I rolled my shoulders to get the kinks out. Shifting back to human form always left me feeling achy. The truth was I was too damn big for shapeshifting. I headed out of Wynter to pick up Barq and, with any luck, catch a free moment with the tempting ferry captain.

But the second I left Wynter, I felt my hackles rise as if was still in wolf form. Catch was pacing in front of the horses, talking to himself. The river was gurgling with souls waiting to be taken to their eternity, but the ferry stood tied to the dock with no captain on board.

"What's going on, Catch?"

He waved his hand frantically at the river. "We've got work to do and that stupid, old Trex hasn't returned. He sure does take long breaks these days." Catch shrugged. "Guess there's nothing I can do about it. Not my problem. That's what I told Steemer. Not my problem. Not going to worry about it," he said as he frantically scratched the spot behind his ear that he always rubbed when he was worried. I was feeling plenty worried myself.

"Grab Barq for me, and I'll go look for her." The stupid words slipped out so easily I hadn't noticed I said them until the goblin's puzzled face stared up at me.

"Who? Why are you going girl hunting? I need Trex, not one of your candy lipped curvy Wynter Fare. Even though I wouldn't say no to one." His laugh sounded like plastic being crumpled. But as my mind started circling around the idea that Rikki was in trouble, the stupidity just kept going.

"When did you last see her, Catch?"

Again, he blinked up at me, and I wanted to pound the befuddled expression off his face. "Her? Boy, you really do have your mind on women tonight, Max."

"I mean the ferryman. When did you last see Trex?" I snapped.

"Oh, Trex. He scuffled out of here about fifteen hours ago. That's why those souls are piling up out there. But guess that's no worry of yours now. You go on and kiss some of those pretty women for me." Catch reached out to knuckle me on the arm like we were just two good bros talking about women

I looked pointedly at his fist. He pulled it quickly back and shoved it in his pocket. "I'll get the horse." Fortunately, once his mind strayed to the topic of women, the little weasel forgot all about my slips of the tongue.

Flint had been hunting on all fours with me. He walked out rolling his neck. It always took a lot of physical energy and a great deal of pain to shift back to human form, especially after a long night of hunting. "Whooee, am I going to need a beer after tonight." Flint stopped to wait for Catch to gather up the horses. "Was it my imagination or were there more wraiths than usual tonight? And one of those sickle clawed ones, like the one that nearly killed Stryker, came at me from an overhead rock. Fucker jumped down in front of me and nearly got a chunk of my flesh before my fangs went into his throat. Ripped that sucker to pieces." He stopped and looked at me. "And you're not talking or adding to the narrative so something's wrong."

"Not sure." I motioned with my head toward the river. "Souls are piling up but no ferryman."

"Maybe she's just late getting back from her time off."

"Yeah, maybe. I'm going to head to her house to see if I can find her. See you at the Sins."

Catch led Barq and Harley out to us, and we climbed on. I reined Barq sharply around and pushed my heels into his sides. After a full night and day of rest, the stallion was ready to go. We flew back into Wynter. I lowered myself over his neck and we crashed through the plasma.

Barq's sides shrank and hardened to metal and his withers chromed up into a gas tank. The second my front tire hit solid ground, I grabbed the throttle. I headed straight through the forest, taking no time to slow for rough patches or deep holes. My motorcycle groaned as it slammed over the rough terrain. Once my tires hit smooth asphalt, I was off.

The white line down the middle of the road erased in a blur as I raced toward the marina. Each spin of the tire sent my pulse ahead just a little faster. I could sense it. I had already connected myself, heart and soul, to Rikki, and I knew something was wrong.

I stopped for only a short second to look up along the path that I knew Rikki walked to get to the portal. I turned my headlight toward the narrow stretch of dirt and followed the glow with my eyes. I couldn't see any sign of her. I sat back down on the bike and took off again.

I'd start at her house and work my way back, all the way back to the river if necessary. I'd worried about startling Rikki's parents awake, but lights were on and Walt came hurrying out of the house, looking about the same shade as the pale moon above.

"Thank goodness, Max. Rikki never came home between shifts. I blame myself. I should have been working the ferry."

I patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, Walt. I'm going to find her." I spoke with confidence, but my insides felt like fucking pudding. I had no idea where to look, and when I thought about how damaged every one of Vapour's creations were in human form and now in regurgitated form, I wanted to puke.

I headed straight back to the road. I'd start at the portal and work my way back from there. Every form of nightmare went through my head on the ride to the forest. I'd almost lost Rikki twice in a short span of time. Both times, with the banshees and in Vapour's realm, I'd been terrified but also confident that I could save her. I'd been in control in both of those situations, but this time was different. This time I had no control. Rikki was out there somewhere, scared to death and needing me. And I needed her. That was solid in my head now. Rikki was mine. I'd never imagined that I would find any woman who could work her way around my heart, but it had happened. I couldn't lose her.

I drove through the forest as far as I could on the bike and then ditched it to travel on foot. My gaze swept around looking for clues, like broken branches or pieces of clothing. I was so focused on finding something that I nearly missed the biggest clue of all. I stopped several feet from the rock markers in front of the portal and stared down at the black spots trailing along the forest floor. With the midnight sky above and the thick canopy of trees, it was almost hard to see them.

My heart slammed around in my chest as I stooped down and brushed my finger over one. I brought my finger to my nose. My horrifying hunch was no longer a hunch. It was blood. I looked up toward the rocks and saw a pool of dried blood on the rock marker.

If Rikki had managed to go back through the portal, in her struggle to get away from whoever was after her, I was sure I would have seen her. She was not in the underworld. Which meant she was out in the mortal world somewhere, the captive of a bunch of serial killer miscreants. There was no other way to describe them. They hadn't risen from corpses, so they couldn't even be labeled zombies. The monsters who had Rikki were like no other, and I was going to tear each one limb from limb.

The blood was my only clue. My pulse pounded in my head as I thought about Rikki bloodied and hurt and in the hands of murderers. I followed along the black drops until they were too faint to see. The road was just through the last patch of trees. Did they get on the road? Which direction did they head? I had no time to waste. I would need to follow the blood. Even the trace drops would eventually lead me to Rikki.

I turned back and headed into a thicket of shrubs to be out of view from the road. I hunched down and closed my eyes to focus and summon the wolf. My worry about Rikki made it hard. I was tired from a long night of hunting, and it was never as easy to shift in the human world as it was in the clammy shroud of Wynter. There was a well-guarded law that we couldn't shift on this side of the plasma unless absolutely necessary. This situation called for it.

Somehow I'd managed to clear my head. The transformation began. I clenched my jaw in pain as my bones twisted and turned. The tingling feeling, like a million hot pin pricks, raced from my head down to my feet as the fur grew along my back. Everything around me came into sharp focus. The odors of the forest overwhelmed my senses.

I lifted my snout in the air to catch the scent of blood. Her honey sweet scent was mixed in with the bitter, metallic smell of blood. The worry and rage that had been building up in my chest roared out on a long howl. There was nothing I could do to stop it.

I could see every night creature, owls, rats, even insects watching me from the trees as I trotted through the underbrush. The scent of blood led me to the road. It was insane to expose myself on the highway, but I had no choice. The blood trail led north, and the microscopic drops were far apart. They weren't on foot.

The pounding in my pointed ears was my own heartbeat as I took off at a full run.