by Cynthia Eden
Fangs and all.
“I love you, and you can’t risk yourself,” he muttered. “Not again. We were lucky this time.”
No, they hadn’t been. “Aidan…” Jane began. Oh, God, she had to tell him.
Paris was one of his oldest friends. More like a brother than a friend.
She knew Aidan was about to freak the hell out.
She heard Dr. Bob’s door open behind her. The hinges squeaked.
“I’m so sorry,” Jane said.
Aidan swallowed. “I know…about Paris.”
Wait, what? Shock rolled through her.
“I need to see him.”
“Aidan, I never meant for this to happen.” Never in a million years. “I was trying to get him out of the fire. I was…” I chose you. Oh, dammit. I chose you instead of helping him. I had the chance to take Paris out, but I was afraid you’d be dead before I got back upstairs. I did this. It is all on me. “It’s my fault,” Jane said, voice sharpening. “And I want to fix it.”
“You can’t fix the dead.”
A throat cleared behind them. “He’s not dead yet,” Annette announced.
Jane looked back at the other woman.
“Not fully, anyway,” Annette said. She put her hands on her hips, glaring at Aidan. “And you won’t be taking his head. You’ll have to go through me in order to do that, alpha.”
Aidan took a step forward. “Taking his head…” Confusion flashed on his face.
“He came back,” Jane whispered. “Paris is…he’s a vampire.”
And Aidan lunged for that lab room.
Annette pushed her hands onto his chest, stopping him before he could blaze past her. Though Jane knew that if he’d wanted, he could have easily gotten around the other woman.
“You will not take his head,” Annette said again. “He’s stood by you time and time again, and I don’t care what your wolf says when you enter that room and see him…you will not kill Paris.”
Aidan…nodded. Then he glanced back at Jane. “If the instincts kick in…”
The werewolf’s instincts to attack and destroy a vampire.
“Knock my ass out,” Aidan said.
Jane released the breath she’d been holding. Then she hurried to Aidan’s side. Her fingers curled around his.
Annette slipped out of the way.
Aidan opened the door, and they entered the cold lab together.
Paris was strapped down on the table. Dr. Bob was perched over a microscope and—
Aidan strode toward his friend. Paris seemed to be out cold, a good thing. Jane darted a quick glance at Aidan’s face and she saw the torment there.
Enough pain to steal her breath.
Aidan lifted his hand. He touched Paris’s shoulder.
Paris didn’t move.
“He’s under deep,” Annette said from behind them. “I made sure of it…after he bit Jane, I didn’t want to risk another attack.”
Aidan looked up at Jane. “He…bit you?”
“He wasn’t himself.” No, far from it.
“That’s because he’s a vampire now,” Dr. Bob huffed, rising from his stool. “I can see it in his blood. He’s changed. The man you knew before is gone.”
Vampire.
“How?” That was the part that Jane just didn’t understand. “How could this happen?” It shouldn’t have happened. “I don’t—”
Aidan cut through her words, growling, “I…I can’t stay this close to him.”
“Aidan?”
His claws were out. He turned toward her and she saw the shadow of his beast on his face. “The wolf wants…to attack.”
Jane shook her head. No, she’d been praying it would be different. She’d—
Aidan pushed past her and ran back into the hallway. She hurried after him and when she got into that hall, she saw Aidan on all fours. His hands had slapped against the floor and he was transforming. His muscles were swelling, thickening. His bones starting to pop and snap.
It was a werewolf alpha’s primal reaction to a vampire. Kill or be killed. Only Aidan hadn’t responded that way to her, so she’d hoped that he wouldn’t attack Paris, either.
“Paris is your best friend,” Jane whispered, lost.
Aidan turned back to look at her. His jaw had elongated. “That’s why…” His voice was barely human. “He still…has…his head.”
Tears pricked at her eyes. Someone had done this. Someone had changed Paris. Somehow, at the chaos of that fire scene, a vampire had gotten close to Paris. That was the only explanation she could think of.
And, thanks to Annette, Jane knew exactly which vampire was still in town.
She crept closer to Aidan. “There might be a way to fix this.”
He laughed. Stuck in mid-shift, that laugh was a very scary sound. “Only fix…is death.”
Then the fire of the change swept over him. Brutal, agonizing. The man he’d been vanished. Fur burst along his skin. Razor-sharp teeth filled his mouth. His hands became the powerful paws and claws of a beast.
The change was fast, sweeping over him so quickly. One minute, he’d been a man. The next, a wolf and—
Footsteps. Coming toward them. She looked down the hallway and saw that Vincent Connor had finally decided to grace them with his presence.
Tall, with a powerful build. Dark hair, gleaming eyes.
Fangs bared.
Yes, that was Vincent, all right.
The wolf growled when he saw the man there—not a man, really, but a vampire.
Vincent froze as he stared at the beast. Jane raced forward and grabbed Aidan’s fur, trying to hold him back before he attacked Vincent. “You can’t kill him,” Jane fired at Aidan. “We need him!”
“Guessing this isn’t the best time, hmmm?” Vincent murmured as he offered her a tight smile. “Perhaps we should chat later.”
“No!” Jane yelled.
The wolf growled.
“He wants to rip me apart, my dear,” Vincent said. “And if he comes at me, I will fight back.”
Dammit. Why couldn’t Vincent have arrived a few moments before Aidan? Jane bent low to Aidan’s ear. “Don’t do this, okay? I know you want to attack. I know…I just…we need him.” For the moment. “He knows more about vampires than anyone else. He might be able to help Paris.”
Doubtful but…maybe.
Jane looked up at Vincent. She made sure to keep a steady grip on Aidan. “There was a fire tonight,” she said.
“Um, that would be why you smell like ash.” Vincent shook his head. “I get that you’re still new to the whole vamp game, but here’s a tip…don’t run into a burning building. That’s a surefire way to end yourself.”
“Aidan was inside.”
Vincent rolled his eyes. “Like I care about—”
The wolf jerked from Jane’s hold and lunged toward Vincent. The wolf took the vampire down, hard, and he put his front paws on Vincent’s chest to pin him against the floor. The wolf’s jaws were bared, hovering inches from Vincent’s throat and the thin, gold chain that circled his neck.
But Aidan wasn’t biting. Wasn’t ripping Vincent’s head off…yet.
“Aidan,” Jane spoke quickly, sharply. “Aidan, I know you’re in there. You have to stay in control.”
And Vincent laughed. “Of course, he’s in there. He’s fully aware of everything that he’s doing.” There was a pause. “Just as I am fully aware of what I’m doing. Do you feel the gun pressed to your underbelly, wolf? It’s got silver bullets in it. Get even a breath closer to my throat, and I will fire.”
“Stop it!” Jane jumped toward them. “I called you here because I wanted your help, Vincent. Not because I wanted you to hurt Aidan!” She sucked in a breath. “Aidan, back away.”
His instincts would demand that he attack, but he’d held on to his control before. Aidan was supposed to be the strongest wolf in town. He was…
Backing away. But snarling. Obviously, the guy wasn’t a happy camper.
Neither
was she.
Aidan backed toward her. His big body bumped her legs.
Vincent stayed on the floor, his gun gripped in his hand. “That was…tense.”
“Paris died tonight,” Jane said. Vincent had been keeping tabs on her long before she’d become a vamp—she had no doubt that he knew all about Aidan’s long friendship with the other wolf. “Only he…he came back as a vampire.”
“No.” Vincent shot to his feet. He tucked the gun in his waistband and adjusted the gold chain that looped around his neck and disappeared beneath his shirt. “Sorry, love, but that doesn’t happen. Not with werewolves. They don’t—”
“They do.” She pointed toward the lab door. “Go take a look for yourself if you don’t believe me. He transformed.”
Vincent frowned at her. She frowned back. Vincent wasn’t exactly on her friend list. More of a Watch-Very-Closely list. “He transformed,” Jane said again, “and I was wondering…were you the one who did this to him?”
The wolf snarled.
Vincent shook his head. “No! Of course not! Look, I told you, it can’t be done.”
In a flash, Jane was before him. “It is done.” And she was terrified. Terrified because…I don’t want to end Paris. “Now you helped me when I became a vampire, and I need you to help Paris now. I need you to fix him.”
“Fix him?” Vincent laughed. “There is no fixing—”
Jane pointed to her shoulder. “He attacked me. He was wild. Manic.”
The wolf growled behind her.
“We have to stop Paris. He can’t be…he can’t be like the others.” The other vampires she’d encountered. The terrible ones who killed their own families. “Please.”
Vincent’s gaze sharpened on her. “If I help him…what will you give me?”
“This isn’t a game!”
“No, no, it’s not.” Vincent’s lips thinned. “There will be a price you have to pay.”
Wasn’t there always? Jane looked back at Aidan. Even as a beast, he carried pain in his eyes. “Just help him,” Jane whispered. “And I’ll pay whatever you want.”
Chapter Seven
The old building near the cemetery used to be a BDSM club. That was why there were so many chains and ropes hanging from the walls and the ceiling, part of the leftover decor.
It had also been Jane’s prison, once. For a time that Aidan didn’t like remembering. When she’d first transformed into a vampire, Vincent had held Jane in that place. He’d been trying to make sure she didn’t attack anyone.
Or so the vamp said.
I still think the bastard was just keeping my Jane from me.
“He’s secure,” Vincent said, as he tested the chains that now bound Paris’s wrists and ankles. Not the old chains that had come with the building—those were just for show, but with new, gleaming manacles. Paris was still out cold, courtesy of Annette and her spells. He was on a mattress they’d brought in for him, chained hand and foot.
And it fucking infuriated Aidan. A hard rumble slipped from him. Werewolves weren’t meant to be chained up.
Vincent’s stare cut his way. “You doing all right, wolf?” His eyes swept over Aidan. “Or are you about to go all beast again?”
Aidan was back in the form of a man, and his control was holding, for the moment. He’d only lost it and shifted into a beast back at the ME’s office because he’d been so shocked.
Paris would never want to be a vampire. He wouldn’t want to live this way.
“Don’t worry about me,” Aidan gritted out the words. Worry about yourself because I still owe you a reckoning. He and Vincent would never be fucking friends. Enemies by blood.
Enemies until death.
I’ll never forgive him for what he did to Jane. The vamp needs to get his ass out of my town. Aidan flexed his fingers. “The way I see it…” He took a step closer to Vincent. Jane and Annette tensed, and he could feel their stares on him. “Only a vampire could transform Paris. I know of two vampires in this town. Jane and…you. Since Jane didn’t do this, well…” Well, I think you’re the tricky bastard who did. Maybe Vincent had been the guy setting up all of the little tests for Jane.
Why? Because he wanted to see just what another born vampire could do?
Or maybe because he was just a crazy fuck who needed to be put out of his misery?
“It wasn’t me,” Vincent said, voice flat. “I haven’t been near your pack in days. Not near them, not near Jane. I was—” But he broke off, looking away.
“You were what?” Jane called.
Vincent glanced over at her. “I was waiting for you to come to me.”
Aidan wanted to rip out his heart. “Not happening.”
“I can help her, in ways you will never understand. I can—”
“Forget me,” Jane ordered him flatly. “Help Paris.”
As if on cue, Paris let out a low groan.
“I can put him under again,” Annette said. “I can—”
Vincent locked his fingers around Paris’s jaw. “Do you want to live?”
Aidan stepped forward. The bastard needed to damn well be more careful with his friend—
“Yes….” A broken hiss that came from Paris.
Vincent looked back at Aidan. “He wants a fighting chance, so that means none of us will take his head, agreed?”
Why did everyone keep fucking looking at him when they said that?
Vincent turned back to Paris. “It’s not going to be easy. It’s—”
Paris lunged toward his throat. His teeth scraped over Vincent’s neck and he—
Drank. Guzzled.
Vincent just let him. Didn’t even fight and then…
Paris vomited blood. All over Vincent. Vincent slowly rose. He turned to Jane. Glared. “Now where have I seen that shit before?”
“Hun…gry…” Paris gasped out the words.
“Yes, well, we all get that,” Vincent muttered as he swiped at the mess on him. “I guess we shouldn’t have started at the top of the food chain.”
“Bagged blood?” Annette whispered. She was standing near the wall, watching Paris with wide, haunted eyes. “Will he be able to take that?”
“We’re about to find out.” Vincent whirled away and marched from the room.
And Aidan found himself stepping closer to his friend.
Jane caught his arm. “Aidan, don’t.”
“I’m not killing him,” Aidan said. His control was back and holding for the moment. He needed to talk with Paris. To try and understand just how this had happened. His claws were out, but the fury of the shift didn’t fire Aidan’s blood. He paced closer to Paris, but stopped about five feet away. “Paris.”
Paris didn’t look at him. He let out another low, desperate moan.
“Who did this to you?” Aidan demanded. “Who changed you?” How? Aidan hadn’t even thought it was possible for a werewolf to change into a vamp. He’d never heard of a transformation like that one.
Mostly because…vamps weren’t given the chance to bite werewolves. When a werewolf encountered a vamp…our normal MO is to end them.
His gaze slid to Jane and Aidan swallowed. Normal doesn’t count with her. Right then, Aidan couldn’t think of the changes that were occurring within his own body. He had to put Paris first. He’d deal with his own shit later.
I just changed into a wolf, so that means…no matter what else is happening, I’m still an alpha. My beast still has power. And he’d use that power to help his friend.
Paris’s lashes lifted. He stared at Aidan, and there was zero recognition in his gaze. Just…hunger.
“Who. Did. This?” Rage fisted around Aidan’s heart.
Paris lunged toward him, snapping his teeth, but the chains held him back, stopping Paris before he could get anywhere near Aidan’s throat.
Jane’s hand curled around Aidan’s.
Paris’s stare turned toward her, and the bloodlust—it seemed to burn even brighter in his eyes. He began to salivate as he stared at her. �
�Need…”
The one word was far from human. More like the beast that Paris couldn’t be any longer.
“Step back, Jane,” Aidan said softly.
“I want to help.” Guilt and grief were heavy in her voice and obvious on her face. “I did this, Aidan. I didn’t bite him, but I’m the one who didn’t take more care with Paris. I was stuck on us all being these super monsters…like we could take on anything and survive. I thought even if he got hurt, your blood would heal him.”
My fucking blood.
“I’m so sorry,” Jane whispered.
Aidan glanced at her. She was staring at Paris, and tears glinted in her eyes. “I wish I could go back. I know you didn’t want this. I am sorry!”
“Save the sorries,” Annette ordered, voice flat. “We have to fix him. We get him stable, then we figure out how the hell this happened.”
Jane swallowed.
Vincent hurried back into the room. He had a blood bag in his hand. Aidan stared at the bag and—
Are my canines lengthening? Shit, they were. Not normal, not at all damn normal.
Vincent ripped open the top of the bag. He caught the back of Paris’s head with one hand and pushed the blood bag toward Paris’s mouth. “Let’s see how you like this one…”
Paris started to guzzle the blood. A faint smile curved Vincent’s lips and—
Paris yanked his head away, retching up the blood.
“Fuck,” Vincent snapped.
Annette’s footsteps shuffled closer.
Paris let out a loud, desperate scream, one that made Aidan’s muscles clench. There was so much pain and fury in that sound. And Paris…
His eyes were on Jane. Devouring her.
“Maybe…maybe he needs werewolf blood,” Jane whispered. “The same way I did. I mean, he was a werewolf before, so maybe he has to have the same type of blood that I do.”
Aidan turned his head and stared down at Jane. There were tear tracks drying on her cheeks.
“Jane couldn’t keep down the other blood, either,” Vincent said softly. “Not bagged human blood. Not blood straight from a human victim. The only time she was sane was when she had your blood.” He stared at Aidan, his mouth tight. “Because you had already changed her.”
I’d given Jane werewolf blood. Paris already was a werewolf before this change. Yeah, shit, okay, it made sense that his friend would need werewolf blood, too. Locking his teeth, Aidan stepped closer to Paris. He lifted his wrist, offering it to Paris. “You still in there, buddy?” Aidan asked. He needed Paris to talk to him. Needed to know that his friend was still with him.