That made sense since Neph were naturally wary of one another. I looked up at the next exit sign.

“I’m at Mooresville, North Carolina, off I-77. I’m going to text Marek and see if he can meet me alone.”

“No!” The alarm in his voice made me wonder how stupid I was being. My gut told me I wasn’t in danger from Marek, but what if I were wrong?

“I promise I won’t do anything crazy. I’ll try to find a hotel with a bottom-floor room that has a sliding door I can exit through if he tries to bring anyone.”

“Anna—”

“Kope, I feel like we’re running out of time. I’ll be careful.”

“I don’t like this.”

“Neither do I, but I have to do something. I’ll call you as soon as I’ve met with him. Promise.”

Kope was quiet for a long while before he asked, “Do you have your knives?”

I patted my pockets. “Yes.”

“Do not let down your guard. Even if he claims to be an ally. The others will be near.”

“Okay.”

We said our good-byes, and I felt bad for stressing him. I drove around Mooresville, which turned out to be NASCAR city, until I found a hotel with what I had in mind. Then I texted Marek.

Can u meet me alone? -Daughter of B.

My heart raced and I doubted my own sanity.

His response came too fast. Yes. Where are you?

My thumbs hovered over the letters, hesitant. Where are you? I countered.

His response this time took longer. Blythewood, SC.

I did a quick search. They were an hour and a half away.

With a deep breath and a prayer, I texted him my location. Then I headed to the gigantic outdoorsman store. I’d never before considered purchasing a gun, but I was scared enough to do so now. The line at the gun counter was outrageously long, and the background-check stuff would probably be time-consuming as well. Instead, I browsed the knives counter and other weapons until something caught my interest—a stun gun disguised as a flashlight.

It was dark out by the time I left the store with a fully charged stun gun and a slick new pocketknife. Super sharp and quick to open. Then I settled into my hotel room for the wait. I stared out through my sliding glass door at the parking lot with my hands in my pockets, turning my knives over and over. I decided not to wear the hilt on me, because if it came down to a fight, I didn’t want Marek discovering it. I’d stuffed the hilt between the mattresses as far as my arm could stretch.

An hour and a half had passed. They’d be in town by now. I was pacing and listening hard when a text from Marek came.

Cannot meet alone.

Alarms sounded in my brain.

Forget it then, I responded.

Later tonight?

I thought about it. If he wanted to trap me, he could’ve come straight to the hotel with the others. Maybe he really was an ally, and he couldn’t lose the three Neph. As much as I didn’t want to stay in town knowing that Caterina and the sons of Thamuz were nearby, I was also desperate enough to have another strong Neph on our side.

Fine, I texted, deleting our messages. And the wait began.

I couldn’t relax. All I could do was stare out the window at the people coming and going from the parking lot. My extended hearing surrounded the hotel’s entrance, and it took complete concentration to keep it there and make sense of what people were saying.

An hour after my texts with Marek, something caught my attention in the lobby. A preteen-sounding girl said, “That creepy guy bumped me and didn’t even say sorry.”

A woman, presumably her mother, responded with a terse whisper. “Stay far away from that man. I don’t like the look of him.”

My heart flew to my throat and I fell to my knees next to the bed. I shoved my arm between the mattresses until I felt the hilt. My instincts were screaming for me to get out of there. Shoving the hilt into my backpack, I ran to the door and stuck my head out. Sure enough, at the end of the hall was a wiry-looking man with black hair pulled back in a ponytail. At his sternum was a black starburst. It grew when he saw me, and he smiled.

I slammed the door and locked it, then ran for the patio door. As soon as I slid it open, a tanned hand gripped the edge. Half a scream escaped my mouth before his hand barreled down in a hard slap. Blood covered my tongue and I stumbled to the side long enough for him to shut the back door. My bookbag fell off, but I had no time to worry about it.

Ignoring the pulsing pain in my mouth, I shoved a hand into my pocket. My reflexes must have been slowed from the slap, but his were fast. He grabbed my wrist and twisted it behind my back, ripping an agonizing screech from my throat, which was quickly muffled by his hand. He did all this while moving us toward the door as I struggled like mad. For a short, slender guy, he was strong. He held me against him as he walked, taking my kicks to his shins like they were nothing, his hand clamped too hard around my mouth for me to open it and bite him.

As he released my mouth to unlock the door, he yanked up on my twisted wrist and I sucked in a breath, ready to shriek again. In a heartbeat he had the door unlocked and his hand was clamped back over my mouth and jaw, muffling my scream. His brother pushed his way in. They moved so fast and fluidly. I went ballistic as a piece of silver tape was slapped across my lips.

In a fit of terror I threw my head back and butted his nose. I heard the crack and he yelled, letting me go long enough for my hand to plunge into my pocket and pull out my knife, since I couldn’t reach the stun gun. My blade came out and my arm began slashing. I felt the steel connecting with flesh over and over, and saw the blood, but they never backed away or gave me an inch to run. Within seconds the knife was extracted from my hand and my arms were pinned behind my back.