His hand grabbed my wrist, wrenching it around until I dropped the knife.

“No stabbing.”

“But I thought Immortals were, you know, immortal.”

“I am. If you stab me, I’ll live, but it’s still going to feel like someone shoved a knife into my neck.”

I eyed the knife. It had been days since I had a proper sparring session, and anyone strong enough to disarm me was worth playing with. I trusted the Hagans not to bring someone who couldn’t handle a little hand-to-hand for the fun of it. “You know, they say that which does not kill you makes you stronger.” I lunged for the knife, but it was kicked away before my fingers could close on the hilt. And then a kick caught me in my ribs, not hard enough to break anything, but enough to knock the breath out of me. I flew back, not stopping until the house caught me.

“Thanks, but I’m strong enough already.”

I would have agreed with him, but first I had to remember how to breathe.

“By the way,” Jase said, “I brought my friend Joshua along. He’s an Immortal. Don’t pick a fight with him. Apparently those guys are like crazy strong.”

“Thanks.” I stood up and stretched. My ribs were tender, but not broken. I could feel a bruise forming on my left shoulder where it got up close and intimate with the brick wall. “Your timing is, as always, impeccable.”

“Oh, and I already did the Touch-and-See thing to confirm it,” Talley added with an impish smile.

“Great. You’ve turned Talley evil.” I rotated my wrist, which seemed to be in perfect working order. “And don’t think I can’t see you trying not to laugh, Charlie Hagan. You’re on my list now, too.”

Charlie tried to swallow his smile and failed. “We thought about telling you right off the bat, but decided this would be way more fun.”

Joshua seemed to be just as amused as the others. “I suppose you were in on the ambush plot?”

“I’ve always wanted to see how I’d fare against a Shifter.” He shrugged those thin shoulders which should not have been able to hold so much freakish strength. “This seemed like a good practice round.”

As I hobbled over to the glider next to where Liam was holding up a wall, I gave Joshua another perusal, this time doing nothing to hide my assessment. Yes, those arms were long and thin, but not lacking in muscle. His posture was supposed to appear relaxed, but once I took the time to actually look, I could see the warrior’s stance. From the way he responded to my aggression, I would say he was trained. Extremely trained. Like Jason Bourne trained.

“Immortals are real?”

“As real as Shifters and Seers,” he said.

“And Thaumaturgics?”

“I’ve met a few.”

“How does that work? And how did you end up sharing a room with my brother?”

“How it works isn’t for you to know, and Jase just happened to get the luck of the draw.”

Right. Sure. That didn’t sound way too convenient at all.

I folded myself onto the glider. “Tell me, Joshua the Immortal, why is it you’re here?”

“Same as everyone else here. The Alphas took someone I loved. Since I can’t get them back, I’ll have to settle for a little vengeance.”

“Funny, I thought we were all here to get ourselves killed so Scout can feel oh-so-special.” Makya was sprawled across the glider facing me, making it impossible for me to miss the disdain oozing in my direction. “I mean, is she really so good in bed you’re willing to die just to tap that again?” His question was aimed at Liam and Charlie. “If so, I need to be getting me some of that before we throw down with the Alphas.”

Shifters are all fast, but Liam made the rest of us look like slugs when he crossed the porch and jerked Makya up by his throat.

You know those moments when the right thing is crazy obvious, and you know you’re supposed to do the right thing, but you just can’t seem to bring yourself to do it? This was one of those moments for me. I knew I was supposed to make Liam stop. Makya was turning blue, for the love of Pete. Of course he should stop. And I knew I should be the one to say, “Liam, put the idiot down,” but I didn’t. I watched Makya struggle, his feet a good two inches off the ground. I watched Liam, who could have been a statue for as much as he moved. I heard Jase say, “Dude, he can’t breathe,” and Charlie mention something about it not being worth it, but I did nothing. I suppose if Toby hadn’t stepped in, I might have just sat there and watch Liam kill him, although I doubt Liam would have let it go that far.

“He’s a coward and a traitor.” Liam dropped him back onto the glider. In the first intelligent move of his entire life, Makya stayed down and didn’t say a word. Although, I guess it’s kind of hard to talk when you’re gasping for breath. “I want him gone before morning,” Liam said as he walked back into the house without sparing the rest of us a glance.

“He’s crazy,” Makya wheezed once he had enough air to accomplish it.

Finally propelled to do something, I went to stand over the sorry sack of loser. There were lots of people to blame for what went down last summer, and most likely it would have happened without anyone’s help, but at that moment all I could think of was how Makya set off a chain of events which ended with me standing in front of a guillotine.

“Because of you, three men died, one is in a coma, and your cousin can’t walk without a freaking cane. You’ve earned whatever bad crap happens to you, Makya. It’s called karma, and it really is a bitch to those who deserve it.” I leaned in and showed him my teeth. “Ironically, so am I.”

“What did I do? None of that was my fault! That was your doing, you psycho!”

“We all know who made the call to The Matthews Pack which led the Alphas to us, so just shut up.” I leaned in even further so he could feel my breath on his face. “Liam wasn’t kidding. You better be gone by morning, but feel free to use my phone before you go to make your call. Be sure and send Sarvarna my loathing.”

It was a stab in the dark, but his face proved I was right. “You’ll get them all killed,” he said. “My family. My father. They’re all going to die just because you think you’re so freaking special. Scout Donovan, the high and the mighty. I’ve been putting up with you and your holier-than-thou crap since we were kids.” Pure hatred seared through his gaze. “I can’t wait until they put you in your place.”