Sheena understood at once. Ignore instructions? Wander off-track? Her sheep had spent its whole life acting like it was indestructible.
Now, for the first time, it was.
Or near enough, she added, and her hellsheep sent a derisive snort of brimstone-etched smoke across her thoughts.
NEAR ENOUGH? PAH! WE’LL SEE ABOUT THAT! The hellsheep stamped its hooves in the dirt. Parker wheeled around. For a moment, Sheena thought he was about to attack. Despite her hellsheep’s confidence, her heart fluttered. She couldn’t help remembering the last time they had fought. Parker had moved so quickly she had no chance to get out of his reach.
NOTHING WILL EVER DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT TO US AGAIN, her hellsheep growled. ESPECIALLY NOT SOME PUNY, STINKY DOG.
Parker bared his teeth. *You’ve made your point.*
Have I? Sheena wondered. She’d just been chasing him. It wasn’t exactly a cogent argument.
What was she going to do next?
PUSH HIM INTO A MUD PIT, her hellsheep suggested. SEE HOW HE LIKES IT!
Us falling into that hole wasn’t anything to do with him, Sheena reminded it, but the hellsheep didn’t care.
YOU’RE STILL AFRAID, it boomed. THIS IS WHAT HE DOES—SCARES PEOPLE. HURTS PEOPLE. OR MAKES THEM SO SCARED THEY HURT THEMSELVES AND BLAME THEMSELVES FOR IT.
There was the tiniest, thinnest sliver of shame hiding in its voice. It had been scared, too, Sheena realized. Parker’s fear magic hadn’t touched it, but the sensation of losing itself, becoming something else—no wonder it had hidden itself away.
You always tried to protect me, Sheena thought wonderingly. Whenever I was scared, or worried, you’d make us run off away from whatever it was. I thought it was annoying, but you were only trying to help.
DON’T NEED TO RUN AWAY NOW, her hellsheep boomed, its voice slightly bashful.
No, Sheena agreed. I’m sorry I didn’t understand when you were trying to protect me. And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you how much you meant to me before Parker bit us.
WE CAN TALK ABOUT THAT LATER, her hellsheep said quickly. OR NOT AT ALL.
Sheena laughed. Of course her hellsheep was allergic to talking about feelings.
All right then, she told it. Let’s deal with this arsehole first. We can’t let him hurt anyone else.
BOIL HIM IN A MUD PIT, her hellsheep suggested.
Um…
Fleance appeared at the edge of her vision, slinking like a black shadow around the edge of the thermal clearing. Certainty settled in Sheena’s stomach. With her hellsheep on attack and Fleance on defense, there was no way Parker was getting away.
*What did you want to do with this guy, again?* she asked Fleance.
*Make him pay.* His voice was just as she remembered it from the first time they met: hard and determined. But there was a thread of uncertainty, like a fracture in a rock.
Sheena told him about her hellsheep’s suggestion.
*No.* To her surprise, she could hear an echo of his hellhound in his voice, like logs spitting on a fire. But it wasn’t arguing with his ‘No,’ like her hellsheep would have. Instead, it lent his voice a sense of righteous gravity.
There was a pause, as though Fleance was discussing something with his inner animal. *Penance,* he said at last. *That’s what my hellhound wants. Not revenge. It wants Parker to make right everything he’s done wrong.*
*He’s hurt so many people,* Sheena replied. *Where’s he going to start?*
*Right here.* Fleance let Parker hear him this time. *He can start by rebuilding Silver Springs.*
*I can what?* Parker snorted.
*How are we going to make him do that?* Sheena wondered out loud. THREATEN HIM WITH THE MUD PIT, her hellsheep suggested. There aren’t any mud pits there, Sheena reminded it, it’s not MUD Springs…
IRRELEVANT, her hellsheep retorted. WE’LL TAKE ONE OF THESE ONES.
What do you mean, ‘take’? That’s not how mud pools work! It’ll get cold!
WE CAN HEAT IT UP AGAIN. Her hellsheep sounded annoyed. THAT’S HOW FIRE WORKS. MAYBE ONE OF FLEANCE’S DRAGON FRIENDS COULD HELP US.
*Do I need to remind you I’m an alpha?* Parker snarled. *How do you plan to make me do anything?*
*He has a point,* Fleance muttered.
*No, he doesn’t! What does being an alpha have to do with it? He’s only one shifter. There’s two of us!*
*You still don’t get it, do you? Honestly, I knew this place was a backwater but I thought you’d know something about how shifters work.* Parker stood taller, his eyes glowing. *Alphas are just plain better than everyone else, honey. Bigger. Stronger. We’re born to rule. And when we say jump…*
The command slithered up from the ground. Despite herself, despite her hellsheep, Sheena’s muscled tensed to jump.
*…Let’s just say things tend to work out in our favor.*
11
Fleance
Parker kept talking. Each word hit Fleance like a blow.
Sheena was trying to argue. Fleance resisted the urge to move to her side. Didn’t she see the tide had turned? They needed to keep Parker’s attention separated so at least one of them could escape.
*What about that guy? Caine? Fleance’s new boss. He turned into an alpha, right? So we can—*
*You just don’t fucking get it, do you? You can’t turn into an alpha. Alphas are born, not made. Face it, sweetheart, some of us are born to rule… and some to obey.*
The full reality of Parker’s words sank into Fleance’s bones like lead. He was right.
We always followed him, his hellhound muttered. The shame in its voice cut through him. I thought, now that we were free, we could stop him, but he’s right. We don’t know anything. We didn’t even know he could turn another shifter, like Sheena. What if he can take us back into his pack? We’re so far away from Caine and Meaghan…
He looked inside himself for his pack sense. It was still there, but it was faint. The other members of his pack—Caine and Meaghan, Manu and Rhys—felt more distant than the stars above.
The rapidly disappearing stars. Fleance’s heart sank. Morning was coming, and given the pathways and signs, he suspected this was some sort of tourist
