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“Famous last words,” she muttered, and retreated.
I drew in a breath that didn’t do a whole lot to calm the nerves, then warily stepped through the hole and into the room. The wolf glared at me, his muzzle bloody and his eyes unfocused.
He was definitely under a compulsion.
I took another step, the knife between us though I wasn’t sure this wolf had enough awareness to recognize the danger it represented.
His lips curled, revealing bloody canines that glowed unnaturally in the remaining dusty light.
They were unsettlingly large canines.
I forced down the flare of fear, knowing well enough that the slightest show of weakness could result in an attack.
Not that I had any doubts that he would attack regardless.
“I don’t know if you can understand me, but I need to remove the compulsion that controls you before the situation gets any worse. To do that, I need to get closer.”
Another low rumble and a slight shift in movement.
I raised the knife. “I will kill you if I have to, have no doubt of that.”
No response, but no attack either.
My gaze flicked to his victim. Harry’s throat had been ripped out, his jugular and the thick muscles that usually protected it exposed and still pulsing blood onto the thick carpet.
Anger surged, and my gaze snapped back to the wolf. Beyond the dead madness and blood lust lay death. This wasn’t his first human kill. He’d done it before, and he’d do it again.
I took another step.
He attacked.
I flung out a hand and wild magic spun from my fingers, forming a shield between us. The wolf twisted away from it, landing heavily on the other side of his victim. In that moment, I realized the wraith’s spell was not only controlling the wolf’s actions but also enabling him to see through the wolf’s eyes. There was no other explanation for the wolf’s desperate avoidance of my shield. He shouldn’t have been able to see it, let alone known what it was.
But the wraith did. And now he knew I was able to call it.
I swore, though in truth, it probably wouldn’t alter his plans all that much. If anything, the wild magic in my blood would only sweeten the deal for him and his demons if they ever did taste my flesh.
The wolf leapt again, and this time he didn’t divert. I braced my feet, raised my shield to protect my upper body, and gripped the knife hard. The wolf hit the shield so hard, it slid me back several feet. He was close enough that I could smell the foulness of his breath and see in his golden eyes the ungodly intelligence that controlled his thoughts and deeds.
Then, with a howl that was unearthly and unnatural, he twisted and dropped away. As he did, I drew back the knife and stabbed him as hard as I could in the flank. The blade sliced through his emaciated flesh so easily, the hilt hit his fur with bone-jarring force.
There was an odd flash, and the magic shimmering around him died, leaving a foul stench behind. The wolf dropped like a stone in an ungainly heap at my feet, the light and intelligence gone from his eyes.
He was dead.
But... how? I’d deliberately aimed for his flank to avoid damaging his heart and his lungs, and the silver in the knife should not have affected him so quickly.
Was it the spell? In destroying it, had I somehow destroyed him? Had the spell been tied to the wolf’s life force rather than the wraith’s, in order to... The thought died as horror stirred.
The wolf’s already thin body was literally disintegrating before my eyes. It was as if someone had hit the fast forward switch on decomposition.
And that meant the magic that had surrounded him wasn’t only about control. It was, quite literally, giving him life.
This wolf had been dead long before my knife had ever found his flesh.
I shivered, stepped over what was left of his body, and ran over to the hole. There wasn’t much to see, and the only thing I could hear was the rush of water. I cast my light down. The drain was circular concrete, and there was probably just enough room to stand upright as long as you weren’t too tall. The water running along the bottom looked to be a foot or so deep, and there was graffiti and tags all over the place. There was obviously an outlet fairly close by.
Juli’s scent followed the flow of the water, but it was fading fast. I fought the urge to jump down and chase after him—aside from the fact I’d promised not to, I was just as likely to get lost as find him—and looked around the room. There were a couple of suit jackets hanging over the back of upturned chairs. The one farther away was Juli’s—I could smell the strange scent that clung to it from here—and if luck was with me, there’d be something in one of his pockets holding enough of his resonance to track him.
