~ Ava did not need to save any energy, not now. Unbeknownst to the others, she had been silently stocking up. She knew her opponent and the magic he wielded, and she needed to match him. Sven had her stone. He wouldn’t give it up without a fight. No one would give up that much power easily. Her stone would make it easier for her to lift the veil between Lansguard and Earth so she could slip in. A few seconds was all she needed and it would grant that. After that, she would figure out the rest as she went. She took the souls of the dying in their last breath. As the soul left the physical plane, she claimed them. That eliminated her having to harm anyone in boosting her own strength. Ava, however, did not think Marx and the others would see it in the calculated way she did. If the person was dying, anyway, they did not need their souls, and she did. They would serve a greater purpose with her than the

~ Back at the house, Zigor and Ichiro had a sit down with Marx and the others. They looked like their heads were going to explode. Helick had taken all their weapons to prevent any more—accidents from occurring if something else were to startle the men. “He shot me,” Shea bit between her teeth. Her eyes were still all wolf, her anger causing heat to ripple from her skin. All she wanted to do was change. Her wolf fought her for dominance, slamming itself wildly against her self-control. There was more than anger burning in the pits of her stomach, but she focused on the anger alone. The implications of her other emotions she would ignore. Ichiro approached Shea as he would a wild animal. He bent at the waist. “My apologies for earlier.” She was opening her mouth to say something caustic when she jumped hissin

~ Vescovi, Anabella and Phillipe led the convoy to Hedgewood. Upon word of the attack on the werewolves, they had set out ahead of time. In armor-plated SUVs, they made their way through the streets. Hedgewood was a rural county northwest and six hours drive from Palvia. Over their earpiece, Vescovi spoke to the others. “The plan is to cut that madman off from the portal. We shall bring the entire mountain down on it.” “Agreed,” Phillipe said over the earpiece. “The explosives are ready.” “My people already have a cover in place,” Anabella said. Vescovi’s vehicle came to an abrupt halt. Sitting at the back of the SUV, he leaned forward to ask the driver what the problem was, but he saw for himself through the windshield. Standing in the middle of the road was a

~ Salvay stood facing Sven. The two men sized each other up, both alphas in their own right.  “A vampire,” Sven said. “A werewolf,” Salvay replied. Sven gave him a smile that did not reach his eyes. “To what do I owe this visit?” Salvay, without an invitation, took a seat. “I must apologize for the absence of my associate. He is busy handling—other matters.” Sven raised a brow, looking down at the man, but said nothing. Having a vampire in his camp was an interesting development for him. Vampires and werewolves, though not enemies, kept their socialization limited. To find one suddenly appearing and one from one of the five families, no less, piqued Sven’s interest.

~ All he could hear was ringing. Sven rolled onto his side, coughing the dust out of his lungs; dust also temporarily blinding him. Once he had oriented himself somewhat, he looked around. A cloud of dust obscured his surroundings, the ringing in his ears blocking out every other sound. As the dust clouds cleared, he saw what was happening around him. Fighting. He looked towards the entrance of the cave and all he could make out were mounds of rocks and debris. The hill was flat, a few feet more, and it would have been on top of him. Sven got to his feet, anger seething. Two men came rushing towards him, and he took out his anger at them. Salvay.  Had the man set him up? Sven intended to rip the vampire’s tongue from his mouth. No one played Sven for a foo