Page 30 of A Song in the Night

“I didn’t think of it,” I admit with a wince. I start walking, mostly in hopes that it will distract Noah from his first question long enough to decide how much I should tell him.

The vampire doesn’t bother reprimanding me, and I imagine I can feel his scorn in the air between us. We walk in silence for a few steps, then Noah’s fingers close around my arm without warning. He turns me, almost roughly, and I open my mouth to demand what his problem is.

“Where did you get that?” he cuts in.

“Get what?” I realize that his eyes are on Drew’s necklace,which I’ve started wearing again, and I put a hand over it in a thoughtless, protective movement. “Why does it matter?”

This only seems to infuriate him further. A muscle clenches in his jaw, and he speaks through his perfect teeth. “Answer me, princess.”

Thinking of Drew when I’m standing here with Noah feels like a slap across the face. I jerk out of Noah’s grasp. “That is absolutely none of your business. And don’t bother reminding me that you’re my master—right now, I don’t give a shit.”

Maybe I do know Noah a little, because I recognize the faint smile he gives me—it’s the one he always gives me right before he says something condescending. But that smile vanishes an instant later. Noah’s head jerks up and his nostrils flare. Before I can ask him what’s wrong, his hand blurs to his hip, where there’s supposed to be a gun. Noah’s lip curls. He scans the garbage around us. “Can’t remember the last time that happened. We’re leaving. Right now.”

Someone took his gun.Someone who moved so quickly that neither of us sensed them. I’m about to speak again when a snarling growl rips through the night.

Shapeshifter.

It’s the last clear thought I have before it lunges at me through a gap in the wall of trash.

I manage to dive out of the way just in time. My hair stirs from the enormous creature flying past me, only inches away. I don’t remember throwing my hands out, but then they’re tearing across the ground, snagging on a shard of glass embedded in the dirt. I cry out, startled at the pain. Blood splatters across the dirt as I flip over and crawl backward, facing a wolf. I watch as it checks itself and spins toward me. Panic grips my limbs and makes it impossible to move. The shapeshifter lowers itself on all fours and starts to run. I scan my surroundings wildly. Where is Noah? Why isn’t he helping?

Caught up in a battle of his own, I see an instant later. But Noah isn’t dealing with a wolf—he’s fighting a panther. Another shapeshifter, since I doubt there’s actually a panther living in the Barrens. Noah must’ve had a knife hidden somewhere, because it’s in his hand now, flashing like a wicked grin.

The wolf is on me again, its roar echoing in my ears. A scream hurtles up my throat, getting caught there, while I finally scramble up and run. Once again, the wolf’s momentum makes it difficult for him to slow. His claws leave rivulets in the earth from the force of his turn.

Noah’s voice sounds in my mind, a remnant from one of our nights in the basement.When the adrenaline kicks in, don’t let it cloud your judgment. Even if you lose a second, just use it to think.

The wolf rushes me again, and as I sidestep him, I almost trip over a battered toaster. I catch my balance at the last moment and keep retreating. Froth flies from the creature’s mouth, its yellow teeth flashing. My mind races. As I use what little supernatural speed I have to evade its swiping claws, I think of the creature’s weaknesses. Not wolfsbane like the werewolves from a fictional story. Not silver like the urban legends.

Birchwood. It has something to do with where their species originated.

My thoughts are frantic as I barely manage to dart out of the way and evade this shapeshifter’s attacks. If I can’t incapacitate him, I at least have to slow him down.

What if he onlythinksI have birchwood?

I don’t have time to explore that option, though. In the space of a heartbeat, my path is blocked by shapeshifters in every direction.

Fuck.

A female says something in Spanish, her voice sharp, and some of the other shapeshifters pause. Spanish is one of the languages I was taught at the mansion, but I’m breathing too hard to make out the words. I keep my eyes on the bat-eared male in front of me, who’s grinning with slightly elongated teeth. The female speaks again, louder, and I’m able to interpret this time. “Stand down. Look at the Lavender.”

Everyone stops now, even the creatures fighting Noah. The dark-haired vampire stays in a squat, his eyes glittering, but every other face swings in my direction. I stare back at them, knowing my expression is as bewildered as I feel.

“We’re not going to kill you,” she says in English, “but you’re coming with us.”

“Where are you taking us?” I ask, still trying to catch my breath.

Even as I voice the question, I don’t really expect her to answer. Which is why I blink when the shapeshifter says, “To see him.”

Something in her tone makes me turn, and I take in her shuttered eyes and tight mouth. Fear stirs inside me, and I realize that once again, my naiveté got in the way of survival. I came to the Barrens with the sole focus of finding Ratha, instead of considering what could go wrong if I actually met this self-proclaimed king. I should’ve thought about what sort of creature would live in a place like this and rule over it. No one reasonable or normal. No one fond of the crown or the vampire that wears it, along with his many descendants.

I remind myself that no one is more terrifying than the Vampire King.

Clinging to my newfound sense of calm, I raise my chin as we follow the shapeshifter into the darkness.

* * *

Noah’s expression remains stoic as the group leads us deeper into the Barrens.

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