Grace of a Wolf by Lenaleia

Chapter 105

Chapter 104: Jack-Eye: Rot and Rainbows

JACK-EYE

My already cramped leg slams against the door panel as we hit another pothole.

Fuck these fucking soccer mom SUVs.

A shabby excuse for a structure comes into view through the dusty windshield. It’s not much—just a weathered storage shed with a half-assed attempt at a deck slapped against its side. It has a cheap metal roof and probably leaks every time it rains.

There’s nothing but overgrown weeds and sparse pine trees. And probably about five hundred species of spiders, but we won’t talk about how a single big, bad Lycan is terrified of brown recluse bites.

I’ve seen shit, okay? And it’s nasty.

Anyway, this is the kind of place you’d miss if you blinked driving past, but Lyre’s already slowing down.

Andrew leans forward. "Huh. Looks like someone’s trying to build a tiny house."

Yeah, and failed.

Nobody answers his inane observation. Thom’s not snoring anymore—guess his head was too rattled from the gravel road to allow for more sleeping—and Owen’s so tense he’s radiating nervous energy through the car.

Lyre’s frowning. She isn’t relaxed anymore, either, but she doesn’t have the edge of anticipation I can smell off Owen. No, she seems... irritated. Maybe disappointed. The scents keep coming and going, blending together until it’s hard to tell them apart.

Whatever she was looking for, this isn’t it. Or at least, it isn’t what she expected to find.

She kills the engine but stays frozen in her seat. Her fingers start tapping against the wheel, one-two-three, one-two-three, like she’s keeping time with a funeral march only she can hear.

Fuck waiting. I need to move before my leg permanently fuses to this position. Whoever’s here must have already heard us coming, so it isn’t like I’m going to destroy the surprise of our arrival.

Shouldering the door open, I slide out with a grunt. My back pops in three places as I stretch, the muscles in my thighs screaming in protest.

problem. Folding myself into an accordion for a long-ass car ride I wasn’t expecting?

the back door opens. Andrew’s more graceful about it, with all the edge of youth, but even he’s got relief written all over his face as

stretches like a man twice his age. Me? I have to hide the creaking joints. Don’t want

wizard, though, just looks pathetically grateful to be out of the stench of armpit and stale cigarettes. No one here

She just sits there, fingers still tapping, eyes focused on the shed like she’s calculating exactly how much force it would take to reduce it

and take a

Then I freeze.

the good forest smells of pine and dirt and morning dew, but something rancid. Not normal rot. Not roadkill or garbage or even

deeper. Older.

the same stink that permeated Isabeau’s prison, but less diluted. More concentrated. The kind of stench where you want to

slamming against human skin. Every muscle coils tight,

and see I’m not the only one who caught it. Owen stands stock-still, his face unreadable but his shoulders rigid. Andrew’s mouth is a thin, tight line. Only Thom seems oblivious, quietly gazing at the clouds like

bend down to peer through the

Holy shit.

tight, but there’s a calculation happening behind those strange eyes,

face plenty of times. I know exactly what

back of my head. Fucking coward. He’s been a mess ever since Lyre turned

yeah, maybe it made my knees turn to rubber for a bit, too. But I’m over it. He

the door and

comfortable," she says flatly, not looking at any of

like any of us would want

moving toward the shed, I step in front of her, putting

into a smear on the ground with less effort than it takes me to shift. But some instincts run

she’s got one perfect brow arched like she knows exactly what I’m doing, and she doesn’t

It’s fine.

trying

just basic

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