2
RYDER
The rumble of the muscle car’s engine underneath me had become a comforting sensation in the past year. I gripped the gearshift and pushed it into a higher gear, so I could get through this part of town. Why I’d decided to take the back roads instead of the interstate, I didn’t know.
Though the city held its fair share of interesting architecture and sights to behold, I preferred the dense array of trees lining the fields here. Syracuse amused me with its close proximity to nature. It seemed as if one step was all it took to transition between urban and rural neighborhoods.
But Syracuse was also home to Lakesedge, a dense supernatural community. I couldn’t afford to linger and take in the beauty of this place, or else I’d be putting a lot of people at risk.
In the distance, a storm seemed to arise out of nowhere. Clouds that had been fluffy and white suddenly turned dark. Their grey underbellies crackled with energy that I could feel all the way over here.
Without thinking, I flipped the blinker and turned towards the oncoming storm. The smell of ozone drifted in through the vents. I breathed deep, savoring it. The beast within me woke and moved, but I couldn’t let it out. Beasts like mine were all too easy to see in broad daylight.
The GPS on my phone told me that I was going the wrong way and needed to turn around. While I agreed, I couldn’t bring myself to leave. The storm called to me.
It’d been a year since I left Thunder Pass. I missed it with my whole heart, but I still couldn’t go back. I couldn’t go back, and I couldn’t stop running. After what I did, the whole clan was likely out for blood. I knew for a fact that my younger brother wanted justice.
The clouds rumbled. Soon, they would unleash rain and lightning upon this small section of the world. I leaned forward and gaped at the sky above. Storms didn’t just happen out of nowhere like this. If there was another storm dragon in the area, then I would have to leave soon.
This storm didn’t smell like beast, though. It smelled like any other storm. Besides, the last dragon that could call a storm had been my father. I doubted there were many others left. I couldn’t even do it.
If a dragon hadn’t started this, then what had?
I pulled onto the side of the road, cursing myself and my damned curiosity the whole time. The moment I set foot on the asphalt, the ground seemed to take ahold of me. It was like the area wanted me to stay.
“Fuck no,” I grumbled, stomping forward.
An empty field sat between the road and the woods. Something dark emerged from the trees. As I stared at the beast, lightning slammed into the ground between us. I didn’t flinch, didn’t even blink. Lightning couldn’t hurt me. The beast, however, startled and ran.
My heart thumped excitedly. Could it be?
The black hound galloped along the edge of the trees. The storm above followed in the hound’s wake. Before it disappeared into the trees once more, it stopped and locked eyes with me. This was it.
I’d found the Barghest.
Once more, I cursed. I didn’t want to stay in this city, but it seemed as though that decision had been taken from my hands. The creature would help me. That’s what the witch in Virginia City had told me. She’d said that I had to find the Barghest and that then I would find rest—a strange mix of words, to be sure.
I watched the storm disappear with the hound as it vanished into the woods once more. The scent of ozone lingered, a reminder that I had no choice but to stay. I glanced back, as if I would find my brother bearing down on me now. He wouldn’t be able to find me for months. I had time.
For now, I would have to find a place to stay and rest. Then I would hunt down this Barghest and demand help.
Ness
Oh shit.Oh no. Oh shit.
I darted through the woods as quickly as I could. My hound wanted to go back and sniff out the man at the edge of the road, but I knew better than to allow her to run back into trouble and that man screamed trouble.
He had a presence unlike any other that I’d ever come across. Even through the storm, I’d smelled him. He carried a scent like lightning and burnt ash.
The wind had tangled his smoky gray hair, revealing glimpses of bright blue eyes. The image of him had been imprinted upon my memory like a searing brand. No matter how I tried to shut him out, I could still see him.
Now wasn’t the time to worry about tall, smoking, and potentially dangerous. I had to get back to pack territory before anyone figured out how far I’d strayed alone. Shifters weren’t supposed to run without the pack. That was why we had the full moon runs. Sticking together meant staying safe from hunters and nosy humans.
For me, sticking together also meant getting bitten and dominated by any shifter with a chip on their shoulder. That was why I liked to run on my own sometimes. Unfortunately, the damn storms that appeared when I shifted marked me wherever I went. It was easy to find me where there was a storm hovering above the woods.
I slowed as I reached the edge of pack territory once again. Thoughts of the dangerous man slipped back to the forefront of my mind. The hound, my beast, issued a soft whine. She turned me around and took a few steps in the direction of the road before I stopped her.
We were not going to run back into the arms of a stranger for no reason! I dug my claws into the earth as she tossed her head in annoyance. Sometimes it sucked to have two personalities inside myself. We weren’t always at odds like this. The dangerous man riled up the hound.