wounded rodent. “Because you don’t even know what he’s talking about.”
Paige’s scars hadn’t warned her of the other approaching Full Blood because her senses were already on fire from the pain running through her body after the crash and the heat that flooded through her palms to the point of overloading them. Although obviously possessing a Full Blood’s stature, the other werewolf kept closer to the ground and moved as if her glittering violet eyes could see straight through to the truest essence of whatever was before them.
“These hunters do not know about the Breaking Moon,” the second Full Blood said in a voice that was purely feminine, despite its emergence from a hellish maw. “They have come because of the commotion you have caused, Liam. Nothing more.”
Since she was closest to the other Full Blood, Paige asked, “How can you be so sure?”
The female werewolf looked just as likely to pounce as she was to sit down and make herself comfortable. “Because all of your thoughts are known to us, Skinner.”
“The Mind Singer is dead.”
“We don’t need him any longer. Do you truly think we are so primitive that we cannot think several steps ahead of a bunch of clannish brutes like you? Maybe we should thank you after all, Liam. The Skinners and Amriany alike seem to have mistaken us for common dogs that don’t pay attention to the shifting world around them.”
“Oh, it’s about to shift, all right,” Liam said.
Focusing on Paige, the female werewolf spread her paws out to plant them in a stance so firm that it seemed not even the hand of God could pry her loose. “After what the leeches did to you, there is only panic among the Skinners. I think you don’t even know who I am.”
“I know,” Nadya said. Without taking her eyes off the Full Bloods, she nodded toward Paige and explained, “Her name is Minh. She roams the territory east of Europe.”
“Knowing my name is one thing,” Minh said. “When the Breaking Moon rises, you will be just as surprised and helpless as the rest of the humans.”
“So you don’t think they know about the young one?” Liam asked.
“I’m not sure,” Minh replied while tilting her head, as if that was enough to screw Paige to a wall. “Do you know about the young one?”
Without blinking, Paige replied, “Of course we do.”
“Be careful what you say, Skinner. Your history with the Amriany isn’t pristine, but something tells me you might care what happens to that one.”
When Minh glanced toward the windshield of the SUV, she drew Paige’s focus to the body hanging out halfway through the shattered field of safety glass. Drina was covered in blood from wounds that had been opened by the crash and closed by whatever method the Amriany used to toughen their systems. Even though a Half Breed’s teeth were firmly embedded in her shoulder and sunken in almost to the gum line, she maintained a grip on the side of the werewolf’s neck with one hand while fumbling for her FAMAS assault rifle with the other.
“If we even suspect you’re lying to us,” Minh purred, “she’s dead.”
“We were coming to see if anyone had found her yet,” Gunari said. “It looks like you haven’t.”
“You know the young one is a
Before he could answer that, one of the Half Breeds turned to look at him with eyes that contained much more than the brutish instinct of a hungry animal. Like a cloud dissipating in a windy sky, the feral wildness cleared to show pupils the color of milk that had gone bad weeks ago. “That was just a guess,” it said. Shifting into a lanky form clothed in dirty rags as if he’d simply stepped out from behind a screen, the man hung a head weighed down by a mane of shiny black hair. “More like a bluff, but a good one.”
When she looked at the lean figure that climbed up to stand on two legs, Paige saw the shapeshifter that had held the police away from the warehouse in Denver long enough for the Nymar to get their dirty work done. Even worse, she’d felt the subtle power of the First Deceiver for herself. For all she knew, Rico was still suffering under it.
The pressure of Kawosa’s words pushed against her ears, and his gaze pressed upon her eyes.
Judging by the strained expression on the Amriany’s face, Gunari felt it as well. “It’s not a bluff,” he said in a voice that could have been dipped in the same alloy as Paige’s machete. “We’re here to make sure you didn’t find a way to get to her. How else would I even know it’s a her?”
“Fifty-fifty chance,” Kawosa replied while crossing his arms. “You can’t lie to me, human. Tell me what you know of her.”
Before she could think about saying anything different, Paige told him, “I don’t even know who the hell you’re talking about.”
“And the Breaking Moon?”
“Never heard of it.” Even as she spoke, Paige couldn’t believe hers was the voice that put life into those words. As much as she wanted to staple her mouth shut, she added, “The Amriany found you, and as long as it means killing more fucking shapeshifters, I’m along for the ride. You can take the moon, the sun, and every planet spinning around it and shove them up your ass.”
“Good,” Liam growled as he dropped down to all fours and sprouted multiple layers of muscle beneath his sleek black coat. “ ’Cause that means there ain’t no reason to keep you healthy.”
Chapter Ten
While the Full Bloods had been talking, the Half Breeds stayed still. For creatures ruled by instinct and driven by pain, this was no small feat. The only time they remained still on their own was to prevent the sun from burning the pasty skin beneath their fur when it was retracted during sleeping hours. If they smelled blood, Half Breeds ran. If the taste of fresh meat hit their tongues, they gnawed and tore until nothing remained.
When Liam barked, every wretch in the vicinity of the overturned SUV did what they’d been born to do.
Drina screamed as the Half Breed’s teeth sank all the way into her shoulder. She pressed the muzzle of her FAMAS against its torso, but the Half Breed’s fangs had already scraped against each other within her. Even though her hold on the rifle’s grip was solid, it simply wasn’t made to be fired one-handed. After a few shots thumped into the Half Breed’s upper body, the FAMAS kicked up and sent its next several rounds into the sky.
Firepower of that caliber at that range would have been enough to put down a normal Half Breed. They were tough, but not bulletproof. The one biting Drina was hurt, but not badly enough. Whatever pain it felt was wrapped up in a bellowing howl and spat back at the Amriany as it tore her open amid a flurry of claws that quickly separated major pieces of her body from the trembling whole.
Paige tried to get around the SUV to help her. By the time she arrived, Drina’s dark blond hair was slick with blood and her eyes were devoid of life. Gripping her machete with enough force to push the thorns deeper into her palms, Paige connected with a swing that buried the blade into the side of the creature’s neck. From there she slid the machete in farther and dragged it back across to saw the Half Breed’s head from its shoulders.
“Drina!” Paige shouted. “Can you hear me?” She’d seen the other woman move, but that was only because one of the Full Bloods had shaken the vehicle by jumping onto its roof.
Minh crouched on top of the SUV, but was suddenly distracted by the chattering gunfire of Nadya’s MAC-10. When the lithe werewolf bared her teeth and lunged at her, Nadya hopped to one side without taking her finger off her trigger. As soon as her magazine was emptied, she rushed over to her fallen partner to retrieve Drina’s FAMAS. Minh’s paws hit the dirt, and Milosh was right there to drive both of his charmed blades into her side.
“What do you want here?”
At the first sound of Kawosa’s voice, Paige raised her left hand and squeezed off three shots from her Beretta. Rather than stand and absorb the rounds like his Full Blood companions, Kawosa dropped beneath one, shifted into a smaller form to clear a path for the second, and then skittered away before the third could find him. After that, he returned to a spot no more than three feet from where he’d started.
“You have to tell me what you want here!” he demanded.
For whatever reason, Paige believed him. “I want to kill you. All of you.”
Kawosa’s brows lifted as the pure truth of her words sank in. “You can’t kill me, Skinner.”
