I tried to rest in anticipation of our late-night prowl. Each time I closed my eyes, I expected the telltale dizziness of another mind attack. I still didn’t know what I was going to do with Caroline.

By the time Sky arrived at eleven o’clock, I could barely keep my eyes open. When I opened the door, my eyebrows rose at the sight of her wearing a loose purple t-shirt with the smiling face of a panda bear on the front. Her jeans were reasonable; the obnoxious silver slippers were not.

She frowned, gestured to my faded jeans and wrinkled button-down. “You’re going to wear that?”

I rolled my eyes and changed into dark jeans, a black shirt, and dark boots. When I returned to the living room, I was surprised to find she hadn’t changed. I’d assumed she’d worn her outfit as a joke.

“We are about to commit larceny,” she stated. “If we are caught, who will look like a criminal and who will look like an employee who came back to the store to pick up her forgotten bag?” She winked and tapped a finger to her temple. “You have to think outside of the box.”

“I assure you, no one will believe someone would hire you knowing this is your manner of dress.”

“Well, I plan to get them to ‘see my reality,’ while you will be seeing the inside of a precinct.”

“So,” I said, suppressing a laugh, “let’s not get caught.”

As usual, she looked anxious in the passenger seat of my BMW as I drove toward the first store on the list. While she gripped the seat with both hands and pumped imaginary brakes, the silence between us allowed my mind to race. Once we found where the Aufero was hidden, retrieving it was risky. There would be magical protection. As long as I detected the traps before they went off, I most likely could break the spells, courtesy of my mother’s magic. Should anything go wrong, we’d be on our own. We couldn’t be seen as working on the pack’s behalf, and I wouldn’t risk bringing Josh into the situation.

Once we’d retrieved the Aufero, there was the question of hiding it. Marcia would certainly spend considerable resources to recapture it. Without Josh’s knowledge of the Creed’s abilities, I wasn’t sure how long we could hide the orb from them. It couldn’t be hidden at the retreat. Artemis might be of help, but she was also a mercenary. When it came to something as valuable as one of the protected objects, she couldn’t be depended upon.

There was the fact that Sky was the rightful Moura charged with protecting the Aufero. We’d kept that secret from Marcia, but once revealed, she’d be unable to make a public claim on the orb. Sky could place it in the pack’s protection. She’d be within her rights, but Marcia wouldn’t give up so easily. She’d find ways to punish the pack, to punish Josh. She was well aware that he could be used as leverage against me. She’d drum up some bogus charge and haul him in front of the Creed for judgment, and I’d have to give her the Aufero to protect him.

Sky spoke, startling me from my thoughts. “What do you do for the pack?”

I shifted gears, taking advantage of a long stretch of straight road to pick up the pace. “What?”

Pressing back into her seat, she complained, “It’s harder to kill us, but not impossible. I am pretty sure going through the windshield is going to hurt like hell and put a dent in our plans.”

I smiled as I slowed down to just over the speed of traffic, which seemed to calm her.

“What do you do for the pack?” she asked again. “What is your job besides Beta? Josh manages the pack’s club. Sebastian is a day trader and owns real estate, Steven’s a student, Winter is an IT consultant. I’m still not sure what Gavin does, and I don’t think anyone else is, either. What is your job?”

Gavin is a professional ass. “I’m an attorney.”

Her hand covered her mouth as she tried to stifle a laugh. She turned away, then finally let it out. Bemused, I kept my eyes on the road while she enjoyed herself, eventually wiping away tears as she brought herself under control.

“Criminal law for two years,” I continued. “Then I switched to corporate.”

She nodded, suppressing another wave of laughter, but didn’t ask any more questions.

A few minutes later, I took a slow pass in front of the first magic shop. The interior lights in the back of the shop were on, but that was a common security precaution. Confident that the staff had gone home, I parked around the corner.

The neighboring buildings were shops with apartments above. Several of the units were lit, but I didn’t find any faces lingering in the windows. Gesturing for Sky to wait by the BMW, I took a walk around the back of the building. Eyeing the edges of the roof for power lines and boxes that would indicate an alarm system, I found none. I didn’t feel any magic radiating through the walls, either.

Returning to the car, I retrieved my lockpick set from beneath the driver’s seat, then gestured for Sky to walk with me to the front of the shop. The street was quiet. No one was in sight, but I wasn’t going to take a chance.

“Stand in front of the door and talk about something,” I whispered just loud enough for her enhanced hearing.

Her eyes widened. “Like what?”

“Anything. Just keep talking.”

She took a deep breath. “Three of the housewives are from New Jersey, and they hate the other housewife. She’s from Florida and is probably hiding a secret past as a high-end stripper slash drug dealer.…”

Kneeling behind her, I opened the small leather bag of elegant tools and picked the lock. While practicing criminal law, I’d met an old master thief who’d retired after a bruising stint in jail. She made her living teaching her particular skill set to government spooks and survivalists. And me.

“They got into a catfight in the middle of an art gallery,” Sky continued as the door clicked open.

I slipped inside, Sky close behind, and closed the door. “What was that?” I asked, peering out to make sure no one had noticed our entrance.

“Best I could do on short notice.” She shrugged and walked into the middle of the store, her eyes scanning the contents of the shelves.

Walking the perimeter of the shop, I noticed a number of magic symbols painted on the walls. While mostly authentic, the symbols seemed haphazardly placed, often in contradictory groups. They were also devoid of magic. A display of charms against the back wall emitted an inconsequential amount of magic, probably from some of the crystals used.

Sky and I wandered until we met in the middle of the shop. Without a word, we agreed the Aufero wasn’t there.

After peeking out the front window, we left the shop—locking the door behind us—and made a casual stroll to the BMW. There were just two shops left, both of them directly under Marcia’s control.

Next we tried the shop I’d sent Artemis into. Some of the charms there emitted a stronger than expected magic, but there was nothing remotely powerful enough to suggest the presence of the orb.

Only one possibility remained.

Given the late hour, the drive across town to the last shop on our list was brief. We passed the drive in silence, both of us contemplating the sort of magical protections we’d encounter once we found the orb there.

I slowed as the shop came into view, the inside pitch black. After circling the building once, I parked in the dark alley behind it. A quick examination of the exterior revealed that an alarm system was present. I drew a tablet from the backseat and opened the only application installed, a custom piece of software that had cost as much as my BMW. After locating the property in the app’s database, the software indicated the alarm was connected directly to the local emergency system, which was a stroke of luck. Were the system connected to a private firm, I’d need to ghost the signal to prevent someone from noticing the broken connection, but the city wasn’t that organized. After a few touches to the screen, I closed the tablet and tossed it onto the backseat.

“It’s off,” I said.

Sky nodded, impressed.

“Do you want me to create a distraction again?” she asked as we approached the front door of the shop.

“I’d prefer you didn’t.”

At the door, she turned to shield me while I quickly picked the lock and stepped inside. The place reeked of sage. I ushered her inside, closed the door, and turned just as Sky drew a flashlight from her pocket and turned it on, casting a beam of white light across the displays. She scowled when I turned on the shop lights.

I explained, “You draw more attention when you are fumbling around in a shop with flashlights.”

She deftly tucked the light back into her pocket. “Seems like you are speaking from experience.”

Like the other two shops, the symbols we were looking for were on the walls, along with others for protection, prosperity, wisdom, and more. Unlike the other shops, the symbols here were properly grouped. Also unlike the other shops, several of these symbols possessed strong magic—a notable exception being a protection symbol that would’ve hampered the Aufero’s power had the symbol been real.

Similar to the other shops, there were sections for herbs and essential oils, crystals, homeopathic remedies, music, and books. There was also a large section of magical paraphernalia. Magic was present here, more than in the other shops, but not enough to match what we were looking for.

Large beveled mirrors lined the back wall of the shop on either side of a door, making the space seem more expansive than it was. My attention was drawn to an unusual symbol painted above the door. As I approached, I recognized the smell of blood mixed with henna. I didn’t know what the symbol’s purpose was, but it radiated strong magic.

Sky paused in midstride, her gaze drawn toward the symbol as well. “It’s here.”

Standing at the door, I felt stronger magic behind it, the residue of an untold number of spells and rituals practiced by hundreds of witches, their magic so intertwined over time that the individual sources were impossible to trace.

Sky tried the door, found it locked. She jerked at the handle in frustration, then stepped back and rammed the door with her shoulder—to little effect, but that didn’t stop her from trying again. Her usual stubborn determination became fierce as she stepped back and rammed the door several more times. Eventually the door splintered at the frame. The lock broke and the door swung in to reveal a large, open room.

A heavy wooden chair with leather iridium-laced restraints occupied the center of the room, facing a mahogany conference table with five chairs along the far wall. One for each member of the Creed, I realized. In the corner near the table was a decorative armoire that radiated powerful magic.

Sky’s heart quickened as she fixed her attention on the armoire, as if drawn to it. Through the glass front, I saw three shelves housing talismans and books and a few other objects that required closer inspection.

“Sky,” I said, cautioning her as she stepped toward the armoire. As if in response, or perhaps drawing her toward it, a light appeared inside, glowing increasingly stronger as she approached. Shading my eyes and squinting, I could barely make out the origin of the light, a small round orb on the second shelf.

The Aufero.

As she approached the glass, the magic of the orb flooded the room, radiating the combined powers and abilities of every person and creature the orb had ever drained over its lengthy existence. We had no idea how old it was, or how many victims it had left behind, but it had an overarching darkness about it, a signature similar to that of Ethos.

The armoire began to shake in anticipation. When Sky stopped before it, she raised her hand. The glass doors burst open and the orb leapt to her, molding itself to her palm. The orb’s power shimmered around her.

I opened my mouth to caution her, but then a force like a stone fist struck my back, sending me skidding across the room. I managed to turn around just before I struck the wall and collapsed, but I saw her, the frost-haired leader of the Creed, with four witches behind her.

Marcia.

She strode into the room, her attention focused on Sky. At a glance, she was an average height with an average frame, but there was a confidence in her stride, an intensity in her gaze, that spoke of power.

I started to lift myself from the floor when a fresh wave of force flattened me, pinning me down.

“Stay,” Marcia commanded, then held out her hand to Sky. “Give it to me.”

She clutched the orb to her chest. “No.”

Marcia started forward to take it, but the Aufero pulsed as if in warning, giving her pause. She fears it! If Sky knew how to use the orb, she could drain Marcia’s power with a command.

“Now!” she shouted, unleashing a wave of power meant to send Sky crashing to the floor. The orb unleashed a power of its own, expanding out to bend the attacking energy around her. The floor shook. Glaring back at Marcia, Sky teetered but managed to keep her feet.

“No,” she stated, brimming with confidence.

Unable to extricate myself from the floor, I called on my wolf. It was there, just beneath the surface straining to escape, but the magic that pinned me down prevented me from changing. I tried to call on my own magic, but the iridium band on my wrist prevented it.

Marcia’s eyes darkened like a gathering midnight cloud as she called upon even stronger magic. For a moment, nothing happened. I wondered if the orb had canceled her spell, but then she spread her arms wide, muttering her commands, and a loud rumble shook the room. The lights flickered and a new force struck me, driving me back and slamming me into the wall, pinning me.

I winced in pain.

Somehow, Sky remained standing. A powerful protective field shimmered around her—not hers, but the Aufero’s. The orb shone and pulsed in her hand. It was protecting her, and it was far more powerful than anything Marcia could muster. But there were four other witches in the room, nearly as powerful, and they had yet to join their power to hers.

Growling and grunting, I tried to peel myself from the wall through sheer rage. The force pinning me was unassailable. Run! I tried to shout. Escape! I feared it was only a matter of time before the other witches joined with Marcia. No matter how powerful the orb, Sky didn’t know how to wield it. She was casting spells she knew, relying on the orb’s superior magic. Eventually, the witches would overcome her unless she gave up on me and ran.

Leave me behind!

As Marcia’s magic assailed Sky’s protective field, her brow furrowed in intense concentration. After a moment, the field protecting her blossomed gold and orange sparks, then shattered completely, leaving her exposed and vulnerable. Marcia smiled as the other four witches fanned out behind her, joining their power to hers.

Run!

Sky stood her ground, defiant.

The Creed began a combined chant and my heart sank, anticipating her defeat.

Sky’s lips twisted into a wicked smile. With a slight gesture of her hand, she threw the witches back against the wall. Only Marcia managed to keep her feet, working to just barely maintain a protective field around her. Another gesture and Sky picked the witches from the wall, then slammed them back against it, then did it again until they were incapacitated. When the attack ended, she left them pinned to the wall.

Staring Marcia down, Sky commanded, “Let. Him. Go.”

“You are way out of your league,” Marcia snarled. “If you want to walk out of here with him alive, you will relinquish it to me.” She raised a finger and a powerful wave of magic whipped through the room. Sky’s eyes widened in surprise as she was thrown back against a wall.

The force continued to buffet the room, knocking the air from my lungs. I struggled to breathe as the assault continued.

Pressing her advantage, Marcia walked toward Sky, her fingers outstretched as if expecting the Aufero to leap from Sky’s grasp. As she called on stronger and stronger magic, the orb glowed angrily. Sky screamed at the sheer force that threatened to crush her hand.

Her green eyes turned entirely black.

The room rumbled and shook from her rage, and she threw Marcia back against the wall, but it wasn’t enough to stop her. Sky didn’t know how to use the orb’s inherent power. She couldn’t stop Marcia from releasing herself, and already two of the Creed had released themselves from the wall.

Leave me! I screamed in my mind, pleading with my eyes. Run!

As a last, desperate gasp, I called upon the dark elf magic. I had no idea what it could do, or how to wield it. I didn’t know if it was Marcia’s magic or the iridium band that kept it at bay, but the magic didn’t answer.

Shaken, Sky raised her protective field just in time to stop a magical force that rolled over the field in shimmering waves.

I wondered if Marcia had intended that attack as a distraction. While Sky focused on sustaining her field, Marcia freed the other two witches with a wave of her hand. When she glanced at me, I knew what was next. If she couldn’t beat Sky into submission, Marcia could use me as leverage. I only hoped Sky had the strength to see through it and endure. No matter what happened to me, the Aufero couldn’t fall back into Marcia’s hands.

She would blame the pack for our intrusion. As punishment, she’d use the orb to take Josh’s magic.

“Give it. To. Me,” she demanded of Sky.

When she didn’t respond, Marcia waved her hand at the mirrored glass on the wall near the armoire. The glass shattered into jagged shards that hung in the air. Following her gesture, the shards flew straight toward me. Refusing to close my eyes, I watched the swarm of ragged daggers approach. I would defy my death to the very last moment.

The shards stopped suddenly, just inches from my flesh.

“Give it to me,” she commanded, straining as she held the shards at bay.

Sky closed her eyes in seeming concentration. If she was trying to cast a spell to help me, it didn’t work.

Marcia walked toward me with a twisted, sadistic expression and plucked one of the shards from the air. It was an impressive gesture, considering the concentration required to hold the swarm in suspension.

“I’ve always been curious how much a were-animal body can endure before it shuts down from shock and dies,” she said. “Relinquish it to me.”

Sky didn’t answer.

Good. Don’t. Survive this. No matter what, keep the Aufero.

Marcia’s lips twisted into a deviant smile as she plunged the shard into my stomach. I winced but clamped my jaw shut, refusing to give her the satisfaction of even a breathless whimper. She wanted me to put on a show for Sky’s benefit. Glancing down, I saw Marcia’s hand pressed against the wound. She’d driven the shard in up to her fist, which was soaked in my blood. Only when I shook my head against the pain did I realize the force that held me had relaxed, just enough to let me squirm. She stared into my eyes as I struggled to maintain consciousness, thrilled by my agony.

Once more I fought to break free and failed.

“Oh, stop struggling,” she gently chided me. “You’ll need your energy.”

She waved her fingers and the swarm of shards pulled back—just enough to strike with momentum when she commanded it. It was an unnecessary cruelty. I might survive one or two of the shards, but I doubted I could survive the entire swarm. Even if I survived the initial blow, Marcia would never allow me access to medical help. I doubted I would ever leave the room alive.

“I didn’t realize you all had a Moura,” she said to me. “That explains quite a bit. Your pack has been quite busy. Do you have any others?”

Go to hell, I thought, but the words only emerged as grunts and gasps for breath.

Apparently I disappointed her. At a flick of her fingers, several shards of glass drove into my torso. Blood filled my mouth. Before I could spit it in her face, another set of shards burrowed into me. I bit my lip, stifling a cry as it seemed my body was nothing but pain and blood. At some point, I fell limp against the force that pinned me, finally unable to resist. I expected the force to crush me instantly, but it only held me in place. When I looked down, I saw over a dozen shards protruding from my body, each dripping my blood.

Grinning with anticipatory delight, Marcia raised her hand to unleash the remaining shards at once.

“Here!” Sky shouted, flicking me a tortured look as she dropped her field.

No! I screamed inside my skull, but still couldn’t find the breath to speak.

“You know I can’t have it once it is in your possession,” Marcia snapped. “You need to relinquish it to me. Give up ownership.”

“Fine.” Sky’s shoulders drooped as she glowered at Marcia. “I relinquish the Aufero to you.”

Marcia sighed, annoyed as if she were teaching an obstinate child. “Praeditos, the Aufero is relinquished to you. Say it.”

Don’t!

Sky repeated the words, her bitterness echoing in the chamber, but she couldn’t bring herself to release the orb. It glowed in her hand with an increasing intensity, pulsing orange and yellow light. She gaped at it, reluctant and awed until she hissed and tossed the orb to Marcia, snatching back singed fingers. The leader of the Creed picked the Aufero from the air and clutched it to her chest. In her grip, the glow quickly faded until the orb seemed a plain gray ball. A moment later, she offered a triumphant smile as the orb pulsed back to life.

“I accept,” she whispered, then disappeared along with the other witches.

The force that restrained me disappeared as well. I pressed back into the wall for support as air rushed into my lungs. My chest heaved, each rise and fall sending shocking jabs of pain from the shards embedded in my torso. Sky rushed to me and pulled one of the shards from my abdomen. I grimaced and felt hot blood gush from the wound. Mercifully, she pulled the rest of the shards in quick order, blurring the pain together. I lost consciousness, but only for a moment. When I came to, I was still on my feet. I grunted as she pulled the last shard from my thigh and sent the bloodstained glass skidding across the floor. I frowned at the fresh springs of blood that leaked from me.

“Not safe,” I muttered, gathering myself.

I pushed off from the wall and stumbled toward the door. Sky rushed to my side, tried to slip an arm beneath mine, but I brushed her off. I’d already gotten my ass kicked and cost her the Aufero. The least I could do was walk out on my own.

But I couldn’t drive.

I tried to toss her the BMW keys, but my muscles were weak, poorly coordinated. She scooped the keys from the pavement and helped me into the back, then hurried around to the driver’s seat. I rolled my eyes and moaned as she gave the gearshift a puzzled look.

Even in my agony, I couldn’t help willing her when to shift, mentally chastising her each time she didn’t. I groaned with every clunk and grind. The wounds were already healing, but the ride was going to kill me.

“I’ll call Dr. Jeremy,” she said, a slight tremble in her voice as she tried to fish her phone from her pocket while steering.

“No,” I hissed. “My house.”

Instead of punishing us, Marcia had let us go. I was sure she was tracking us, waiting for us to call the pack for help or race to the retreat. If we sought help, the pack would be implicated; I’d never be able to claim that I’d acted on my own initiative. Thanks to my failure, I’d put Sky, Josh, and the pack at risk. I’d cost her the Aufero, and I’d gotten my ass kicked by an old witch.

By the time we’d reached the house, most of the bleeding had stopped, but I’d lost a lot of blood. Sky insisted on helping me inside, and I didn’t argue.

“We need to work on your driving,” I muttered as we climbed the steps toward the door.

“A manual transmission is stupid.”

“It’s the only way to go.” She unlocked the door and helped me into a leather chair in the living room. My eyes traced the trail of my blood back to the door as Sky rummaged in the kitchen cabinets.

“My Civic has an automatic transmission and a cool little camera that keeps me from running into things,” she called back to me. “You would think that BMW would catch on.” She abandoned the kitchen to continue her search in the bathroom. Is she searching for a first aid kit? I chuckled. You could just ask.

She returned with the kit and knelt in front of me, prioritizing my wounds. “You sure you don’t want me to call Dr. Jeremy?”

“No.”

I grimaced as she helped me pull off my shirt, then my pants. Pain shot through me like a lightning bolt as she attempted to probe one of the wounds, feeling for remnants of glass. “Wait,” I gasped, gripping her shoulder. Closing my eyes, I took a pair of long, calming breaths to prepare myself, then nodded. “Okay.”

With each wound she probed, I held my breath and absorbed the pain until she moved on to the next. Fortunately, there were no remaining splinters. When she quit probing and began cleaning my wounds, I gave a sigh of relief.

“I should have given her the Aufero sooner,” she said, shaking her head in disgust.

“I didn’t expect you to choose me over it.”

She flinched, then silently carried on with cleaning my wounds.

I hadn’t meant it as a rebuke. She’d made the wrong decision, but I couldn’t fault her for saving me. It wasn’t the first time. “I would have given it to her, too,” I said, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

Her shoulders relaxed. “Well, I hope so,” she said with a hint of a smile. “Even you aren’t that big of a jerk.”

I glanced down at the job she’d done patching my wounds, then stood. A fresh stab of pain nearly sent me to the floor. I staggered, caught myself. Sky stood close, her arms extended to catch me while I took a breath, then straightened.

“She knows what you are,” I said. “She will likely approach you soon.”

“What would she want with a Moura?”

“Your connection to the Aufero is stronger than hers is. I am willing to bet she thinks she can use it and you to find the other protected objects. More specifically the Clostra. Believe me, if she ever gets a hold of it, we are done. The first spell she will use is the one to kill us.” I glanced at the clock on the wall. “It’s getting late, and I’m tired.”

“I should at least stay until—”

I gave her a look that said I needed to be alone. She’d already witnessed my failure. She didn’t need to witness the overwhelming guilt, as well.

She nodded, gave me back my keys, and left.

If I’d had the strength to destroy every bit of furniture I owned, I would’ve. As it was, I could only stew in my anger.