جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 60

The hybrid compound is located in a valley in the middle of dense woods, distant enough that none of their actions wouldn't be perceived the nearest human town. Smart planning for people who know they have enemies.We observe from the ridge above, bellies to the cold earth, as the patterns form. Two guards patrol the perimeter in a twelve-minute round. Security cameras observe the main approaches, but there are blind spots where the forest grows too close to the fence line."Motion sensors?" Rylan whispers, his breath barely disturbing the air."By the fence, definitely. Possibly in the woods closer to the building." I track the guards in my binoculars. Both are armed, move with the practiced efficiency of veteran soldiers. "We'll need to avoid the obvious entry points.""There." Dexter points to the east side where a drainage culvert runs under the fence. "Water flow disrupts motion sensors. We can utilize that."Marcus watches the compo

(Zara's POV)This first real walk out of bed after days of lying there is like reclaiming my body.My legs shake, shaky from the fever and whatever poison had ravaged my system. But the forest air is clean and sharp, and with every breath I know I'm alive. That whatever happened, whatever Marcus did to me, it's over now.Rylan tried to leave me in bed a day longer. Hovered as if I were fragile glass and would shatter if I budged too quickly. But I needed this. Needed to remind myself that I could still walk, still be, still be something other than the ailing girl everyone worried over.The wood trail is one familiar to me, one that I've walked a thousand times. It leads me to the creek where I sat at the worst of times with Harry, when I needed time to get my head together without pack politics encroaching around me.Harry.His name still hurts, even today. Even after witnessing what he became, what he tried to do, how Kael had t

I tell myself I'm going into town to get supplies.It's a good excuse. We always need something. Herbs to keep Sage healthy, bullets for the guards, everyday household items that backpack life uses up quickly. Rylan doesn't think twice when I mention it at breakfast, too caught up in whatever Kael and Dexter are plotting to wonder why I want to go.The Riverside Inn is on the edge of town, the kind of place that accommodates passing travelers rather than resident residents. Cheap but clean, discreet enough that supernatural activity can take place without drawing human attention.Room twelve is in the corner on the second floor over the parking lot.I stand in the hall for a minute, my heart performing something odd in my chest. Stupid. Dangerous. I should just go back down to pack territory and act like I never met him.Instead of which, I knock.The door opens almost immediately, as if he'd been waiting just behind it.

(Elena's POV)The pack is different today.I notice it the moment I go outside. The way that conversations come to a halt when I walk by. The thick air of anticipation that presses on me like pre-storm humidity. Tomorrow is the blood moon, and everybody knows what that means.Or what they think it means."You're up early," Kael remarks, standing where he has stood to watch young Marcus practice with two others."Couldn't sleep." I move to stand beside him, our shoulders brushing. "Too many people thinking loudly about tomorrow.""Your empathic senses getting a read on the pack's anticipation?""More like their fear." I can feel it even now, pressing against my mental defenses. Hope and fear all tangled up together. They want me to wake up fully, be the Empath who can save them all. But they're also scared of what that might do. "They're looking for something big.""So am I." His hand blankets mine, his thumb tra

Too early and too late the morning breaks.I stayed up beside Kael at night, both of us awake, both of us struggling with what last night's failure at ritual means. The pack is strangely quiet when I leave the cabin this morning. No one actually knows what to say about last night's flash-in-the-pan non-occurrence."You're not to take it personally," Rylan offers as I walk by him beside the training grounds. "These things happen.""Do they? Do ritual disasters on perfect conditions happen every day?" I don't attempt to snap, but weariness and exasperation have eroded my patience."No," he allows. "But berating yourself is not going to make it so. You're still our best bet for breaking the curse. Awake or not."I prefer the feeling, although I don't believe it.Sage summons me to her cabin mid-morning. She sits among piles of books that are centuries old, some of which dissolve on her fingers when she touches them. Her eyes are blo