize I’d been traveling with hybrids. I gave the one who spoke another look before replying.

“I … I need to hear,” I explained vaguely.

An audible growl resonated from his chest—a threat meant for me, no doubt. It took one of the others placing a hand on his shoulder, and then calling him by name, to disperse some of the fury in his eyes.

“Easy, Tobias,” the one with the mohawk urged. His gaze drifted to mine, almost apologetically. “Forgive my brother. He’s just concerned … and somewhat impatient,” he added kindly before giving his own name. “I’m Ivan.”

It was quick as far as introductions were concerned, but under these circumstances, it was enough.

With Tobias settling down per his brother’s request, I gave my name and then focused again, listening for Evie’s heart.

The roar of an engine threw me off when a car passed. Breathing deep, I closed my eyes. The crisp night air of an incoming spring moved over my skin and I let myself feel the waves of energy within it.

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