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see any vehicles parked out front, and you’re about fifteen miles outside of Ashwood central. Unless you’re planning to walk along I95 until tomorrow morning, you should probably let me come with you.”
    “You want to come with me?”
    “Why not? If this whole thing is as dangerous as you say, you may need a hand—a hand I’m willing to offer.”
    “Because you promised Isaac?”
    The corner of Cameron’s lips turned up into a smile. “That too, but mainly because it sounds dangerous… and I like danger.”
    Alice rolled her eyes and started to march upstairs. She didn’t have time to argue with him, didn’t have time to call him on his bravado bullshit—whether real or put on. If he wanted to come with her, fine. She wasn’t about to stop him no matter how much she disliked the idea of a tag-along. He was right, after all, about the trek back to the city. Until he mentioned her lack of a ride, she hadn’t thought about how she might get to Ashwood, and she wasn’t looking forward to taking a cab considering her last experience in one.
    This thought led to memories of the museum. A pang of hurt settled into her heart when she remembered how Trapper had smashed into a wall and broken into a hundred pieces. Poor thing , she thought. It hadn’t just been her weapon of choice against the dangerous denizens of the world, it had become a part of her; it was her livelihood, and it was also kind of a friend. How could she collect bounties on nasty supernatural entities without her camera side-kick? What powers did she have beyond her ability to sense auras? Could she even do that now that Trapper had been destroyed?
    The more she thought about it, the more having a little help didn’t sound like an altogether bad idea, at least until she could figure herself out. And if it came to blows between her and Nyx, then Nyx would get the beating of her life.
    Cameron had cleared out of the house by the time Alice returned downstairs tucked inside her own cropped leather jacket. She approached the door, stared at the threshold, and then with a deep breath held in her lungs, stepped outside into the cold night air. The icy breeze hit her at once and enveloped her in a refreshing, chilling embrace that smelled of grass and trees and a faraway ocean. The wind grabbed her hair and pulled it away from her face, and she closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling.
    Then she heard the roar.
    Alice didn’t jump, she wasn’t skittish, but the sound had been sudden and unexpected; a lion’s growl that transitioned into a loud, authoritative purr. Of course he has a bike , she thought, and she marched toward the glow of the headlight. The bike was a well maintained Harley Davidson. Black and chrome, with the Harley logo pressed into the body and a decorative lion’s mouth clasping the headlight between its teeth. He tossed a half-face helmet her way, and she caught it in mid-air.
    “Nice ride,” she said, “I haven’t been on a bike in a long time.”
    A proud smirk spread across his face. “Where are we headed?”
    Alice slipped onto the back of the bike and felt the rumbling between her legs. The vibrations coursed through her and for a moment she felt powerful again; a welcome illusion considering her actual circumstances. But she allowed the feeling to invigorate her, to excite her, and to drive away the niggling fear that in leaving her protective enclosure she may have just revealed herself to Nyx’s watchful eye. She wrapped her arms around Cameron’s firm midsection and interlocked her fingers.
    “Take me to the Victoria district,” she said to the back of Cameron’s head. “I need to get some stuff.”
     

 
     
     
     
    CHAPTER 4

     
    The Dead Alphabet
    Isaac rarely had trouble concentrating, but his eyes were like tires on an icy road—prone to losing their grip on the page every couple of minutes. He wanted desperately to keep his mind clear and focused, sharp and ready to think fast at a moment’s notice,