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I thought I’d be able to cope with being away from her. After so long separated, a few thousand miles for a few weeks didn’t feel like a big deal.

But it was torture.

Being so far away from her when I almost lost her not once but twice in the past six months was unbearable. So, while Luther was sleeping I booked a flight and left town.

He’ll be pissed. But he doesn’t need me. He’s got Nico and Rev. I’m just dead weight. Even if he is determined to train me up to be the new deputy.

A few more corners and a narrow side street and I’ve reached what looks like the right building. I scan the signs.

This is the one.

I ascend the steps and stand on my hind legs to examine the door. It’s locked and immovable. I could shift back and knock, but something tells me that’s a bad idea.

So, instead, I prowl around the outskirts of the building.

Eventually, I find a window that hasn’t been locked properly. I nudge it open with my nose and crawl through, landing with a thud in a dusty basement full of boxes and shelves.

Up the basement steps, the door opens onto a corridor.

I stop and sniff the air.

Snow is the first that comes to me. But his scent is laced with something else; blood. His blood.

Mack and Tanner are here too. Stronger than Kole and Nova, which makes my bones twitch with unease.

Why is her scent weaker? Where is she?

Stalking through the museum, I pass through a display about witchcraft through the ages, and a bunch of old objects I don’t have the time or energy to care about.

Snow’s scent is stronger now. Mack and Tanner’s too. But Nova and Kole are faint. Barely here at all.

When I reach a door with light trickling out from beneath it and the sound of a fire crackling in the grate, I pause. I stand on my back legs and press down the handle, pushing the door so it swings open.

For a moment, nothing happens. Then there is a flurry of movement.

A tall, suited silhouette appears in front of me. It moves with a speed that only one creature possesses.

Vampires.

It reaches for me, but I dart sideways and bare my teeth.

I hear Tanner yell, “Thornfield, stop!'

But the vampire comes for me. He pins me to the floor and has his teeth at my throat when Mack bellows, “Professor Thornfield, this boy is one of ours and you will let him go. NOW.”

I snarl loudly.

The vampire snarls back. I can feel his blood racing, which always confuses me because, for the longest time, I believed the human-created narrative that vampires are the undead rather than humans turned into demons. Still alive, just… other.

“Wolf…” Thornfield spits as he stands up and backs into the center of the room.

“Sam is a werewolf. But he’s one of us.” Mack puts a firm hand on Thornfield’s shoulder.

“I will not be in the same room as a werewolf.” Thornfield is glaring at me. His chest is rising and falling. His muscles are taut. His pupils look strange… rimmed with redness.

Is he afraid of me? Or is it hatred that makes him tremble?

I shake myself and stalk closer to him, narrowing the gap between us while baring my teeth.