THE HALF BLOOD'S CURSE

t give me

teel trap, and before I could shift, before I could even think abou

yri

y hurt for a m

I tried to fight, tried to call the wolf, but my limbs had tu

swallowed me. Not like thi

e smell of iron

ough wool blanket someone had thrown over me. The ceiling above me was vaulted

s was n

h pillars supporting a ceiling so high I couldn't see the top. Torches burned in iron b

e I looked, t

lowing in the darkness betw

half-bloo

woman with silver hair and skin so pale she looked like she had been carved from ice. She was beauti

oice came out roug

ers from every corner of the world come to settle their disp

t explained t

am I

her, Hasan Demir, owed a debt to the Council. A

er agr

e was sharp now. "Debts of blood are

e scarred man from the cliff approaching. He was carrying a bu

e said. "The Cou

g. The clothes were too big, but they

es. Everywhere I looked, I saw shifters. Some were obviously wolves, with the same restless energy I

ke in a language I didn't recognize. African, maybe. Then two men with s

they all fr

Brazil. The Council brings together all the great packs. Once a

, they're di

sympathy flickered in his cold eyes. "You're not the firs

t make me

chamber wa

sat in the center, her ice-white hair gleaming in the torchlight. To her left sat a massive man with a beard like a lion's mane-Alaska

years. His face was gaunt, his clothes ragged, but his eyes.

Vera said. "

dn't

. For

the center of the half-circle and stood there, surrounded by

hy you're here

y father o

ke you. But unlike you, he earned the respect of every pack in this room. He was a

her that way. To me, he was just a ghost-a man I bare

ened to hi

killed. Murdered by someone who wa

t se

an artifact. A relic of the First Wolf, the creature who created our kind. It was lost

ink I know

ly, "that his blood knows.

t was a broken, hysterical sound

ripped me, and brought me to this... this circus..

ing in a language I didn't und

at forces the memories of your father to surface through your ve

f I re

ain. That cold

ts. Any shifter can kill you. Any pack can hunt you. You

the shifters watching me from the shadows. At the an

ck. No fami

ing to bar

your Blood Call. But when

her head.

ll was sched

t of water, and a single torch. I sat on the cot, my back ag

oul

nt thunder. I remembered the way he used to lift me onto his shoulders and carry me through the f

face was

s. "D*mn you for dying. D*mn you for lea

ide me. Not angry th

it said. More

idn't s

it might

about was the Blood Call-the idea of strangers reaching into my veins, pulling

could feel

ame to

it halls, to a chamber I hadn't seen before. This one was smaller than the Council room, but more in

he Alaskan and the Mongolia

ur tunic,"

N

lood to flow from your chest. Remove your tuni

pulled the tunic over my head and stood

he blade was black obsidian, sh

l hurt,"

igur

ragged it downward. The pain was sharp, immediate, and far

ined him. Their voices rose and fell like waves, filli

en I s

fat

His face was exactly as I remembered it now-strong j

" I wh

" he said. "My little

you? Where'

lif. They don't want the relic to pro

re it is. I'll fi

he water meets the fire. Where I b

ion sha

und was already healing-the mark of shifter blood-but the

" Vera demanded. "

I do

LL

said. "That's all I

laskan man, who shrugged. The Mongolian w

ut it's a start. You will remain

promi

ised no

urned, expecting guards, expec

wasn't

as a

dark honey, falling across a face that looked like it had been carved by a sculpto

fore a storm. Gray-green. Cold. And t

The shifters around him stepped back, their heads bowing slightly. Ev

couldn't quite place. German, maybe. Or Austrian. "Th

mell him-pine and smoke and something wilder, somethin

e you?"

It wasn't a

ck Forest pack. And the man who will be watching

answer

ed. "But you'

st enough to tilt my face up toward his. His touch was

you worth all this trouble? Or should I

inside me

irst time, I

said. "And

n, just for a second. Then he laughe

ng back. "This is goi

But at the threshold, he stopped and

said. "Tomorrow, the real test begins. I hop

closed be

ood, and I realized something that terrified me more than

wasn't afraid of

lf wan