I had dreamed about her again last night. I didn’t know why, but ever since meeting her at the beach years ago and saving that guy from drowning, I dreamed about her at least once a month. Lately though, it was more like once a week.

In my dreams, she was a little older and even more beautiful. Entranced, I watched her while she walked down the beach in the cold weather and jumped into the ocean, clothes and all. I raced after her, but before I even made to the water, she emerged, laughing out loud, happy to be in the water. Batting her long lashes at me, she smiled and danced around, stomping her feet and splashing water on me.

And I fell under her spell.

“What else can I get you boys?” Drifter asked, pulling me out of my dream. On the bar, he placed a glass of whiskey for me and a beer bottle for Aidan.

“Nothing,” I said. “Thanks.”

He narrowed his eyes at me, then at Aidan. “I don’t want any trouble here.”

“Don’t worry,” Aidan said. “We’re here just killing time.”

“We’ll leave soon,” I reassured Drifter.

The old man humphed and walked away to serve his usual clientele. The bar, Drifter’s, was a hole in the wall, with creaking floors, a few tables and chairs, and in need of a deep cleaning. I had no idea how Drifter could afford to kept it up. “I hope we catch them tonight,” Aidan said.

Usually, the cases I worked on—that all hunters from the Sanctum of the Seven did—were fast and messy. We researched the case, found the demon, killed it, and then moved on to another case.

However, Willow Harbor being a town full of supernaturals, the Sanctum of the Seven had to play police sometimes.

And this was one of those times.

I took a long swallow of my whiskey. The liquid burned down my throat, just the way I liked it. “Me too. I’m tired of chasing dead ends.”

“Exactly. We’ve been working on this for almost three months. And it’s not even demon related.”

“But it’s supernatural.”

“I know, I know.” He paused, looking around. Then he turned back to me. “Maybe we should bring Selena back in and ask her questions.”

I shook my head. “She already told us all she knows.”

“How do you know?”

I shrugged. “I don’t. I’m trying to believe her.”

“She’s a siren, Nathan. She can easily spell us and tell us whatever she wants.”

“I know, but you saw how much she has changed these past couple of months. She never complained when we wanted more information.”

“Oh, she complained.”

He was right. She did complain, but she always ended up spewing everything. This time, though, I didn’t think there was any more information she could share with us. “She’s trying.”

“It could be just another game.”

“I agree, but we know where to find her. If something seems fishy—” Aidan snorted over my intentional pun. “—we can always bring her in again.” Selena was a siren who for many years ran a forbidden potions smuggling operation right here in Willow Harbor. Until recently, we hadn’t known who she was or how she did it, but now that we had apprehended her, we thought the operation would die. “Whoever took over knows how to play this game.”

Aidan nodded. “They are smart, staying off our radar for so long. I have to say, that’s probably not easy.”

A grin pulled at the corner of my mouth. “You’re right.” There was a reason the Sanctum of the Seven was feared and respected. We did our jobs well, very well. Any supernatural being living in Willow Harbor knew what they would have to face if they didn’t follow the rules. And still, this group was proving to be as hard to catch as Selena had been.

And that infuriated me.

My phone rang. Knowing who it was, I answered without looking at the screen. “Cole.”

“They’re on the move,” Cole said. “They are heading to the woods behind the docks.”

“All right,” I said. “We’ll meet you there in a few minutes.”

Standing up, I slipped my phone back in my pocket.

“Time to move?” Aidan asked, standing up with me.

I slapped some cash on the counter. “Time to move.”

Since we wouldn’t be able to park near the woods, it didn’t make sense to drive there. So Cole and I walked to the end of the boardwalk. If we kept walking, we would end up at the fishermen’s market and the pier, but since Selena had used the docks for her operations for years, we doubted the new leader would do business there. At least for some time. Even so, it was better if we steered clear of the docks, just in case. We turned left, away from the sea, and kept moving at a brisk pace along a back road, toward the woods.

Up ahead, we found Landon’s Mustang and Cole’s police Dodge Charger parked to the side of the road. Landon and Tessa leaned over the open trunk of the Mustang, gearing up.

“Hey,” I called, approaching them.

“Hi,” Landon said, without looking at us.

Tessa turned and smiled. “Hi, guys.”

I couldn’t help but smile back at her. “Hey, Tess. Ready to catch some bad guys?”

She winked at me. “More than ready.”

Despite the hard life we had, Tessa had been a recent bright change. Her father, Isaac, had been a hunter like us, our leader along with Douglas, but he had been killed by a demon six months ago. When Landon went to tell her about it, she insisted on helping him avenge her father. As if our lives always had a fairy tale ending, they fell in love with each other. At first, it didn’t seem like it would work out. Like most hunters, Landon was quiet and stoic and brooding, while Tessa was happy, bubbly, and contagious. But I guess that was what made it all work out. Since then, she had brought our little family closer together. Almost every weekend, she cooked at least one homemade meal for all us, and shame on the hunter who didn’t show up.

It sounded a little overboard, but after all we hunters had been through, we quickly learned it was the little things that mattered. Like stopping long enough to have a nice meal together, like talking and sharing and telling each other about our lives, like enjoying being together.

Tessa reminded us of that.

I had a gun with extra rounds in a holster across my back and a long dagger strapped to my leg under my pants, but I still reached in the trunk and grabbed a nice set of brass knuckles.

“Fifty per hour,” Landon said, slipping a dagger on the scabbard at his waist.

I snorted. “Put it on my tab.”

Cole approached us. As a police officer, he was covered with guns and tasers and knifes, but we knew that, like us, he had more hidden under his uniform.

“They should be a mile that way.” He pointed toward the trees.

Aidan let out a long breath. “Dude, I didn’t bring my hiking boots.” He gestured to his feet, clad with hard combat boots.

One corner of Cole’s lips tugged up. “As if you had hiking boots.”

Aidan laughed. “Right! I don’t.”

Cole shook his head. “All right. Everyone ready?”

After we all said a quick yes, the five of us set out into the woods.

On the way, we found two empty glass vials, which told us we were on the right track. We pushed harder, trying to get there faster.

Even with our endurance and stamina, a mile into the thick of the woods took about thirty minutes.

Finally, the trees opened and we spied a small clearing. We hid behind bushes and trees and watched out.

A big wooden crate sat in the middle of the woods.

“Where are they?” Landon asked.

Cole stared at the crate, his brows down. “I don’t know. They should be here.”

“I don’t think we should go check that crate,” Aidan said.

A feeling of wrongness assaulted me. “I think …”

“This is a trap,” Tessa said.

“Not a trap. A distraction,” said a new voice.

We turned around and found five men standing among the trees, their automatic rifles pointed at us.

Careful with our movements, we stood and faced our enemies.

“A distraction for?” Cole asked, his voice strained.

The big man in the middle grinned at us. “A distraction to send you away from the real action.”

I glanced between them, trying to find out what they were. Some supernaturals had specific traits, but these men didn’t have anything in common. So far, I thought there was a human, a naga, and a werewolf among them. Not a common combination.

“You know we can take you, right?” Aidan said. I knew he was eager to show them what a real fight looked like. Aidan could be fun most of the time, but he had a short temper. “Five against five, that’s easy.”

“Look back here.”

Shit.

We glanced back and saw another seven men standing around the clearing, all carrying the same automatic rifles, all pointed at us. This time, I recognized a vampire, a naga, a werewolf, and a fae.

That was twelve against five. Our odds were down, but we still could take them.

“Besides,” the man closest to us said. “We’re here to distract you, not to fight.”

Landon scoffed. “Then you don’t know us.” Lightning fast, he lunged at the guy.

And a fight started.

Shots rang loud through the clearing, and we ducked to the ground, getting low.

Landon had his guy on the ground with him. After a struggle, he got the man’s rifle and threw it away. I took my dagger from the strap around my shin, and threw it at one of the werewolves. It wasn’t silver or laced with wolfsbane, so it wouldn’t kill him, but it would slow him down. I jumped over a naga, pushing the rifle out of the way. The man shifted, turning into a nasty gray-green serpent. His limbs extended and grew as his fingers elongated into thick, sharp claws. Then he swiped.

I jumped back but wasn’t fast enough. I let out a howl when his claw sliced through my jacket and cut my upper arm.

“You piece of shit,” I muttered, taking the dagger from the scabbard on my back.

I went for him, but he slithered out of my reach.

A werewolf appeared between us, snapping his big teeth right at my face. Gasping, I took a large step back.

I bumped into someone. At ready, I spun around, holding my dagger high. A human man grinned at me before fishing out a small vial with blue powder inside. The man threw the vial on the ground. It broke and blue, thick smoke filled the air. Arm raised to my mouth, I coughed and stepped back, sure he would come at me at any moment.

I turned around in the blue cloud, holding my dagger high.

Where were they?

A cold breeze blew and the smoke started dissipating.

There was only the five of us standing in the middle of the clearing.

“What happened?” Tessa asked. “What was that?”

“It was just a smoke potion,” Landon said. “They used it to escape.”

“I don’t get it,” I said. “Why escape? Why not fight us and kill us?”

“Maybe they don’t want to kill?” Aidan pondered.

“But they know we’ll be on their asses again in two minutes. I mean, think about it. You’re the bad guy, and you know I won’t stop until I catch you. Wouldn’t you try to take me out of the equation?”

Aidan shrugged. “It makes sense.”

“Then why didn’t they kill us?” Landon asked.

“I don’t know,” I muttered.

Cole’s phone rang. He glanced at it, his lips pressed tight. “It’s from the station.” He answered the call, “Yes? They did? Okay. Okay. I’ll be right there.” He turned off the call and he glanced at us.

“What?” Tessa asked.

“It really was a distraction,” Cole said. “They kept us busy here while another boat was stolen.”

“Shit,” I cursed under my breath.

“This boat stealing thing is getting ridiculous,” Landon said.

It really was. We didn’t know for sure, but we assumed whoever was behind the smuggling operation now didn’t own any boats. Or didn’t want to. Every time they wanted to take the potions to the ocean, they stole a boat from the docks. And a few days later, the boat mysteriously appeared back at the dock, or bobbing in the ocean, just off shore.

We had tried putting cameras out on the docks, patrolling the area twenty-four-seven, but somehow they got it done anyway—right underneath our noses.

Cole put his phone away. “I need to go.”

Aidan nodded. “Yeah, go. We’ll clean this up and then go back to the manor. We need to regroup and rethink this entire operation.”

I exhaled through my nose, exasperated. “Understatement of the year.”