I screamed as I scrambled to free a potion vial from my cuff. I grabbed the first one I touched. Brilliant green flashed—acid powder, basically magical mace.

My assailant lashed out to knock me in the head, and I ducked. His blow cuffed me over the top of my skull, and pain flared.

I flipped off the top of the vial and blew the powder in his face, which was concealed by the deep shadows beneath his hood. I could only see the dark flash of his eyes, which gleamed with an unholy brilliance.

He roared in pain, releasing me and lunging backward.

I called upon my wings and launched myself into the air, desperate to get away from him.

He sprinted down the alley, one hand held over his face as he dug into his pocket. My heart raced. Did I follow him or get the hell out of there?

Follow him.

It didn’t matter, though. He hurled something to the ground. A silvery cloud burst forth, and he lunged inside.

A transport charm. He was gone.

Panting, mind spinning, I flew home. The entire way, I made sure to head down the middle of the busiest street in town. I was pretty sure I’d driven my attacker off, but it would be temporary.

By the time I reached the Shadow Guild tower, my heart rate had calmed, and the pain in my head had faded. I could feel the scrape on my cheek where I’d slammed into the wall, but it didn’t hurt terribly.

What the hell had just happened? Had that been the killer?

Yes.

But why had he come after me?

I let myself into the tower, breathing a sigh of relief. No one could enter except Shadow Guild members. I’d be safe here.

“Anyone home?” I called.

Silence.

It was fine. I’m still safe. I climbed the stairs toward my loft, but as soon as I stepped through the door, I heard the sound of rustling from the bedroom. I stiffened, ice cascading over my skin. Who the hell was there?

Not him.

The tower was guarded against intruders. He couldn’t get in.

Still, fear washed over me.

I picked up a potion bomb that I’d left sitting on the end table—a stunner—and crept through the small living room toward the bedroom. As I rounded the corner, a furry head popped out of one of my dresser drawers, a Mars bar clutched in its jaws.

The raccoon’s eyes widened behind his black mask, and he dropped the candy bar. Meow?

I heard his voice in my head, and my jaw dropped at his audacity. “Meow? Meow, my arse. You are not a cat.”

Meow.

The little bastard had said it again! The raccoon scampered out of the drawer and leapt across the bed to dive out the open window. I raced over and spotted him shimmying down the tree, fat bum and fluffy tail waving.

“Don’t even think you can come back here and steal more of my candy bars!” I shouted.

The raccoon ignored me, and I flopped onto my bed. The little bastard had seriously just pretended to be a cat.

Attacked by a killer, and now dealing with a damned raccoon who somehow managed to get past the magical barriers in our tower. How was this my life?

I rubbed my hands over my eyes and got up. My stomach growled, so I went to the drawer, grabbing the Mars bar and inspecting the wrapper for damage. It looked fine, so I tore into it and shoved half in my mouth, feeling part of my stress start to immediately evaporate.

Lately, I’d taken to hiding candy everywhere. I’d always been a sweets hoarder, but that damned raccoon had turned me into a freaking squirrel. As a result, I’d lost track of half the candy bars I’d ever hidden—including this one—but luckily, it had turned up right when I’d needed it.

Still chewing, I shut the drawer and headed to the bathroom. It was tiny and cramped, but the water was blessedly hot.

The shower didn’t clear my mind, but by the time I stepped out, there was noise from the main room below. I dressed quickly, once again in more serviceable jeans and a leather jacket, then headed down toward the noise.

The main room of our tower was a smaller version of the one at the shifters’ tower. We used it as a central gathering space, and there was even a huge wooden chair by the fire for our leader, Carrow. She never sat in it, however. She might have, but her familiar, a fat raccoon named Cordelia, often snagged it before she could.

When I reached the room, that was the first thing I spotted—Cordelia, fat bum in the chair, her little paw shoved into a bag of Monster Munch. My own furry little stalker was nowhere to be seen, however.

The rest of our guild was gathered in the main part of the room, sitting around a long table piled with pizza, papers, and books. Carrow, Mac, Quinn, Seraphia, and even Beatrix, our newest member, all turned to face me.

“Well?” Mac asked. “You clear your name yet?”

I shook my head. “Worse. I think the killer just tried to attack me while I was in the middle of town. Shoved me into the alley.”

Carrow jumped up. “Someone tried to kill you?”

“Abduct me, I think.” I shivered. “I fought him off, and he disappeared through a transport charm.”

“Bloody hell.” Mac dragged her hand through her short hair. “Do you have any idea why?”

“Not a clue in the world. But I’m going to find out.” I looked at the stuff spread over the table. “What’s all this?”

Carrow held up a book. “This is everything we could find that might help you. But it seems you need a bodyguard instead.”

I joined them at the table, sitting next to Mac and grabbing a slice of still-hot pepperoni pizza. “How so?”

“The Alpha won’t let us anywhere near you to help, so we collected everything we could locate about the shifters so that we could maybe find who might be after one of them.”

Warmth exploded inside my chest, followed immediately by guilt. They were the best friends in the world, and I was still lying to them. I shoved the pizza in my mouth. It didn’t work as well as a candy bar, unfortunately.

“Uh oh,” Mac said. “What are you stressed about? More than just the murder?”

How the hell was she so insightful?

“The murder,” I said around a too-big bite.

That’s all. Just the murder.

I was going to have to come clean soon. But when?

“Here’s what we’ve found.” Carrow leaned forward. “Some of these folks vaguely remember this, but obviously, it was all new to me.”

“Just spit it out,” Mac said. “Apparently, Lachlan, the current Alpha, had to kill his father to protect the pack.”

“He had to what?” I’d avoided all news of the pack ever since I’d returned to town, but that one was a real doozy.

“Yeah.” Mac nodded. “No one speaks of it because it sucked so badly at the time. The old Alpha went wacko. Mad as a hatter. And it was up to Lachlan to put him down.”

Holy fates. That was unexpected.

Lachlan

 

My heart thundered as I strode in the direction of the side of our guild tower, veering toward the cemetery. Fortunately, the courtyard was mostly empty, and no one stopped me.

I reached the cemetery and approached the huge old oak that grew at the side. Magic glittered around the tree, which acted as a portal between our place in Guild City and our ancestral lands in Scotland.

Everyone in the pack—from the smallest cat to the largest wolf—came to this tree to reach the Highlands and run. Living in Guild City was fine as long as we could get out and be free.