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  Nothing on the top floor would work—everything had corners. Nicole turned on lights as she went, hating the darkness and not caring if it woke anyone. She already knew nothing in the basement would be sufficient, so she didn’t even go down there.

  But the sunroom off the kitchen . . . that might work. It wasn’t a very strong room, due to the fact that the double doors were full of glass panes, and all three exterior walls were made up of windows. On the other hand, the handle locked, there were no ninety-degree corners—it was mostly a round room—and it had furniture she could sleep on.

  Nicole glanced through the windows that looked into the room from the kitchen, making sure it wasn’t full of stuff and had room for her, then raced up the stairs to her bedroom. She pulled an old quilt from under her bed, spreading it out on top of the comforter. She grabbed her laptop, phone, and cell phone charger, putting them in the center of the quilt along with a pillow and some clothes from her drawers and closet.

  She wrapped all of this up in the quilt before heaving the bundle over her shoulder. She couldn’t help but smile to herself—she probably looked like a hobo. Streaked makeup, old pajamas, messy hair . . . Oh, well.

  Right before she stepped through the door, Nicole felt a slight pressure building in the room. She froze, turning and looking at the corners one at a time, telling herself to run, but completely unable to.

  She wasn’t surprised to see smoke gathering in the corner opposite her. She turned and fled, not taking the time to turn off the lights or shut the door.

  She raced down the stairs two at a time, spinning around the railing in the foyer and practically flying along the hall that led to the kitchen. She nearly yelped when she heard something big bounding down the hall upstairs and banging into the banister at the top of the staircase.

  As she stepped into the kitchen, she glanced back and saw the dog’s shadow fall across the foyer floor. Nicole’s heart raced even more, her pulse pounding in her neck and head as she tried to hurry to the sunroom without making any noise and alerting the dog to her whereabouts. Once the dog came around the railing and started down the hall, it would see right into the kitchen. Thank goodness the door to the sunroom was just to the left of the breakfast nook, not immediately visible.

  She grabbed the corner of the counter, propelling herself around it, cringing when the quilt bumped against it. The dog’s claws clicked on the tile entryway behind her, and she could hear it sniffing the air, trying to find her scent.

  Please go into the parlor, please, Nicole thought. Her heart sank, though, when the sound of clicking claws shifted from tile to wood. It had started down the hall.

  Her feet slipped on the silky wooden floor as she arrived at the door of the sunroom. She reached above the frame, sliding her hands along the wood, searching for the key Tiffany always kept there. Her fingertips bumped into it and it tumbled to the floor, landing with a clink. Oh, crap.

  Chapter Twelve

  Nicole froze. The claws stopped hitting the floor behind her as the intruder froze as well. Taking advantage of the dog’s hesitation, she bent slowly, slowly, slowly and picked up the key from where it had landed. Without risking a backward glance, she raised key to the doorknob and pushed it in, cringing as the click of metal on metal echoed through the empty kitchen. Her mother kept the door locked because of the heirloom seeds she stored in the little fridge in the corner of the room. Thank goodness the door locked at all.

  She could tell when the dog entered the kitchen. It growled when it spotted her, making the hair on her neck rise. Nicole twisted the knob, pushed the door open, and rushed through, slamming the door shut behind her. She turned and twisted the lock on the handle just as the dog leaped at the door.

  Nicole stepped backward, watching as the dog banged against the door over and over again. The door barely held against the weight of the huge beast, whose head came to her ribs. She worried for a moment about the windows, but knew there was nothing she could do to reinforce them. Human flesh didn’t prop up glass very well.

  The door was stronger than it looked, and Nicole breathed a sigh of relief when it continued to hold.

  The dog growled at Nicole, obviously angry. She returned the stare, backing up until her calves knocked into the couch Tiffany kept there.

  Neither did anything for several seconds. Then the dog began pacing outside the door, and she sat on the couch, her legs shaking as she did so. She was severely exhausted—the sheer amount of adrenaline and physical exertion she’d experienced since Restarting left her body limp as a ragdoll and her mind tender and blank.

  Why didn’t the dog turn into a human? She knew this wasn’t Alexander—he would have shifted already.

  After at least ten minutes, the beast turned and growled at her again, the deep timbre of its voice reaching through the door and glass that separated them.

  Nicole opened the jewelry box, knowing that doing so would make it less interesting to the Xolo—less like a place where she’d hide something valuable. The dog would expect her to keep the hiding place out of sight. She let the music play, hoping it would keep her company. She leaned back on the couch, wondering how long it would take for the dog to leave. A quick glance at her phone after pulling it from the bundle told her it was after four in the morning. She didn’t think she’d be able to sleep—no telling what the hound would do if she did.

  She wished Alexander had told her more about how to protect herself. How would she know it was safe to leave the room? And what about her family? She didn’t get along with her parents, but she definitely didn’t want them to get killed, especially at the hands of some crazy dog-man thing.

  Around five in the morning, the hound finally left. After another twenty minutes, Nicole couldn’t stay awake any longer and decided she’d better sleep.

  She was awakened by the brightness after the sun had fully risen around seven in the morning. Not long after, Tiffany entered the kitchen. She saw Nicole in the sunroom and rolled her eyes. Instead of coming to see what was going on, she turned to the fridge and start pulling food out, setting it on the counter.

  Nicole got to her feet, stretching the kinks out of her neck, back, and arms. She picked up her phone, tucked the music box under her arm, and stepped to the doors.

  She stared at her mom for a moment, then pressed her face against the glass, looking first left, then right. No dog was visible. Nicole unlocked the door, then twisted the knob, slowly pulling the door open. Before stepping out, she again looked around.

  If Tiffany noticed her weird behavior, she didn’t say anything.

  Once Nicole was all the way out of the room, she asked, “Did you see a dog?”

  Tiffany shook her head—probably thinking her daughter had gone completely crazy—but didn’t turn around. “No.”

  Nicole walked to the fridge and got herself a glass of milk and a chunk of cheese. She nibbled on the cheese between sips of milk, her eyes raking back and forth between the different corners of the room.

  Once she’d finished snacking, Nicole set her cup down, and with the music box still under her arm, she turned to go back to the sunroom.

  A soft yelp made her whirl, and she gasped when she saw a dark gray, hairless dog in the hallway, staring at her.

  “Heaven’s sake, Nicole,” Tiffany said, not turning to see what had made Nicole gasp. “Would you stop acting so weird?”

  Nicole nodded, a hand on her chest, staring at the big dog. It didn’t enter the room. Was it Alexander? She couldn’t tell.

  The dog backed down the hallway where Tiffany could see, seeming to notice her hesitancy, then shifted into Alexander. Nicole breathed a sigh of relief, closing her eyes for a moment. She quickly joined him then, warily watching the hallway behind him for the other dog. “I’m so paranoid now,” she hissed, quietly enough for Tiffany not to hear. “A different dog came last night.”

  “I can tell—it smells like dog. He or she didn’t shift into a human, though.”

  “How can you te
ll?”

  “I’d have smelled a stranger here.”

  Nicole folded her arms. “How on earth am I supposed to protect myself?”

  “Using your magic.”

  “Oh, that’s very funny. Didn’t you tell me I won’t be able to use it until college? That’s months away.”

  “You need practice, but your magic will still help.” Alexander beckoned her to follow him as he continued talking. “I have to leave soon. I’m heading to Mount Koven and will be gone for three or four days while I access our base of knowledge there.” He led her into the library, shutting the door behind them. They would be safe there—Dad didn’t wake up early on Saturday mornings, and Tiffany apparently wasn’t very interested in anything going on in her house this morning.

  “As an FYI, the hounds won’t come when other people are around—none of us, not even the evil hounds, can afford regular humans knowing we exist, and it takes a lot of magic to travel into a room that’s occupied and a great deal more when there’s more than one human present. You’ll be safe at school, church, anywhere other people are with you. When you’re alone, avoid rooms with ninety-degree corners, as I already told you.”

  “How do I know it’s you and not another hound?”

  Alexander pointed to his upper right ear. Nicole noticed for the first time that the skin there was slightly torn. “I’m the only one like this. When I’m a dog, it’s more noticeable.”

  Alexander rubbed his hands together briskly, an intense expression on his face. “Here’s how it works. In order for the hound to travel, they must build up their powers for at least five minutes. Sometimes it’s less than that, depending on the hound, but that isn’t common. You’ll be able to feel the magic gathering—at first, maybe for only twenty seconds, but as you get better, that amount of time will gradually increase.

  “The smoke comes first. That’s the first thing you’ll see with your eyes. It’ll be enough to equal the size of the dog. You saw it when I left, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “The smoke is the last stage of traveling—the dog will be there shortly after. Some of us are better at generating and building Fire than others. I’m one of the slower ones, unfortunately. Keep that in mind.”

  He looked like he was about to start shifting into a dog—he crouched and stared fixedly at a point across the room—but then he turned to Nicole once more. “Don’t think about the dogs unless you have to. It’s unlikely that those who don’t already know about you will start noticing you yet, but thinking about them will eventually draw their attention.”

  Nicole scoffed inwardly. How was she going to keep from thinking about creatures that wanted to destroy her and her best friend? “How many hounds are there?”

  “Thousands and thousands. Due to political factions—dogs clambering to be in power, purposefully keeping information from each other—only about five of the evil ones know of you.”

  Nicole’s stomach twisted. Five? And she struggled with getting away from just one! How was it possible to stay away from five? “Oh, that’s comforting,” she said, letting the sarcasm come through. “How many good hounds are there?”

  “I’m not sure, honestly. It’s hard to know on any given day how many are good or bad, as we tend to switch back and forth occasionally.”

  Nicole’s eyes widened. “Are you telling me there’s a chance you’ll suddenly turn on me?”

  Alexander ran a hand through his light-brown hair. He sighed. “I hope not. I haven’t been tempted to go evil for many, many years.”

  “And that’s supposed to comfort me?”

  “Not really. If I sense a change, I’ll warn you.”

  “What are the chances of you sensing a change and actually being willing to warn me?”

  Alexander shrugged. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know. I hope the chances are high. Be prepared to answer your phone or accept emails from strange people at any time. I don’t know how I’ll get in touch with you if I sense myself tempted to turn evil.”

  He straightened. “Are you ready to start practicing?”

  “Yes. The sooner I know how to defend myself, the better.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Alexander shifted into a dog. Even though Nicole had seen it happen once before, she was still freaked out by it. It wasn’t at all the way Hollywood made it look—it wasn’t smooth or painless. She watched as the skin roiled and boiled, rippling, almost tearing as the leather jacket and jeans became part of the dog’s skin.

  Once Alexander was in his full dog shape, he turned to her and motioned with his head to the corner of the room. Nicole nodded her understanding. She closed her eyes, concentrating on that corner. She sensed it as he drew his magic to himself, though she wasn’t sure she would have been able to tell that it came from him if the whole room was full of magical people.

  When she opened her eyes, only a trickle of smoke remained, and Alexander was gone. That trickle disappeared as she watched. How did he leave so quickly? Didn’t he say it would take five minutes to gather magic?

  Knowing he would return at any moment, Nicole closed her eyes, concentrating as hard as she could on the magic around her. She was surprised to sense something there. Whether it was Alexander returning or her own magic beckoning to her, she didn’t know.

  After several minutes of waiting, Nicole finally recognized something that she knew was Alexander returning. It was accompanied with a painless sense of burning that lurked at the edge of her consciousness, warming her mind and heart. She opened her eyes and waited.

  Alexander was right—almost exactly twenty seconds after she felt the burning, she saw smoke start to gather in the corner of the room.

  Even though she was positive it was Alexander, Nicole still rushed to hide behind one of the leather couches. She dropped to the floor, faced pressed into the carpet, watching under the sofa as the smoke solidified and a dog’s feet appeared on the floor.

  Alexander yelped, the tone of his voice questioning. Nicole got to her knees and rested her arms on the back of the couch. “We’ve got a lot of work to do,” she said.

  He nodded. Nicole noticed the tear in his ear that he’d told her about. It wasn’t very large—she’d have to be looking closely to know it was him—but it was easier to spot now than it was while he’d been a human.

  She frowned. “You left much faster than the five minutes you said it would take.”

  “That’s because I was building up my power while we were talking.”

  That made sense.

  They continued practicing like that for a couple of hours, Alexander helping Nicole gradually extend the length of the warning she’d have that a hound was on its way. She got up to twenty-two seconds and felt like that was a huge accomplishment after all the work it required. Twenty-two seconds wasn’t a lot, but it would be enough for her to run to the sunroom or her car, where she would also be safe.

  Once they were finished, Alexander shifted into a man to remind her that he would be gone for a few days. Before he left, Nicole asked him, “Am I allowed to tell anyone what’s going on?”

  Alexander chewed the inside of his cheek, studying her face. “You can tell your best friend about me.”

  “Lizzie?” Nicole said skeptically. “Do we really want her to know what’s going on?”

  “The less she knows, the better. But as long as you don’t tell her about the hounds or her role in this, you can let her know that you’ve been talking to someone who is trying to help you with your magic. She won’t remember any of this when it’s all over. Neither will you. Knowing of us draws our attention. Right now, only the five hounds know of you—we want to keep the thousands of others away.”

  “And you’re positive that the five won’t tell any of the rest?”

  “Yes, I’m positive. They no longer have access to the knowledge base at Mount Koven, and they guard the knowledge they do have jealously. They will do their best not to allow anyone to know what’s going on with you and Lizzie.”

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nbsp; Alexander turned to face Nicole. “I’m leaving now. Remember what I said. Stay in the sunroom as much as you can and avoid going anywhere alone, unless it’s in your car.”

  He said goodbye, then shifted into a dog again and dissolved into smoke, leaving through the corner of the room.

  Nicole returned to the sunroom and focused on the homework she’d brought down from her bedroom. She stayed put almost the entire morning and afternoon, only leaving for bathroom breaks and to grab snacks from the kitchen. She was so grateful she’d taken the weekend off from work.

  At one point, Tiffany opened the door, poking her head in. “You know, I’d love to have my sunroom back.” The expression on her face didn’t show she was too bent out of shape about it, but Nicole realized Tiffany’s temper would emerge if things didn’t resolve quickly.

  She hoped that Alexander would return faster than three or four days, but didn’t count on it. He knew better than she did what to expect.

  Nicole’s phone rang, and she checked the caller ID. It was Conor. She picked up quickly, finding herself eager to hear his voice. Had she gotten over the way he’d treated her in front of everyone in class? It felt like it. Either way, she was excited for their date that evening. If it was still on, of course—he hadn’t brought it up the day before.

  “How are you?” he asked.

  Nicole leaned back on the couch, holding her phone with one hand while twirling her still-messy hair around her finger with the other. “Okay, I guess. It hasn’t exactly been a great couple of days, though.” She hated that she couldn’t tell him what was going on. Even if Alexander had warned her not to spill the details, she still didn’t know her boyfriend well enough to know how he’d react. She was having a hard time dealing with the weirdness herself.

  “How are you doing?” she asked.