I sent the car hurtling down the freeway, but even though I egged every ounce of speed I could from the engine, it still took more than thirty minutes to get to Craigieburn. The instinctive part of me that dreamed of death was screaming we were going to be late. I just had to hope this was one of those few times that part of me was wrong.

Shona lived in one of the newer estates in the area, which meant that—at this time of night—there wasn’t much activity, especially as there didn’t appear to be many other occupied houses in the immediate area.

“It’s number twenty-four, down at the end on the right.” Jackson’s voice remained flat and empty. But I could still feel the emotion he wasn’t showing—he was a volcano on the very edge of eruption. “She moved here only a few months ago. If she’d stayed in her rental in Carlton—”

“More people might be dead.” Because if Rinaldo was intent on a kill, being in a more heavily populated area certainly wouldn’t have stopped him.

But Jackson knew that as much as I did.

I switched off the engine and headlights, and allowed the car to coast down the slight incline. Shona’s house was opposite a rather wild-looking park and in between two streetlights—very handy for vampires intent on no good. The house was one of those ultramodern, dark brick and concrete constructions that seemed so popular of late. A Mazda sat in the driveway, and light peeked through the blinds shuttering one of the large front windows. At first glance, nothing seemed out of place. It certainly wasn’t the battlefield I’d been expecting.

Maybe we had gotten here in time.

Maybe Rinaldo had gone after the less obvious target.

And maybe tomorrow the fae would gain wings and start flying just as they did in fairy tales.

I pulled on the hand brake to stop the car, avoiding the giveaway flash of red that would have come from the taillights had I used the main brake. If there were vampires here, it’d be a wasted effort, as they’d hear our heartbeats the minute we got close to the house, but it was always better to be safe than sorry. Especially when we had no idea exactly who—or what—we were going up against.

I climbed out and walked around to the passenger side of the vehicle. The night was eerily quiet. Nothing moved, and there was little in the way of sounds. Even the rumble of traffic from the freeway, which was usually audible from quite a distance on still nights like this, seemed muted.

Can you sense anything?

No. Jackson paused. It’s situations like this that make me wish I were an earth or air fae. You got any weapons stashed in the car?