Chapter 10 · Sign It. Don't Cry Later.

The woman outside the security room smiled when Dorian shoved me behind him.

Not a nice smile. Not even a fake one.

The kind you gave somebody when you already knew where the body would go.

"There she is," she said through the broken doorway. "Moon-debt blood. I was starting to think Ash had hidden her somewhere useful."

Dorian's shoulders went tight in front of me. His shirt was ripped open across his back. Blood ran down one side of his ribs and dripped onto the steel floor.

"Take one more step," he said, voice low and rough, "and I will pull your throat out through your mouth."

The woman looked him over like he was a bad investment.

Silver hair. Black suit. No weapon I could see. Six people stood behind her in the hallway, all dressed in dark tactical gear, all wearing pale metal masks over their lower faces.

Hunters.

Not the normal kind either.

These people had walked into Dorian Ash's house while he was half a monster and still looked bored.

That was not great for my stress level.

"Dorian," I whispered.

His hand found mine behind his back. Big. Warm.