The downstairs was pure carnage. Furniture was broken. Blood stained the white tiles. But there wasn’t a shifter in sight. My gut clenched. It was far too quiet both inside and outside the house. Something was very wrong.

I paused at the door, listening.

Nothing. Nothing except the movement upstairs from the shifters we’d just battled.

Leo’s ear twitched, and I knew he’d heard them too.

“Time to go. Whatever’s out there, we’ll deal with it.” Steeling myself, I pulled the door open and followed Leo outside.

“Oh hell,” I muttered.

Leo paused beside me as we both took in the scene. Six wolves plus Bandu had Dax and Link surrounded. Seven on two when everyone was a shifter was terrible odds.

“Welcome to the party, Kilsen,” Bandu said without looking at me. “You’re just in time to see what happens to traitors.”

Link growled and lunged for the pack leader, but Bandu struck out with an electrified rod, zapping Willow’s wolf.

“You fucking piece of shit,” I said, striding off the porch, my dagger in my hand. In that moment, I honestly didn’t care if Bandu could survive my cursed blade. There was no mercy for a piece of shit who would zap a shih tzu, even if he was in wolf form. “Step away from Link, or I’m going to rip your head off.”

Bandu ignored me and stalked up to Dax, his rod aimed at Dax’s head. Dax held his ground, waiting for the precise moment to strike. I’d watched him take down many vampires using the same exact technique. If it’d just been him and Bandu, he likely would’ve been able to subdue the pack leader without even breaking a sweat. But with six other shifters rushing him, the task would’ve been damn near impossible. Instead, Dax met my gaze for one brief second then dropped to the ground and rolled.

I whipped out my sun agate and yelled, “Siste!” The spell was specifically for vampires and would knock them out for hours. On humans and shifters alike, it only worked for a short time.

The six wolves all froze, just as I expected them to. Luckily Link had leaped out of the way. He’d seen me use the agate enough times to know what it meant. But Bandu? He remained unaffected and took off after Dax.

“Damn.” I glanced over at Leo. A sound from the porch drew his attention, and we both turned to see the remaining shifters filing out of the house. He let out a low growl, and darted after Bandu and Dax.

“Link, move it!” I called and took off down the street, heading for Allcot’s BMW, praying he hadn’t left my ass behind. Dax was here, but I had no idea where he’d parked.

My feet had just hit the asphalt when suddenly someone grabbed my hair from behind.

“You’re a troublesome witch, aren’t you, Phoebe Kilsen?” The voice, full of hatred and self-righteousness, was unmistakable.

“And you’re a dirty little wannabe hipster. Anyone ever tell you the girls aren’t really into man buns?”

His grip tightened on my hair, and he yanked my head back. I winced.

“Shut up,” he ordered.

Bandu started to drag me back to the house, but I braced my feet on the ground and reached back, shamelessly grabbing for his crotch. My fingers found a grip, and I squeezed as hard as I could.

He let out a howl so loud I was certain my hearing would never be the same. But worse, he didn’t let go. He just fell to his knees, taking me with him.

“You’ll pay for that, Kilsen,” he wheezed out. “Do that again and I won’t hesitate to snap your neck.”

“You can try,” I said, hatred seeping from my pores. “But I bet you’ll lose that game.” I jerked my head back, clocking him just above his eye.

“Fuck!” he cried, his grip loosening, but he still didn’t let go. It didn’t matter, it was enough. I jabbed an elbow into his gut and then flung myself forward, scrambling to get away from him. I was just about free when his hand clasped around my ankle and jerked me back. I fell face-first on the asphalt and gritted my teeth, praying I didn’t have one hell of a road rash when this was over.

Unwilling to give in, I forced myself to flip over and kicked my free leg out. I’d been aiming for his face, but I missed and got his shoulder instead. It was a lucky blow, because his grip faltered and I was free.

Within seconds I was on my feet, my dagger out. It would do no good to run. Wolves were faster than I was, and it was clear Bandu had no intention of letting me get away.

“You’re really going to throw down with me, Kilsen?” he said, his face carefully arranged in an amused expression. But I saw right through him. He was afraid of me. Good. I liked it that way.

“Yeah. But don’t worry, I’ll make it quick. You won’t have to suffer for too long. See, I’m not as vindictive as the rest of you assholes.” I spun and jabbed at him, my dagger barely missing his neck.

He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get the words out, another shifter came out of nowhere and knocked him on his ass.

I blinked and smiled when I recognized the gray-and-white wolf. It was rare for me to see Dax in his shifter form, but when I did, he never failed to impress. Then Allcot and Pandora where there. The four of us plus Link had Bandu surrounded. The only one missing was Leo. I glanced around, worried about the young shifter, but got distracted by the shadows moving toward us in the night.

“What the hell is that?” I asked no one in particular.

“Shit! She’s coming,” Pandora said, her voice panicked. “We have to get out of here.”

“Who’s coming?” I squinted into the darkness, trying to decide if the shadows were the shifters. No, that wasn’t right. They were too big to be wolves, but not the right shape to be humans. I clutched my agate, preparing to flash them if for no other reason than just to see what we were up against.

“Let Bandu go,” a raspy female voice said.

“Eadric, please,” Pandora said.

I cut my gaze to the battered vampire and frowned. I’d never heard Pandora frightened before. Not like that.

“We’re going, love,” he said softly. “Just need to secure the shifter.”

Bandu growled and dropped to all fours, quickly turning into a wolf. Link and Dax immediately attacked. Within seconds, they had him under their control.

I glanced over my shoulder at the shadows closing in on us. My skin started to prickle and my stomach turned. “What the hell is that?” I asked again.

“They’re her demons,” Pandora whispered.

“Demons?” Fear clouded my mind and I just stood there, staring like a fool. I’d heard of witches conjuring demons before, but in reality, I’d never encountered a witch so evil, so bereft of human decency, that she’d attempted it. Witches who summoned demons had to pay with their souls. And this one, she had an army. “We have to get out of here,” I said, echoing Pandora. “Now.”

“He’s almost here,” Allcot said.

“Who?” What the hell were we waiting for?

“Leo.” He nodded over my shoulder, and that’s when I spotted Dax’s Trooper barreling down the road toward us. They’d sent the kid to get the truck while they helped save me from Bandu. And because we’d helped Allcot find Pandora, he was returning the favor.

The demons reached us just before the Trooper pulled to a stop. I raised my agate, flashing the brilliant light on them, praying the magic would do something, anything, to stop them.

Gut-wrenching screams filled the air, and all of them recoiled, backing up to hide behind their mistress.

“You dare to go up against my children?” she drawled, walking right into my light. It wasn’t surprising that the agate didn’t work on her. Similar ones didn’t work on me either. But I was surprised to see her floating in the air, gliding toward us as if she were a spirit. Only she was just as solid as the rest of us. “That will not be tolerated.”

“Get in the truck!” I yelled, moving in front of the sorceress, shielding them all from whatever she was getting ready to throw at us. I heard scrambling behind me and threw up a blocking spell just in time. The sorceress’s curse broke my shield instantly, and a thick cloud of smoke rose up, obscuring my vision.

“Hurry,” Pandora said right before she pushed me toward the Trooper. Another crack of magic filled the air, and a second later, I felt rather than saw Pandora stiffen. I spun, finding her frozen, her mouth open in shock, and she was floating slowly toward the sorceress.

“Pandora!” Allcot appeared beside her, his arms going around her, but as soon as they did, his flesh started to smoke. He jumped back, staring at the scorched areas of his flesh.

“Holy shit!” I turned back around and charged the other witch. “What the hell did you do to her?”

She didn’t answer, but her demons once again started to close in on me. I flashed them again with my agate, and this time I noticed the light made the sorceress flinch as well. Not knowing what else to do, I rushed her, my agate shining bright in one hand and my cursed dagger in the other.

Dark magic poured from her fingertips, but thanks to the light from my agate, she couldn’t see exactly where I was and the spell hit a nearby tree, causing a loud crack as the trunk split in two.

Another round of magic came at me, but I dodged and came up swinging, aiming for her heart. The blade slid easily into the sorceress, and I let out a triumphant grunt as the demons vanished. But the woman remained, her soulless black eyes boring into mine.

“You can’t kill me, little witch. No one can.” Then she wrapped her hand around mine and the hilt of my blade and pulled it right out of her chest, laughing maniacally as she tried to wrestle the blade from me. But there was no way in hell she was getting it from me. I lifted the agate and shone it right in her eyes as I shoved my boot into her stomach and sent her flying back into the street.

“Get Pandora in the Trooper,” I ordered Allcot, tugging on the comatose vampire.

“She’s still cursed,” he hissed. “We have to get her to reverse it first.”

“No we don’t. With the help of a healer, we can fix this. Let’s go before it gets worse.” He glanced once at the sorceress already making her way toward us, then grabbed Pandora and shoved her in the Trooper, ignoring his burning flesh. I climbed in after them.

Leo stepped on the gas, the wheels of the Trooper squealing as he hightailed it out of there.

I sucked in a deep breath and glanced around at our battered party. Leo was driving. Dax was in the front seat, Allcot and Pandora in the back, me and Link in the middle row.

And trussed up at my feet was Bandu. A humorless, self-satisfied smile claimed my lips. His night was about to get a thousand times worse.