Darien sat up straighter, a chill licking down his spine. “What are you talking about, Logan?” His mind backpedaled to the events that had taken place outside; how the only werewolf he’d smelled was Logan. There were no other wolves here.
Or so he’d thought.
Logan’s voice dipped several octaves. “I need to find another place for Sabrine to stay. Someplace safe until all this blows over.”
Realization swept across Darien’s features as he glanced again in the direction of the heart—awolfheart, he realized, one of the necessary elements for a successful transformation—in the sink, the pieces he’d been denying until now clicking into place. He recalled how Logan had said it wasn’t safe for Dallas and Loren to see Sabrine.
But not safe forwho?
“Youdidn’t,”Darien bit out. He felt his eyes turn black as rage flooded his body; he had to give Logan credit for not flinching at the sight.
“I had to!”Logan hissed. “The girl would’ve died. She wassecondsfrom dying.”
Darien tipped his head back to stare at the ceiling, fingers curling into fists as he forced the black out of his eyes. The reality of what Logan had done…
His fists tightened, leather gloves groaning as they threatened to tear from the force.
The son of a bitch had changed Sabrine into a werewolf to save her from the fatal injuries she’d sustained at the hands of her captors—as well as the ones she’d gained from apparently crashing down a fire escape. It was no secret that Logan didn’t have a great deal of money, so Darien knew whatever spell he was using to temporarily cloak Sabrine’s werewolf scent was hurling him deeper into the trench known asdebt.
Logan had just buried himself in a giant pile of horseshit. While he was at it, he might as well dig his own grave. By changing Sabrine, he’d broken the pact the werewolves had with the vampires, who were far more powerful than the wolves.
Thousands of years ago, the werewolves rebelled against the vampires that had oppressed and slaughtered a great number of their kind. After centuries of bloodshed, they finally came to a truce, and a pact was made: no more vampires or werewolves could be created—onlyborn—as both parties had been turning people against their will for millennia to fight in their selfish war.
It became the law from that day forward, backed by the Aerial Fleet, the winged soldiers who perched near the very top of the hierarchy on this western continent. If any new vampires or wolves were created through methods other than natural birth, both the person who was turned and their creator were to be imprisoned or executed—either by the law enforcement or by the opposing party of those who broke the pact. In this case, it was the vampires who now held the power to reignite an age-old war.
In other words, Logan was royally fucked.
Darien was shaking his head. “You just broke the law in an unforgiveable way—and that’s coming from someone who’s broken his fair share. Unless they decide to kill you, they’ll throw you in prison, Logan. As soon as they find out what you’ve done, your life isover.”He was failing to keep his voice down; the conversation the girls were having in the other room had fallen silent.“And theywillfind out, Logan—because you need to tell them. Hiding the location of a girl who’s been reported missing is possibly worse than having turned her into one of your own.”
Logan’s eyes were shuttered as he stared at the table, a hand cupping his mouth. “Perhaps saving her life will be reason enough for the law and the leeches to pardon me.”
Darien smirked, though it wasn’t with amusement. He couldn’t believe the sheer idiocy of Logan’s selfish decision. Because of this, every single werewolf in this city could be killed, every neighborhood in the Silverwood District razed to the ground.
“You’d better start praying to whatever gods you believe in, Logan,” Darien said, shoving out from the table. “Because you know who else is coming for you now.”
31
Loren listened carefully to the conversation Darien and Logan were having in the kitchen. Although her human hearing was unreliable at best, she figured she’d caught the gist of what was causing Darien to raise his voice.
“Is it true?” Loren said to Sabrine, who sat cross-legged on the carpet between her and Dallas. She’d guessed as much after taking note of Sabrine’s eyes; the near-black hue had already developed a warmer shade. By the sounds of things, they would soon be painted with the same fire as Logan’s.
Loren felt a stab of sadness. Before all this happened, Sabrine was half-human. Loren had clung to that fact for years, constantly reminding herself of it. And as awful as it made her, when other students had called Sabrinehalf-breedthroughout primary and secondary school, it made the wordhalf-lifea little easier for Loren to shoulder.
Sabrine’s throat bobbed. “He said his options were to either change me or let me die.”
Tears pricked Loren’s eyes. “I’m glad he saved you.” She gave Sabrine’s hand, her fingers laced with her own, a comforting squeeze.
“Me too,” Dallas said. “We were so worried about you, Sab. We’re glad you’re back.”
Darien appeared in the doorway that led to the kitchen, looking more than a little pissed off. “Ready to go?”
“Do you think we might be able to sleep here?” Loren said. It was already almost one in the morning; she didn’t think another few hours would matter.
“I think your friend will be able to tell you how bad an idea that is.” The pact between vampires and werewolves was shot to hell, and it seemed Sabrine was not out of harm’s way yet.
Sabrine gauged the slayer leaning in the doorway. “It’s okay,” she whispered. “You guys don’t need to stay with me. I’ll be fine.” But neither Loren nor Dallas let go of her.
“We’re staying, Darien,” Dallas announced. She turned her head to look at him, her long red ponytail snagging on her academy sweater. “You can either come back in the morning or stay with us. But until tomorrow, we’re not leaving Sabrine.” Although her words were firm, she couldn’t meet Darien’s gaze for long. She added in a small voice, “Of course, we’d prefer if you stayed.”
