A loud howl came from behind the wendigo, a wild human shriek. Hugh’s Iron Dogs were hunting us down.

Desandra vomited again.

My guts turned into a cold twisted clump. Three people down. I couldn’t let them die. They had come to protect me. I had to find a medmage even if I had to conjure one out of thin air. Derek would not die on my watch. Ascanio and Desandra would not die. I wouldn’t stand before Aunt B’s grave and tell her I let one of her bouda kids throw his life away. I wouldn’t tell Curran that I got the boy wonder killed.

I pictured the area in my head. I knew this part of the city well. I’d covered just about every square inch of it during my tenure with the Order.

The Order.

This was nuts. But then beggars couldn’t be choosers.

“Robert, can you carry him?

“Yes. Where are we going?” Robert asked.

“The Order.”

“But they hate us,” Desandra forced through her teeth.

“The Order has a medmage on staff and the kind of wards it would take an army to breach. They’ll help anyone in need. We’re in need. They hate Hugh d’Ambray more than they hate us.”

At least I hoped they did. As much as Ted Moynohan despised me, he was still a knight-protector. He wouldn’t let my people die on the street in front of his chapter. And I was betting three lives on that.

• • •

THE ULULATING HOWLS of the Iron Dogs floated behind us, constant now, like an eerie, bone-chilling din. As soon as one ended, another started. How they could run and howl at the same time was beyond me. They had to be riding and they were getting closer. We had lost two precious minutes coaxing Cuddles to climb the trash around the Dumpster and we weren’t moving fast.

Desandra held Derek in the saddle in front of her. He’d gone completely limp. Her eyes were wild and she shivered as she rode. She wouldn’t last much longer. Next to me Robert ran silently, carrying Ascanio in his arms.

The streets crawled by, painfully slow. My side hurt so much now, I didn’t even anticipate the pain anymore. I just kept going.

A familiar storefront slid by. We had to be in range now.

I strained, trying to send a focused thought out into the world. “Maxine?”

The Order’s telepathic secretary didn’t answer.

“Maxine!” I whispered. Vocalizing helped sometimes. “Maxine!”

A familiar dry voice sounded in my head. “Hello, Kate.”

“I’m on New Peachtree, being pursued by supernatural creatures. I request protection for five people.”

Maxine paused. “Kate, the Order isn’t the safest place for you. Moynohan doesn’t view you as an upstanding citizen.”

Moynohan can bite me. “I have two injured teenagers, and one is dying. Tell Ted I’m running from Hugh d’Ambray.”