ME: I need to speak with Ella.
Long minutes tick by. I start to think he’s not going to answer, when my phone finally vibrates in my hand.
CHAZ: I’ll make it work. I’m out of town right now. I’ll let you know when I get back and set things up.
ME: Where are you?
I have no idea why I just asked that. It’s none of my business, and I’m sure he’s going to tell me that—
CHAZ: Sin City. Looking for a kid that was kidnapped by a night stalker. She’s Zee’s niece.
My stomach twists in a knot, and I take a shaky breath. I have no idea why that bothers me like it does, but the nausea is unmistakable. Maybe it’s because I was an innocent child once.
Only, if a night stalker was to turn a child... she’d forever be a child. I saw them in the rings... They freak me out, because most were older than I was, but they looked so young.
ME: Children who are turned into night stalkers have no control over their feedings. They’re stronger, faster, and more savage than regular night stalkers. One child could wipe out fifty people in one night just from sating his or her hunger.
CHAZ: I’m aware. We’re hoping it doesn’t come to that. But that’s why I’m here... In case it does. Zee can’t kill his own family. Let alone a child from his own blood.
Closing my eyes, I take a calming breath. I should never have asked what he was doing. It’s a distraction I don’t need. But a child’s life... It hits too close to home to ignore.
It was outlawed centuries ago to change a child. No bitten fey can touch a child, actually. The penalty is death, and even I know that Alyssa has enforced that penalty, even though she disbanded the original councils.
What night stalker would risk it?
I can’t believe I’m even considering helping. How could I possibly help? Kill the child if she’s been turned? I don’t even know if I’d be capable.
ME: What are the chances she hasn’t been turned?
CHAZ: Fairly good. There’s a reason his niece was targeted. We just need to find out what those reasons are.
So it’s possible she can be saved...
Ah hell. Slade isn’t going to like this one little bit.
Chapter 4
CHAZ
Tapping into the power I shouldn’t have, I try to sense the night stalkers in the area. Vegas, unfortunately, is too full of them, so it becomes pointless. Instead, I try catching a scent... Anything that smells out of place that could help us.
“What are you doing?” Zee asks, prompting me to open my eyes.
I look around at the lights surrounding us inside the penthouse that belongs to Zee’s family—also known as the abduction site.
“Just trying to see what I can smell,” I tell him, confusing him as I sniff the air.
It’s been too long since I tapped into my dragonite abilities, so it takes a second before I start smelling the multiple layers. Flipping it on is like slowly switching on a second power, letting it build steam. It’s a damn good thing I’m packed to the brim with energy from the fight, or it’d be pointless to even try.
The problem isn’t switching it on, though. It’s switching it off that proves to be difficult, which is why I’ve left it dormant for so long. I lost control the last time I switched it on.
Rage consumed me, and the tiniest thing sent me into a furious fit. Bloody fits mostly. At that time, I was bruising my duster persona because I was kicking ass a little too well and much too often. It lasted for about six months.
My mother made me swear to never attempt it again.
But this is a desperate measure.
“You’re a duster. Not a—”