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Piper whispered, but Abby continued to rage. Her violent movements, even with the restraints in place, rocked the flatbed.
    â€œCome on, Piper, let’s go,” Rebecka said.
    Piper nodded and stood up. She took a final glance at the daughters she’d lost more than fifteen years earlier—who were still lost to her—and left the vehicle with Rebecka.
    That night Piper curled up in the backseat of an abandoned Jeep that was parked close to the flatbed. Her mind spun as she second-guessed every decision she had ever made regarding her daughters, but she finally fell into fitful slumber. She was awakened by the sound of someone exiting the flatbed, and she got out of the Jeep to see if there was any news about her girls. Jack Tanner, the doctor who had become a black-eyed nocturnal, was standing there sniffing the air.
    â€œThey’re here,” Jack said, and then he turned and strode to the gates. “Open them,” he said to the soldiers standing guard.
    The men refused. Rebecka appeared and approached Jack. “Are the nocturnals here?” she asked him.
    â€œYes,” Jack replied. “They want to see me.”
    Rebecka told the guards to open the gates, and then she turned back to Jack. “You know our people are wary of them,” she whispered as the doors creaked open.
    â€œI know, but there’s no need to worry. They’ll stay outside and guard the area until sunrise.”
    The compound began to stir as people were awakened by the noise of the gates opening. Soon the area near the entrance was filled with people hoping to catch a glimpse of the nocturnals. Rathbone showed up and glanced at Jack. The two walked outside, followed by Rebecka and Piper.
    â€œWhat’s wrong?” Rathbone asked Jack. “I can see in your eyes that’s something’s wrong.”
    â€œThe nocturnals have seen more ferals on their way here,” Jack said. “Thousands of them among several different groups. They’re tracking something.”
    â€œHow far off?”
    â€œHours. They won’t reach us before we leave, but there’s another problem. There’s a stench of ferals in the air coming from east of us.”
    â€œI don’t smell anything,” Piper said.
    â€œYour feline sense of smell, keen as it is, doesn’t match the nocturnals’ sense of smell. Or mine.”
    â€œOr yours?” Rathbone asked. “Are you saying you’re not a nocturnal?”
    â€œI’m something more.”
    â€œYet you didn’t pick up on the ferals’ scent sooner,” Rathbone said.
    â€œI was inside, focused on Pippa and Abby. I shut those senses down because the interior of the building is rank with the stench of blood and wounded flesh.”
    â€œHow close are they?” Piper asked.
    Jack sniffed the air. “Maybe an hour away.”
    â€œThat’s too close for us to begin evacuating,” Rathbone said. “We can either head into the bunker and hide under the bay and wait it out, or stand and fight.”
    â€œI say we fight,” a voice called out. They turned and saw the hyena leader standing beside Salvatore. “If we hide, they’ll wait us out. I’ve seen it happen before.”
    â€œSalvatore, I told you and Aiden to stay with the girls,” Jack said.
    â€œI had him come with me,” the leader barked. “I know your men don’t trust us, so I figured the boy would be our buffer.”
    â€œYou don’t need a buffer,” Rathbone said. “Salvatore, head back to the flatbed. Those girls need you with them.” Salvatore looked at his alpha leader, who nodded. Salvatore nodded back and departed.
    â€œWe’ll fight to the death,” the hyena said. “My clan is brave. We’re not like other hyena packs who turn and hide. We’re skilled killers. We’ve fought hundreds of ferals.”
    â€œLooks like you’re going to get a chance to prove