"Do you think they're all right?" asked Fleur. It was the first thing she'd said since they had started for the trail.

Alice kept scanning their surroundings, alert to the position of the sun. "The other riders? Hopefully."

"No, not them. I meant the horses." Fleur's tone implied there was something wrong with anyone who thought about humans before animals. "A lot of them bolted. What if one broke a leg or got their reins caught on a branch? What if something attacks them? Aren't there bears here?"

Compared to the malevolent hunger that seethed somewhere in the far-reaching gloom, a bear would be the safest thing to meet. But Alice knew such an answer couldn't be spoken out loud, not to her sister anyway, and found herself struggling for something more reassuring. "The horses know the area better than any of us. I'm sure the ones without riders are already on the trail back to their stable."

"Yeah, I guess." Still frowning, Fleur swatted at a nearby branch.

They were now in the middle of dense brush that reached up to their waists, leaves and twigs catching their clothes with every movement. Trees loomed all around, slender giants that reduced the sun to indistinct glitters of light. Rocks and roots pushed up from the damp earth, turning each step into a test of balance. There were no birds, no insects. No hints of noise.

Alice kept a hand stretched toward Fleur in case her sister stumbled, her own feet sure as she searched for any hint of movement, for any sign that they were being stalked as prey. Her head throbbed from the fall and so did most of her body, leaving her disinclined to speak at all, especially when every word could distract her and alert others.

Yet Fleur veered in the opposite direction, flinging words into the indifferent silence of the forest with the same vicious intent as throwing rocks at windows. "You look really worried. We're lost, aren't we?"

"No, I'm sure of where we're going."

"I'm not."

Alice kept her voice calm, refusing to be needled. "Do you want to try something else?"

"No. I think we're going to die out here no matter what. Be found months from now as skeletons."

Alice checked the sun again. From its angle in the sky, the day had already passed noon. People were likely looking for them and anyone else who hadn't returned from the ride. Her skin prickled at the realization that it marked the second time in her life that she'd be listed as missing and searched for. Yet now she was determined not to be the only survivor found, and her next words to Fleur came out raw and unthinking. "We're both getting out of this alive. I won't let anything happen to you, all right? It's going to be fine."

Fleur studied her face, her own still tight with fear. Then she shook her head. "I don't think so. I've been hearing that a lot—that I'll be fine, or that I'm just going through a phase, or that I better toughen up because life only gets harder as an adult. And it's total bullshit. It's what people use when they don't know what else to say."

Even as Alice remained quiet, some part of her understood the cynicism in her sister's voice. How many times had she found herself wanting to scream and scratch at glib phrases when her own life had been a ragged mess? A trite handful of words, well-meaning or not, had felt like a bandage offered to a heart bleeding out. Unaware to the point of being infuriating.

In the fresh silence that followed, Fleur started shredding a leaf. "That was your cue to change my mind with an inspirational quote. Did you know that's how Mom grounds me now that I'm a loser who never leaves her room? I have to find a positive message and make a scrapbook page out of it. She changes the wifi password if I don't. So whatever you're thinking of, it's probably something I've already written in glitter."

"Fleur, I'm not going to say anything to make you feel better." The words had the desired effect, shocking her sister into looking up. Then Alice offered a smile, one small but not unkind, and added, "I don't know what your problems are, so I won't pretend I know the solution, or that you'd want my advice in the first place. But... I'll listen to whatever you want to say. Anything at all. Because I remember how much it hurt when talking to someone felt like dropping my words into a void. Like nothing I said would make them understand, or even just pay attention."

Fleur looked uncertain, wary, as if the offer was a trap. "What if I want to talk about you? Ask you questions?"

"Sure. Go ahead." Alice was as surprised by her sister's sudden curiosity as she was over her own lack of concern over it.

A heartbeat of silence passed between them before Fleur took the plunge, all hesitation gone. "Mom and Dad never talk about it, but I still heard that you quit college and moved away to live with your girlfriend. That Dad almost disinherited you."

Alice nodded, keeping her expression casual.

"So, it's true? You were going to throw away all that money to be with her?"

Admitting to it was uncomfortable, scraping at tender areas that felt like they could still bleed with enough pressure put to them. "Yes. I loved her."

The answer drained all hints of suspicion from her sister's face and replaced them with embarrassment, as if she'd abruptly realized how intrusive the questions were.

"It's all right," said Alice, and meant it. "I opened myself up to this. Keep asking whatever you want."

"Well... I also heard that things turned bad in the end. Really bad. Like, there were articles that came out. How she cheated on you, and that she was linked to a creepy sex ring along with some photographer. Did you know about that? Is that why you left?"

"I left because she finally took too much from me." For a moment, the memory of that precious pelt blackening in the fire overwhelmed Alice. Even now, in her new life and sure of her own teeth and fur, the pain felt fresh. She supposed it would always hurt, the final blow that had broken the last of her trust. A scar running so deep that healing from it had reshaped her very being.

"I'm sorry." The words sounded small and hesitant, as if Fleur half-expected them to be slapped away.

But Alice just smiled at her. "It's all right. I survived it and moved on. Found someone better."

"Colton. Mom and Dad talk about him a lot. Dad hates him, you know."

Now she laughed. "I did know that, yes."

"But he also knows you're happy with him. We can all see it." Then Fleur paused again, and Alice looked over, sensing that the conversation was finally winding toward the tender, beating heart behind Fleur's interest. When her sister spoke again, her voice sounded strangely vulnerable. "How did you know he'd be different from..."

"Magdalene."

"Yeah." Fleur's eyes burned with the question, desperation suddenly etched into her face. "When you meet someone, how do you know they won't end up hurting you?"

Something as sharp as pain and as heavy as grief sliced through Alice, and she suddenly had the urge to pull her into a hug, this girl who had asked a question with only razors for answers. To hold her tight against the world and all its agonies. Instead, she sat on a nearby log, inviting Fleur over with a pat against the moss-covered bark. When they were side by side, she said, "You don't. Not until they do hurt you."

Fleur just shook her head, her mouth starting to tremble. "There must be some way. I mean, why would you jump into another relationship if you weren't sure... Some of those articles had interviews from ex-girlfriends who said she made them take nudes and everything. There had to be something that showed you he was different. That your heart wouldn't be ripped to shreds by someone who promised to always be there, someone you trusted..."

Then Fleur hunched over as if the rest of her words hurt too much to say, and Alice hugged her close, murmuring something soothing while her sister's voice dissolved into tears. Her crying went on for awhile, thickening into the harsh, gut-deep sobs of emotions shoved down and left to fester. Alice kept rocking her, not minding how her shoulder grew soaked or how the sun sank lower in the sky.

She made no attempt to coax meaning from the choked words, but eventually Fleur's voice thinned into something coherent even as she continued to clutch at Alice. "We were supposed to be best friends forever. We always said that. We always meant it. But this year, Hayley and the others started sneaking out to high school parties and kept wanting me to go along. I finally did and it was so stupid. Pot smells like a skunk. Beer tastes like you're licking one. But the worst was..."

Then Fleur shivered so violently that Alice had to squeeze her close to keep her from sliding off the log. When it passed, her sister's voice shrank into something flat and colorless against her shoulder. "There was this one jerk there, a friend of the guy that snuck Hayley and the rest of us into the party. He wanted me to do... Things. When I wouldn't, he started shouting and calling me stuff. Hayley found out what was happening and got really pissed off, too. At first, I thought she was mad for me, but she wasn't. She was mad at me.

"She took his side over mine. Told me to stop being a baby and that this had been a big favor. And then I started crying like I really was a baby. We've been friends since preschool. She's known him for three months. But she still took his side because he can get her into parties, and he has a car, and he buys her anything she wants. So, I... I told her that I'd never suck dick for such a stupid reason, and that I never wanted to go to a party again. And after that, she stopped talking to me. Everyone did. Now they don't even remember I exist unless it's to laugh at me for being a little girl who still likes horsies."

Anger burned behind Alice's ribs even as she kept her voice soothing. "Is that why you didn't do the essay?"

"Yeah. The teacher assigned us as partners. I couldn't believe it when Hayley expected me to do her part, too. Like it was all still the same. Like I wouldn't mind that she'd been laughing at me for months. But you want to know what's really stupid? She's already moved on from the guy. Now she's dating his jerk friend. I don't think she likes them any more than I did. I think she likes what they can do for her. And now that I'm looking, that's all I see. Everybody just using each other. So, fuck it, why should I spend time with people if they're fake? At least animals are honest. Either they like you or they don't."

Alice just rubbed at her back, letting the silence seep in like an anesthetic. Fleur's breathing slowed, steadied, and then she sat back while wiping at her eyes with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. "Thanks. You're not going to tell Mom, are you?"

"No. Not even if she asks."

Despite her swollen eyes and reddened nose, Fleur looked a little happier. Then she glanced around at the trees as the first tendrils of fog thickened the air. "God. It's been hours since we left. She's probably having a heart attack right now."

"Probably," agreed Alice, rising from the log. "But I think we're close to the trail now. I recognized the clump of—"

"Shh!" Fleur jumped to her feet, staring past Alice's shoulder. "Did you hear that?"

Alice turned to look with her. "No. What was it?"

"People shouting." A few tense moments passed before Fleur broke into a smile. "They're calling our names."

Alice still heard nothing, still saw nothing. A sudden chill ran down her spine, and she grabbed at Fleur just as her sister took a step. "Wait. Wait."

"Why? They're looking for us."

"Fleur, I don't hear anything."

"I do, and it sounds like they're just past those trees."

Even as Alice shook her head, Fleur's voice turned frantic. "They're getting fainter. They must be moving away from us. Hey!"

With that last word, she lunged forward, ripping herself free from Alice's grip.

"No!" Alice ran after her as the trees stirred with a sudden wind, their bark creaking as thick clouds of fog rushed in. "Fleur, stop. Stop!"

Her sister only called out to the voices she heard, pushing through the brush with blind abandon. Within moments, she was nothing more than a silhouette fading into the mist. Alice followed the sound of her yelling, still reaching out for her. Then Fleur's shape ducked around a massive pine, and the fog thickened until Alice could barely see. She shook off its chill as if she was in her fur, intent as she slipped around the same tree her sister had passed a moment before.

Then the mist cleared and Alice stumbled to a stop, panting as she scanned the meadow stretching out before her. Fleur was nowhere in sight.

"Fleur!" She took a hesitant step into the clearing, into the strains of sunlight that managed to penetrate the lingering fog. An echo of her sister's voice hung in the air. Her heart pounded as if it were about to explode.

A twig snapped somewhere behind her. Alice spun around, her sister's name on the tip of her tongue. It faded unsaid as she caught sight of a figure leaning against one of the trees bordering the meadow, arms folded as he watched her. She didn't need a good look to recognize him, and her lips parted in a silent snarl even before he spoke.

"She's gone," said Jake the handyman. "We're all alone."

He still sounded easy-going and still had that flash of a smile, but the look in his eyes had turned eager, calculating.

"Where's my sister?" Alice's fingers curled into claws.

He hardly seemed to hear her, instead scanning the lines of her body. His tongue licked at the corner of his mouth before he said, "I see a lot of beautiful girls at my job, but you looked like something special. You looked like someone who wouldn't scream right away. I like that. I like hearing someone break."

"Where is she?" repeated Alice, the words bubbling in her chest as a growl.

"Not with me, so there's no reason to yell." Then he reached toward the back pocket of his jeans.

She didn't wait to see what he had, instead leaping for him with a snarl that shouldn't have come from a human mouth. He was bigger than her, almost Colton's size, but she was furious and he was surprised. Her lunge drove them both to the ground and then her fingers found his neck, digging in even as she felt her teeth ache and sharpen. As his eyes widened, she leaned in and bared her fangs. "You picked the wrong prey."

Metal winked from the corner of her eye. A knife blade slashed at her face. She dodged it unharmed, fast from hunting bucks and their deadly antlers. Then she grabbed onto his arm, not caring what his free hand might do to her, and bit down with all her strength. The meat of his flesh gave; the tender bones in his wrist cracked. His ragged yell as the knife dropped to the ground was the sweetest sound she'd ever heard, and the taste of iron filled her mouth while she bit again in a frenzy.

Fingers clawed her scalp, grabbing a fistful of hair to jerk her head away.

"Fucking bitch," he gritted out, eyes as deranged as hers.

She just spat blood into his face, using his flinch to grab the knife from its bed of leaves. When she pushed the blade against one of the big arteries throbbing in his neck, he froze, back pressed against the tree.

"Where is she?" Despite her shaking voice, the blade remained steady.

"Shit," he panted, twitching as the knife pressed in. "You really think I'll tell you? Forget it. You can't do anything worse than them."

"Them?"

For a moment, he almost looked like a normal man again, his smile bright and real. "You have no idea what you're dealing with."

"Witches."

Surprise flickered in his eyes. "You know what they are but can't find them yourself?"

Gut-deep, she knew it would be a mistake to admit to anything close to a weakness. She moved the tip of the knife to the soft point between his chin and neck, angling it so that he could feel how one jerk of her hand would drive the blade all the way up into his brain. "It's quicker to just ask you. But if you don't want to talk..."

At the first hint of pressure, he groaned. "All right. All right, ease up. I'll tell you what I know."

Even as she nodded, he drew in a deep breath. "They're planning to—"

Then he broke off into a cough before trying again. "They want..."

Something in his eyes changed, and a strange ripple went through his face. Alice tightened her grip on the knife, muscles tensed for a trick as his mouth fell open. Black fluid gushed out, thick as tar, slick as oil, and she flinched back, stumbling to her feet as his body convulsed. He managed one ragged scream before his voice dwindled into a gurgle. She could hear his teeth rattling in their sockets. Then his skin peeled away from his face, dry as paper birch bark.

Alice bit down on her hand to keep from gagging as flesh sloughed off from bone, as eyes bulged and then withered to nothing. There was a final rasp that might have been a plea, and then she found herself staring at a skeleton collapsed in on itself, sunk into a dark, oozing pool. The jaws were slack in a final scream, but otherwise the bones looked bleached, old, without one hint of fat or flesh left behind.

"I knew you were going to be trouble," said a voice close behind her.

Alice turned, the knife trembling in her hand at the sight of Portia Valcott watching her. Her pearl earrings and crisp business attire looked at odds with the blood speckled on her face.

When Alice said nothing, the other woman raised her eyebrows and added, "Jacob had been our poppet for years. It's hard to replace such experience."

Confusion must have bled into her expression, because Portia then laughed, a small, contemptuous huff of breath. "You're completely untaught, aren't you?"

Alice raised her chin. "I'm not interested in a conversation. Where's my sister?"

"No, really, I was convinced for some time that you were merely human. Then I wasn't sure if you were being sly about things. But you're simply a weak witch raised away from her own, nearly ruining our plans out of sheer ignorance. It's... Well, disappointing. "

As soon as Alice drew in a breath, Portia added, "Your sister is out of reach. By tomorrow morning, she'll be dead. There's nothing you can do about either of those two things."

"Do you really think that's enough to make me give up?"

"I won't risk it either way." Then Portia reached for her.

Alice lashed out with the knife, throwing all her strength into it, but the blade passed through the other woman as if she were nothing more than shadow.

Portia smiled. "Very disappointing."

Then hands grabbed Alice from behind, one twisting her wrist until she lost her grip on the knife. She snarled while being dragged to the ground, fighting against the two women holding her down. They were just like the figures from her dream, hair filthy and matted, and skin smeared with drying blood. In the uncertain light of the forest, she couldn't make out much of their faces, only their unblinking eyes and thin smiles.

The sight of her fangs sent the one on her left shrinking back. "Her teeth changed. She's trying something."

Portia remained out of sight, but her voice sounded close by as she sighed. "Then you ought to finish subduing her."

"Here," said the witch on Alice's right, and there was only a heartbeat to glimpse something thin and metallic in her hand before she jabbed at Alice's neck. It slid under her skin like a splinter, and Alice shrieked at the searing agony, trying to bite and kick. Fingernails seemed to scratch at her from all sides as she focused on shifting into her fur, but her body wouldn't respond, growing numb instead.

"Why don't we just kill her?" muttered the woman on her left as they fought to pull her hands together and tie them.

"Because she's still one of us." Then Portia leaned over until Alice could glare at her. "The less you fight, the easier this will be."

Alice just bit at the nearest hand, feeling blood run down her neck.

Then the woman she had snapped at caught her jaw and squeezed hard. "Or will we have to knock all your teeth out with a rock?"

"Hurry, girls," said Portia, tone silky as she walked away again.

The woman on Alice's left jerked, as if cringing against the mild rebuke. Then she twitched again, this time to the dull crack of bone, and Alice twisted enough to see the black wolf's teeth locked into the witch's neck. A jerk of his head ripped flesh away, splattered blood on the leaves around them. His eyes glowed as the woman slumped, ruined throat gaping while she choked.

Alice raked clumsy fingers through the leaves, trying to find the knife as the second witch stumbled to her feet, eyes wide as a rabbit's and the smile gone from her face. When the black wolf bit a final time, shearing vertebrae until the head rolled away from the rest of the body, the other woman fled, ignoring Portia's call.

The black wolf circled away from the remains and approached Portia, too intent to even shake the blood from his fur. Alice tried to warn him about the knife sliding through her, but the sickening numbness was spreading up her throat, leaving her tongue limp and unresponsive. It was all she could do to pull herself upright as Portia faced him.

"It'll be much better for you if you simply leave. I can forgive losing Bettina. She never would have amounted to much in the end. Girls often don't. But thinking yourself a match to the power of the golden antler and the—"

The black wolf lunged. His weight slammed into Portia, bringing her down in the span of a breath. Alice caught a glimpse of the woman's stunned expression before teeth snapped shut on her entire face. The grisly crunch of bone disappeared beneath her screaming. Blood mixed with the froth dripping from the black wolf's jaws as he tore off flesh and let it drop.

A fresh wave of dizziness came over Alice, then, and she had to close her eyes against it. Instinctively, her fingers clawed at the area where that thing was lodged under her skin, trying to scratch it free. Then a callused hand caught hers, coaxed it away, and she opened her eyes again to see Colton's bloodstained face inches from her own.

"Easy. I'll get it out." His gaze remained intent on her wound as he carefully arched her neck, growling softly when she whimpered in pain. "This'll hurt less than when it went in."

She managed a nod, going limp in his arms as those dangerous teeth pressed against her skin. A sharp pinch made her jerk, a strangled noise working its way up her throat, and then he was sucking it out, the pressure of his mouth replacing that thick numbness with a flush of heat. He cradled the back of her head while spitting the thing out, and then the softness of his tongue returned, licking the blood away, soothing the lingering burning.

She clung to him, trying to force some words out. "They took her. They're going to kill her."

At that, he stopped long enough to look at her. He never showed much expression on his face, her nightmare creature, and now was no different. Yet the green in his eyes looked as hot as molten metal, his pupils mere pinpoints. She had seen him violent, savage, and feral in both hunger and anger, his gaze flattening into that ruthless predator's attention.

This was something else. He was truly enraged, and the intensity took her breath away. It was like facing a fire and realizing nothing would stop it until it chose to burn out. And yet even now, she touched his jaw without fear, fingers stroking against the blood drying on it.

He moved enough to lick them clean, his tongue still gentle, but his voice held a growl brutal with the promise of spilled blood. "No. They're not going to kill her. We're going to kill them."