Something was eating. Once I worked that out, I could smell death and all the undignified things it brought to a body. I waited a long time, listening to the sounds of something with sharp teeth feeding, before I forced myself to move.
It didnt really matter who had died. If it was Sam, I stood no chance against something that could kill a werewolf after I shot him three times in the chestwhether his heart was there or not, it still should have hurt him.
If it wasnt Sam . . . either he would kill me, too, or wed both walk out of the basement. But I had to wait until Id considered every possibility before I rolled stiffly to my feet.
The sound didnt change as I shuffled around, crunching glass under my feet until the edge of my shoe caught the edge of the rug. I used the rug to find the desk and fumbled around until I could turn on the desk light.
It wasnt very bright, but it showed me that the lighting fixtures on the ceiling had been torn loose and were dangling by wires. The neat stacks of boxes were mostly gone, leaving tumbled books, ripped-up cardboard, and shreds of paper in their place. There was also blood. A lot of it.
Some of the fae bleed odd colors, but this was all a dark red that pooled black in the dim light a yard or so from the edge of the rug where the kill had been made. It hadnt been too long because the edge of the pool of fluid was still wet. But the victor had dragged the body over a pile of book boxes and found a secluded place hidden behind several leaning stacks in the far corner of the basement where the weak light I held wouldnt penetrate.
Sam? I asked. Sam?
The sound of feeding paused. Then a shadow darker than the things around it flowed over the stacks and crouched on top of the remaining piles of books, flattened to keep from bumping into the ceiling. For a moment, I thought it was the fae, because the wolf was so drenched in blood that he was almost black. Then white eyes caught my desk light, and Sam growled.
* * *
SO, I ASKED SAM AS WE HEADED BACK TOWARD KENNEWICK, what do you think we can do to resurrect the love of life in your human half? Because I dont think that this is working. You almost lost it there, my friend.
Sam whined softly and put his head on my lap. Id cleaned both of us in Phins bathroom as best I could. His white fur was more pink than white still, and he was soaking wet. Thank goodness the Rabbit had a powerful heater.
Well, if you dont know, I muttered, how am I supposed to figure it out?
He pressed his head harder on my thigh.
Hed almost killed me tonight. Id seen the intent in his eyes as hed raised his hindquartersand knocked over the boxes he was perched on, already precariously tipped during his battle with the fae.
It was the kind of mistake that Samuel would never have made, and it had thrown off his attack. Hed landed short of me, on top of the broken office chair. Hed put a foot through the space between the arm and the seat and during the struggle to free himself had remembered that we were friends.
From the lowered tail and head, I think hed scared himself almost as much as hed scared me.
Wed spent a long time in that bookstore, so the traffic had subsided somewhat, though it was still pretty busy.
I took my right hand off the steering wheel and ran my fingers through the fur behind Sams ears. His whole body relaxed as I rubbed. Well manage it, I told him. Dont you worry. Im a lot more stubborn than Samuel is. Lets go home and dry us both off. Then I think . . . its time to call Zee
MERCY!
Adams voice in my head screamed at such volume that I couldnt move. A blasting yet soundless noise that grew and grew until . . . there was nothing at all. The cry left me with a headache that made the one Id woken up with in Phins basement seem like a pinprick.
Sam, I said urgently, both hands on the wheel againfor all the good it was going to do me. Id only just barely kept from hitting the brakes as hard as I could, which doubtless would have caused a big pileup on the busy highway behind me. On the other hand, I could hardly keep traveling the way I was. Sam. Sam, I cant see.
A mouth closed on my right wrist and tugged down and then back. As soon as he was guiding me straight, I put on my brake, gently, and rolled to a stop.
The Rabbit shook as cars blasted past us, but no one honked, so we must have made it to the shoulder. After some indefinable amount of time, the pain faded finally and left me shaken and sweating and feeling as if Id been run over by a semi.
We have to get home, I said, restarting the car. My hands were shaking as I put the Rabbit in gear and made a beeline toward Finley.
Id left Adam to deal with his pack. If something had happened to him, Id never forgive myself for my cowardice.
Chapter 8
WE WERE ON CHEMICAL DRIVE, THE HIGHWAY THAT LED out of the city to the countryside, when the ambulance passed us going the other direction, lights flashing but sirens off. I almost turned to follow.
No. Better to find out exactly whats happened first. Sam isnt a doctor today, and I cant help anyone better than the hospital where theyre taking the victim. And maybe it wasnt anyone I knew in the ambulance at all.
As soon as I turned down my road, I put my foot down on the gas pedal and forgot about speed limits. Ahead of us, something was billowing black smoke. There were red flashing lightsfire engines at my house, which was well on its way to becoming so much kindling.
Adam would have thought I was in there. I hadnt told him I was leavingbecause hed have sent someone with me, someone he trusted, and I wanted him to have all of those with him.
Adams cry suddenly made sense, but I was terrified of what hed done when the connection had blown. It might have felt like I had died or fallen unconscious. I should have called him instead of waiting until I could drive here.
Adams pack surrounded the trailer, staying out of the way of the fire department. The fire must have started while the meeting was still taking place or shortly thereafterI firmly squelched the notion that they might have set it on fire in effigy. My eye slipped over familiar facesthere was Darryl, Auriele, Pauland some not so familiarHenry and George. I couldnt find Adam anywhere in the bunch. My stomach clenched in fear at his absence.
I parked by the side of the road as close as I could get with the fire trucks everywhere, but it was still well back from the fire.
I sprinted up to the closest of Adams pack and grabbed her by the armAuriele.
Where is Adam? I asked.
Her irises widened in shock. Mercy? Adam thought you were in there when it blew.
Blew? I looked around and realized that it did look as though the trailer had simply exploded. Bits of siding, glass, and trailer were scattered a dozen yards from the burning hulk that used to be my house. The trailer had gas heat; maybe there had been a leak. How long would it have had to leak before blowing up? If it had been leaking when I left, I would have smelled gas.
Tomorrow, Ill feel bad about losing my home and the things that are important, like my photos . . . poor Medea. I left her locked in because I always lock her in at night so shell be safe. I dont want to think about what happened to her. Tonight, I have more urgent fears.
Auriele, I said slowly and clearly, where is Adam?
Mercy!
Arms snagged me hard and pulled me close. Oh God, oh God, Mercy. He thought you were effing dead. Went through the side of the bloody trailer to find you. Bens voice was hoarse from the smoke and almost unrecognizable. If it hadnt been for the British accent, I wouldnt have been certain it was him.
Ben? I peeled myself out of his embrace with some difficultyand care, because the hands that clutched me convulsively were burned and blisteredbut I had to be able to breathe. Ben. Tell me where Adam is.
Hospital, said Darryl, trotting over to us from where hed been talking to some of the firemen. Darryl was Aurieles mate and Adams second. Mary Jo was able to ride in with him on the strength of her job. Mary Jo was a werewolf whose day job was as a fireman and a trained EMT. Ill take you.
I was already running back to the Rabbit. Sam somehow slithered past me when I was getting in, and when the passenger door opened, he hopped into the backseat so Ben could sit down.
Warrens on his way, Ben said. His teeth were chattering with shock, and his eyes were bright wolf eyes. He was working, couldnt get off in time for the meeting. But I called him and told him that Adam was at the hospital.
Good, I said, pulling out in a storm of gravel. Why didnt they take you to the hospital, too?
Away from the fire, the scent of burnt flesh and his pain was impossible to miss. The little cars engine roared as I opened it up on the highway. Ben closed his eyes and braced himself against the seat.
I was still in the building, he said. He coughed, rolled down his window, and hung out the side, choking and hacking for a while. I handed him a half-empty water bottle, and he rinsed his mouth out and spit.
He rolled up the window and took a drink. Adam went for your bedroom, and I went for Samuels. His voice was even rougher than it had been.
How bad are you?
Ill be all right. Smoke inhalation sucks.
* * *
WE THREE BARGED INTO THE EMERGENCY ROOM. Even for a place that was used to odd things, we must have looked a sight. I glanced at Sam. Hed rolled on the ground when I wasnt looking, covering up the remnants of bloodstains with dirt. All of us looked bedraggled, but at least I didnt think Sam and I looked as if wed been killing fae. Of course, we didnt look like wed been fighting a fire, like Ben did, either. Id come up with some story if someone asked.
Id forgotten that there was something more shocking about us than dirt, burns, and old, mostly washed-out bloodstains.
Hey, you cant bring a dog in here! The triage nurse took three quick strides to us and met my eyes . . . and she stumbled to a halt. Ms. Thompson? Is that a werewolf?
Where is Adam Hauptman?
But a roar from the emergency room told me all I needed to know.
Whose bright idea was it to bring him here? I muttered, running for the double doors between the waiting room and the emergency room, Ben and Sam flanking me.
Not me, Ben said, sounding a little more cheerful. I think hed been worried about what wed find, too. I am absolved of guilt. I was in the trailer getting toasty-warm when they sent him here.
A gray werewolf whose fur darkened around his muzzle stood in the aisle between the patient rooms and the central counter, his change so recent that I could still see the muscles of his back realigning themselves.
He was missing large patches of fur where his skin was blackened and had bubbled up like wax. All four of his feet were hideously burnt, the singed skin a horrible imitation of the black fur that usually covered them. The curtain from the room was caught over his tail.
I stopped just inside the doors, assessing the situation.
Jody, the nurse Id talked to the night of Samuels accident, was standing very stilland someone had coached her on how to behave around werewolves, because her eyes were fixed on the floor. But even from where I stood, I could smell her fear, an appetite-rousing scent for any werewolf. Mary Jo crouched in front of Adam, one hand resting on the floor, her head bowed in submissionand her tough athletic body, so fragile-appearing next to the wolf, was directly between the bystanders and her Alpha.
I glanced down at Sam, but apparently hed fed enough on the dead fae that his attention was all on Adam, though he stayed next to me. Ben waited on my other side, holding himself very still, as if he was trying really hard not to attract Adams attention.
In other circumstances I wouldnt have been as worried. Werewolves tend to lose their human halves when badly injured, but they can be recalled to themselves by a mate or by a more dominant wolf. Samuel was more dominant than Adam, and I was Adams mate. Either of us should have been able to bring him back.
Unfortunately, Samuel wasnt himself this evening and Adam had fried our mate bond in his panic when he thought I was trapped in the trailer. I didnt know what that meant in terms of how he would respond to me. He lowered his head and took a step forward, and my time to dither ran out.
Adam, I said.
His whole body froze.
Adam? I stepped away from Ben and Sam. Adam, its all right. These are the good guys. Theyre trying to helpyouve been hurt.
Im fast, and I have good reflexes, and I didnt even see him move. He pinned me back against the doorframe, rising on his poor burnt hind legs until his face and mine were at the same height. The scent of smoke and burning things wrapped around us as his hot breath touched my cheeks. He inhaled, and his whole body began shaking.
Hed really thought I was dead.
Im okay, I murmured while I closed my eyes and tilted my chin to expose my throat. I wasnt in the trailer when it blew.
His nose brushed from my jaw to my collarbone and he let out a low, wheezing cough that seemed to go on forever. When it was finally over, he laid his head on my shoulder and began to change.
It would be safer for everyone if he were human, which was probably why hed done it. But hed just been badly hurtand only just completed a change from human to wolf. To attempt to reverse the shift within minutes was miserably difficult. That he chose to do it anyway made it obvious to me that he was in very bad shape.
Hed never have started changing while he was touching me if hed been fully aware. The change is agonizing enough in itself; skin-on-skin contact makes it even worse. Add to that his awkward position and the pain Adam was already in because of his burns, and I didnt know what would happen. I slid slowly down the wall, bringing him with me as his skin stretched and the bones moved. Watching a wolf change is not a beautiful thing.
I put my palms flat on the floor, so as not to give in to the temptation to touch him. As much as my head knew more skin contact was the last thing he needed, my body was curiously convinced that I could alleviate the agony of the change.