He swung around and raised his arm at his Shifters, who were hurriedly getting into or onto vehicles, ready to depart.

“To me, my friends! Let’s get him!”

His warriors whooped, men and women alike taking up the battle cry.

Kendrick climbed onto his motorcycle, settled the sword on his back, and waved his arm, signaling his Shifters to follow. He shot down the drive in the wake of Dylan’s white pickup, and headed east, into the summer sun.

*   *   *

The San Antonio Shiftertown lay outside the city a little to the east and south. A few years ago, so Dylan had said, it had been run by a Shifter doing diabolical things—that Shifter had been killed by Dylan’s son. The human government couldn’t let a Shiftertown be leader-less, so they appointed a Shifter they thought they could control. That Shifter was loyal to Dylan first, however, and Dylan still wielded almost total power here.

The San Antonio Shiftertown was more or less in the middle of nowhere, among flat, dry land. A hand-painted sign said, “Welcome to Shiftertown,” with the numbers after it crossed out, new ones put in over the crosses. “Population sixty-five Shifters, twenty-two horses, seven dogs, and twenty cats.”

Everything was silent and deserted. The air was still, not even a breeze to stir the heat. Even in May, this far south in Texas afternoons could climb into the three-digit temperatures.

Kendrick had dispersed his Shifters to come at the town on all sides. They were to look for signs of resistance and capture those Shifters. No killing. The Shifters with Lachlan were still under Kendrick’s protection.

Kendrick and Dylan had parked their vehicles at the entrance to the town and now walked in via the main road, not hiding their approach. A series of long, low houses surrounded the main streets, huddled together under the sun. Trees had been planted, mature now, the only things giving shade in this empty place.

Tiger and Spike, a Feline Shifter with body-covering tattoos, met them under one of these trees.

“He’s holed up in the leader’s house,” Spike said without preliminary, his voice deep and strong. “I wanted to go in, but Tiger insisted we wait for you.”

“He’s strong,” Tiger said in his slow way. “And cornered. If we break in, he will kill.”

Kendrick knew the truth of that. Lachlan was certain to have hostages, possibly the entire population of this little town, with him. The leader’s house wasn’t very large at first glance, but looks were deceiving.

Tiger gave Kendrick his golden stare. “He wants you.”

“No kidding.” Kendrick studied the leader’s house, which didn’t look much different from those around it.

“He will do everything in his power to have you,” Tiger went on.

“I know.” Kendrick scanned the road, noting his own Shifters filling the shadows beside walls, under trees, ready, waiting. “I’d like to do this without too much bloodshed.”

“That would be best,” Dylan said calmly. “Humans won’t mind their own business if a bunch of Shifters get killed.”

Dylan wasn’t only worried about the human police’s reaction, Kendrick knew. Dylan shared Kendrick’s need to take care of those in his realm. Though Dylan had conceded leadership of the Austin Shiftertown to his oldest son and “retired,” he was still a leader at heart. The hierarchy of office was one thing; a Shifter’s protective instinct was another.

Dylan was joined by a younger man who shared his looks—dark hair, blue eyes, Irish accent—and this man carried a sword. His son, Sean, the Guardian of the Austin Shifters.

Sean gave Kendrick a nod, an exchange among equals. “You know, Dad,” Sean said, “We’ll have to expose a lot of secrets to Shifters we don’t know to pry this Lachy out.”