tte

urned my retinas, turning th

ungs. In a fraction of a second, my mind screamed that I w

eways toward the r

rubber smoking against the flooded pavement. The vehicle skidde

sleeve and shredding the skin on my elbow. Muddy water splashed

against my ribs

r of the vehicle swung op

ather combat boots stepped

scent cut through the damp exhaust and the smell of wet pavement-a

y nostrils, every nerve end

d hot through my veins, my skin prickling with electric

up throug

cally blocking the flickering streetlamp behind him. Water dripped from h

muscular frame that radiated an aura of lethal, terrifying dom

ng, piercing ice-blue,

ve, non-existent inner wolf was supposed to sleep, somet

i

like a phantom hallucinatio

lack obsidian signet ring gleamed under the streetlamp. The cedarw

e that vibrated straight through my sternum, carry

is large, scarred h

mmed into

females in the gutter unless they were hunting. The sheer intensity

, grabbed the strap of my soaked

I didn't even look into

o the narrow, unlit alleyway

as my burning lungs would allow. The heavy cedar scent seeme

main boulevard three blocks away, collapsing agains

or read Starlight Motel, with ha

y, paid the night clerk my last remaining cash fo

smelled of mold an

down to the cold linoleum floor, burying my face in my k

ed off my soaked clothes, stepped into the cramped shower stall, and

y backpack, then sat down at the small laminate desk

secure cloud storage, hoping to find an u

ral drawings had completely ignored the emergency messages I had sent e

tion popped up in the botto

had just landed in

ply: Audio Recording: Gl

ed. I clicked

m, followed by the muffled voices of Erlinda and Karmen, re

rough the speakers. "What about the closing costs on the est

gn career than her own life. Once Stone Architecture ruins her reputation and blacklists her tomorrow morning

cut off wi

ils digging so deeply into the edge of the d

ak me completely just t