Chapter 18 · What He Becomes

The wolves came through the door like a flood.

Seven. Maybe eight. I couldn't count them because my arm was on fire and the whole warehouse smelled like burnt metal and something else, something that made my teeth ache. The blue glow from my blood hadn't faded. It was spreading up my forearm in lines that looked like cracks in glass.

Ethan moved in front of me before I could even process what was happening.

"Back off," he said. His voice didn't sound like his voice anymore. It was lower. Rougher. "She's under my protection."

One of the wolves laughed. He was tall, shaved head, wearing a leather jacket that had seen better days. "Your protection? Crow, the whole city felt that pulse. You know what she is."

"I know."

"Then you know we can't let her walk out of here."

Viktor was still standing by the table, watching. He wasn't laughing anymore. He was staring at my arm like he'd just realized he'd set off a bomb instead of a firecracker.

"Ethan," he said quietly. "You need to step aside."

"No."

The wolf in the leather jacket took a step forward. Two others flanked him.