The third and fourth devotees vaulted through the doorway. I lashed out with my nullification, catching the third mid air and stripping his power. As he stumbled, a mastiff lunged, sinking its teeth into his leg. Finn drove his dagger upward beneath the man’s ribs with brutal precision, and the devotee collapsed in a heap at his feet.
The last vampire didn’t get the chance to recover. The mastiffs hit him at full tilt, their combined weight slamming him into the wall with a thud. After a wet crunch, the fourth devotee went limp.
Silence crashed down around us. I surveyed thecarnage, my chest heaving and my throat burning where Lorelei’s grip lingered.
Zane approached, steadying my trembling frame. “You’re bleeding, Sidney.” He reached for my face.
“I’m fine.” I wiped the liquid dripping under my nose, unsurprised to see the smear of crimson. “We need to leave before the other guards arrive.”
Finn stood by the ruined door, scanning the dead.Do we hide the evidence?
There was no time for that. I looked at Lorelei’s body, satisfied that she’d finally met her end.No. Let them see what happens when the shadows have teeth.
The rat scurried out from beneath the vanity and climbed up Finn’s leg. After grabbing my dagger and stake, I cleaned them on Lorelei’s dress before sheathing them. Zane and Finn retrieved their weapons as well. We slipped out, the dogs at our heels.
I caught Finn’s eye.You cannot take them to the mansion.
Finn’s fingers moved quickly.I know. They will stay in the woods with Ash. I will get the kitchen staff to give me more meat for all of them.
Finn’s gaze lifted to mine, pleading, that stubborn shine in his eyes like a child refusing to surrender a beloved toy. The mastiffs pressed close, whining softly, their cold, wet noses nudging at my hands.
I rolled my eyes and gave him a nod. We crossed into the garden, and the canines exploded into motion, barreling straight into the fountain. Icy water sprayed as they splashed and pawed at each other, tails whipping, blood washing from their muzzles.
We stepped to the edge and quickly washedoff. Crimson swirled away in the ripples while the mastiffs splashed, shaking water everywhere.
Shouting erupted from inside the house behind us. I ran, my mates right behind me.
The dogs froze with pricked ears before they leapt from the fountain and bolted after us. We ran through the garden and climbed the wall. Zane lifted the canines with his shadows, and we hit the street at a full sprint.
Before we entered the main road, we slowed. Finn and Zane yanked their masks off. I slipped the bracelet on, and Ilyana’s form shimmered into place.
The streets remained empty, but Zane kept us in the shadows. Our footsteps echoed too loudly. Yet no alarms sounded, and no guards emerged.
As we neared the mansion, a sensation vibrated through my teeth. I recognized the low-frequency hum from before as Finn’s power grew inside me, pulsing in time with my heartbeat. A crow perched on a fence post cocked its head, its dark gaze locking on to me.
“Hungry,”a voice echoed in my mind.
I froze.I can understand it.
“Sidney?” Zane stopped next to me.
“The world is getting louder,” I whispered, unable to look away from the crow. “And I think I’m finally starting to hear it.”
The sensation spread. A dog barked nearby, and the sound carried meaning beneath the noise. “Alert. Stranger. Mine.”A horse shifted in a nearby stable, its drowsy contentment brushing my awareness like warm honey.
“It’s not just one.” I pressed my palm to my aching temple. I turned to Finn, letting him read my lips. “It’s all of them. Every animal nearby. How do you filter this out?”
Finn stepped closer. He tapped his temple, then mimed closing a door.
“You shut them out?” I visualized a barrier.
The crow’s hunger still clawed at my mind, and the distant, rhythmic chant of the dogs Finn had sent to the woods—“Treat, treat, treat!”—ebbed as the connection stretched thin. I focused on that fading sensation, pushing back against the noise until the chorus dimmed. The voices weren’t gone, but they were manageable.
“I’ll need practice,” I said.
Finn nodded.Welcome to my world.
A flash of speckled gray feathers cut through the trees. Ash’s eyes glinted in the night. He made an ursine huff before disappearing into the forest.
