“You really can’t skip the hunt,” she told him.

It took another four tries before he decided he couldn’t break through the wall. He kicked the corpses for a while, but they didn’t put up a fight and the horse had run off. He thought of tracking it down, but he would have to leave her and he didn’t want to. He finally settled for stretching out by the circle and looking at the moon.

It soothed him until his breath evened out. Slowly the rational thought returned. His body hurt in too many places. He wished he could fall asleep, but if he let himself go now, he would sleep like the dead for several hours while his body healed the damage. He couldn’t change shape either. Most shapeshifters could deal with one or two changes in a day and then it was nap time, whether you liked it or not. He was stronger than most, but he didn’t want to tempt the fates. He’d spent so much energy fighting the silver, a change could shut him down for good, and he didn’t have that luxury.

Caleb Adams was still out there.

The deep purple of the night sky was slowly fading to lighter blue. The sunrise was coming.

The wild had gotten away from him. It was always like this—he remembered what he did only after he had done it. It always felt right while he was doing it. Sometimes he regretted it, although mostly he didn’t. He did today.

“Derek!” she sounded alarmed.

He sat up.

“The rock is moving.” She pointed right. “He’s taking it somewhere!”

He shook himself. “Come on.”

She squinted at him.

“I’m cooled off,” he told her.

She reached over, rubbed the chalk line, and stepped out. Her scent washed over him.

“Which way?” he asked.

“East,” she said. “No, wait, southeast. He’s going back exactly the way we came.”

“Sorry I scared you,” he said as they left the building.

She rolled her eyes. “You’re not that scary.”

Relief washed through him. He bared his fangs at her, pretending to snarl.

“Ew. Drool. Nothing you do scares me, Derek. Deal with it.”

“I’ll have to try harder then.”

“You do that.”

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 4

THE SKY ABOVE PILLAR ROCK was a pretty blue, with thin trails of clouds stretching from the east. The muddy water of the holes stole the color, and for the moment, turned blue and shiny, like cobalt glass. The pillar jutted among the myriad of puddles, reaching toward the sky, and on its very tip, three chunks of glowing rock lay together, forming a single glowing stone. It was almost beautiful, Derek reflected, except for Caleb Adams, who stood between them and the pillar. He’d caught Adams’ scent the moment they left the ruins. The warlock made no attempts to mask the trail. A child could’ve followed it.