Seagulls screamed far too close to my ears as we stepped off our seaplane and onto the docks at Harrow, Alaska. The pilot of the small aircraft had barely spoken two words to us during the entire flight from Anchorage, and as we made our way up the dock, he took off again as if he were being chased by wolves.

“Well, he was friendly,” Caleb joked quietly as he took my hand to help me across a broken board. “Anyone would think we all smelled bad or something.”

“I don’t think it was us,” Wesley commented. “He seemed more worried about this town. River had to pay him three times his usual fee to bring us here.”

My mouth gaped open at this news. What could possibly cause that sort of reaction?

Making a quick mental note to pay River back when that was all over, if we were alive, I sped up a little to catch his hand.

“You okay, love?” River asked, his sexy accent on that endearment making my heart flutter like I was a schoolgirl with a crush.

“Yeah, I just wanted to say thank you for funding this little expedition. I would have suggested we use the Omega jet, but I just had a bit of a gut feeling that we needed to keep our movements to ourselves for a bit, at least until we know who is trying to kill us.” I scanned our surroundings as we approached the shops facing the wharf. It seemed eerily quiet, like the whole town had been abandoned or all the residents were hiding.

“It’s my pleasure, Kitten,” he replied, dropping his voice low so as not to be overheard by the other guys walking loosely spaced around us. “But if you really feel so inclined, you’re welcome to show me your appreciation later…” One corner of his mouth twitched up, and the heated look in his eyes left no doubt as to what he meant.

“I may just do that… sir.” I grinned back at him and was rewarded by a quiet moan in his throat.

“All right, are we splitting up?” Austin asked in a loud voice, pulling everyone’s attention. “It’s fucking freezing and I’d rather we not fuck around any more than what’s necessary.”

During the remainder of our flight from New York, after we’d filled Vali in on everything we knew this far and after we’d all recovered from the fact that my new found healing magic had turned both Cole and Vali into dragon shifters, we had discussed a brief plan of attack. We knew that our contact, whoever he was, wouldn’t be back for another few weeks. The goal now was to either get some sort of contact details for him so we could at least call him, or possibly to find someone else in this town who might also have the answers we were seeking.

Entirely based on hope and assumption, I was determined that if this guy really was a shifter, and my gut told me that he was, then there could possibly be others like him living here too. Animals tended to live and travel in packs after all, so hopefully shifters would do the same.

“Agreed,” I said, raising my voice a little to be heard over the icy wind, which had just picked up. “Wes and I are going to go talk to the neighbors; between the five of you, can you sort us out somewhere to stay and also speak with some locals?”

“How come just you and Wes?” Caleb questioned, frowning.

“Because we are clearly the least threatening of the group.” I raised an eyebrow at the five of them. All standing firmly over six feet tall with broad shoulders and dangerous good looks, they were the picture of intimidation. Not that Wesley was any less handsome, in his own way, but he just lacked the air of aggression and danger that the other five vibrated with.

“Great, thanks, princess. Leave us to deal with these drama queens,” Austin muttered, but I know I hadn't just imagined the small smile crossing his lips.

Neither Vali nor Cole had spoken much since the flight, and I didn't blame them. Cole had just halfway shifted into a fucking reptile, and Vali had just been dumped with information on magical plagues and power plots and hidden wars. It was a lot to take in, even for those of us who had been living it for months, so I could only imagine how scrambled his brain must be.

“Yep.” I stepped over to the silent, imposing brothers who, for the first time, were actually standing close to one another. “Are you two going to be okay?”

Vali quirked a small, flirtatious grin at me. “Are you worried we are going to kill each other or have a mental breakdown?”

“Uh,” I hesitated. “Both?”

“We'll be fine, Vixen,” Cole assured me, his face still a little pale and his eyes hard. “Go with Wesley; he will take care of you while we sort out somewhere to stay. River and the twins can speak with the townspeople. Vali and I probably shouldn't interact with the public just yet.”

Vali raised a surprised eyebrow at his brother, then gave me a tight nod. I had a bad feeling about how this was all going to play out but couldn't see any better solutions, so I quickly gave them both a kiss on the cheek, then grabbed Wesley's hand and tugged him away from the group.

“You know they're probably going to kill each other, right?” Wesley chuckled as we walked hand in hand down the street towards the address Mr. Gregoric had given me. Fuck, so much had happened since that night it felt like it was a year ago, but it hadn’t even been three months.

“Probably, but I figure they need to work it out themselves.” I smiled at him. “They're big kids, right? And worst-case scenario, I can probably heal them again. Surely I can't do much more damage than what's already done?”

“Sweetheart…” Wesley said softly, pulling me to stop so he could look at me. “You're not feeling guilty about what's happening to them, are you?”

Staring down at my shoes, I shuffled my feet uncomfortably. We had done a quick clothing restock at the shops in Anchorage before boarding the seaplane, thank God; otherwise I would have been freezing my tits off.

“Well, it is my fault. I turned them into fucking dragons, Wes.” My toe kicked at a particularly interesting crack in the ground. Nearby, a motorbike engine kicked over, and I faked a bit of curiosity looking for it.

“Hey.” Wesley tapped my chin to raise my face back up to his. “You saved their lives. I am positive, beyond shadow of doubt, that they'd prefer to be alive and a little scaly over human and dead.” His description made me smile, and his own lips pulled up in a grin, his clear blue eyes laughing behind his glasses.

“It's going to take a little more to convince me, but I do see your point,” I admitted, and his hand slid up to cup my cheek, his fingertips resting on the soft skin behind my ear.

“I'm glad,” he smirked. “I like it when you see my point.” My eyebrows shot up, and I snickered a quick laugh, to which he blushed furiously. “That's not what I meant. Oh God, that sounded dirty, didn't it?” My grin spread wider, and his thumb caressed my lower lip. “You have a grubby mind, sweetheart…”

“If only you knew the half of it,” I whispered, my tongue flicking out to touch his thumb in a teasing lick. He gave a pained groan then dipped his face in close to mine, pausing when he was just a fraction of an inch away. Warm breath fanned across my lips, and my heart was galloping so fast it was like a runaway thoroughbred.

“Hey! Who the hell are you?” an angry voice yelled at us, and we broke apart like guilty teenagers. A red-faced man in faded overalls was stalking towards us from across the road while he wiped his grease-covered hands on a rag.

“Oh, hi!” I called back, pasting a friendly smile on my face.

“I asked you who the hell you are.” The man glowered, stopping in front of us. The embroidery on his jumpsuit indicated his name was Frank, and based on the grease stains, he had likely just come out of the mechanic’s garage opposite us.

“We are just visiting,” Wesley answered with a friendly smile of his own. “We are heading to see someone at”—he fished a slip of paper out of his pocket with the address on it—“sixteen Coalstream Lane?”

Frank eyed us both with suspicion. “What the hell do you want with Vic? He's not here. Won’t be back for two weeks or more.”

“Vic? That's who lives at this address?” I blurted, smooth as ever. As if that didn't make me seem suspicious.

“What are you two doing with Vic's address if you don't know him?” Frank's eyes narrowed at us in anger. “We don't take too kindly to strangers around these parts.”

“Someone gave it to us and said Vic might be able to help me with some answers,” I replied, chewing my lip nervously. This guy obviously knew Vic, which wasn't so shocking given how small this town looked, so maybe he could put us in touch with him?

Frank snorted a humorless laugh. “Answers, eh? That's one thing Vic can give you for sure. Who was this 'someone' who sent you here, anyway?”

Wesley's hand tightened around mine for a second, and we exchanged a glance. He seemed to be warning me not to say too much, but the whole point of this trip to Alaska was to find information, wasn't it?

“We knew him as Mr. Gregoric, but he said to say that 'N' sent us…” As I said this, Frank’s bushy eyebrows shot up so high they almost disappeared into his floppy hair.

“N?” He clarified, “Just the letter?”

Wesley nodded. “Yeah, just the letter. You know him?”

A strange look passed over the man's face but was gone faster than I could catch what it was. He nodded sharply and tucked his greasy rag into his pocket.

“You need to come with me.” His tone accepted no arguments; his gaze was rock hard and uncompromising.

“Umm,” I glanced at Wesley in question, but he just shrugged. This was what we’d come here for, after all. “Sure…”

Frank jerked his head in the direction we had been going, indicating we were to follow him.

“I’ll text the guys and let them know what we’re doing,” Wesley whispered to me, and I nodded in agreement. Better safe than sorry.

“So, you know who this ‘N’ is?” I attempted to engage Frank in conversation as we walked but may as well have spoken Japanese for all the reaction I got out of him.

“Hey, buddy,” Wesley tried. “We came here for answers, so anything you might be able to tell us would be great.”

Frank cast a look over his shoulder at us that suggested we were morons but said nothing and continued leading the way down the street.

“Is this guy giving you a bad feeling at all, sweetheart?” Wesley asked me quietly, and I considered this.

“I think this whole town is giving me a bad feeling, to be honest. Ever since we got on that seaplane, I’ve been feeling anxious.” I rubbed at my arms, trying to squash the gooseflesh that had taken up residence the moment we’d boarded the small aircraft. “Let’s just… stay alert.”

After a few minutes of walking in silence, Frank stopped us outside a friendly-looking cottage. The gardens were meticulously manicured and lush, despite the dusting of snow over everything, and the front porch held a well-worn rocking chair.

Frank rapped on the door a couple of times before calling out, “Granny Winter?”

Granny Winter? I mouthed to Wesley, and he gave me a confused headshake. At least it sounded like a considerably less threatening situation we were walking into if it was an old lady Frank had brought us to.

“Frank? Shouldn't you be at work?” an old lady’s voice called back, and the sound of her footsteps reached us as she approached the door. Opening it, she blinked at us a couple of times, and I pasted on my very best friendly smile. The last thing we needed was for these people to think we were some sort of threat.

“You…” she breathed, staring at me with wide eyes. She had to be in her seventies, with snow white hair and a heavily lined face. Her milky blue eyes were glued to my face, and her lip curled up in… anger? Why would she be angry?

“You… how dare you show your face back here?” Her voice shook as she hissed the words at me, loaded with venom.

“Um… sorry?” I looked over my shoulder. Maybe there was someone standing behind me? Nope, no one there. “I think maybe you've mistaken me for someone else?”

The old woman laughed bitterly. “I would never forget that face. Oh, but you're going to regret coming back to Harrow, you demon. Frank, get her into the cage. I'm calling a meeting.”

“Woah, what the hell?” I backed up a step, my hands raised defensively. “Lady, I don't know you. I've never even been to this town before!”

Frank stepped towards me, his hand outstretched to grab my arm, but Wesley swatted it away from me.

“Don't touch her,” he warned in a threatening voice, which was exceedingly hot at a totally inappropriate time to be getting turned on.

Frank barely even acknowledged Wesley before raising his fist to hit him, which, incredibly, Wesley managed to dodge. Enraged now, Frank swung again, and I jumped back out of the way to give Wes some space to move. It was a short-lived fight though, as Frank clipped Wesley’s shoulder, making him stumble, then smacked him hard across the face, sending him flying across the porch, where he landed in an unconscious heap.

“What the fuck?” I screamed, attempting to run to Wesley, but Frank’s thick, greasy hand clamped around my arm, yanking me back.

“Do not mess with me.” I snarled, rounding on Frank, the first and only warning I would give him, but his grip was way firmer than any normal human’s would be. Experimentally, I pulled hard to break his grasp, but he held firm.

Well, that answers my theory about there being other supernaturals in this town.

Sizing him up, I was confident I could take him on, but two more rough-looking men appeared behind Granny Winter.

Shit. Chances were, they were also supernatural, and therefore I was screwed.

“Come on,” Frank snapped. “Don't make us hurt your boyfriend any more than necessary.”

Grudgingly, I allowed him to escort me into the house while keeping one eye on Wesley's unconscious form. One of the other men picked him up, throwing him over his shoulder like a sack of rice, then stomping on Wesley’s phone when it dropped from his pocket.

Inside Granny Winter's friendly-looking home, I was roughly patted down for my phone, then directed to some stairs off the kitchen and down into a dark, spacious basement where several cages were set up. The bars were thick and cemented into the floor to prevent even someone of supernatural strength from ripping them out. Frank shoved me roughly into one of the cages; then his buddy tossed Wesley in with me. As the cage door clanged shut, Granny Winter's sneering face popped up in front of me. She was a tiny woman, no more than five-foot-three, but she clearly held a lot of power in this town.

“I can't believe my luck,” she crowed, licking her wrinkled lips in delight. “After all these years, I can finally get my revenge for the things you've done, you whore.”

“Listen, old lady,” I tried again, “you've clearly got me mixed up with someone else. I have never met you before in my life, and I've certainly never done anything to deserve this sort of reaction. We were sent here by N to speak with Vic. That's all.”

She laughed a hollow, humorless sound. “The fact that you think I will believe that is pathetic. Don't you worry, though, I am not as cruel as you. I'll give you a fighting chance.” One of the men received a text message, then showed it to Granny. “Well, you enjoy your last moments here while I speak with the pack and arrange your execution. You won't be getting away this time, Bridget.”

“Wait!” I screamed as she turned away and began climbing the stairs. She was surprisingly quick for such an old lady. “I'm not Bridget! You've got the wrong person!”

No reply came, except for the slamming of the door at the top of the stairs.

“Shit!” I swore, looking around at my surroundings. “Shit!” It was the sort of situation that deserved a double swearing. Because we were fucked. How the hell was I going to convince this crazy old bat that I wasn't Bridget? By all accounts, I was the mirror image of my mother, and if she truly was immortal, then it was entirely plausible that we would look the same age. Fucking hell. Whatever Bridget had done to this woman, it wasn't good. And now, it seemed, I would be the one paying for it.

A low groan came from Wesley, and I crouched beside him, running my hand over his hair gently.

“Hey, Wes, it's okay. Just me,” I whispered as he slowly regained consciousness and pushed up on his hands.

“Kit, what the hell just happened?” he demanded, rightfully confused as fuck. Poor guy had a split on his cheek and a huge red welt where he'd been hit. It was going to come up in a seriously impressive bruise the next day. If we were still alive.

“Turns out they think I'm Bridget, and they seriously hate her. The old bitch said something about going to arrange my execution…” I tried not to sound worried, but fucking hell, that woman just used the word 'execution' like it was a totally normal afternoon activity!

“What?” he exclaimed, sitting up the rest of the way sharply then wincing as his head undoubtedly pounded from the hit he'd just taken. “Sweetheart, that doesn't sound good… Why didn't you use your abilities and run while we were still outside?”

“And leave you?” I smiled faintly at him. “Don't be ridiculous, Wes. I couldn't do that. We just need to hope the guys will find us and get us out of here because these cages look like they're designed to counter superstrength.”

Wesley groaned and rubbed his face. “Yeah, I figured they might be supernatural when Mechanic-Frank just knocked me out with a backhand. Hopefully the guys don't get taken off guard.”

As if on cue, the door to the stairs banged open once more, and several sets of heavy footsteps clattered down. Five very angry-looking men were directed into the next cage, and the door slammed behind them before the rough locals retreated back up the stairs.

“Nice of you all to join us,” Wesley joked, and I snorted a laugh then covered it with a cough.

“Nice face, Wes,” Austin glowered. “You walk into a wall or something?”

“Or something,” Wesley muttered back, frowning unhappily, and I took his hand, squeezing lightly to show that I didn't blame him for this situation.

“Where did they find you all?” I asked as they took up spots against the walls or bars of their cage.

“The twins and I went down to the post office to ask around about that address. We found out that a guy named Victor lives there, but before we could ask anything else, the girl we were talking to got a text. Next thing we knew, we were surrounded by guys with your sort of strength,” River reported, coming to stand at the bars separating our two cages. “Any idea what's going on?”

“Hmm yeah,” I grimaced. “The old bitch that seems to be in charge thinks I'm Bridget.”

“Okay…” He frowned. “And that's clearly not a good thing?”

“Definitely not. She said something about arranging my execution so…” I shrugged, then caught sight of Vali's face.

“Jesus, what happened to you two?” I exclaimed, noticing bruises on Cole as well. Vali looked worse, though, with a black eye already so swollen it was almost closing the lid completely.

“Nothing,” Vali muttered, and Cole met my panicked gaze.

“Just had to work some shit out,” Cole contributed, and I clicked on that their injuries had nothing to do with these crazy townspeople detaining them.

“I see.” I squinted at the two of them in warning. “Well, it had better be out of your systems. We have too much other shit on our plates to be dealing with infighting as well.”

“Speaking of that other shit,” River redirected my attention, “run me through everything that's happened so far. What exactly did this woman say to you?”

Word for word, I repeated what had been said. Luckily my short-term memory retained the conversation in its entirety because I had totally missed the clue she had dropped.

“'A fighting chance', that's what she said?” River clarified and looked over at Cole when I nodded my confirmation.

“Sounds like she's going to make you fight someone,” he murmured, drumming his fingers on his knee while he thought out loud. “Which means she's giving you an opportunity to survive.”

“What if she makes you guys fight someone?” I questioned, chewing my lip so hard it was bleeding a little. “There are definitely supernaturals in this town, and no offense to you all, but you probably won’t stand a chance.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Kitty Kat.” Caleb snorted, and I smiled at him.

“You know what I mean, Cal.” I sighed, rolling my eyes, and he grinned back at me.

“Yeah, yeah, I know us mere humans wouldn't have much luck in an arena with supernaturals,” he agreed, “but Cole and Vali are no longer human, are they?”

“That's a good point,” Wesley said. “Have you guys noticed any increased strength or speed or whatnot?”

The two of them both grimaced, but Vali responded. “Yes.”

We all waited for elaboration, but when none came, we moved on. Clearly it was something to do with them “working things out.”

“Okay. So we're in agreement that it sounds like my 'execution' is actually to fight someone, and most probably a shifter or something, yes?” I clarified, and the guys all nodded. “So, the question is, if I win—”

“When,” Cole growled.

I gave him a small smile. “When I win, how the fuck do we convince them I'm not Bridget?”

For a moment, no one replied.

“We can cross that bridge when we come to it, love,” River assured me, and I dropped my head to rest on my knees.

From above us, the muffled sounds of feet and voices trickled down, which made sense. Granny Winter had said something about calling a meeting, so they were probably all here to discuss our fate. Whatever it ended up being, I just prayed the guys would make it out safely.

Before long, the door to the stairs slammed open once more, and the slow, lighter footsteps of the old woman came down, followed by several heavier pairs.

“Well, Bridget, I should have known you'd bring your own little harem to town with you. Not that they'll be in any position to save you, considering my boys tell me most of them are still human.” She leered at me with a victorious grin pulling at her wrinkled face. “What have you done with the others? Or did you get sick of them too?”

“Listen, you crazy fucking bitch,” I snapped, standing up to grasp the bars, “I am not Bridget. What part of that do you not understand?”

“Oh please,” she cackled. “I've fallen for your bullshit too many times, Bride. I will not fall for it again now. No, I told you twenty-three fucking years ago that if I ever saw your face again, I would get my revenge.”

“Wait, what?” I was even more confused. “Bridget was incarcerated at Blood Moon twenty-three years ago.” Or was that just after she had escaped?

The old woman gave me a withering glare, and it was clear she wasn't going to answer me. “The arena is being set up as we speak. You'll get your fair opportunity to win your freedom, but I wouldn't bother trying if I were you. You've been gone from Victor for far too long to still have his strength, and I don't see either Nicholai or Lachlan with you. Unless you've managed to bond with any of these children, you're on your own.” She smiled smugly. “And we both know if you could bond more than three men, you'd have done it a long time ago.”

“What the actual fuck are you talking about? Who the hell are Nicholai and Lachlan? What do you mean bonding? I don't know how many times I can tell you, I'm not Bridget!”

My brain felt like it was imploding. This woman held so much information about my mother and about her, or my, powers. Why couldn't I make her believe I wasn't my mother?

“Ma'am,” River started, “this isn't Bridget—”

“Do not speak to me, child,” she hissed, turning her furious glare on River. “I may look old, but I am no fool. This is Bridget, and she will pay for what she did to my boy.” She waved a gnarled hand at the men who had followed her down the stairs.

“Take them all out to the arena, but make sure you bind the big ones.” She pointed to Cole and Vali. “Tommy said they were changed, but he wasn't sure what species. Better safe than sorry.”

The door to the cage the boys were in was thrown open, and a small scuffle broke out between my guys and the locals.

“Stop!” I screamed, and they all immediately froze. Even Austin. “Just go with them; I don't need you guys suffering because of me. Again. Just… do what they want, and maybe they'll let you go.” I arched an eyebrow at Granny Winter in question, and she just shrugged, the bitch.

The boys did as I said, though—even Cole and Vali who had their wrists bound with heavy shackles while giving me pleading looks. Of course, I knew it was killing them to go against their natures, to let themselves be contained in such a way, but I would rather them be pissed at me than get hurt again.

“Aw, how sweet,” Granny crowed. “You always did keep your men on a short leash, Bride. I just hope Nicholai and Lachlan finally saw you for the evil whore you are and left before they got hurt.”

“Whatever,” I sighed. “You're totally delusional. Let's just get this over with.”

The arena turned out to be just a wide open clearing deep into the woods behind Granny Winter's house. Snow had begun falling while we'd been locked in her cages, and the ground was dusted with white, showing up countless sets of footprints ahead of us. As we approached the “arena,” the owners of those footprints were waiting, scattered around the perimeter, watching.

“So, what are you all?” I asked, aiming to learn something that might aid in our eventual escape. “Shifters, right?” Granny Winter totally ignored my question, but the guy holding tight to my arm rolled his eyes like I was being a moron.

I glanced around at all the people gathered, and the first thing I noticed was the lack of anyone past the age of maybe thirty-five. Other than Granny Winter, there were only a handful of people showing any signs of aging, and out of close to a hundred gathered spectators, it was a noticeable discrepancy.

A beautiful girl, around my age or a little older, stalked towards us from across the arena. Her dark hair was pulled back from her face in a severe ponytail, and the scowl on her face made her high cheekbones stand out sharply. She was dressed head to toe in leather. Tight leather pants were tucked into absurdly impractical high-heeled boots, and a cropped biker jacket was open over what looked to be some sort of corset.

“Don't I know you?” I frowned as she came closer, and a smug grin pulled at her lips.

“You should,” she sneered. “You probably still carry scars from me on your side.”

My mind flashed back to our escape from Blood Moon and the fight I'd had with the bitch that shot me then clawed me up. The wounds had taken an unusually long time to heal, but they had, and no marks remained.

“Nope, no scars here.” I smirked, and she narrowed her eyes at me.

“Well, no matter. Today I get to rip your head clean off your shoulders. Won't that be fun?” Her eyes lit up, and she looked genuinely excited by the idea. Psychotic bitch. She glanced past me to the guys. “And when I'm done killing you, maybe I'll have some fun with the friends you brought with you…”

She prowled over to them, looking them over like they were meat at the butchers, but I saw her face blanch and her step falter when she came within reach of Cole and Vali. Curiously, I wondered if she could sense they were bigger beasts than whatever she was. Passing by the two of them, she paused in front of River.

“This one,” she announced. “Granny, when I win, I want this one.”

“Fuck off,” River sneered, and I mentally cheered him.

“Why that one?” Granny asked the beautiful psychopath, and the girl leaned in close to River, dragging her nose up the side of his neck.

“He's one of us.” The crazy girl growled. I mean, literally growled. River met my eyes over the top of her head, and I gave him a tiny head shake. He clearly wanted to do something, but I needed them to stay out of it. They needed to stay safe.

“We can discuss it after Bridget is dead, Chesca,” Granny Winter snapped, and the brunette girl pouted like a petulant child.

“Get the prisoners over there so they don't miss any of the action,” Granny commanded her men. “Then throw Bride in the middle. She's to fight Chesca to the death.”

The dark haired girl grinned like a fucking lunatic and smacked a wet kiss on River’s neck. “I'll be seeing you soon, lover.”

River visibly shuddered in revulsion, and I smothered a smile as I pictured handing this chick her ass. I had beaten this chick before, in the halls of Blood Moon, so I could do it again. Glancing at the other guys, I could see the tension had dropped ever-so-slightly from them as well, as they must have come to the same conclusion.

“I don't know why you're so happy, Chesca,” I smirked. “This could quite easily be the death of you, too.”

Her confident grin faltered slightly, then pasted back into place. “Don't make me laugh; Granny Winter knows all about how your strength works, and without your bonded guardians, you're nothing more than a weak, pathetic little girl.” She tossed her ponytail and sauntered toward the arena, sliding out of her jacket and tossing it aside as she strutted like it was fashion week.

“Bride,” Granny Winter sneered when it was just the two of us and my guards left. “I wish I could say it was a pleasure knowing you, but it most certainly was not. I hope Chesca makes this painful for you and you rot in hell for all eternity.”

Without waiting for me to respond, she stalked into the arena as well, leaving my guards to drag me along behind her.

“Family!” Granny shouted, garnering the attention of everyone gathered. “A lot of you will remember Bridget from her stay with us some twenty-three years ago!” There was an angry rumbling in response, and I wondered what the fuck my mother had done to piss these people off so damn badly. “Well, now she gets what she deserves! As decided by your council of elders, she will fight our chosen warrior to the death.” A cheer went up from the surrounding spectators, and my palms started sweating. Even if I could survive this fight, how was I going to convince this angry mob that I was not my mother?

Granny Winter smirked at me once more as she backed out of the clearing then yelled out, “Begin!”