The hair rose on the back of my neck. Still gripping Dickhead’s throat, I froze, sniffing the air, scenting them. I smelled raw meat, and my mouth watered.

Slowly, I turned, staring at the mouth of the alley. The skinny, freckled woman had disappeared. Couldn’t remember her name, what I’d been doing with her. I only knew she’d hidden somewhere, out of danger.

My pointed ears tuned in to the sounds around me—the panicked breathing of my prey, his heartbeat pattering like a frightened rabbit’s. I’d been about to rip out his throat, but there were larger predators afoot now, and I instinctively stilled my movements.

The hearts of the larger creatures pounded nearby, along with a thrilling undercurrent of growls, the wet snorting of enormous snouts.

Their heartbeats called to mine, beast to beast.

I dropped my prey, listened to his footsteps skitter over the cobblestones behind me. I’d kill him later. Only a fool would try to outrun the hounds of hell. You seduce a beast’s bloodlust with your back turned, with the alluring scent of fear.

In the gathering darkness, steam whirled at the alley’s mouth. The hounds’ heartbeats drew closer, claws tapping on the pavement as they walked.

When they turned the corner, I stared into two pairs of red eyes that gleamed like droplets of blood, faces as high as my own shoulders. Fur the color of bone, stained with splashes of crimson. Steam curled from their blunt snouts. When they growled, their teeth glistened with gore. Long, pointed ears swooped back over their heads, and they snapped their muscled jaws. A few more hounds came up behind them, snarling.

Even in my feral state, I knew I was no match for them, but I still bared my own canines, my heart thundering in my chest like a battle drum. Some rational part of me recoiled at my own savagery, terrified I’d do something insane. But Rational Ruby wasn’t in control right now.

From the whirling mist, another figure appeared, looming over the hounds.

At the sight of him, some part of me understood: there was only one true Hunter.

And right now, his sights were locked on me.

From atop a bone-white horse, the angel glared down at me, his copper wings gleaming with light, golden hair shining like a corona. Leather armor, studded with copper, covered his muscled body.

Like a star, he radiated light. He wore a longbow slung over his back. Looming over the street, he looked like a god. My blood roared through my veins as I gaped at him.

Two warring desires fought for supremacy in my mind. One of them was screaming at me that he was a threat, that I needed to attack him, to dominate him. Feral Ruby, this death-seeking part of myself, wanted to fight.

The other desire compelled me to move closer, to fall to my knees in front of him and worship him like a mindless slave.

And somewhere in the hollows of my mind, his true name knelled. Kratos.

Dim recognition sparked. This was the man I’d been looking for. Right now, I couldn’t remember why, just that I’d been looking for him. To kill him? To worship him?

My hands and knees ached for the pavement, but I kept myself upright.

Kratos. My fingers twitched, and I struggled to think through the dark, peaty haze in my mind.

Clenching my jaw, I closed my eyes.

I was looking for someone, someone I loved. I wanted her back. My sister… she had a name. My sister was Hazel. I’d come here to find her. Could this man help me, for some reason? Slowly, painfully, the thought began to take root.

Along with another, clearer thought: the Hunter was probably going to kill me in a few seconds. Right. Focus. Survive.

I stared at the shining angel, my rational mind trying to claw through the dirt. Stay still, Ruby. Stay very still.

My legs began to shake, my teeth chattering, my mind unsure what I was about to do next. I needed to compose myself to ask about my sister…

Instead, Feral Ruby just snarled. I began snarling loudly, the sound rumbling through my gut.

One of the hounds prowled closer, scenting the air. His red eyes burned into me, and a crimson droplet fell from his canines to the cobblestones.

Growling, I reached up to my forehead, where human blood had spattered my skin. With disgust, I felt myself smear the blood down my face.

Ruby… no. I withered inside as Feral Ruby licked the blood off her fingers.

The hound paused in its tracks, flattening its long pointed ears against its head as if staring at a ghost. Feral Ruby had managed to creep out even the hounds of hell. Maybe she was on to something, because the hounds didn’t seem to want to come any closer.

Slowly, my rational mind began to claim more territory, digging its way out of the dirt.

The angel leapt from his horse, eyes glowing amber in the gloom. Slowly, he stalked over to me, his gaze intent. His fluid movements suggested a tightly coiled violence just under the surface. My hackles rose, ready to fight.

What do you think of a feral fae, Kratos? Primal violence roiled within me as he moved closer. I longed to sink my teeth into his perfect neck, to grow powerful on the blood of an angel.

But Kratos was the first to attack.

When he reached me, his hand shot out, and he gripped me by the collarbone, thumb grazing my throat. In one smooth motion, he had me pinned to the wall, his golden eyes penetrating right into my hazy mind. I bared my teeth, snarling at him, and yet I knew if he moved his thumb and pressed down, he’d crush my throat in an instant. Hot magic curled off his body, vibrating over my skin. He smelled like burning cedar.

What does the blood of an angel taste like?

His grip on my throat relaxed, but he moved his hand down to my shoulder, still pinning me in place with his impossible strength. With his free hand, he stroked my face, the light touch searing my skin. For a lethal angel, he was so gentle. I hadn’t expected him to be.

He stared down at the blood staining his finger. “It’s a fae. A corrupted angel. See the blood, the pale hair. See her fangs, so much like a beast’s. I imagine these things rut in the street like vermin.”

I had a vague sense that he was insulting me, but I could hardly focus on the words. Up close, his power washed over me, overwhelming me. A dark sweep of lashes framed his burnt-gold eyes, rimmed with umber. The urge to attack him had dissolved completely, leaving behind only the urge to get on my knees. For some reason, I resisted.

“I knew the fae had fallen from the heavens,” he said. “I just didn’t realize how far. She’s a complete animal.”

What was that thing I needed from him…?

Hazel. The word rang in my mind again. Why did I have to encounter him like this, half-crazed, unable to control myself, when there was something I needed from him?

He still pinned me against the wall, one hand on my collarbone. Slowly, his gaze slid down my body, then up again. He sniffed the air. “A skinny thing, bony even. She has those strange fae eyes, an unnatural silver. Yet somehow beautiful. If she weren’t so depraved, she’d actually be tempting. That is how the fae fell in the first place, you know. Lured by earthly temptations. Unable to control themselves.”

Silver eyes. I’d faded completely. I gripped at his wrist, but it had no effect. I wanted things from him, but I couldn’t put them into words.

He cocked his head, unperturbed by my struggle. “Strange that she should have such delicate porcelain skin.” He lowered his face, breathing in my scent. One of his hands stroked down the back of my hair, as if he were soothing me. “But do you know? I think she’s been eating rats.”

For an instant, I saw myself through his eyes: a bestial fae, golden-haired, red of tooth and claw. Pupils gleaming silver. Through his eyes, I almost felt disgusted by myself. Once the fae had been angels like him, but we’d fallen to Earth, trapped by its temptations—by our love of food and dance, of sex and sunlight and the feel of rain on our skin. We’d changed over time, becoming more bestial, more animalistic.

We weren’t angels anymore.

He pulled his hands away from me, stepping back to study me. Then he brushed a strand of pale hair from my eyes. “I’m not wrong in thinking there is something strangely alluring about this beast, isn’t there, Culloch? Is that perverse of me?”

It took me a moment to realize he was talking to his dog—that he’d been talking to his dog the whole time. That’s where I ranked in this hierarchy. Somewhere below his dogs.

He frowned, cocking his head. “Adonis hates the fae with an unparalleled passion. I wonder what he’d do with this one?” Kratos’s lips curled. “Perhaps I’ll leave her alive for him.”

With the immediate danger averted, my mind began to clear a little more, my rational self digging its way free. What had he said? Adonis. Through my murky thoughts, I tried to cling to the name, to store it for later use.

Kratos stepped away from me, pulling out a gold handkerchief. “Leave her, Culloch. She’s more beast than human. A perverse temptation of the flesh, but one that will pollute your body.”

Thanks, asshole.

But as the fog cleared, I realized something about his tone—the note of affection when he spoke to his dogs. He loved his demonic hounds.

Slowly, the hounds turned from me, disappearing into the swirling mists. Kratos mounted his horse again, his movements swift and graceful. He pulled his horse’s reins, and its footsteps clopped away over the pavement.

As the sound of bellowing hounds faded, the sharp tip of my canines receded from my tongue.

Apparently, all I had to do to survive in this world was to be absolutely disgusting.

But I had another mission now. I had important information I could give to the Order. I had another angel’s name. And more importantly, I knew what Kratos truly loved. In this world, love was a vulnerability. It might be enough for the Order to recruit me.

At the other end of the alley, two sentinels glided, their glassy black eyes watching everything.