Casey parked out front and shook his head. “You’re shitting me. You actually stayed here? The name wasn’t a dead giveaway?”
Magic Moon. That made a lot more sense now.
“How was I supposed to know? At the time, I was drunk and didn’t really know about magic. Now come on, help me pack.”
“Hold up.” He reached under his seat and pulled out another bottle of mace and handed it to me. “Try not to lose this one this time.”
“How many bottles of this stuff do you have?”
Casey smirked. “More than I can count. I wouldn’t go on pack lands without it. Just remember, emergency use only.”
The guy at the front desk was gone, thank God, so we darted up the stairs two at a time.
“This place isn’t half bad,” Casey said as we reached the first-floor landing.
“Just because they’re animals doesn’t mean they can’t run a good business. I mean, have you been to Eclipse?”
“Girl, did I just hear what I think I did? Rewind. Werewolves are bastards, and any business they run is shifty. Don’t you forget that.”
I rolled my eyes and pulled out my room key, but I paused before slipping it into the lock.
The door was already slightly ajar.
“Motherfuckers,” I whispered. I’d raided the shop, and now the werewolves had raided my room. Was Jaxson going to hold my underwear ransom?
My instincts held me back. Maybe it wasn’t Jaxson.
“Let’s get out of here,” I whispered to Casey.
Before I could turn around, the door whipped open, and a meaty hand grabbed my arm and pulled me inside. I twisted and came face to face with a six-and-a-half-foot-tall grinning shifter. He wore a ski mask that hid everything but his erupted canines and glowing crimson eyes.
Fear sunk its claws into chest, and my pulse shot through the roof.
Red eyes. It’s them. The people hunting me.
I wrenched back, but when he wouldn’t release me, I pulled out Casey’s mace and gave him a good spray. A cloud of mist enveloped the man’s masked face, and a heart-wrenching snarl erupted from him. He stumbled back into the wall, clawing at his eyes and roaring in pain.
Tears streamed down my cheeks, and I coughed, suddenly unable to breathe.
“Don’t spray that shit inside!” Casey yelled, too late.
A second shifter stepped out of the bathroom and let out a roar of rage. Casey stepped around me and unleashed a glowing fireball.
Flames billowed around the room and paralyzed me in place.
Was I breathing? No, because I was choking on mace.
A hand smacked me in the face, returning me to my senses. I stumbled back and clutched my stinging cheek, then snarled and kicked my attacker in the nuts. He was still fighting the effects of the mace and dropped to his knees, grimacing in pain.
“Didn’t your mother ever tell you not to hit girls?” I managed between coughs.
Before I could react, his fist shot out, lightning fast, and struck me in the stomach. I flew several feet back and crashed into the opposite wall. Pain exploded in my abdomen, and I gasped for air.
“You okay?” Casey shouted over his shoulder. Another crimson-eyed man appeared through the door and leapt toward Casey, claws extended.
My eyes bugged out, and I tried to scream a warning, but only a croak came forth.
Casey spun away from the claws and flung a burst of glowing light at the man. It hit the shifter in the chest and pitched him back out through the door.