come here for a reason. She wasn’t about to leave without Amber now.
“I can’t leave without my sister,” she said finally, the slightest crack in her voice.
He stared at her blankly.
“Excuse me?” he said in disbelief, as though he may have heard her wrong.
“I’m not leaving this house without my sister,” she repeated with more force, squaring her shoulders.
“This really isn’t a good time for negotiation.” He waved an arm pointedly to encompass the room and all its inhabitants.
“I’m sorry,” she said quickly.
She really was. But there was no way she could walk away and leave Amber to her fate.
“I’m not trying to be difficult. But I can’t leave without her,” she said.
She didn’t know what she’d do if he shrugged and wished her the best. But, if she left with them and didn’t take Amber, the guilt would eat her alive.
After staring at her another minute, he finally closed his eyes and gave an exasperated groan.
“Where is she?” he asked in a resigned tone, as though doing so caused him physical pain.
Emily’s heart gave an excited leap at the surrender in his voice. She turned toward the room at her back.
“In here,” she said, leading him through the doorway.
He followed her closely but stopped short when they entered the room. It was small, lit only by the streaks of moonlight through the window, and was empty except for the narrow bed in the corner.
Lying atop the blankets was Amber, flashing back and forth between human and wolf forms. For a split second, she was in human form and let out a soft cry, then the sound merged with an animal whine as she shifted to wolf. It was almost like she was short circuiting.
The man watched in silence for a while, his expression horrified.
“She’s condemned,” he said finally, his voice apologetic.
“There must be a way to help her,” Emily said, her voice edged with desperation she couldn’t quite banish.
“It doesn’t matter. She’s marked for execution,” he said.
He produced a small dagger and stepped toward the bed. Moonlight spilled across the blade and made it clear what he planned.
“No!” Emily cried, putting herself between him and Amber.
Her heart was in her throat, and her gaze flicked back and forth between his face and the knife in his hand.
He stopped and looked at her, a note of impatience in his eyes.
“He can’t hold them forever,” he said, jerking his head toward the door, indicating the power play in the next room. “Time is of the essence.”
Impotent tears sprang to Emily’s eyes, but she ignored them. She met his gaze unwaveringly.
“I didn’t come here tonight to watch her die. I won’t let you hurt her,” she said.
Even with the tears in her eyes, her voice was level and determined.
“Please,” she added with a touch of desperation. “She’s my sister.”
“An order was given against her life,” he pointed out reasonably. “Besides, look at her. She’s in pain.” His voice was gentle and persuasive.
“I won’t accept her death. Not after . . .” Emily’s words trailed off and she took a deep, steadying breath.
Not when she was this close to saving her, after so much time.
“There has to be a way to fix it. Please help me get her out of here.” She paused, then added, “Alive.”
The growl in the next room grew stronger and more dangerous, which seemed to make up his mind.
“You can take this up with William,” he said.
He sheathed his knife irritably, then crossed the room with quick strides.
“There’s no time to spend arguing with you,” he said.
He lifted Amber from the bed in one arm.
Emily breathed a sigh of relief, but he strode past her and toward the door with a doubtful shake of his head.
“Let’s see if you think it’s such a good thing after you face him on this,” he warned darkly.
Back in the main room, the wolves continued to ring the huge one in the center, but they didn’t appear any closer to him than when they’d left.
Emily watched as the man carried Amber to the large wolf and threw her across his broad back. When the wolf rewarded him with a low growl, he growled back in clear frustration.
“The other one wouldn’t come without her,” he snapped. “And I’m not getting in the middle of this one.”
Emily stiffened her spine while he got Amber situated. She made her way along the wall to the dead man on the floor, keeping her eyes firmly on the wolves. Her gun protruded from the waistband of the dead man’s pants, and she wanted it back. With everything happening around her, she had a feeling it would come in handy.
Careful not to look at the gory stump where his head should have been, she knelt down beside the body. With her face twisted in a grimace, she pulled the gun free and stuffed it into her own waistband. She tried to hide a shudder when she got back to her feet and headed toward the others, careful not to move too fast and look like she was fleeing.
“Don’t fire that gun in here. The sound will deafen him,” the man warned when she stepped beside him.
She started to nod in understanding, but without so much as a warning, he threw her atop the wolf’s broad back behind Amber, a bit unceremoniously. She grabbed at the fur to keep from flying off the other side and threw him a dirty look, which he ignored.
“Sorry,” she whispered into the nearest furry ear, then scooted up as far as she could manage to make room for the man.
He gave her a slight smile and shook his head.
“I have my own way,” he said cryptically. “Just don’t be afraid of me. If it bothers you, don’t look.”
With those words, he seemed to dissolve into a thick stack of black fog. His face peered from the center and took on a horrifying, almost demonic appearance with glowing red eyes and elongated features made of the same fog.
Emily opened her mouth in a silent scream, but the only sound that emerged was an almost inaudible squeak.
“Don’t look,” he commanded, his voice sounding like a haunted howl of wind. “Hold on tight,” he cautioned as the group barreled through the line of werewolves and into the
