The last stitch was tied off. Arik cut the excess suture and smeared the wound with honey. By the time he’d wrapped it in a bandage, Desiree was barely conscious of the world around her.
Storytime was over. Aiden seethed. Every time he learned something new about the project, it made him sick with hate. He could easily believe everything Desiree had just said. It was too logical and heartless to be a lie.
Bryce was a factor one—the most aggressive and volatile of them all. A copy. Jesus. His brother was already a hair trigger as Wolfen. Aiden didn’t even want to think about the convert version of him walking around somewhere out in the world.
And Aiden, a factor seven? That put him on the least aggressive side of the spectrum. Explained why he rarely lost his temper, and why he seemed to have rebounded a hell of a lot faster than Bryce after wolfing out—he hadn’t gone as far under.
None of this had been in the research they’d combed through in Montana. Klaus must have taken the most important notes when the groups split up, and for a moment, Aiden was actually thankful for the man’s sick obsession. He didn’t want to think what Aleissi and his mercenaries would have done had they known for a fact which Wolfen were guaranteed to give them a good show.
He looked over at Casey curled into a tight ball, sleeping on the hard ground. If her mom hadn’t died, if Haven hadn’t fallen, she might have grown up just as hateful as the rest of them.
Arik sighed. “She’s passed out.” He didn’t look much better than Desiree.
“Douse that.” Aiden jerked his chin at the fire. “They’ll smell it.”
“How long can we stay here?”
“If I had to guess, I’d say about a half-hour less than we’ve been here already. Might as well relax for a bit.”
“You’re not worried they’ll hunt us?”
“If they do, I’ll take care of me and mine. The rest is not my problem.”
Arik stared. “Really. You don’t feel any obligation to pay me back for letting you out?”
Aiden sighed and closed his eyes. “Despite what Klaus might have told you, Wolfen are fairly intelligent life forms. We know many things. For example, I can say ‘Go fuck yourself’ in fifteen languages, including ASL. I also know you let me out of that cell for one reason, and one reason only: to create a diversion and cover your escape. You’re alive now because of me. I don’t owe you jack.”
Arik scoffed. “Unbelievable.”
“Hey, don’t hate me ‘cuz I’m beautiful. Hate me ‘cuz I’m packing some serious brass and know how to use it.”
Arik wanted to wait for the girls to wake up, which Aiden figured was guy code for: “I’m beat, but I need to preserve my manly dignity, so I’ll blame the weak females instead.” In the end, though, his nerves got the better of him, and he decided it was time to get going again. He woke up Desiree because, unlike Aiden with Casey, he wasn’t strong enough to carry her dead weight over four more miles. After days of being cooped up, Aiden relished the exercise, tame as it was. When Arik dragged his feet up a mild incline, Aiden jogged ahead for a better view. From there, he saw movement; an artificial camo tarp that blended almost seamlessly with the surrounding nature. Until the wind blew.
“Wake up, baby girl. We’re almost there.”
Casey grumbled, but raised her head, and knuckled sleep from of her eyes. “Where are we?”
“You see that over there?” He pointed to the tarp.
“No,” she said.
“Look closer. Look at how the grass moves in the wind.” The breeze flipped up one corner of the tarp, creating a shadow underneath. “There. See that?”
Casey’s eyes went wide. “Is that the car?” she asked excitedly.
“That’s what they said. Let’s go see how full of shit they are.”
Arik and Desiree finally caught up, winded, but still on their feet. Arik spied the tarp, and seemed to gauge Aiden’s reaction.
Aiden grinned and waggled his eyebrows. “Race you there.”
Arik glared. “Funny.”
Casey wriggled to be let down. “It’s the car! It’s the car!” She ran down that hill like there was a river of chocolate waiting for her at the bottom. She tripped, she fell—repeatedly—but she got up every time and kept going without a moan or a tear in complaint. By the time she’d reached the tarp, she was squealing in delight for having won the foot race and, without waiting for the others, started tugging on the tarp to unwrap the cars. In Aiden’s book, that meant she got first dibs.
He followed her down, two steps ahead of Arik and Desiree—just enough to keep his lead without letting Arik pull his gun again. When the tarp came down, however, Aiden stopped in his tracks. He couldn’t help it. Staring at what Casey had uncovered, he felt a bubble of laughter tickle his insides.
“This is your genius master plan of escape?” Aiden chuckled, then laughed, and soon he was doubled over with the hilarity of it, as Arik rushed ahead to check the loot he’d staked all of his hopes on.
The two old jeeps looked prehistoric—no doors, no windows, cracked windshields, and rust covering half of all visible metal surfaces. The interiors had obviously been used as nesting grounds for critters, large and small; seats were piled with debris, steering wheels sported gnaw marks. In short, a pathetic sight to behold.
“Whoa,” Casey breathed. She’d probably never seen a proper car in her whole young life.
Still chuckling, Aiden went to take a closer look.
“The tires are still good,” Arik said. He had his head under one of the cars, and if Aiden was any sort of predator, he’d take the opportunity to cut the man down that instant. Alas, he enjoyed Arik’s disappointment and Desiree’s rising despair too much to deprive himself just yet. “Gas tank looks good, and chassis is solid.”
“Guess it’s just the body that couldn’t handle the wear and tear,” Aiden noted. “Something you can relate to, right, Stumpy?”
Desiree swallowed hard and pivoted around to inspect the supply bins. Her shoulders sagged. Apparently, she hadn’t found anything immediately useful. “Guns,” she said. She didn’t take any out. Mistake. “That’s it. No food, no water, no tools. Just…guns.”
“I thought you said the cars were stocked,” Arik accused.
Aiden nudged Casey into the other car, and motioned for her to duck down while he circled around.
“They were!” Desiree returned. “There were supposed to be five more trucks here. Someone must’ve beaten us to them. Do you see any tire marks?”
“Aiden,” Casey stage-whispered.
He waved her back, and held a finger to his lips for silence.
“Who the hell gives a shit about tire marks,” Arik snapped. “We couldn’t catch up to them if we tried!” He slapped his palm on top of the rusted jeep roof. “This was supposed to be a sure thing, our ticket out of here!”
“It still is,” Desiree insisted. “If we can get the engine started, we won’t need all of that other stuff. We can drive to the nearest town and stock up on everything.”
Aiden took advantage of their squabble. The beast had had a taste of satisfaction; it would not be denied a second time. He checked to make sure Casey stayed put, then stalked a wide circle around his prey to get to his blind side.
“If the engines start? If there is gas in the tank. If the tires don’t blow out after a mile, and if we don’t turn into convert feed before we find a road! That’s an awful lot of ifs for a Hail Mary, Dez.”
Aiden sneaked up behind Arik, so close he could see the hairs rise on the back of Arik’s neck as he became aware of Aiden’s presence. Desiree’s eyes widened in warning, but Arik reacted too slowly, and Aiden caught the elbow aimed at him, twisted it up behind Arik’s back, and drove the human’s head into the car. Arik slumped to the ground still alive, and would stay that way, unless he interfered again. A deal was a deal.
Then Aiden jumped onto the truck bed, startling Desiree away from the car. She fell onto her ass, and started crawling backward, casting a
round for anything she could use as a weapon. Aiden stalked her retreat, fangs aching. Finally, he’d have his revenge and, oh, he couldn’t wait to taste it on his tongue.
Desiree hurled a stone at him. Her aim was shit and the stone flew wide, not even close enough to make him flinch. She crawled farther, grabbed another one—bigger, heavier than the first—but rather than throw it, she held it up as a weapon.
Aiden snarled and pounced, knocking it from her hand before he pinned her down. She thrashed beneath him, screaming for help. Wouldn’t do her any good this time; she was trapped, helpless. And Aiden was enjoying the hell out of it.
He snapped his teeth and, predictably, she shrank as far away as she could, face turned to the side, eyes squeezed shut. It bared that delicate, pale neck for him to rip out. Her pulse fluttered, and Aiden ducked his head, salivating for a taste of her blood. He nosed along her skin, breathed in deeply of her fear…
…and froze.
His bloodlust drained in a rush, halfway-protruded fangs receding as the world realigned in a dizzying shift of confusion.
No—not possible. A sensory illusion, nothing else.
Aiden growled, choking with frustrated anger, and opened his mouth to finish this.
He couldn’t.
Shaking his head like a wet dog, he tried again, but instead of biting down, he breathed in more of her scent, tasted it on his tongue, and recognized…Wolfen. Diluted, faint, but there. Somehow the bitch had Wolfen blood in her—his blood. It was a marker, branding her as familiar, and the primitive, pack-centered part of his brain bypassed the logic center that said she was the enemy and immediately flipped the switch from Destroy to Protect.
He couldn’t kill her.
Son of a bitch!
“What did you do!”
Desiree whined, refusing to answer.
Aiden snarled, grabbed her by the throat, lifting her to dangle in the air as he pushed to his feet. Hurting her caused him physical pain, and the beast yanked hard on its leash. “What the fuck did you do!”
She slapped at him, kicked out and managed to tap his knee.
“Aiden, stop!” Casey cried.
His head whipped around. There stood his little girl, eyes welling with tears, hands wringing the front of her shirt.
“Please,” she said.
Betrayed by his own nature, Aiden roared, aching to make something bleed. He tossed the woman aside, and took off in the other direction, so fast, nothing could stop him.
It still wasn’t fast enough to outrun what Desiree had done.
Just like Bryce with Sinna, Aiden was now bonded with the Bitch.
41: Desiree
Desiree’s ass hit the ground hard, and she coughed, gagged, wincing with pain. “Arik,” she called, but her voice wouldn’t work properly. He should have been up by now.
Casey cried and screamed for Aiden so loudly, Desiree wanted to slap her. What the hell would it take for that girl to realize her best friend was a monster?
“Casey, stop it!” The three little words felt like razor blades in her throat. “Arik!”
She sagged with relief at his groan. Still alive. They still had a chance.
“The fuck happened?” he slurred.
“Aiden flipped out on us.”
Arik struggled to his feet, holding onto the car as he came around to her side. “Then why are we still alive?”
Good question.
Casey sobbed and wailed. “Aideeeeen!”
“Enough, Casey. He’s not coming back.”
The girl screamed so hard, her body shook, and she dropped to the ground, wailing her misery until she started to gasp and wheeze. Poor kid had to be scared out of her mind. Desiree didn’t blame her for melting down, but couldn’t she have picked a better time? Maybe when Desiree wasn’t around?
“It’s okay, Case,” Arik tried, in a kinder voice than Desiree could muster. He tried to hug her, but Casey pushed him away. “We’re gonna be okay. I’ll get us someplace safe.”
Desiree left them to it in deference to getting herself up off the ground. She had to crawl to a tree so she could stand up. With one leg and no crutch, she was done for out here, and Aiden knew it. Twice now, he’d had her life in his hands, and both times she’d been so certain he’d end it. No more fear. No more pain. No more of this goddamned uncertainty.
And here she was, with every blow the worse for wear. But at least she’d finally hit rock bottom. No way her situation could get any worse.
“I”—wheeze—“want”—wheeze—“Aiden”—harder wheeze.
“Oh, shit, Dez, I need you!”
Desiree sighed. So much for rock bottom. “Can I not catch a goddamn break?”
“Dez, come on!”
She maneuvered closer to them, over the uneven ground. Casey was going pale, lips bloodless, struggling for breath too much for this to be just an emotional upset. She was having an asthma attack.
“What do we do?”
Oh sure, the kid gets priority treatment. Never mind the woman with seventeen fresh stitches and throat damage from multiple chokings. She’d be just fine.
On the other hand, it had been Desiree’s idea to take Casey with them. She’d been so eager to put Haven behind her, she’d already forgotten about all of their pesky health problems. Thanks for the refresher, kid.
“Get a fire going, and get me that water canteen,” she ordered, then sat next to Casey, leaned the girl forward, and rubbed her back. “Casey, you need to calm down. I want you to close your eyes and imagine something pretty, okay?”
Arik swore as he upended the pack, dumping everything onto the ground. He tossed the canteen to Desiree.
“Here, have a drink.”
Casey tried, but she spilled more than she swallowed, and she cried out, scared out of her wits.
“Head down.” Desiree continued to rub Casey’s back. “Easy does it. You’re okay. You’re going to be fine.” She hoped.
Arik piled a few twigs together, and lit them in seconds. With everything so dry around here, starting a fire was easy. Putting it out later would be the bigger issue. “Now what?” he asked, and gently blew on the flame.
“Go through the supplies and tell me what you brought. How’re you doing, Casey?”
In answer, Casey groped for her, and curled her fingers tight in Desiree’s shirt, holding on for dear life. She coughed, expelling more air than she could take in, which made the wheezing worse. But she was still breathing, and that was as good as they could hope for.
“There’s nothing here!” Arik said. “I didn’t take any meds. We can’t use any of this.”
“Do as I said, and tell me what you have. I’ll decide if we can use it or not.”
“There’s…” Arik shook his head. “Bandages. Sutures. Honey—”
“Toss me that. And heat up some water. What else?”
Arik did as she asked, then stared again at the hopeless mess.
Desiree scooped honey onto her finger, and stuck it in Casey’s mouth. “Talk to me, Arik.”
“Fire starter, a pot, dried meat, that herb box from your lab—”
“That! Give me that.”
He tossed it to her. The contents of the wooden box were Desiree’s modest claim to fame. It had been her idea to start an herb garden. Didn’t matter that Klaus had commandeered and locked her out of it, he’d still allowed her small bunches to dry and store. Desiree’s stash amounted to a handful of versatile herbs in minimal quantities, ones no one had been allowed to touch. Now, they might save Casey’s life.
She took two small linen pouches from the box, and tossed one back to Arik. “Put two big pinches of that into the water for tea.”
He sniffed it and made a face. “What the hell is it? Smells sweet.”
“Licorice root.” She rolled the other pouch between her fingers to break up the flowers a little, and put it under Casey’s nose. “Breathe in for me.”
Casey made a face and tried to push it away, but Desiree persisted. “I kn
ow it smells strong, but it’s just lavender. It’s flowers. You like flowers, don’t you? Breathe in. That’s it. Nice and easy.”
The tea boiled quickly, but it needed a few minutes to brew and cool before Casey could drink it. While Desiree tended to her, Arik cleaned up the mess he’d made, checking on them every so often. He was a nervous wreck in a way that seemed much too personal. Had he had kids in another life? Desiree had never bothered to ask.
When he was finished, he brought the tea over and sat on Casey’s other side. “You okay?” he asked.
Casey breathed a little easier, but it was too small of an improvement. She leaned against Desiree, eyelids drooping, and it was a tossup whether passing out would calm her enough to open her airways, or whether the lack of oxygen would make her sleep and never wake up again. “Where’s…Aiden?”
Desiree rolled her eyes. “He’s gone, Casey. He ran away.”
She moaned and turned her face into Arik’s side, latching onto him instead. What, the medic saving her life wasn’t good enough anymore? What the hell? Where was the undying gratitude, the fawning and profuse thanks for being able to take a breath? At this point, Desiree would settle for a little less scorn. Was that too much to ask?
Arik tossed Desiree a questioning look, and she glared. “You should get your gun,” she said. “We don’t have any protection out here.” And Aiden might come back to finish what he’d started.
No, scratch that. He would definitely come back. For Casey, if nothing else. Well, this time Desiree planned to be ready for him. She was done and done taking abuse—from anyone, no matter how big or bad they were.
Arik brought over several guns and gave one to Desiree, just in case. She liked the heft of it; much more comforting than a rock. With this in hand, she didn’t have to worry about aim anymore.
“So,” she said conversationally. “Where do we go from here?”
Arik stared blankly, but when Desiree subtly gestured to Casey, he nodded and played along. “I figure we could head for the nearest town,” he said in an effort to put on a calm front. “Find a place to stock up, maybe sleep in a bed for a night or two.”
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