e Goodw

rang-it was an urgent call f

my manuscript restorations. She sounded terrified, her voice shaking as she begged me to deliver a ba

she whispered frantically. "If Brion sees me alone, he

ay, Cristin.

sing Cristin's vendor pass, I walked toward Hangar 4. But as I rou

d him, you l

heavy door op

iolently slamming Cristin against the steel locker wall. Cristin had apparently come anywa

don't understand what happened

d her collar, his veins bulging unnaturally along his neck, turn

red instantly. I didn't car

" I shouted, dropping the du

technique my grandfather had drilled into me. The shock of the strike caused Bri

r eyes out!" I warned, grabbing a heavy

ral. His canines seemed unnaturally sharp, and a guttural

ce, the temperature in the entire

eel walls. An unbearable, suffocating weight descended upon the roo

past Brion towar

dow of a massive pr

slightly down. But his face was terrifying. His obsidian eyes were burning with an unholy, abyssal fury, and his jaw was set lik

ined from his face, replaced by pure, unadulterated ter

pping his head toward the floor.

in Shi

gh the side door, wearing a sharp tailored suit, carrying a clipboard.

ue and psychological instability," Colin said in a loud, commanding vo

t of nowhere, dragging the trembling Brion

me, hyperventilating. "T

ing, my eyes fixed on the man in the cap

Sweene

rip Brion Shields limb from

d been half a second slower, I would have broken the m

d discipline to steady my breathing and summon the mortal illusion. My heart remained

ce smooth as silk as I stepped i