Serin didn’t look up from her notes. “Statistically, we’ll all get standard cases, low-ranking wolves and thin-blood vamps. Dangerous but manageable.” Her voice trembled anyway.

Serin looked up from her soup, wide-eyed behind her glasses. “Mine didn’t laugh. Mireth just stared at me and…smelled the air? Like she could taste me.” She shuddered and pulled her sleeves down over her hands. “But she obeyed the leash.”

“Careful, El,” Serin whispered. “That kind of talk gets you flagged.”