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I tumbled off the chair in my rush to get away from the table. Caelan hauled me upright as Zakar’s screams dragged further and further down the passageway.
“You have your gun, Marcy?”
I patted the new holster I'd bought myself to hide under my shirt. “Silvered.”
He pushed me toward the silken fabric. “Find out where they’re headed. I’m just behind.”
I stepped into the darkness. Ahead, light dimmed in the shape of a closing door. My footsteps echoed down the concrete passage as I ran past a stone staircase winding to the basement, another door, and out to the back of the building. Gun in my hand, I pushed open the door.
A dumpster lay illuminated by a lone, flickering light. Zakar’s long fingers clung to the side of the dumpster. The man's green eyes met mine, wide and full of fear, as a dark gray wolf held his thigh in its jaws and was attempting to violently rip him free. The muscles in the animal’s shoulders tensed; its huge paws strained against the ground as it tugged once, then twice more.
Behind me, Caelan barreled through the exit.
Upon spotting the sheriff, the grey wolf started to pull harder and faster.
I ran wide, taking aim, when a white blur smashed into my side, sent me flying across the pavement. The gun skipped out of reach. I stretched for it as the werewolf—the pale one who'd first grabbed him, small and two-legged—took off at a sprint.
It didn't get far, unbalanced by some type of leg injury. It reached the edge of the pavement when the sheriff clamped down on its arm below the shoulder and drove the monster hard into the ground.
At a shout, I turned. Zakar’s grip gave way. The gray wolf improved its grip and dragged the kicking, screaming man into the woods.
Unsure if I’d be pursuing alone, I checked on Caelan.
He stood atop the white werewolf, a mutated animal snarling and struggling to free itself from the larger sheriff, who had trapped it on its side and begun the process of rolling it onto its back. The wolf’s dark paws dug into its ivory fur as he regripped to sink his fangs nearer and nearer its throat, rendering flesh from bone with near mechanical precision.
From my vantage point, I caught a good glimpse of the animal’s swollen belly and the weak leg that had hampered its escape.
It was missing a chunk of calf muscle.
My heart bottomed into my stomach.
Pained blue eyes met mine. Rhetta extended one clawed hand toward me, then Caelan got her throat and her howl was mangled rage.
I screamed his name, screamed much worse as I ran at them. I threw my arms around him, grabbed him by the scruff of his neck to pull him away, but the sheriff's jaws were locked around his prey.
“Stop!” I pleaded, digging my nails into one flattened ear.
With a snarl his fangs burrowed deeper.
“You can't, Caelan! You can’t!”
His teeth closed on empty air millimeters from my face. Surprised, I fell back on my ass. His shoulders hunched, his ears rounded as if checking to see I was okay.
Then the she-wolf landed a swipe landed across his jaw and kicked free. She lurched forward, one hand covering her gushing neck, and stumbled into the night.
The sheriff moved to reclaim his prey. I tackled him, tried to. Leading with my shoulder, I hit with the impact of a moth on a bug zapper. In a flash he slammed me into the pavement, dripping muzzle inches from my throat. One massive paw pushed into my chest, compressing my lungs, bending my ribs.
“Caelan,” I gasped, pushing against his weight.
His lips curled back to reveal glistening fangs. There wasn't any part of him left in those feral amber eyes.
chapter 24
BRICK AND MORTAR HORROR
My world was pressure. With every wheeze, sensation tingled and faded, until all I felt was hot breath on my neck and a cold constriction around my heart.
I laid my hand on the base of his slick chin, cupped the crimson jaw and coughed, “Don't!” against his rising snarl. “Don’t—don’t kiss me like this, Caelan.”
