“Gillian, come back to me.” Jinx’s voice, a seductive whisper. Her bad-boy wolf.
She opened her eyes. “I want to take a ride on the back of your bike.”
Jinx nodded in agreement. Gathered her in his arms and walked past everyone to the garage. She climbed on behind him, wrapped her arms around his broad chest, tucked her head against his back and welcomed the blast of cold air.
Jinx drove fast, like he was trying to outrun both their demons. The harder he pushed the bike, the more it vibrated between her legs, revving her up. She let everything fall away into the wind. And when he stopped, she opened her eyes. They were in the middle of the woods, and as much as she wanted to run, she wanted Jinx more.
Rifter was furious, but he’d managed to hold back until Gillian left with Jinx so as not to scare her. “I want the leader of the Greenland pack. I want to fight him. I want his head on a stick.”
“And then what happens? You take over their pack?” Gwen asked.
“Yeah,” Rogue said. “They’d be under his kingship. Which, technically, they should be anyway.”
“I guess the Elders forgot to mention that,” Stray said. “We’ll help with anything you need, Rifter. But we’ve got to figure out why they’d set up one of their own like this. She was a baby—she couldn’t have done anything. And why frame her? Why not kill her?”
Rifter stilled. “Because she can’t be killed.”
“Which meant they knew about her ability from before she was born. We all had ours from birth, but they didn’t manifest until we were a couple of years old,” Kill pointed out. “But you’re right—it’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“There’s a hidden ability that her family would’ve known would come out. So they tried to hide her in the human world. It’s entirely possible the Blackwells had no idea what she is,” Gwen said.
“Killian can make a list of families,” Stray started.
“Or we can find out more from the Blackwells,” Kill finished with a look at his brother. “We can make them want to tell us.”
Together, the brothers could. “We have to know what they know,” Stray agreed. Kate was near him, slipped her hand inside his. “I’ll go with you.”
“I have to think about that,” Rifter told them. “It’s a risky move.”
“He’s right,” Killian said. “It’s an ingrained memory—a horrible one.”
“Just give us a moment,” Rifter said and they all left him alone with Gwen. “What’s wrong?”
She was fisting her hands on the table in front of her. He saw the tears blurring her eyes. “I can’t help all of you.”
“You’ve helped, Gwen. And as years pass and people come and go, you’ll be able to walk more freely.”
“If Jinx tells the hellhounds to kill our enemies, no one would ever know. I can’t be used against you.”
He stroked her hair tenderly. “You know as well as I do how wrong that would be.”
“I know. But it’s tempting.”
“That’s why we have to get rid of them.” He tugged her so she was standing, pulled her close. “Never forget that you saved us, Gwen. You saved me. You made me a real king.”
“I feel like that’s broken up the family,” she confessed.
“Growing pains. We’re all going to be fine.” Whether or not he believed it, he would do everything in his power to make Gwen believe it.
Jinx took Gillian back to the apartment, found Rogue and Jez there waiting for them.
“You guys okay?” Rogue asked.
Jinx nodded, but Gillian stayed silent, sat down at the table next to them as Rogue continued with, “We can’t stay here.”
Jinx told him, “There is nowhere to go that she won’t be recognized. If we refuse to run now, if we stand our ground . . .”
“One of us will get captured,” Rogue finished.
“No way. I will never let that happen,” Jinx said fiercely.
“Who are you kidding? You’d sacrifice yourself—I know you would, brother, so don’t try to deny it,” Rogue shouted back and Jez was nodding in agreement. “Even the vamp thinks so.”
“But the vamp also doesn’t think we should run,” Jez said.
“Then what?”
“If we can prove to the Blackwells that Gillian had no part in the murders . . .”
“They’ll take away the reward and let her live her life,” Jinx finished.
“That sounds like a plan,” Rogue said, a heavy dose of sarcasm in his voice. “We’ll get right on figuring that one out.”
Gillian looked dejected and Jinx shot his brother a look.
“Shit, I’m sorry, Gillian. I just think—look, we know you didn’t do it and you know you didn’t. You can’t change the Blackwells’ feelings about it. I say we just disable their campaign.”
“The families who lost their kids think I’m guilty. I’ll have to live with that,” she said. “I guess it brings them peace. And it all happened because of me, anyway. It really was my fault—my parents weren’t far off at all.”
“You cannot take on that responsibility. That was a sick wolf who did that. You never would’ve killed like that.”
“On a shift, maybe?”
“You did shift. You weren’t violent, were you? Did you have an urge to kill innocents?”
No, she hadn’t. “Do you think it was my real mother or father who could’ve done that to frame me?”
“I don’t know. But I’m going to find out. I can promise you that.” He paused. “Did they hurt you?”
“Not physically,” she told him. “I’m sorry I put your family in danger.”
“Your family,” he interrupted. “You thought you were helping the situation.”
“I didn’t mention you at all. Just in case. They’re not going to drop it, though.”
“Not without a major incentive,” Jinx agreed. “I know just how to give it to them.”
“They didn’t care about me. It was all about their reputation.”
Jinx put an arm around her. “I’m sorry, Gillian. I know what it’s like when family lets you down.”
“You mean Rifter?”
“No. I’ve let him down. I mean, my parents. Rogue and I went through a hell of our own growing up. It was a long time ago, but I think it’s possibly the worst betrayal. If you can weather that, you can weather anything.”
“I don’t have a choice.”
“Always a choice,” he told her.
Chapter 36
When Rogue left, Gillian was nearly dead on her feet, so Jinx insisted she get some sleep.
“Nothing you can do right now. Everyone’s working on something,” he told her. “The best thing you can do is stay alert.”
Finally, she agreed and after he made sure she didn’t need anything—and she didn’t, since she was asleep literally seconds after she put her head down—he walked back out into the living room to find Jez on Skype with someone. Several someones, by the sound of it. He waved to Jinx as he spoke to the screen.
“Yes, it’s a relatively new development. Yes, the cell phones as well. Everything’s changed. Privacy is nearly a thing of the past. You must be very, very careful,” the vampire was explaining. “And no, you shouldn’t post videos to that thing called YouTube. A very big mistake.”
There was more talking through the speakers and Jez shook his head and looked upward before saying, “No, I don’t think any of you need a Twitter or Facebook account.”
More talking and then, “Yes, I’m aware that I’m no fun.”
