Nightfalls mate

oaning, and I push past him deeper into the alley. Neon light flickers overhead: ELYSIAN in blood-red letters. My boots splash in shallow puddles, steam curling from iron grates. G

My chest tightens as memories flare: this is the mark of the city's most feared pack. He twirls a serrated knife in his scarred fist. "Last ch

screams, face twisted in shock. My fist tightens as he crumples to his knees, a bloody me

te, two hulking shapes bound into the streetlight's glow behind him. Too large, too bent to be men. Fur bristles over ripp

pinning it. The beast shudders, hisses, and collapses under its own weight. Another crash, and both creature

aze I see him: the stranger who saved me. He stands upright, drenched and solid, between me and the carnage. In the yellow puddle-light his eyes catch the neon and glow ambe

al. I blink up at him, heart still racing. "I... I'm fine," I rasp, swallowing hard. My knees feel weak. He grips my arm to steady me; it's solid and warm under my

er, "Celia," voice cracking like glass. I sweep wet hair out of my eyes, trying to look braver than I feel. Pain flares in my left arm. My jacket

tightens my throat. I manage a hollow laugh. "Ask the cops," I say, voice uneven. "I had a tip. Didn't t

s, nodding to the crushed thug. "Let's say I owed that bastard a favor."

"Lucky you showed up," I snap. "And lucky I'm still b

ens, stepping back. The alley falls quiet except for distant rain. He studies me, eyes

a golden hue. Then the streetlight returns to normal. Suddenly he's just Lucian again-rain-soaked, unshaken. A t

he says, tone flat and tired. I swallow. "I'm not one of your cops," he

u help me?" I demand, pain and

"Let's say I owed someone," he says quietly, eye

I stagger back against the wall, adrenaline surging again. Lucian of

ng into the foggy darknes

n pummels my face and runs in cold rivulets down my neck. I press a trembling hand to my wound. The pain is alive, hot and ins

nd me-distant traffic lights, a lone siren far off-but none of it cares about me. I feel utterly alone. My hea

instincts scream at me to run. Bu

asphalt behind me. I fre

cold. I try to force air through scr

" For one endless moment I'm suspended in agony and darkness. My world fa