I follow my curt escort out a door that exits to the rear of the building. The makeshift parking lot is barely lit, and a solitary black SUV sits parked fifteen feet away from the door. As the driver leads the way to the car, a quick flash of something catches the peripheral of my eye. I freeze and scan my surroundings, alert and ready for an attack. I swear I just saw something run past me, but I don’t see anything there now.

I find myself expecting the creepy, dark-haired guy from inside to pop up out of nowhere, but all I see is an expanse of packed dirt and a smattering of small shrubs. Just as I’m about to turn away, I notice a faint shimmer in the air about ten feet in front of me.

“Miss Aylin?” The driver calls to me.

I’m sure I look like a mental case, standing here staring off into empty darkness. Okay, Vinna get your shit together. A weird noise, almost like a grunt, interrupts my inner chastisement, and I find myself moving toward the weird shimmer. As I get closer to the anomaly, power roars through me like a flash flood.

“What the hell?” I mutter.

I look back to find the driver staring at me like I’ve lost my mind, and I wonder for a second if maybe he’s right. Another sound pulls my attention back to what seems like empty space, but something about it feels really fucking off.

I continue walking forward, and my body is overcome with a staticky sensation. It feels like every muscle in my body simultaneously fell asleep, and is now in the process of waking up. I take a second to shake out the buzzing in my limbs, and then I step into that shimmer in the air to find complete chaos on the other side.

The outbreak of action all around me, where seconds ago there was nothing, is disorienting. I stand frozen in place as I take in the melee. I’m surrounded by people…fighting. I look around, and recognition sparks through me when I realize that one side of the battle involves the entourage of the guy I just fought.

There are seven of the big burly men against four other middle-aged men I don’t recognize. Five, I realize, when I spot a guy standing off to the side, separate from the others. He stands there with closed eyes and his lips move like he’s talking to himself. Well, if I am crazy, it looks like I have company.

One of the men from the entourage sprints with alarming speed, heading right for the solitary guy, a glint of metal flashing in his hands. He bears down freakishly fast on the mumbling man, who doesn’t seem to realize that danger is coming for him like a freight train.

My internal power perks up, eager to answer my call. The strange markings that showed up all over my body on my sixteenth birthday begin to tingle in anticipation. I call on the energy in the markings that line the bottom curve of my butt cheeks and throwing knives become solid in my hands.

I wait a few seconds to see if the chanter will respond to the threat, but when he doesn’t even open his eyes, I spring into action. As the attacker brings up his knife, I throw my own at him. He roars out in pain and then drops to the dirt, blood flowing freely from the dagger that just landed cleanly in his throat.

The mumbling guy’s eyes fly open, just as the body of his attacker skids to a stop a few feet away from him. The man’s gaze lands on me, but instead of the look of gratitude I expect, his eyes narrow in irritation. He starts walking towards me, the constant movement of his lips never ceasing.

A man’s shout of pain fills the night air, pulling my attention from the chanter. I focus on a man who looks to be almost seven feet tall, with long red hair that falls past his shoulders. He pulls a knife from his side, and blood seeps through the seams of his fingers as he applies pressure to the wound. He continues to fight off a man in front of him, oblivious to the threat that creeps up behind him.

“Aydin, watch out!” the chanter yells to his friend.

I run towards the man creeping up like a coward behind the ginger giant. I laugh at the look on his face when I pop up out of nowhere, fucking up his clear shot at the ginger giant’s back. A flurry of punches and a quick twist of the neck has the big, burly coward face down in the dirt and out for the count. I turn to check on this Aydin guy and watch, completely gobsmacked, as a ball of fire floats above his hands.

His large frame and the loose auburn strands of his hair are alight with the glow of flames, and the ball of fire he’s somehow creating swells between his palms. He throws it, and the man in front of him erupts into flames. The pain-filled screams snap me out of my shocked inaction, just as a whirring sound comes towards me. I reach out and catch the hilt of a knife, stopping it before it’s embedded in my chest.

Holy shit, that was close!

I scan the fighters, looking for the dead man who just threw a fucking knife at me. I turn in time to see a dagger sink into the shoulder of the guy who’s still talking to himself. He lets out a surprised yelp and grimaces against the pain. His mumbling stops, and suddenly two of the big burly fighters explode into gigantic fucking Grizzly bears.

What in the furry fuck?