"I knew—I believed you wouldn't be able to face Carl and Meg. Part of you still sees them as dominant over you. There's too much history between you. Ben agreed with me. So he and Dack went after Carl and Meg without you. It seemed like the right thing to do. They were supposed to take care of it while I faced Arturo. We'd finish it all in a night." He'd become emotionless, his voice monotone. If I punched him now he'd probably stand there and take it.

He didn't have that right, to decide I couldn't face my old alphas. He didn't know me, didn't know what drove me. Neither he nor Ben had the right to make that decision. To take that away from me. The mess they'd created because of that might very well be irreparable. I didn't know which of them I was more angry at.

Time enough for getting pissed off later.

"Rick. We have to go after them. Now."

"It's almost dawn. I can't. Kitty, Ben's strong, he's resourceful. Maybe he's okay—"

"Like hell! One man against the three of them? When it's probably a trap?"

"I'm sorry," he said, sounding small, surprisingly young.

"Give me your keys." I held out my hand. "Your car, give me the keys now."

"It's too dangerous by yourself. Find someone to go with you—"

All I could think about was finding Ben. "Just give me the keys."

He did, pulling them out of his pocket and tossing them to me. I was on my way to the door as soon as I caught them. I still had my backpack, which had everything I needed.

"Kitty—"

I didn't turn around.

In the corridor, I nearly ran into Charlie and Violet. They were carrying inert vampires into the lair. Stella, unconscious, her face thick with hives, was among them. Charlie said Rick hadn't wanted any of the vampires killed. I understood now: they had been Arturo's. Rick had taken Arturo into himself, and now they were Rick's, and Charlie and Violet were bringing them underground before dawn. Rick hadn't wanted to waste any of his potential followers.

Right now, it would be easy to see him as conniving and selfish as the rest, ready to sacrifice anyone.

"Hey, Kitty, a little help here?" Charlie said. I walked right past him. "Hey!"

I ignored him. I could only think of the car, the road, the route to Meg and Carl's house, where Dack must have taken Ben. My Ben.

Outside, the sky was lightening—twilit blue on the edge of gray. Rick was right—dawn was close. I hadn't realized how much time had passed. How much time had passed since Dack and Ben went after Carl and Meg? How long ago had they killed him?

The alley behind Obsidian was broken by many sets of flashing red and blue lights. Ambulances, police cars. EMTs were checking out Kramer. A couple of cops were putting up yellow tape around the whole parking lot. A couple, wearing latex gloves and carrying crime scene equipment, crouched by Sawyer. Investigating. Hardin was near one of the ambulances, nursing a cigarette and talking on a phone.

I walked past them all.

"Kitty!" Hardin called. "Hey, Kitty—"

I jumped into Rick's car and drove. Had to drive fast, focused. I knew the route, I knew what waited for me.

The sports car was unlike anything I'd ever driven. Little seemed to separate me from the pavement; the car was low, the tires humming, and it responded to the tiniest touch. A hair-thin turn of the steering wheel had me zipping around corners. The barest press of the gas pedal made the car shoot ahead. I never even looked at the speedometer to see how fast I was going. The world scrolled past me. This time of night—of morning—I had no traffic to contend with. The feeling was close to running free, on four legs, over open, unbroken country, the wind drawing fingers through the fur on my body.

I am a hunter. I will stalk them and strike.

I shook my head and refocused, because for a moment my vision had wavered and gone gray. For a moment I'd seen the world in wolf tones. Had to stay human. Wolf couldn't drive the freaking car.

Or hold the gun.

Chapter 16

The sky was pale now. Take care of him, Cormac had said. Keep him out of trouble. How would I ever be able to face him again? What would I say? I'd gotten Ben killed. I wiped tears from my face.

How was I going to keep going without Ben?

No time for that. I am a hunter. I can already taste their blood. My mouth waters for it. I let that part of Wolf edge into my mind. Our territory, our mate, they can't do this to us.

We've learned to fight. We'll show them. Or die trying.

They lived at the edge of town, near the foothills, on a chunk of land with a backyard that opened to wilderness. This was the heart of their territory. The pack came here to run on full moon nights. Even if they weren't at their house, they'd be around here. I was betting Dack knew exactly where. Ben and Dack would have gone here to find Carl and Meg, and Carl and Meg would draw Ben here to kill him. I knew this as if I had smelled their trail the whole way.

Carl's truck was in the driveway, but the house was dark, like no one was home. But it was also the crack of dawn, so who knew. An unmarked sedan sat half a block away; someone in the front seat was sipping coffee and looking bored—Hardin's stakeout. I drove another couple of blocks. There, on the street outside a state park trail-head, Ben's car was parked.

My heart lurched and a new wave of nausea struck me. Like morning sickness, like a miscarriage. Impending death, settling in my gut.

I passed Ben's car and drove a few yards farther, peering through the cottonwoods to the open field beyond, hoping to spot something, looking for signs that they were near. Couldn't see anything. I'd have to go looking for them. I stopped, shut off the car, and reached for my bag.

If you need to kill someone, make sure the thing's loaded. That was what he'd said. I remembered all his instructions, like he was standing behind my shoulder, whispering to me. I could feel his arms around me, guiding my own.

I popped the clip. Full up, bullets gleaming silver. Slid it back into place and chambered a round.

Sure didn't take long to get into this gun thing, did it? I wished it were over so I could curl up and be sick. But the Wolf whispered, I am a hunter.

The world wavered to gray again. It was the dawn, it was the Wolf's sight. It drove me on. Steadied me. Could only think of one thing now: them, and death.

"Rick? Rick, what are you doing here?" Dack came through the stand of cottonwoods, walking toward the street. He saw the BMW, recognized it, assumed.