“Be grateful I’m not a murderer like you,” I spat, then let my arm drop.
I couldn’t kill Blake—not in cold blood like this. The police would be here at any minute, and with the poison in his veins, he couldn’t cause any more damage. He would go to jail, and maybe, he would confess, and all of those responsible for inciting war and distributing poison to vampires would be taken down.
I stepped back and gingerly picked up my torn clothes. I turned them all around then slipped them on as best as I could. Their tatters covered the important bits, if just barely. I really needed a ring like Eric’s. It was my new life goal to save for one of them. This naked business was quickly getting old.
Limping, I hurried toward the back of the warehouse where Jake had fought Blake. When I noticed a twisted shape on the floor I froze, afraid to get closer.
God, please, please.
Blood puddled under his body, the light from the hanging fixtures shining on the wet surface. Tears slid onto my face as I took timid steps in his direction. His fur was matted with blood, and one of his legs was twisted at an odd angle. Trembling, I knelt by his side, set the gun on the concrete floor, and pressed my fingers to his neck. A weak heartbeat tapped in his throat.
Sobbing, I pressed my forehead to the side of his head.
“You’ll be all right. You’ll be all right,” I said over and over, stroking the soft fur between his ears. “I’m sorry I’ve never said it, but I want you to know that I love you, Jake. I always have. I hope you can hear me. Also, as soon as you’re better, there’s something else I have to tell you. I think it will make you very happy. You might have to help me and teach me a lot, but I’m willing to learn. For you. We’ll be happy. We’ll be so happy.”
His breathing slowed and became shallower.
“Please, hold on. Help is on its way.”
Tears blurred my vision as I tightened my fists over handfuls of his thick fur as if that could keep his life tethered to this earth.
When sirens sounded in the distance, I jumped to my feet and rushed between the crates. I had to guide them quickly to Jake. One second might make all the difference.
As I exited the aisle, I came to an abrupt stop.
Blake was gone!
“No!”
That was impossible.
A trail of blood ran across the concrete, headed toward the exit, but there was no way he could have stood up, much less walked out of the building.
I ran outside, bursting through the door, pain rippling across my wounded back. I glanced left and right but there was no sign of Blake. How?! There was no way he could have left on his own. Someone had to have helped him escape. There had to have been another person in the warehouse, and they had cowardly hidden until the end.
Police cars came tearing down the road. I threw the gun away as they skidded to a stop, their tires screeching, sending the smell of burnt rubber into the air.
Cops threw doors open, jumped out, and aimed their guns at the disheveled, crazy-looking woman wearing nothing but torn strips of clothes. With a sigh, I put my hands up, then had to lower them a little as the motion exposed my left boob and one of the cops nearly spilled his eyeballs onto the parking lot.
Yep, I definitely needed to get one of those rings.
I WAS WRAPPED IN A blanket, huddled tightly against the corner in Tom’s office. To my surprise, the wounds on my back had healed before anyone had time to notice I needed medical attention. I’d told everyone that the blood had been Blake’s, not mine. They seemed to have bought it, though explaining the state of my clothes was a little harder. The way they had ripped and torn wasn’t exactly consistent with a werewolf attack, but they were too occupied by the huge stash of rhabo to worry about anything else.
Tom stomped into the office and closed the door behind him. He lowered the blinds on the large windows that fronted his desk, then collapsed in his chair with a heavy sigh.
“I’m too old for this,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Two AM, Toni? And on a Saturday? Couldn’t you have picked a better time?”
I gave him a smile that felt like a grimace.
He leaned forward and rested his arms on the desk. “You feeling all right, kiddo?”
I nodded. “I just can’t figure out how Blake got away.”
Tom made a sound in the back of his throat and regarded me with a frown. I had a feeling he was doubtful about my story. It sounded far fetched, for sure.
“Blake is alive,” I said for the nth time.
“I want to believe you, but...”
“He almost killed Jake, Tom. Ask him.”
“We’ll get a statement as soon as he’s able to talk.”
I straightened my seat. “You have to believe me.”
“Well, I’m trying. I really am. But you gotta put yourself in my place. First, it was Damien Ward and now it’s Blake, the walking dead.”
“You’re forgetting tons of crates full of rhabo.” I gave him a raised eyebrow. He couldn’t deny that. Jake and I had just handed his department a huge win.
“Can’t argue with that,” he said. “But maybe if you hadn’t killed the witnesses...”
I swallowed, thinking of the ease with which I’d killed them, fearing my wolf’s ruthlessness. But this wasn’t the time to think about that.
“There were two guards on the roof. They’re not dead.” They hadn’t found their bodies, which meant they had probably awakened and run off. They might even have been the ones who helped Blake escape.
“Maybe,” Tom said, “but they’re nowhere to be found.”
A light bulb came on inside my head.
