He nodded. “I know. Don’t make eye contact.”
“On our right,” Sam whispered.
Another masked werewolf—a woman. Was she the she-wolf from Belmont?
Dread clawed at my skin. It was like they were herding us.
Jaxson spoke so low that I could barely hear it over the clamor of the fair. “There’s a gap between the pavilions up ahead. Turn right down that. I’ll jump our pursuers when they come around the corner.”
I trembled as w
e slowly walked forward. Jaxson was fishing for sharks with me dangling like a mackerel on the end of the line.
Before we reached the junction, a woman in a half mask stepped out and smiled.
It was her. The bitch from Belmont.
I tensed, but before I could scream, she lifted the flap of a tent, and a large brown wolf leapt out and slammed into Jaxson.
Hand-in-hand, we tumbled to the ground.
Suddenly, Sam was pulling me to my feet, and we were running, shoving our way through the crowd. I whipped my head back to look for Jaxson just in time to see the she-wolf lunge at me. Claws burst from her hands, and she wrenched me back by my jacket. Sam shouted, spun, and rammed her fist into the woman’s face.
My attacker staggered back, then jumped forward and kicked at Sam’s knee. Before she could recover, the masked man who’d been following us earlier darted forward and shifted into a white wolf, clothes and all. With a savage growl, he pounced, and I screamed as he knocked Sam into a towering stack of French country marmalade. People panicked and fled, stampeding around us.
The bitch from Belmont grabbed my arm and pulled me to her. She fished a silver ball out of her pocket. I had no idea what it was, but it seemed bad. I struck her arm with my open hand, and it bounced away into the crowd. The she-wolf snarled and backhanded me, and stars danced in front of my eyes.
Fury coursed through my veins—and then magic. I could feel it burning me, like ice water rushing over my skin.
Hell, yes.
“You crazy psycho!” I grabbed the woman’s face as magic poured from my palm. The she-wolf rocketed back and collapsed into a broomstick vendor’s stand. Broomsticks erupted into the air like fireworks, and the she-wolf flopped to her knees, groaning.
Holy shit. I’d just face-blasted someone.
Sam heaved the white wolf off of her and started to stand, but it clamped its jaws on her leg, and she screamed. Then Jaxson was there. His hands erupted in long claws, and he ripped into the wolf as it yelped.
The she-wolf leapt to her feet, but Sam charged and bodychecked her. They tumbled to the ground in a flurry of claws.
“Run!” Sam shouted.
I glanced at the broomsticks but ruled that out. It was the first time I’d ever seen them, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to be able to ride off on one. Instead, I dashed past a pretzel salesman and into the alley, looking for somewhere smelly to hide. They might not find me if I could mask my scent. I needed to find a barbeque stand or a candle vendor.
Moments later, I stumbled to a halt at the intersection between four pavilions and spun.
No sign of Jaxson or Sam, or anyone I knew. No pursuers. Just a dozen people tending to their shops.
Which way should I go?
I pulled out my cell phone and froze. The tent to my right swayed, and a long black shadow lying across the grass moved.
I slowly looked up, and my heart stopped. There, silhouetted against the floating lights, a dark form balanced on the taught roof of the tent. Tall and gangly, it was like a body stretched hideously long and thin.
My mind blanked.
Holy shit. Monsters are real.
Faster than a viper’s strike, its arm lashed out and gripped me by the throat, stifling my scream. When it lifted me into the air, I kicked and flailed and yanked at its claws, but its grip was unbreakable. Panic tore through me as the sinewy arm pulled me close. I couldn’t turn my eyes away from the muscles visible beneath its translucent green skin. I didn’t have the courage to look the thing in the eyes.