~ Half of the ride to the courthouse went by in silence. Marx sat on the passenger side, staring through the window. He could feel Helick’s unease. His constant sideways glances. The other man had heard everything Anabella said. Celeste was Marx’s mate, but she raised Helick and Garrick from the time they were babies. She was the only mother they knew. Her death was as painful for them as it was for him, or even more. When the tragedy was fresh, he hadn’t taken that into account. Raw from the grief, Marx went off to lick his own wounds, leaving Garrick, Helick, Daniel, and Shea to tend their own. Shea found solace in going cold and distant while the twins and Daniel went out defending those who could not defend themselves. Lochlan was the only one who stayed with him on the Mountain. Not because Marx did much to accommodate him, but out of stubborn loyal

~ Ava opened a portal for Penny. The werewolf’s massive size did not allow her to pass through the door of the office with ease. On top of that, Penny on an elevator was not going to happen. Ava left with Anabella and Philippe, Helick following behind her. Before the three could step into the elevator, she called Philippe aside. The other two left without them.  “What’s on your mind?” Philippe asked her. She adjusted the books in her hand. “Do you still have the chamber? The one you built for Sven?” “Yes, I do.” “Did you tell the others about it?” Ava glanced towards the door leading to Anabella’s office. Vescovi and Marx were still inside. The last thing she wanted was for either to hear their conversation, especially Marx. Ava appreciated him fretting over her

~ Shea was standing out in the woods. Another busload of evacuees was offloading outside of the dome. Waiting to greet them was the Native’s Shaman. In a line, the humans walked up to him, and he marked each human before they stepped into the protective shield. Those who were vampires or werewolves stepped through, unmarked their link to the shield created by what they were. Ichiro came to stand beside her. “This is not moving fast enough,” she said to him. Shea was feeling antsy, her anxiety building with the savagery of the storm overhead. “And what if vampires attack us? The humans might need a mark, but those like us do not.” “If anything supernatural tries to attack us, they will trigger the traps. Ava has this place fortified enough to keep the odds in our favor if we are.” Shea chewed on her lips, una

~ Helick was on the roof of the yellow school bus. With him were five other men. They were providing cover for the protective detail on the ground while guarding the civilians below him inside the bus. Hana was keeping the panic down, using her voice to lull the passengers. This far away from Pentorium Helick’s comm, all of their comms, were useless outside of speaking to each other there on the outskirts of Chaise Point. He only hoped Yuri made it in range to signal the others that they needed additional support. Less than twenty feet away, one of the buses they were using for transport was wrapped around a pole. The shadows came for them, a black tide of death. They were out running before shadows got smart, going for the bus’s tires. The blowout had the driver losing control of the vehicle coming to a stop when it rammed headlong into a utility pole. The driver didn’t make it. He was the only casu

~ Marx helped Ava to her feet. Anger heated her skin, her eyes swirling in twin balls of mist. “How dare you,” she said, striding over to him. Penny could not kill the man, and he could not harm her with shadow magic. Malik was never the one for physical combat, so all he could do was dangle there inside of the human form he had taken. “It—was—too easy. When did you grow a heart?” “Release him.” Penny brought the man down to his feet, taking her time as she pulled her hand from inside of him. He gasped in pain. Penny released his throat. Malik staggered away from her. He raised his hand to form a rune in retaliation. The rune he formed boomeranged, knocking him to the ground, the force bruising the side of his face.  “Catching me off guard is one thing, fac