“All right!” I yelled, finally at my wits end with both of them. “We’re almost there. Just sit still and shut up. Please.”
I turned onto 26, headed toward Hunter’s Point and immediately noticed a problem. There was a Michigan State Police cruiser parked sideways across the road, blocking traffic.
“Shit,” I muttered, slowing to a stop in front of the cop, who was getting out of his car.
“What’s up?” Sebastian asked.
When I looked over at him, I noticed his eyes had started to glow blue.
“Fuck,” I said. “Put on your sunglasses. Now.”
He didn’t argue, just slid the shades over the bridge of his nose. I exhaled heavily then turned to the window and smiled politely at the officer, who was now bending over to talk to me.
“Afternoon, folks,” he said, tipping his hat to Darla in the backseat. “Road’s closed. Sorry, no one can get through right now.”
“Well, sir,” I answered, trying to stay polite. “We really need to get to Hunter’s Point tonight.”
“That’s not possible, son.”
Damn it. This wasn’t good. We could park and walk it from here, but that would be at least three hours, and I didn’t think the cats would wait for me once the sun went down. I rubbed a hand over my eyes, careful to keep my tone neutral.
“Is there another way around?”
“The whole area’s been quarantined,” he said firmly. “No one is allowed in or out for the next few days.”
I met his gaze, and understanding dawned. He knew about shifters.
“There’s gonna be a hell of a moon show tonight, huh, officer?”
He blinked, and I knew I was right. They were keeping people out in case the weres got too feisty. His mask of indifference never wavered, but his eyes narrowed slightly.
“That there is,” he agreed. “You aren’t from around here, are you?”
“No, sir,” I confirmed. “But I have family in the area. My brother and my grandfather are out there.” I nodded in the direction of the Point. “They’re expecting us.”
“That so?”
“Yes, sir,” I said. “I’m Cole Grayson. My grandfather—”
“Jack Grayson,” he finished for me, his tone slightly exasperated. He leaned farther down and looked hard at Sebastian before straightening back up. “Good man, Jack.”
“Yes, sir,” I repeated.
The cop looked at the sky. The sun was still hours from setting, but the air had a heavy quality that made it feel as if darkness pressed in around us. I really, really wanted to get to the cabin before sunset and these bastard panthers shifted in my car.
“You kids be careful out there,” he said after a minute. “The locals get kind of spooked when there’s a full moon. Shoot first, you get me?” He glared hard at Bastian, as if to drive home the point. He obviously recognized that my lover was a shifter.
“I understand,” I said, my body finally relaxing. “None of ours plan on being anywhere near town after dark. I can promise you that.”
He nodded again, tapped the roof of the car then headed back to his cruiser. After a minute, he backed it up, allowing us to pass.
“He knows?” Sebastian asked.
“It’s hard not to in a town as small as Copper Harbor. I’m sure a lot of shifters seek refuge out here, away from the bustle and crowds of big cities. And if there are more native weres, they’ll have felt the insurgence of cats over the past few days, so they’ve probably put the local officials on alert.”
“It weirds me out how many normals know about us,” Darla said softly from the backseat. “I’m always scared it’s going to get out to the public, and we’ll become hunted.”
“Not enough people will ever believe it,” I told her. “Look at the legends about vampires and witches, ghost stories and alien abductions. They’re rampant, but the general public thinks they’re fairytales. Don’t worry, if dragons have been able to hide in plain sight for thousands of years, you guys will be just fine.”
“Dragons?” she asked, her tone thick with surprise. “You’re joking, right?”
“What? You’re a panther, and you think dragons are unbelievable? You just proved my point.” I turned to Sebastian. “Try to call Bryce again, please.”
I turned onto Harbor Coast Lane and followed it down to a scenic turnoff before pulling over to kill the engine. Bastian shook his head before stowing his phone in his pocket. I hadn’t really expected anyone to answer, but I wouldn’t stop trying. It was a long walk through some dark forest land, and if the Point was full of weres, I wasn’t sure I wanted to wander around too long.
We all got out of the car. Darla and Sebastian immediately walked into the trees without waiting for me. That was fine. Though they had beasts to help, I knew these woods like the back of my hand and they wouldn’t get too far without me.
I popped the trunk and loaded a duffel with weapons, ammunition and a few blades, unsure what we might come across once the sun went down. I slung the bag over one shoulder, my pack of clothes over the other, then followed the funky bunch into the woods.
It had been years since I’d been out here, but muscle memory took over as I got deeper, and I took point ahead of Bastian and Darla, leading them toward my family.
The trees were so dense hardly any sunlight filtered through to the forest floor, and several times, I almost missed the carvings Bryce and I had placed on trunks, pointing the way to Pop’s place. It felt as if we’d been walking for over an hour already, but there was no sign of the cottage yet. I pulled out my phone and cursed at the dead battery signal that flashed back at me.
“Toss me your phone. My battery’s dead,” I said, holding my hand to toward Sebastian.
He threw me the cell then took the lead, his draw
