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“Hematologist,” I say, suppressing a shiver. It’s ironic in the worst possible way that the reason by sister is a demon is because of my expertise in blood disorders, and that same skillset is also her best chance of survival.
We spend the next hour getting all four demons set up in the old formal dining room. An enormous table occupies the center, and a stone fireplace stands at one end. I unpack and spread out my equipment on the table and give the other three demons another dose of the neutralizer. Keeping them in an induced coma is the best I can do for now until I find a cure. And without the neutralizer, they’d eventually die off like the others back at the lab, the ones too far gone for me to save. It’s not a cure, but it gives me time to develop one.
When I’m satisfied for the moment, I stroll into the sitting room which looks out over the lake and the Highland peaks beyond. Exhaustion sweeps over me. After escaping the lab, I’d spent the last two weeks hopping locations across the globe to make sure the Night Guild lost my trail. That’s in addition to the spell I’d performed to prevent them from tracking us—I don’t exactly trust my magic. While on the run, I’d gathered some basic supplies to continue working on a cure. When I’d escaped their secret lab in Costa Rica, I’d had to leave all my equipment behind, other than a few vials of the neutralizer.
Being back home is both a balm and a spear in my heart. I’ve missed this land fiercely since I left. But returning just brings back all the memories I needed to escape in the first place. A wild rollercoaster of emotions rages in my core. How can I love and hate something so strongly at the same time?
A noise to my left startles me, but it’s just Nessa with a cup of tea. She smiles and presses the warm ceramic mug into my hands.
“Thanks,” I say. “You’re the best.”
“I’m glad you’re back, Tamsin,” the old witch says. “MacPherson House hasn’t been the same without you. I know it’s hard for you, but I’ve missed you. We all have.”
I can only imagine how lonely it’s been for her and Ainsley in this big house since I left, all of us still grieving the loss of my parents. But the way she says all sends a shiver up my spine. Because I have a feeling she and Ainsley aren’t the only ones she’s referring to.
She pats my shoulder and shuffles back to the kitchen. I drink my tea as my eyes scan the lake and the hills beyond. I catch a flicker of lights in the peaks directly across from my house. Without conscious thought, I get up from my chair and slip outside through the side door onto the patio beyond. I set my cup of tea on the wall at the back of the patio and step out into the grass.
The moment my foot touches the earth, I feel my magic pulse out of me, moving across the sky. I shiver in surprise. I’d bound my power when I left this place all those years ago, but another witch, Ven, had released it to help us rescue Luciana and escape the Night Guild’s lab. I haven’t used it hardly at all these last two weeks, but now, standing here in the place I grew up, in this land I know so well, my magic flares out. Awakens. It’s as if the land is calling out to it, and it’s calling back.
I stride toward the lake, passing the horse pasture on my right. I stop about halfway there when my ballet flats squish down in a patch of mud. The moon shines down from above, clouds racing across it. It’s treacherous to cross this land at night. I hadn’t meant to walk this far, but something had compelled me, drawn me like a magnet.
Not something. Someone.
And no sooner does his image flash through my mind than a howl rises from the hills across the lake. Goosebumps pebble my skin. A dark shape moves to the top of one of the ridges. It’s got to be a mile away, but the moonlight is bright, almost glowing, and the thing I see is not exactly small.
A dire wolf, nearly the size of a horse.
My heart flutters in my chest as I watch the silhouette of the huge wolf. He howls again and leaps down from the ridge, racing toward the lake.
Toward me.
