POV: Nixie
The fog writhed and curled like a thing alive, consuming the moonlight in such a way that even the trees were soft charcoal smudges on the sky. The voice that had claimed me still hummed through my bones, a bass note that I felt rather than heard.
Hunter crouched low, muscles rigid. Vlad's red eyes flared, drinking in what little light remained. My own wolf—the new hum of her—paced inside me, her claws scoring the walls of my mind.
Mine, the ancient voice had said.
Never, my wolf snarled back.
The fog tore open.
Shadows took form—tall, gaunt, and deformed. They were not the vampires we had fought. They moved too gracefully, their eyes too old. Each of them had the faint glint of fangs beneath a half-smile.
Vlad cursed in a language I couldn't comprehend. "Nightborn," he g
