My heart rose into my throat. “How? How did they find us?”

Skyla froze, her body language indicating she was fierce and ready to fight, but she said, “We don’t know that it’s Helen. Let’s not jump to conclusions.”

“You didn’t hear that scream,” I said. “Whatever provoked her to make that sound… it wasn’t her own shadow.”

Inyoni’s face hardened. “Kalani is tough and formidable. Maybe it was Helen you heard screaming.”

We stood in a semicircle around the porch door and held our breath, listening. The rain had eased and pattered softly on the leaves. An owl hooted. Something splashed far out in the lake, and then nothing. “What do we do?” I whispered.

“Call for her?” Skyla asked Inyoni.

Inyoni shook her head. “No, it will give away our position.”

“If someone’s out there, they already know where—” Skyla’s statement was shattered by a scream, this one unquestionably terrorized and full of pain.

“Kalani!” Inyoni jumped from the steps, blade drawn, flashlight bouncing in her other hand. She dashed into the yard, turning her light in an arc around the tree line.

“Inyoni, wait!” I yelled. “We need to stay together!”

“No. We need to get you the hell out of here,” Skyla said, grabbing my wrist in a painful grip. She tugged me off the porch, moving away from the tree line and toward the truck.

“We can’t leave them,” I said, pulling hard against Skyla’s grasp. Damn, but she was strong.

“We can leave them and we will. They’re warriors, Solina. Let them do their job. Let me do mine, too.”

“Your job is to run like a coward?” I asked, planting my feet as we neared the truck.

“No, it’s to make sure you escape and live to fight another day.”

“But I—” A shadow moved in my peripheral vision, startling me into silence. Snarling and gnashing its teeth, a familiar shaggy figure emerged from the tree line opposite the one into which Inyoni had disappeared. The wolf’s amber eyes glinted in the beam of Skyla’s flashlight. The wolf raised his snout and bayed at a moon that was lost behind a thick layer of clouds. Chills broke out over my neck and shoulders, and I stepped closer to the truck. Skyla’s plan to run suddenly sounded like genius.

“Come back to finish what you started?” Skyla brandished her knife at the wolf. “Didn’t get enough of an ass-kicking the last time and now you want some more?”

Headlights and the rumble of tires interrupted her patter. The beams, like spotlights on a stage, lit up the scene; Skoll’s fangs gleamed in their glow. At least, I assumed the wolf was Skoll; it made sense, if Helen was sticking to the old ways. The car, a dark sedan, stopped, and its engine shut off. The headlights flickered off. The wolf growled again, but he held his place. Skyla and I found it prudent to do likewise. The driver’s door opened, and in the momentary glow of the interior light, I saw a familiar face.

“Aw, Nate,” I said. “Tell me you’ve come to rescue me.”

Nate shut the door and fell into darkness. His shadowy figure stepped closer to us, but Skyla waved him back, brandishing her knife and flashlight. “Afraid not, my dear,” he said.

“That’s a shame,” I said.

“A terrible waste, yes. I had grown quite fond of you after our introduction.”

“I liked you, too,” I said, breathing hard with the effort of keeping my terror at bay. “But apparently I’m not a great judge of character.”

Nate chuckled, completely nonchalant. “If I come closer, I think it is safe to assume you will roast my chestnuts, no?”

I split my lips and showed him my best man-eater smile. “Oh, yes.” I would have given him an example, except it would have wasted energy that was better saved for battle. My fire was there, though, sizzling under the surface, ready when I needed it.

“And Helen Locke is quite insistent that nothing harm you other than Skoll, lest her plans fall awry.”

“Right. The wolves eat the sun and moon to bring about Ragnarok. Been there, done that.” It was an old cliché, but I could think of nothing more apropos. “How does she even know it will work this time?”

“Well, Solina, one good truism deserves another. How about, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it?’”

“So, we’re going to sit here and wait for Skoll to finish what his brother started? I don’t think so. Skyla and I put up a good fight, and I’d rather take my chances with you.”

“That might not be a terribly unpleasant proposition, Miss Mundy, if you were a regular woman. But I’ve tasted of your fire and found that one time sufficient.”

Skyla pushed forward. “Helen must give some really good head to get you doing all her dirty work.”

Nate’s good humor vanished. “You shouldn’t speak of things you don’t understand. It exposes you as ignorant and vulgar.”

“Well, we can’t all be as well versed as you and Helen in the language of megalomania.”

I grabbed Skyla’s elbow and tugged her toward the truck. “It’s been fun getting reacquainted and everything,” I said, “but I have other plans for the remainder of my life. You wouldn’t mind moving your car out of the way, would you?”

Nate chuckled, and it was a cold and menacing sound. “I think not. But you’re welcome to make a run for it. It’s more sporting that way.”

I took another step toward the truck but stopped when someone came crashing through the woods behind us. Skyla and I turned, and the beam of her flashlight revealed an unfamiliar man clutching Inyoni in front of him and pressing a long-bladed knife to her throat. He stopped short when he caught sight of us, and his gaze fell heavy on me. “Why do I always have to eat the boy?” he said. “I’d much rather have had a taste of her.”

My throat closed, and I swayed on my feet as all my blood drained from my head. I knew that voice, had heard it in so many nightmares. “H-Hati,” I sputtered. My brother’s killer, here… now.

Hati was as pale skinned as death, his eyes were as hollow as a grave, and his hair was the salt-and-pepper color of a gray wolf’s pelt. He grinned, and something unmistakably lupine showed in his expression. “I heard you’ve been dreaming of me,” Hati said, his voice rough like a dog’s growl. “It’s about time we met in the flesh.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but loathing stole my words; nothing existed in my vocabulary to express the depth of my hatred. Hati saw my animosity in my face, though, and chuckled. He kept laughing until I took a step toward him. Skyla followed.

“Whoa there, ladies.” Hati slid the knife higher up Inyoni’s neck and pressed the tip into her flesh. A red tear of blood welled from the cut and slid down Inyoni’s throat. Inyoni whimpered, but her face was oddly passive. “You’re about to bite off more than you can chew,” Hati said.

“Where’s Kalani?” I asked.

Skoll yipped and then coughed a doggie noise that sounded vaguely like laughter.

“Ripped to shreds,” Inyoni said. She struggled halfheartedly against Hati despite the knife he held at her jugular. Where was her training? Where was her fight? The Inyoni I knew would have thrown her attacker on his back and had him disemboweled in a manner of seconds. I took another step forward. Hati moved his knife. Another thick drop of blood rolled down Inyoni’s neck, and the glistening rivulets caught the light of Skyla’s flashlight.

“I told you not to move,” Hati said.

“You can’t hurt me,” I said. “It will interfere with Helen’s plans.”

Hati sucked his teeth and then bared them at me like a wary dog. “But I can hurt this girl, and if you don’t stop right there, that’s exactly what I’ll do.”

A foot scuffed over the gravel behind me, and I spun to find Nate creeping closer. “These women are all so noble. No doubt they intend to sacrifice their lives for you if necessary. Tell me, Solina, are you prepared to have their blood on your hands?”

Skyla put a hand to my shoulder, stopping my reply. “I was willing to die for my country. You think I won’t sacrifice myself for my best friend?”

Nate tilted his head and smiled pityingly. “You might just get your wish.” He looked to Hati and pointed at Inyoni. “Kill the bitch,” Nate said. Then he jerked his thumb toward Skyla. “And kill this one next.”

“But she said I wouldn’t get hurt if…” Inyoni’s voice gave out in a croak as Hati slashed his knife across her neck.