sta

exhaust fumes, and testosterone. The annual Pack Hunt was less about hunting and more about postu

ender, the motion fluid and practiced. I had been coming to these hunts

me unmistakable vehicle I had seen by the river, now polished clean as if a fresh coat of wax could erase what it had been

e loud enough to carry. "The hunt is for warriors, not for O

ored look and turned away to check my tire pre

muddy surroundings, pulled up and parked in the spot nex

ontgomery leaned out, a charming, easy grin on his fa

one. "It's a pleasure to see you. I trust you're

ke that, Mr. Montgomery." My gaze drifted past

closed, his face pale and drawn. He was bundled in a thick coat, a cashmere blanket dr

lared, the si

l the subtlety of a thrown punch. He peeled out, spraying

floored it. My tires bit into the dirt, and I launched onto the trail rig

smoothly behind me, mainta

cherous ribbon of mud and rock. This was where Keaton made his move

from his tires, splattering across my windshield. My visibility dropped to zero.

weetheart?" Keaton's voice was a smug, distorted taunt.

les were white. I gritted my teeth, my eyes scanning th

lian. "Raymond, your driving is as classless as your choice

at me. "Miss Beaumont, I have an idea. On my signal, you take the left slope,

smitted back wit

ow

g for purchase. Through the filthy sweep of the windshield, I could see only fractured pieces of the trail ahead: mud, pine trunks, the black flank of Keaton's B

eyes. Instead of braking, he swerved hard to his left, directly at me, try

oment, as tons of steel were about to col

onco filled the space between us, mud streaked my windshield, and the G-Wa

I fe

e air seemed to buckle around it. It wasn't a physical attack. It was something old

d solely at Keaton. It hit

lice collapsing into raw, animal terror. His hands spasmed on the

ed wildly. The tires lost all traction in the

e only open

clearing his front bumper by inches. At the same moment, Julian

was a sickening crunch of metal on rock, and then it plunged nose-

my eyes on the trail ahead, the sound of Juli