this. “Good,” she said as she nodded in approval and stepped back. Mason peered inside and had to look twice before he saw the frail human lying under piles of blankets. The only thing Mason could see was a head of wavy brown hair. “Is he really that small?” Mason asked as he hiked the bag Selene had given him over his shoulder. “He is,” she replied as she inclined her head in a nod. “But don’t let his small frame fool you. He’s pretty strong when he’s fighting to get away.” Mason took the bag Selene had given him to the SUV and tossed it inside. He then opened the back of the truck and spread out the blankets Rick had sent with him. Mason hadn’t known what they were for at the time, but now he saw the wisdom in sending them. He walked back over to the Yukon and lifted the human from the back, amazed at how light he was. If Mason didn’t know for a fact that a man was in there, he would have sworn he was just carrying blankets. Selene closed the back of the Yukon, her eyes softening as she looked at the blankets in Mason’s arms. “Keep him warm. We wanted to stop for clothes, but Rick made it clear we weren’t to stop until we met up with you.” Mason nodded as he gently laid the guy down in the back of his truck. He grabbed some of the blankets he’d brought with him and layered Ian. Once he had Ian tucked in, he closed the hatch. “Keep an eye on him, cat,” Nate warned with an assessing scowl that made Mason feel as if he didn’t measure up to the werewolf. “He’s fucking quick.” “Why is everyone going through the trouble of bringing this man to Rick when it sounds like he doesn’t want to go?” Mason asked Selene, ignoring the asshole standing by the driver’s door. “He’s a fang addict, Mason. Rick should have told you that.” Selene sounded irritated. “He also has a shitload of cuts and welts all over his backside. There’s antiseptic cream and other things you might need to keep the wounds clean in the bag I gave you. Thank goodness we carry a medical kit with us in the Yukon at all times.” Mason wanted to ask what in the hell happened to the human, but he knew Rick wanted him back as fast as he could make it. “I’ll clean him up by the time I get halfway back to Rick.” “Good luck,” Selene said as she walked back toward the front of the Yukon. Nate just glared at him, and Mason just flipped Nate off. The man gave him a toothy smile that wasn’t meant to be pleasant. Mason crawled back into the driver’s seat and adjusted his mirror so he could see Ian if he popped up and tried to get free. From the man’s state, Mason didn’t think he would be getting up anytime soon. He pulled from the parking lot and headed back toward Colorado. He had a long drive ahead of him and hoped the small human didn’t give him any problems. Mason made it about twenty miles before he saw flashing lights ahead. He could tell that the cops were conducting a checkpoint by the way their cruiser was positioned. Mason knew the cops of the smaller towns were enforcing martial law. Normally martial law was used to enforce curfew and to try and bring order back to chaos. But Mason knew changelings were being widely hunted and the cops at this checkpoint were sure to be using a BAT—blood abnormality tests. BATs were carried by every Breed Hunter, military personnel, and law enforcement officer. They were small handheld devices that resembled a glucose machine. One drop of blood and a small light on the device would either turn red, for nonhuman, or green, for human. It gave an on-the-spot reading. The machines were first generation, and found to be faulty at times. But the Breed Hunters killed regardless. False positives were never retested by the Breed Hunters. The human died as soon as the light turned red. Mason leaned over and opened the glove box, retrieving the small piece of synthetic skin that matched the color of his fingertips. Behind the small