WOLVES WITHIN WALLS

nightstand like i

eneath her, the knife she'd subconsciously picked still cle

, and the soft whisper of air through ven

ean, "they'll

't want t

so didn't w

t for every step, every piece of independence. She wasn't going to let some urb

ept the key clo

*****

courage had fraye

dn't go

't check

rom the crack in her front door like they might whispe

ever g

e ever

the door and locke

d to kn

-

name in ghost corporation

dug d

faded black-and-white portrait. Another article in 1933. Then 1967

sn't p

les

ed off he

rew

Fantasy. The kind of thing kids whispered during sl

e wasn'

r hearing

all from twenty-three sto

-

e put the key u

self it was f

.m., the scrat

but rh

m ab

d was soft, like nails dragging across concrete. Closer

ame the

More like a thought pre

R

ulse e

foot to the elevator. The hallway felt too long. Too quiet. She cou

opened before she ev

t was w

the black key into the panel. The f

ber ap

2

roat we

. Not up. Not down.

mbers on the display twisted, unreadable symbo

he

in

lid open wit

ped out in

-

l corridor-dim, echoing, lined with thick co

to

t her build

Ash. Blood. The lights overhead buzze

e air w

gic. Wit

th

ainst the floor. Her hand brushed the wall-

she he

gro

rom just o

ad, just at the ed

s. All gold and glo

a fr

silk and sharp as teeth

uc

dark jeans, no shoes, and a simple black shirt that clung to his body like a se

e key," she said, tr

ct you to survi

e eyes blinked

out a han

d. "Why shoul

e here who hasn't decided

suring. B

ook hi

rm. Solid.

ched with runes that shimmered when she looked too long. Th

by candlelight. In the center, a pool o

" Lucien said. "The

is this

Instead, he turne

before you. They ran. They screamed.

that

for a long time. "

s, every nerve vibra

d closer. His

your stories

en-he s

ransformation

fangs sliding down. His eyes burned silver-br

didn't

kn

n subm

warn

e said. "And not all of

ed hard. "Why

d to be here. But now that y

ow. "Let me gues

ked. "No

every movement

can take the memory-

if I s

er than before. Her bre

'll have to earn it. You

met hi

ime in two days, she

felt