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Lexi’s gaze dropped back into her tea. Her shoulders dropped lower. “If we could befriend them before telling them what you are… maybe…”

“If dreaming makes you feel better, go for it. Hope sailed out of my reality a long time ago.” Too wired to sleep now, Eryn stalked down the short hall to her bedroom and tossed on leggings and a sweatshirt. Without sitting, one foot at a time, she tugged on wool socks and stuffed her feet into hiking boots. She tossed her hair into a ponytail and stalked toward the front door.

“Wait. Eryn?”

She stopped and looked back at her sister.

Lexi hooked a wicked grin and winked. “I’m sure she’ll understand if you want to bang our neighbor.”

A laugh almost twitched in Eryn’s throat. “If you go on a date, I’ll go on a date.”

“Deal.”

Eryn dashed down the stairs and climbed into her car. Ancient hinges squealed as she slammed the door shut. On the second try, the engine fired up.

Years of training. Endurance, strength, hand-to-hand, and those damn knives she had finally mastered.

As she drove out of town and into the hills, the air thinned, fog thickened, and trees grew denser.

Until she ran out of road. Out of the car, she tightened her shoelaces and started off.

Two miles of rocky, winding trail, and she reached the fork. The north branch had been closed off since the landslide that day. Too dangerous to repair. The park rangers didn’t know the half of it.

Her pulse pounded, her breath short and rapid as adrenaline surged—more out of nerves than exertion. Still mostly human, she tired, but not easily. No matter how hard she trained, it wasn’t enough.

Lexi was right, dammit. She didn’t stand a chance. Not without that second dose.

When she ran out of trail, she began the climb. Roots became handholds. She dug her boots into the loose detritus covering the incline.

Underbrush thickened and thinned as she wove deeper into the forest. Wildlife had formed new trails since she’d last been here. Trees had grown and fallen.

Another hundred yards up, and the shrubs struggled to grow leaves bigger than pennies.

A shriek pierced the air.

Eryn looked up.

Unearthly creatures, bigger than eagles, balder than lizards. From a distance, the circling creatures could easily be mistaken for hawks. Wyverns, according to Lexi. Of course, Lexi’s research tended to be fifty percent mythology and fifty percent Buffy.

Up close, each was a solid foot taller than she was. Wrinkly, miniature dragons.

Surprise visits were out of the question. Not with these guys around.

The forest opened into a raw, lifeless patch of dirt. Not even a stray blade of grass pierced the ground.

The temperature dropped as she stepped into the clearing.

Would a “hello” be too obvious?

Eryn puffed her cheeks and looked around. If only she could whistle a jaunty tune and at least pretend she wasn’t freaking out. Or a sharp call to drag the bitch from her hidey-hole.

One wrong move, and the bitch could change her mind and kill Eryn right now. Or worse, renege on their deal, and Lexi would join their parents’ bodies at the bottom of the ravine.

The wyverns circled without landing. That was something, at least, that the puppets of death showed only a passive interest in her.

Ahead, the cave entrance was dark as midnight. No movement, no sound.

Foolish to come here at all, but Eryn was absolutely not naive enough to go inside.