14. FOURTEEN

fourteenIshivered at the savagery on Thomas’s face. He wasn’t afraid of what was coming. He was looking forward to it.

His smile allowed the tips of his fangs to peek out from his lips as he sat back, his message delivered. The window rolled up and the car drove away.

“How do you put up with him?” I asked, shaking my head.

He was insufferable.

“Practice.”

I turned to find Liam leaning against an identical black Escalade as the one we’d climbed out of. Liam pushed off the vehicle and made his way to the driver’s side. “You’ll get used to it.”

“But I don’t want to.”

Liam ignored my whining, waiting until I’d settled into the passenger seat before starting the car. “This’ll be a new experience for us. Working together without me having to twist your arm or threaten you.”

I gave him a sidelong look from under lowered eyelids. “Don’t get used to it.”

“Oh, but I want to. You have no idea.”

I fought the tiny smile that wanted to form. The man didn’t need encouragement. His head was already big enough.

Liam reached the end of the street. It was tempting to see how long it would take him to realize he wasn’t the one with a destination. I had a feeling it would be a while. The vampire was nothing if not overconfident.

As amusing as that would be, we were pressed for time and lives were at stake.

I leaned my elbow on the arm rest and propped my chin on my fist, staring at the side of his face. “Question—do you have any idea where we’re going?”

“Harpy territory.”

I dropped my arm. “How did you know?”

Sometimes he was no fun at all.

“The presence of their maven was something of a giveaway.”

“So humble too.”

Liam’s smile widened.

“But you’re wrong,” I said, wiping that smile off his face. “Hunters were spotted in their territory earlier this evening. They won’t feel safe there.”

And after what the harpies had likely witnessed, they’d want to go somewhere familiar that was also free of potential danger.

“Do you know where they would go?”

I stared out the front windshield debating. Despite its small-town feel, Columbus was a decent sized city. Especially if you added the surrounding suburbs. There were a lot of places to choose from.

If it wasn’t so late, I would say somewhere with crowds of people. At their heart, harpies were scavengers who preyed on the unwary. In this day and age, that meant they were pick pockets. They drew comfort from large crowds and would assume a certain level of safety in them.

In that sense, they were similar to humans.

This late at night there weren’t many places that fit that description. The Arena District with its bars and night life was a possibility. But the Harpies wouldn’t go there. They wouldn’t want to deal with the vampires who’d claimed that area.

The Short North was out for similar supernatural reasons. The only other place I could think of was Easton. The crowds were smaller the later in the evening it got, but there were still several bars open.

Most importantly, supernaturals tended to avoid the area because it was claimed by the city’s resident sorcerer. A man who was currently missing.

Want to know who let me in on that little fact?

Natalia.

The person missing wasn’t the real sorcerer—that man had been gone since before my return to the city—but rather his apprentice, Peter, who’d been pretending to be him for the last few years. None of that mattered. Just the fact he was absent and his territory currently unclaimed.

“Head for Easton,” I said.

Liam aimed the car toward the highway. “That’s exactly what I was thinking too.”

“You can’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Claim something was your idea when I said it first.”

He hummed lightly. “Is that one of the ground rules you and Connor made?”

I fixed him with an incredulous look. “Is that what this is about? Prying into my relationship with your nephew?”

“I’m curious.”

I snorted in disbelief. No, he wasn’t.

Liam tried to hide his smile but failed. “Alright, I’ll stop.” A second later, he murmured, “But that really would have been my guess too.”

His snicker held a note of lightness that made it near impossible not to join in. I shook my head in resignation, turning to watch the neighborhoods speed by.

“How was being around your sister again?” Liam asked.

I lifted a shoulder. “Good. Really, really good. You know—before everything went to shit. Her asking if I was a monster kind of put a damper on everything else.” I looked out the window again. “But for a moment there—it was perfect.”

It was like having my sister back. The good parts. Those times when we weren’t constantly fighting.

I rolled my head to look over at him. Diabolical man. How dare he be so silently attentive and inspire me to share things I would have normally locked up tight, thrown to the back recesses of my mind so I could pretend I didn’t feel all those messy emotions.

“We’ll protect her,” Liam promised.

I shook my head. “It won’t matter. There will always be some boogeyman waiting to jump out of the shadows.”

Unless I was willing to bring Jenna fully into this world, the safest thing I could do was keep my distance.

“You can’t guarantee her protection by breaking off contact,” Liam argued. “Look at what happened to you. A soldier on leave meets a stranger in a bar and ends up with fangs. There’s always a chance of our world spilling into theirs. At least if you remain close, you have a chance of preventing that.” Liam glanced at me with a wry smile. “Besides, she’s your sister. Who’s to say she’d pick safety over having you in her life?”

That surprised a laugh out of me. “I never thought I’d see the day where you were the one on the pro-family side.”

Especially when his own history with family had ended so tragically.

“Maybe you’ve had more of an impact on me than you thought,” Liam teased.

“I doubt that.”

The sound of an animal licking its jowls came from behind my seat.

What in the world?

I twisted, my heart giving an uncomfortable thump at finding Alches’s wrinkled face inches from mine. The shadow hound licked his lips again, the sound impossibly loud in the silence of the car.

“What was that?” Liam asked.

“Uh—”

While I was stuck debating how to answer the question of why there was a giant dog in his back seat, Liam slowed the vehicle to a stop. Putting it into park, he twisted to look behind him. His gaze landed unerringly on the realm guardian.

Alches woofed in greeting.

“There’s a few things I’ve been meaning to tell you,” I started as the two stared at each other.

Liam’s expression was contemplative as he tapped one finger on his steering wheel. “Oh?”

I squirmed, feeling the judgment in that one word. He had a right to be angry. I should have told him about Alches when Grandfather informed me the realm’s guardian had adopted me as its new master.

In my defense, Alches wasn’t exactly an easy topic to bring up. What was I supposed to say? Hey, lover, meet this really cool dog of mine. Oh, you can’t see him? That’s because only I can.

That wouldn’t make me sound crazy or anything.

Liam’s bow to Alches was surprisingly regal given his seated position. “It is an honor to meet you again, my lord.”

My gaze ping-ponged between the two of them. “You’ve met before?”

“You would know this if you hadn’t decided to be furtive.”

“When?” I looked at the two in confusion.

How?

Liam faced forward, pressing the button for drive. “While you were still asleep after Noctessa.”

My eyes bugged out. “And you didn’t tell me?”

The sidelong look Liam gave me was pointed. “The same way you told me about your new friend?”

I closed my mouth. Fair point.

Liam steered us back onto the road. “To have a realm’s guardian as your protector—it’s quite a feat. There aren’t many who don’t know and fear Lord Alches.”

That was a little hard to picture when the “fearsome” Lord Alches was currently using his tentacles to scratch his ears. At my glance, he retracted his tentacles to gaze at me with an alert expression.

Try as I might, all I saw was a goofy shadow hound. Not a being that struck fear into the hearts of Fae.

“For being my protector, he sure doesn’t do a lot of protecting,” I grumbled.

“Of course not. I doubt he’ll intervene unless it’s a situation you can’t handle. How else will you grow?”

“You seem to know a lot about him.”

Liam’s smile was small. “We had a good chat after I woke up and came to an understanding that was mutually beneficial.”

“Wait—he talks to you?” I glared at the shadow hound. “You never talk to me.”

I’d assumed he didn’t use words to communicate.

Knowing I wasn’t getting an answer, I faced front again. “So, this whole time, you knew?”

Alches put his head on the console and let out a demanding huff. Absentmindedly, I petted his head. His eyes slid closed in pleasure.

Liam’s gaze was warm as he looked over at me. “Would you have preferred I be clueless?”

Maybe a little. That way I wouldn’t feel so dumb for wracking my brain for so long over how I was going to tell him about Alches.

“Didn’t you think it strange I didn’t support Thomas’s idea of sending you out of the city?”

I stared at him. Now that he’d mentioned it, I did. He’d been far less annoying than usual when the question of my safety came up.

Son of a gun. Alches was why he’d been all reasonable. Not because he was learning I could handle myself just fine.

“I think I liked you better when we were still enemies,” I grumbled.

“That’s not what you said this afternoon.”

“You just be quiet and drive.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Liam murmured with a tiny little smirk that did devilish things to my insides.

I shook my head, reaching for my phone to dial Connor. The phone rang as I lifted it to my ear. Mentally, I urged him to pick up to save me from this conversation.

There was a click.

“What is it you want me to say again?” Connor asked.

My exasperated voice came over the line. “You were already supposed to say it.”

Crap. The call had gone to voice mail.

“What if I don’t know them? Do they still leave a message?”

“Oh for fuck’s sake, let me do it,” Inara snapped.

There was a rustling and then Inara shouted into my ear. “Leave the fanger a message but don’t expect a response since he probably won’t ever hear it.”

There was a low beep.

“I don’t know if you’ll get this, but if you do, call me,” I ordered. “Better yet, head home immediately. I mean it, Connor. Disappearing like this isn’t what battle buddies do.”

Abandoning his boss to chase after an ancient vampire was a no go. Especially when the ancient vampire was considered highly dangerous and had already led him into one trap.

“If I have to come find your ass, there will be consequences,” I threatened.

I hung up without much confidence that he would get my message.

As fascinated as Connor was by all new technology, he still hadn’t mastered navigating it. Case in point—the voice mail message he’d never gotten around to changing.

Knowing him, he’d probably switched his phone to silent by accident. I’d be lucky if he remembered that it even had a voice mail function.

I just had to hope he actually had his phone on him. He had a habit of leaving it in random places. Like the bathroom sink or the kitchen cabinets. Once, I’d even found it in a freezer.

That last was Inara or Lowen’s fault, I was pretty sure.

On the off chance he’d thought to bring it with him tonight, I sent him a text repeating what I’d said in the message.

“No luck?” Liam asked when I was done.

I shook my head, trying not to let my disappointment show. “How worried should I be? Your sire won’t hurt him, will he?”

Liam’s expression was pensive as he turned onto another street. “It depends on whether he remembers who Connor is to him.”

That wasn’t what I wanted to hear.

I shifted in my seat, wanting nothing more than to combat roll out of this car so I could look

for Connor.

Liam placed his hand on mine. “I’ve already instructed the enforcers to keep an eye out for him. They’ll tell him to come home if they see him.”

That was the crux. If they see him.

Connor could be a ghost when he wanted to be. That was if Ahrun hadn’t already gotten hold of him.

“I hope it’s enough,” I said, turning to gaze out the window.

I might not have asked for this vampire brother of mine, but I was as loath to lose him as I was Jenna.

I made three more calls to Connor’s phone in the time it took us to drive the twenty minutes to the side of town where Easton was located. It wasn’t until we pulled onto the street leading to the mall that I finally put away my phone and started to pay attention.

Easton was built to evoke the charm of a town square with a design that was meant to replicate a self-contained town. As a result, fountains and outdoor seating areas were arranged throughout. High-scale stores and a diverse number of restaurants made it a popular place to congregate.

It was so popular that they’d had to build an entirely new section a few years ago, making the place a sprawling maze that was difficult to navigate by car.

“We can start our search in the Station building. There’s a good chance they’ll roost there,” I said.

At this time of night when most shops were closed, the indoor area where the movie theater, bars, and comedy club were located would be the only place in Easton to see a lot of foot traffic.

The multi-story building located in the center of Easton looked like a glass cage on top. The rafters offered a perfect perch to sit and watch the humans below. It would also give the harpies a bird’s eye view of any hostiles approaching.

With their camouflage abilities, it was unlikely anyone would ever notice them.

Not wanting to spook the harpies, Liam found a parking spot a few intersections away from the Station requiring us to walk a fair distance.

Alches let out a small woof, bounding over the console into the front seat and body checking me as I opened my door.

“What are you doing?” I snarled as he knocked me back into the car. “Are you kidding me, Alches?”

The shadow hound didn’t look back as he sprinted down the street. The night swallowed him within seconds.

I swiped at the mud and twigs he’d left on my clothes. “How did he even get this dirty?”

We hadn’t exactly been traipsing through a forest.

Liam’s soft chuckle made me lift my head to glare at him.

“Laugh all you want, but this is your car,” I said, feeling a sense of victory as his smile dropped.

Nice job, Alches, I thought silently.

Liam hid it well, but I’d noticed he was particular about his belongings. Nathan had ended up covered in mud on one of our training exercises. Liam refused to let him in the car and made him walk home. All thirty miles.

It had been hilarious. Particularly the part where Nathan cursed up a storm as he trudged away.

Daniel, another enforcer, had taken pity on him and retrieved him before he made it five miles, but it had allowed me to learn something interesting about my lover.

The dirt and other things in his back seat were bound to drive him crazy. To me, that was fitting payback. No matter how petty that made me seem.

The shops we passed were dark, their lights off but the mannequins still on display. Creepy dolls whose eyeless faces followed my progress down the street.

I was used to the quiet that existed in the deepest part of night. The times when the world was mostly silent.

This felt different, though. Eerie and a little scary.

There was a stillness that came from more than the fact that the streets were vacant.

I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.

Liam’s shoulder brushed mine as he came to a halt beside me. His probing look lasted only a second before he scrutinized our surroundings. “Do you sense something?”

I hesitated. “I don’t know.”

And that troubled me.

Liam didn’t question my words, simply accepting them as he scanned our surroundings.

After a moment, a thoughtful look crossed Liam’s face. “It feels like we’re being watched.”

I nodded. “Yes.”

That was exactly what it was. Like there were eyes on the back of our heads.

“Do you think it’s the harpies?”

I shook my head. “I don’t think so. I’m friends with a lot of the flock. If it was them, I don’t think they’d be staying out of sight like this.”

I was here at Natalia’s invitation. They wouldn’t avoid me unless they felt there was danger.

“What if there’s a reason they’re not coming forward?” Liam asked, having the same thought I had.

“We should keep moving,” I decided.

If there was something out there, I was sure it would reveal itself before too much longer.

I slipped into my other sight as Liam fell into step with me.

Using my other sight in the sorcerer’s territory was a risk. There was a chance I could trigger a booby trap. If anyone had knowledge of my kind and how to circumvent our intrusion, it would be him.

A sight as beautiful as it was terrifying spread before me. Threads of violet colored magic ran through every inch of the street and buildings around us. They fused with the trees, bushes and flowers the landscapers had planted throughout Easton in one massive magical network that should have been impossible.

I slowed to take it in, struggling to comprehend the magnitude of what I was seeing.

“What is it?” Liam asked.

“I figured out why we feel like we’re being watched,” I answered.

And why it felt like I didn’t belong here. That if I didn’t leave immediately, something bad might happen.

“A spell by the sorcerer?” Liam asked, seeming a little impressed.

As well he should be.

It took a lot of power to fuel something like this. In essence, a compulsion strong enough to affect a vampire as powerful as Liam.

“Everything we’re feeling is coming from this thing. I bet it’s also why no one in Columbus has tried to move in on this place even with Peter being gone,” I said.

It was brilliant, really. I had to admire those who’d created it.

The spell was designed to slip under your defenses. If not for my other sight, I’m not sure we would have realized it was there. It would have driven us away. All while making us think it was our idea to leave.

“Is this going to be problem?” Liam asked.

“Define problem.”

I squatted for a better look at the tapestry of violet lines. Upon closer inspection, I realized the violet had an amber core, meaning there were two power signatures laid one on top of the other. The violet belonged to Peter, I knew. The amber must have been his master.

He was also the person responsible for the scale and intricacy of the spell. Peter’s magic had come much later, refueling what was already established.

“The kind that results in our injury or death,” Liam said dryly.

I looked up at him with a grin. “Ah. That.”

“Yes, that.”

“We’ll be fine as long as we don’t do anything the spell views as hostile.”

Like treat an unsuspecting bar goer as a slurpy straw.

I wasn’t sure what would happen if the spell was triggered. My talents only revealed a limited amount of information. Enough to know a spell had been lain over the area and that it was the source of our unease. I also got a glimpse into the caster’s intentions which was how I knew the spell’s primary function was to protect Easton’s visitors.

Beyond that, I was blind.

The only way to tell what repercussions it held was to trigger it. Given the magnitude of the working, I wasn’t a fan of that idea. I suspected the consequences of setting it off would be devastating, if not lethal.

“The longer we stay here, the stronger our feelings of not belonging are likely to get,” I added.

“Then we should move quickly.”

I wasn’t going to argue with that.

A whistle came from the end of the street as a trio of men rounded the corner. “Lookie there, boys. I told you we weren’t alone out here.”

Liam’s jaw tensed, his expression alert as he took in the strangers’ approach. “I’m going to make a guess and say that spell also effects our senses.”

It was the only explanation for how the humans got so close without either of us knowing.

“I would say so,” I said from my crouch on the ground.

My senses were still there. That much I knew. I could hear the sound of their footsteps as they walked toward us. The murmur of their voices as they whispered to one another, but I couldn’t quite catch what they were saying. It was like listening to a radio whose volume was turned down just low enough that you could tell a song was playing but not guess its title.

The other thing that was missing? Their heartbeats.

This close, I should be able to tell a lot about them. Like whether they were nervous or not. Or if they spent their off time going for runs like a lunatic or whether they preferred to act like a sloth on the couch.

Instead, I was grasping blind.

One of the group nudged another in the side, jerking his chin at me. Whatever he said caught the others’ attention and they all looked in my direction.

What did I want to bet that wasn’t a good sign?

“Liam, I don’t think there are any bars in that direction,” I whispered.

“They’re also armed.” At my look, he smirked. “I smell the oil on their guns.”

I gave an experimental sniff and frowned. “I’m not getting anything.”

Vampires weren’t the best when it came to detecting scents. With the spell muting my senses, I could barely get a whiff of Liam. Much less the humans that were still a dozen feet away.

“You have your methods; I have mine.”

I dismissed that arrogant statement, locking my gaze on the trio. “Should we run?”

Liam shook his head. “Not yet. I want to see if we can learn anything first.”

Yes, why not face down armed humans, possibly hunters, while standing on a spell that literally could explode in our faces the moment we drew blood? That didn’t sound insane at all.

Liam’s grin was brief. “Stop worrying so much.”

“How can I not when you come up with plans like this?”

“Just stay behind me, would you?”

I flapped a hand in surrender. “Of course, my liege. Go play alpha male while the helpless damsel awaits your protection.”

“You’re insufferable.”

I hid my grin. He’d get no argument from me about that.

As much shit as I gave him, I wasn’t really upset that he was taking the lead. Being older by centuries he could take a lot more damage than I could. If he wanted to let them use him for target practice, go for it.

By now the group had gotten close enough for me to examine. They were a strange trio. The one in the middle was an older man with graying hair and a pockmarked face. His companion on the left looked mid-twenties and had a military style haircut. The last man wasn’t a man at all, but rather a teen with braces still on his teeth.

Gray Hair held up a hand. “What are you doing here? Bars close in half an hour.”

Liam gestured at me with a self-deprecating smile. “The girlfriend is feeling a little unwell. Sensitive stomach and all that.”

I did my best to look nauseous as Gray Hair scrutinized me.

“You shouldn’t drink so much,” he said with fake concern.

I rolled my eyes at the ground. Thanks for your unwelcome opinion, Grandpa. I’ll be sure to crap all over it later.

While he was speaking, his companions spread out, flanking us.

Seeing it, Liam held up his hands in supplication. “Hey—we don’t want any trouble.”

Liam was a better actor than I’d given him credit for, riding the line between cajoling and the fear a human would feel in the face of a mugging perfectly.

“Enough talking,” Buzzcut snapped. “Let’s get this done.”

Braces was less confident than the other two. “Are we sure this is them?”

Buzzcut withdrew his gun, pointing it at me. “Doesn’t matter. If they’re not, they can consider it their bad luck.”

Big mistake, Buzzcut. He really should have treated Liam as the greater threat.

Liam’s fearful facade faded, leaving behind a deep calm that really should have warned them. “I’m giving you one last chance to walk away. Believe me, you don’t want to continue down this road.”

“Oh, but we do, Liam Quinn.” Gray Hair’s smile was nasty as the corner of Liam’s eyes tightened. “Born in the year 901 and turned in 936. Servant to your council for the last two hundred years.”

My eyebrows lifted into my hairline as I let out a silent whistle. Talk about an age gap. I’d known Liam was older but never had I imagined our ages were separated by a full thousand years.

Liam proved he knew me well when he sent me a repressive glare before focusing on the hunters. “If you know who I am, then you’d be wise to walk away. I was killing hunters before your grandfather’s grandfather ever walked this earth. Whatever Dominick has promised you, I guarantee it’s not worth it.”

Gray Hair gestured at his companions. “You’re both coming with us. We’ve got plans for you two.”

“You saw it, Aileen. I tried to solve this in a civilized manner.” There was a cruelty in Liam’s smirk as he eyed the hunters like they were lunch.

“Liam, wait,” I started.

“Just know you brought this on yourself,” Liam warned them.

I cursed as he darted forward, a blur of motion as he grabbed Gray Hair. He flung him at Buzzcut.

Braces tripped over his own feet to land on his back. Before he could push himself upright, Liam was already standing over him.

“You can’t hurt him,” I shouted.

Liam didn’t look away from his prey.

“She’s still a little squeamish about this sort of thing,” Liam confessed, couching in front of the human.

The front of Braces’ pants darkened as he peed himself.

Liam made a face. “That’s regrettable. I prefer my dinner not smell like piss.”

“I’m serious, Liam. If you hurt them, you’ll set off the sorcerer’s spell.”

That seemed to break through his blood lust. He lifted his head, his lips parting.

A shot rang out.

Liam jerked as the bullet tore through his shoulder. Blood splattered. Some of it landing on his face.

He burst into motion, the skin over his features tightened in rage as he tackled me where I was still crouched in shock.

We hit the ground as another shot barked.

Concrete sprayed my skin as the bullet impacted the ground beside me. Then we were up and behind a pillar, using it as cover.

“It’s going to be okay,” I told Liam in a promise that was as much to myself as it was to him.

My military training kicked in as my hands roamed Liam’s chest in search of the wound. I found it a second later, putting pressure on it.

The black blood stung my skin, my hands reacting to the silver nitrate they’d used in their bullet.

“They must have a sniper,” I muttered, sounding only a little hysterical.

And we never realized it because the stupid spell was blocking our senses.

Liam hissed as I pressed harder, glancing down at the gaping hole in his chest. Right next to where his heart was.

“This is why you don’t play stupid alpha male,” I snarled at him.

He’d gone and gotten himself shot.

Meanwhile, dumb, dumber, and dumbest had already picked themselves up off the ground and were regrouping.

“I’m going to be fine, Mo chuisle.”

He gave a pained grunt as I stuffed part of my torn shirt into his wound and looked around. Unless I wanted to stand here keeping pressure on the wound, I needed to find something that would lock my field dressing in place.

His hands covered mine, bringing my panicked movements to a stop. Understanding reflected in his gaze. “I promise you this isn’t enough to kill me.”

My expression started to crumple before I steeled myself. We needed to get out of there. I could collapse later.

“It had better not.” I lifted onto my toes to press a kiss on his mouth. “I was just getting used to having you in my life.”

Buzzcut’s heckling was getting louder as he and the other two moved slowly down the street, taking their time in clearing their surroundings. When Liam grabbed me to flee, he must have moved too fast for the three to track.

A small blessing, but they’d be on our position soon.

Dropping back onto the flat of my feet, I was in the act for reaching for my gun when my gaze snagged on a disturbance in the violet threads of the building Liam was leaning against.

“I think it’s safe to say this was a trap,” Liam said, his face pale from blood loss. “The harpies no longer matter. We need to concentrate on escaping.”

I wasn’t listening as the disturbance in the web of the spell grew larger. My eyes widened as the lines warped. My hand dropped from where the gun was concealed.

“What’s wrong?” Liam asked.

My gaze met his in dread. “It seems harming a human isn’t the spell’s only trigger.”

Liam’s blood had started a countdown.

“Can you break it?” he asked in a tight voice as I slapped a hand against the building.

I shook my head. “No idea.”

Fuck. Fuckity. Fuck. Fuck.

And here I’d pretty much stopped using that word since getting out of the military. It seemed tonight was a night for relapses.

I sank my concentration into the spell, feeling my way through. It was useless. The ripples were already out of my control.

“There’s no way for me to stop this, but maybe—” I trailed off as I focused.

Liam scooped me into his arms. “We’re out of time.”

Buzzcut rounded the corner, pointing his gun at us. “Looks like you’re not such a badass after all.”

He pulled the trigger, his gun firing at the same time that I yanked hard on the spell.

A tiny bit of the working unspooled, but not enough to undo what was coming. As a last resort, I shoved sideways, forcing the spell to take a new form.

The building exploded outward, throwing Buzzcut across the street. He hit a trashcan with a loud crash and went still, knocked unconscious by the force of the impact.

Liam evaded the debris, using his speed to move us to safety. He stopped on the other side of the street to stare in horror at the creature pulling itself out of the wall. “Tell me you didn’t wake a sentinel.”

“It seemed like the better option at the time.”

Much better than everything on this block being vaporized. But I could see how he might not agree. Even I was no longer certain I’d made the right choice as chunks of the pavement uprooted themselves to roll toward the creature. They joined the creature’s main body, adding mass to something that was already the size of an SUV.

Gray Hair and Buzzcut opened fire on the creature, forgetting about us in the face of the greater danger.

“Is a sentinel like a golem?”

Please say no.

I’d fought golems once before. They were difficult foes, feeling neither pain nor fear.

“They’re worse,” Liam spat as the metal from the street lamps bent and then broke, flying through the air to collide with the creature’s chest. The poles warped around its body, adding to its bulk.

Seeing their bullets were having no effect, Gray Hair paused to stare in horror. “What the fuck is this?”

Gun fire came from the roof top as the sniper gave his companions backup.

“At least, it makes a good distraction,” I said.

“Except, as the person who woke it, you’re its primary target.”

Bullets pinged off the sentinel’s body, sending chips of concrete and dirt flying but delivering no real damage. The humans might as well have been pesky flies as he fixated on me.

I took a step backward. “I see how this could be a problem.”