Page 88 of Wicked Hour (Heirs of Chicagoland 2)

“So maybe whatever magic they’re using affects the shifting—changes what they shift into, or how they do it.”

“And it’s not working very well,” he said. “I think it’s supposed to be a hybrid.”

“Aren’t shifters hybrids?”

“No, we’re both man and wolf. Our transition is like flipping a coin—you have the wolf or the human.”

“But the creatures are like both human and wolf at the same time,” I guessed. “Wolves that walk on two legs.”

“And enhanced,” Connor said. “Bigger than both.” He shook his head, looked at me with apology in his eyes. “I didn’t inspect the shutters. I only checked they were still in place. I’m sorry they hurt you. And I’m sorry I allowed it.”

Whatever was between us, I could give him this. “You don’t owe me an apology, and you didn’t allow anything. There was no reason for you to go over the shutters with a microscope. It’s illogical they’d have tried to remove them.”

Guilt shifted to confusion. “What?”

“This is indirect and sloppy. Maybe they think causing me pain will hurt you. They apparently don’t realize vampires aren’t comatose during the day; we sleep. Pain wakes us up. They’d have been a lot more successful attacking me or you away from the resort. Here, the odds are higher they’d be seen or caught.”

Connor blinked, looked back at the shutters. “This was sloppy.”

“Yeah, it was.” But since it plainly wasn’t beyond them, I’d put a blanket over the window tonight, just in case.

And something else was interesting.... “It ran away.”

“Yeah,” he said, putting his hands on his hips. “I scared it off.”

“Right, but that’s new, or at least different from last night. Last night they were eager to fight.”

“You’re right. This is more like the attack on Beth.”

“Nervous around the resort,” I suggested, and felt better that we seemed to be getting into our rhythm again. “So,” I began, thinking it through, “they’re angry about last night, they decide to get revenge, but they’re wounded, tired, and maybe the shifting is broken. They aren’t at full power, but they still come back here to take a shot at me, and you by proxy.”

“We need to find them.”

“Yeah. We do. Before they hurt anyone else.” I looked around. “Did Alexei find any tracks leading from the Stone farm? Any indication of where they went? Maybe a handy path leading right to Traeger’s cabin?”

“No,” he said. “And no broken magic at the resort. Either they didn’t come back here, or they did and the magic dispersed too quickly for him to sense it.”

“If they didn’t come back here, where would they go?”

He opened his mouth to add something, closed it again at the sound of footsteps.

We turned, found Maeve coming our way, three bulky male shifters behind her. They all wore leather, had guns belted to their waists. Maeve wore a very self-satisfied smile along with her leggings, boots, and leather jacket.

She ignored me, looked at Connor. “You’re wanted. Both of you.” Now she slid that gaze to me, with eagerness that made me feel a little punchy.

“Wanted?” Connor asked coolly.

“Cash and the elders. And Ronan and his people. They wantto talk to you about last night.” She slid her gaze to me. “About what she did. Let’s go.”

The shifters stepped closer. In response to the obvious threat, Connor moved to stand in front of me. While I appreciated the gesture—maybe we weren’t done?—I didn’t want him putting himself in danger at my expense.

“You hurt her, you hurt the Apex. Understood?”

It was clear from their expressions, hard and eager, that they wanted to fight. But while they might have followed the clan’s orders, they were at least smart enough not to take on the Apex while his son was watching.

“Then you’d better go with us willingly,” Maeve said.

If she realized I was wearing a sword, she didn’t mention it. Maybe she thought a vampire with a sword wasn’t a match for a roomful of shifters. A serious error on her part.

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