***
Wes and Derek arrived after lunch. Their expression upon seeing Cambria’s hair was priceless.
“Aren’t you going to say something?” Cambria prompted after a full thirty seconds of silence.
“It’s … bright,” Wes said, the words sounding more like a question.
I suppressed a laugh.
“Right. Like the sun,” Cambria agreed enthusiastically. She turned to Derek. “Well?”
Derek blinked and looked away, as if the brightness had rendered him mute. “Beautiful as always, babe.”
Cambria beamed. “Thank you.” She rewarded him with a quick kiss. Over the top of Cambria’s head, Derek shot Wes a wide-eyed look. I pressed my lips together as she led him away toward the kitchen.
“You ready to go?” Wes asked, kissing my cheek.
“Can we stop by the hospital first?” I asked.
“Do we have time?”
I glanced at the clock as I slid into my shoes. “We should. Grandma isn’t expecting us until five.”
My mother appeared as I opened the door. “Tara, I’ve gotten all the—oh, hello, Wes.”
“Hi, Mrs. Godfrey.”
“Where are you two going?” she asked.
“We’re going to run by the hospital before it’s time to head to Grandma’s,” I said.
“I’m going to finish repotting those azaleas. Then I’ll get ready and head over.”
“I take it we’re out of oven cleaner.” As soon as the words were out, I regretted them.
My mother’s face turned bright red from her chin to the tips of her ears. Bad choice of words. “We are,” she said through tight lips.
“We’ll see you there,” I said and hurried out the door.
My mother said something I couldn’t hear. I walked faster toward the Aston Martin.
“I take it she’s still mad about school,” Wes said when we were in the car.
“You’d think she’d be used to it by now. Apparently expulsion is my new MO.”
He didn’t smile at my joke as he started the car and shifted into gear. I’d expected at least some version of relief. When my mother had forced me to go, Wes had been the least excited about me being that far from home. “Did you read the separation packet? What reason did it give?”
I shrugged. “Officially? The fact that I’m a Werewolf means I’m no longer eligible.”
“But they already knew you were half-Werewolf when they let you in.”
“I think it’s the fact that I can actually shift into one that tips the scales.”
“They shouldn’t be allowed to change their minds like that.”
I agreed. After living among Hunters and realizing how prejudiced they were as a whole, I was surprised they’d let me enroll in the first place. “I think … Is it possible they were influenced by CHAS? I mean, I’m being investigated. They probably don’t want to be associated with me, whatever the outcome is, right?”
“Possibly. I know with the Lexingtons gone, they’ve had to replace two of the council members. I didn’t pay much attention to who, but they’re probably in Steppe’s pocket. Most of the politician-types are.”
“That’s what I figured.”
“Fee stays up on all that stuff. We can ask her about it tonight at Edie’s.”
“Fee’s going?”
He nodded. “And Jack and Derek and Cord. The Cause plus you and your mom were mandatory invites from what I hear.”
“I didn’t know. So, Cambria will probably go too then. Great, everyone can see her hair.”
He gave me a look. “How was my reaction to that, by the way?”
I laughed. “You did great.”
“Those colors seemed a little extreme, even for her.”
“I thought the same thing. She’s being really hush-hush about that visit with her mom. Did Cord or Derek say anything to you about how it went?”
“No, not really.”
I sighed. “She’s holding back. I think the hair might be her way of distracting.”
“Distracting who? Her or us?”
“Yes.”
He chuckled.
Wes took the exit for the hospital, maneuvering through afternoon city traffic. It was nothing compared to rush hour in the capital, but it still took another thirty minutes to navigate the few miles left.
“Will you go back to public school in the fall?” he asked.
“I hadn’t really thought that far ahead,” I said.
He frowned. “I’m sure Edie has.”
“What do you mean?”
“There are other schools for Hunters.”
“You think they’ll send me away again?”
“Have you met Edie?”
I scowled. “She wouldn’t. Not now, with everything happening with Steppe.”
“She would if she thought it would keep you safe.”
I didn’t answer. Partly because he was right, partly because the thought of Hunters being a safe haven for me anymore was ridiculous. Even Grandma had to see that.
We parked and made our way to the Hunter wing. As usual, the nurses let me pass without objection. A few cast nervous glances at Wes. One openly stared. None of them looked thrilled by his presence but neither did they object to him being here. I wondered what Grandma had said to vouch for him in a place devoted to and filled with Werewolf Hunters.
When—if—the treaty was rescinded, I had no doubt he wouldn’t be welcome here any longer.
I headed for Alex’s room first. I knew it wasn’t Wes’s favorite place to be but I had to at least check on him, for my own peace of mind. At the intersecting hallways, Wes tugged on my hand.
“I want to go see Alex first,” I said. “For a few minutes.”
He hesitated. I sensed the argument on the tip of his tongue, but he held back. “Why don’t you meet me in Vera’s room when you’re done in there,” he said.
I pressed a quick kiss to his cheek and gave him a tight smile. “All right. See you in a few.”
I sensed him watching me go but I didn’t turn. It bothered him that I came here every day, though he’d stopped saying so. Instead, he pretended he was worried about my mental health, closing myself in a room with a coma patient. But I knew better. He was jealous.
There was no reason to be. I’d made my choice weeks ago in that dirty clinic in the woods. I just hadn’t gotten around to telling Wes yet. Stubbornly, I held back. And every time he acted jealous or grouchy about Alex, it made me want to say it less. I shouldn’t have to say it. He should see it. The simple fact that we were together, that I gave him my time every day and my kisses every night, should’ve been enough.
Alex’s room was exactly as I’d left it the night before. The monitors beeped. His chest rose and fell underneath the thin blanket. My eyes wandered to the table underneath the window. Someone had removed the dying flowers. Even the vase was gone.
I pulled the single, empty chair alongside the bed and sat down. The fake leather was cold against the back of my bare legs. Everything about hospitals seemed cold to me.
“Hey, sleepyhead,” I said into the silence.
Alex’s doctor insisted coma patients had been known to wake up claiming to hear the voices of those who’d visited while they were under. He’d said I should talk as often as possible. Sometimes, I felt silly doing it, but other times, like today, it was nice to be able to vent without judgment.
Other people’s reactions had a tendency to weigh heavily. I was already carrying an entire pack’s worth of emotion. I didn’t need any more. And this way, I could tell Alex absolutely anything, including things I’d never say if he were awake.
So while I sat, I told him about all that had happened in the last few days: Nick, Vera’s collapse, my expulsion, and the growing certainty that Steppe wanted to do more than dissolve a peace treaty and kick me out of school.
“It’s building toward something,” I said. “And I don’t know what it is, but it’s … close. Like it’s right around the corn
er.” I looked down at my hands and realized I’d been twisting them together. I freed my fingers and reached out, wrapping my fingers gently around Alex’s.
“Honestly, I’m afraid to look around that corner. I know whatever’s waiting is going to be bigger than me. Bigger than I’m capable of. And it would be so much easier to handle if you were awake. At least then your sarcasm would make me determined to beat whatever this is. But with you like this… I need you to wake up, okay?”
And I need to know I didn’t kill you.
My phone buzzed inside my pocket and I stood up to slide it free. Angela’s number lit the display. So far, the “no cell phones inside the hospital” policy hadn’t been enforced beyond dirty looks from orderlies. I didn’t want to test the boundaries, so I kept my voice low as I answered.
“Hi, Ang.”
“I’m on my way into the city. Can I see Alex?”
Crap. I’d forgotten she’d asked about that. “Umm …”
“Please, Tara? I really want to. Besides, I haven’t seen you in forever.”
“I don’t know if they’ll let you in,” I said honestly. It’s a wing run by Hunters.”
“Didn’t they let Wes in?”
Good point. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Sweet. My mom is dropping me off in fifteen. Meet you at the main entrance.”
I agreed and disconnected. The chair scraped as I returned it to its original place against the wall. Alex’s cheek was deceivingly warm where my lips brushed his skin. “Be back in a few,” I whispered. Then I went in search of Wes.
I found him in front of the nurse’s station speaking with a doctor I recognized as one that’d examined Alex a few times. His wire-rimmed glasses sat low on his face, making his eyes look smaller and magnifying the bags underneath.
“…Won’t likely see a change anytime soon if her vitals are any indication,” he was saying. “At least, not one for the better. I’m sorry.”
Wes nodded, his hands stuffed deep in his pockets. “Thank you,” he said quietly as the doctor walked away, updating his clipboard as he went.
“The doc updated me,” Wes said when I reached him.
“I heard.” I wrapped my arms around him and held tight.
He pressed his lips against my hair. His arms were stiff in their hold, evidence of his stress.
“How’s Alex?” he said after a moment.
“The same.” I stepped back so I could look at him. The pain I’d glimpsed before was gone. I knew it was still there but he’d hidden it behind a shell of calm.
“Did you see her?” I asked.
“Yeah. She looks the same. Did you want to stop in?”
“Later. Angela called. She wants to see Alex.”
He frowned. “Will they let her in?”
“I guess we’ll find out. She’ll be here in five.”
“I’m going to go out on a limb and say you should ask permission alone,” he said. “I think they’ve already granted me all the favors I’m going to get by being allowed through the door.”
I thought of the way the nurses glowered at him every time he entered. They could definitely sense him and they didn’t like it. But Grandma had vouched for him, and being part of The Cause could still open a few doors. “But she’s human. You’re at least supernatural and covered by a treaty.”
“For now. Soon, I don’t expect that to count for much. Angela will be the one getting us into a place like this, if at all.”
I sighed. He was probably right.
Three nurses, two supervisors, and one phone call to Grandma later, Angela was in.
“Straight to Mr. Channing’s room. Straight out,” the burly supervisor instructed. “No detours.”
Angela agreed with wide eyes and a resounding, “Yes, sir.” I poked her in the ribs. “Er, ma’am.”
I hurried us away before they asked her for a blood oath and texted Wes that we were in.
At the doorway to Alex’s room, Angela halted. I turned back halfway between the doorway and the bed. “What?” I asked.
“He’s so … still,” she said.
“He’s in a coma, Ang,” I said, my voice gentle. I’d spent so much time looking at him this way, I forgotten what it must be like seeing it for the first time.
“I know, I know. I need a minute.”
She approached the bed slowly, her eyes trained on Alex’s, as if she expected his to flutter open at any second. The blood pressure cuff beeped and began inflating. Angela jumped. She looked up and squinted at the monitor. “What’s happening?”
“The machine automatically takes his blood pressure every hour,” I explained. “So the nurses don’t have to keep coming in here.”
“Oh.” She watched as the cuff inflated and then slowly deflated again. “Is that normal?” she asked, pointing to the numbers that lit the screen.
“It is for a Hunter.”
“Hey.” Angela and I looked up and found Wes hovering in the open doorway.
“Hi, Wes,” Angela said.
There was a split second of hesitation. His mouth hardened as if he’d reached a difficult decision and he walked in and slid his arm around my waist. “How are you?” he asked Angela.
“Better than Alex,” she said on a sigh. “And Vera. How is she? Any change?”
“No,” he said.
Angela nodded sadly. “I’m so sorry. I hope she wakes up.”
“Thanks.” He turned to me. “Fee called but my reception died. I’m going to take a walk.”
“We’ll be here,” I said as he kissed my cheek. Then he left.
Angela asked a lot of questions and I gave her as many details as I could about Alex’s condition. Yes, they’d run blood tests. No, nothing had come back for infections or any known illness. Yes, he seemed healthy. No, they didn’t know why he was still unconscious. By the time I’d finished, even I was impressed with how much medical jargon I could spew.
“He’s going to wake up,” Angela assured me.
I didn’t answer.
“Your blood is powerful stuff,” she added. “You’ve got an entire pack, healthy and coma free, as proof. He’s going to wake up.”
Although I didn’t say it, her encouragement boosted my spirits. I needed someone else to share my hope.
Wes returned a few minutes later. “What did Fee say?” I asked when he walked in. The question went unanswered. He had a strange look on his face. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
No answer.
His eyes were glazed over in shock. Loose panic curled through my middle. “Wes?”
He blinked. “Turn on the TV,” he said.
“Why?”
“Just turn it on.”
I hit the button on the corded remote that attached to the wall behind the bed. The screen came to life, lit with cartoons.
“News,” Wes said.
“What—?” Angela began.
“Sshh,” Wes cut her off.
The newscaster’s face filled the screen, her skin porcelain underneath the lights and the makeup. Her lips were painted a bright pink that clashed with her dark red cardigan. But my eyes caught on the picture box in the right corner and froze there. The screen showed an apartment building, overlaid with the face of a smiling twenty-something blond. I didn’t recognize her but the name—I’d heard that name before.
Mallory Gunther. Mallory. Mal.
Cord’s friend in DC. She’d worked in CHAS’s science and research division. Wes had gone to her for help when we’d been looking for a way to save George from turning into a rabid hybrid. But someone else had found out her intentions and gotten to her first. She’d been dead when he got there.
The newscaster’s voice was neutral, devoid of any emotion or attachment to the story. But I didn’t need any added inflection to get the message like a punch in my gut.
“…unsolved murder in Hanbury Heights last month of a young girl found dead in her apartment after being reported missing by her employer. No leads were given at the time and th
e investigation was suspended, pending any new information.
“This morning, we received word of new details drawn from a surveillance camera mounted on the parking structure across the street. The police have released a still photo taken from that video. If you recognize this person, please call the number at the bottom of your screen. Any information is helpful.”
The picture in the upper right corner changed from the dead girl to a grainy photo of the suspect. Even with the hard angle and bad lighting, there was no mistaking the auburn hair or the squared shoulders draped in a leather jacket.
“Is that …?” Angela trailed off, her head cocked sideways at the picture on the screen.
“Wes,” I whispered.
“Shit,” he said.
The newscaster rattled off a phone number with instructions to “call if you recognize this person.” Then the screen shifted to a traffic update. Angela and Wes both seemed frozen. I was the first to recover.
“Let’s go,” I said. I grabbed my bag and then Wes’s arm and dragged him toward the door. It took his feet an extra yank to get moving. “You too,” I said to Angela.
I turned back when I reached the hallway to make sure Angela was following. Her eyes were wide, but she was there. Wes still hadn’t said a word, but I could see a thousand different reactions reflected in his eyes. Back in Alex’s room, I could hear the news talking about a warm front moving in as the weatherman droned on.
“Where are we going?” Angela asked when we reached the main door.
I considered my answer. Wes had just become a suspect in a murder. It wasn’t enough for Steppe to come after Wes on his own turf; he’d gone and brought humans—civilians—into the fight. Now, Wes would be hunted. A fugitive. Where could we go to escape both the supernatural and the human world? Was there such a place?
I doubted it.
Even still, part of me wanted to leave Angela at the curb and run. Attempt to find a place that would keep us safe from the entire world.
I sighed. That place was a myth.
Or, if it existed at all, that place was a person.
“Tara?” Angela prompted. “Where are we going?”
I checked my watch and made a decision. “Grandma’s,” I said.
Chapter Six
Blood Rule (Book 4, Dirty Blood series) Page 7