“Whoa, what the hell is that?” she said.
Vaughn managed a slight smile. “It’s a suspension field that—”
“Later, Vaughn.” Porter turned Tessa’s arm slightly, then brought his scalpel closer.
“You can’t cut her without anesthetic,” Marcus yelled.
Porter didn’t flinch. “The cold is more than enough to manage her pain. And we have no idea how these dwellers would react to the chemicals needed to numb her.”
Shit.
Tessa felt another surge of pity for G-405. At least they had stunned the ghoul into unconsciousness before operating.
With a deftness that surprised Tessa, Porter cut along one of the lumps in her arm, squeezing her flesh so that the dweller dropped toward the stasis chamber. It twisted back and forth on itself for a fraction of a second, like a beached fish, but as soon as it fell past the top of the chamber, it went limp.
And the others woke up.
She couldn’t feel them. She was so glad she couldn’t feel them. But she could see them.
They were all writhing beneath her skin. Wriggling and churning. Heading toward her body. The lumps were growing smaller, as if… As if they were burrowing deeper.
“Porter…” she said.
“We see them.” He grabbed a metal cuff and wrapped it around her forearm. “Vaughn, now.”
“Shit.” Vaughn tapped something on his PAWN. “I’m sorry.”
Sorry for wh—
Her thought cut off as arcs of lightning shot up her arm and into her body. Her fingers twitched involuntarily, her arm spasming. Marcus held onto her, keeping her upright. He grabbed her forehead, hugging it to his chest as she thrashed. The room blacked out several times before settling into a blurry gray.
The ceiling tiles moved—or maybe she was the one moving. She felt something flat beneath her, her body supported. Muffled voices bounced around in her head as she floated to a stop.
Faces appeared above her. Marcus. Brock. No, one of the twins.
“What the fuck was that?” Marcus. He was angry. That was bad.
If he became too angry, he would change. Dexter would attack, and Tessa wouldn’t be able to keep them from fighting.
A calm, cold voice floated into her awareness. Porter. “We had to stun them to keep them from spreading.”
“I’m so sorry, Marcus.” Vaughn.
“You electrocuted her!”
“We did what was necessary.” Threat. Dexter. “Now stand down.”
Tessa had to stop them. But she couldn’t move. Her tongue felt thick—too big for her mouth. Her head was pounding and her vision was still dark around the edges.
She heard Marcus growl.
“Stop.” A new voice. Weak. Muffled. Hers?
“Stop,” she said again, stronger this time.
“Tessa.” Marcus’s face drew closer. She knew it was him because his eyes were bright, bright gold. So bright, it made her head hurt worse to look at them.
She reached out to cover them, but ended up sort of squishing his nose to the side. Her wristband was back on, tourniquets still in place.
Vaughn let out a sharp laugh. “Sorry. It’s the tension. Plus, that was pretty funny.”
Tessa laughed, too, her eyes rolling shut briefly. “Vaughn…”
There was a pause, then the rustling sound of fabric as Vaughn approached. His face joined Marcus’s above her.
“Yeah, Tessa?”
She licked her lips, trying to force out words.
“You suck.”
A broad smile spread across his face and he bowed his head, his shoulders shaking. She didn’t know if it was laughter or something else. His eyes glistened when he looked at her again.
He sniffed, and said, “Yeah. Sorry about that. I know we said we’d wait to electrocute you until you asked, but there was a time factor.”
“I get it.” It was truer than he knew. Her thoughts were clearing, but her mind was still filled with darkness. “I’m guessing this means surgery isn’t an option?”
“Unfortunately, no,” Porter said.
“What about just lopping it off? You have to have some kind of weapon you can use. A guillotine, maybe.”
Porter’s voice was still calm. “Let’s save that for a worst case scenario.”
Tessa was living a worst case scenario.
She didn’t bother looking for Porter’s face. It probably had another of those cold smiles on it. She closed her eyes instead, visualizing her future.
The Blades wouldn’t let her walk into an incinerator. She was sure of it. They also probably wouldn’t want her to leave. But she had to. They had no idea what Edgar was capable of.
She needed more time, but had already been in Providence for over a day. Porter would probably want to study her to figure out a safe way to remove her arm—or her dwellers.
It wouldn’t be long before Edgar arrived—and she would not lead him to the Blades. Her eyes filled with tears as the only option for keeping the people she cared about safe presented itself.
Apparently, she wasn’t done running after all.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Two sleepless nights in a row. Vaughn had dealt with worse, but the emotional and mental toll was making the physical drain much more brutal than he was used to.
Porter and Dexter were acting weird. With them, that was saying something. Marcus was more intense and focused than ever. And Tessa—the source of all the upheaval in Vaughn’s life—was growing on him.
And sitting at the kitchen counter. Alone.
Vaughn balked at the entrance to the room. He hadn’t expected to run into her solo with the way she and Marcus had glommed on to each other. She was leaning over a bowl of cereal, the open box and a carton of rice milk at her elbow.
She looked as tired and wrung out as Vaughn felt. Plus, she was so lost in thought, she didn’t notice him. Or she noticed him and didn’t deem him enough of a threat to react to his presence. He took a deep breath before stepping into the room.
“Look what the werewolf dragged in,” he said.
Tessa started guiltily, her mouth popping open, then snapping shut into a thin line. She stared at Vaughn for a moment before letting out a scoffing laugh and nodding.
He had seen that look too many times not to recognize it—in his own mirror when he was a kid, before his dad had shipped him off to boarding school. The guilty, “nothing-to-see-here” smile. A mask to pretend that nothing was wrong, when he felt like his world was falling apart.
She was going to run.
Goddammit.
“Actually, I dragged myself in.” She threw a fake smile at him. “Marcus was still sleeping, and I was hungry.”
So she dressed herself for the field, complete with weapons from the looks of it. Yeah. Vaughn wasn’t buying it.
“He usually conks out after a full transformation,” Vaughn said.
The cap wasn’t on the rice milk. He stalked over to it and sealed it before putting it back in the fridge.
“Sorry about that,” she said. “I’m not used to having a fridge. Or…you know. Perishable food.”
“For such a sucky existence, you sure seem in a hurry to get back to it.” He set his hands on the counter and leaned forward, glaring at her.
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re planning to leave.”
“How do you…” She shook her head and glared at him. “Forget it. I don’t care how you know. Just don’t tell Marcus.”
“Why? So you don’t have to deal with the fallout?”
Her icy veneer cracked. “I’ll come back. As soon as I’ve dealt with this, I’ll come back.” She held up her right hand.
The black wristband made the waxy cast to her skin that much more evident. It might be Vaughn’s imagination, but her hand actually looked worse since the failed procedure Porter had attempted last night.
“And how long will that take?” Vaughn said.
She let out a hollow laugh, stretchi
ng her arm out and resting her palm on the counter, as if she was trying to keep it as far away from her body as possible.
“How long will it take for me to find someone willing to chop the damn thing off? I’d ask another hunter to do it, but by the time I explained, they’d just kill me and be done with it.”
“Porter will find a way. He’s still working on it.”
“He doesn’t have time. Edgar will be here soon. Maybe in less than a day. I need to be gone when that happens. For all our sakes.”
“So, you run.”
Her glare returned in full force. “You don’t get what it’s like in the field. You sit here behind your computers and your weird technology—”
“Um, weird?” Vaughn actually sputtered.
She plowed on. “Has your life ever been on the line? Really, urgently threatened?”
“Yeah, as a matter of fact, it has.”
That earned him a skeptical stare. He wasn’t about to satisfy her curiosity, or let her get away with dismissing him.
“I know that everyone in this house could kill me without breaking a sweat,” he said. “I also know that everyone would be dead if it wasn’t for me. Several times over.”
“Present company excluded, unless you’re counting when you electrocuted me.”
“Who do you think talked Marcus through the controls for the crane he used to crush the first Redcap queen in the junkyard? Who activated the hoverbike and had it waiting out of reach above all the Redcaps that almost killed you afterwards?”
Her look of surprise wasn’t enough for him. She was about to hurt Marcus, and it was up to Vaughn to stop her.
“I don’t go into the field because I’m not cut out for it,” Vaughn said. “But backing you all up isn’t a cakewalk. It’s fucking terrifying. Do you know how many times Dexter and Marcus have put their lives in my hands? How many times it’s come down to the weapons and defenses that I’ve designed to keep them safe? Just because I’m not risking my own life every day, that doesn’t mean what I do is easy. That it doesn’t hurt me to see them hurt.”
“I don’t want to hurt Marcus,” she said.
“What do you think leaving will do?”
She was quiet for a moment, then said, “You realize that out of everyone here, you’re probably in the most danger if I stay, right?”
“Fine. Then let me make the decision. Don’t leave.”
“It’s not that simple. You don’t know what you’re risking.”
“And you don’t know what you’re throwing away.”
She started to pull back. Vaughn reached across the counter and grabbed her right hand. He grabbed it and held on, even though his heart started pounding and his stomach roiled.
He had seen the things in her arm up close. He and Porter had stayed up studying the one in the stasis field. And with everything Tessa had told them, Vaughn found her dwellers absolutely terrifying. He swallowed his fear.
“I know what it’s like to be alone,” he said. “And I know how hard it can be to ask for help. You need to think long and hard about what you do next, Tessa. Because if you leave, you’re choosing to be alone. That’s you turning your back on yourself. And trust me, that feels a hell of a lot worse than when others turn their backs on you.”
He held her gaze for several long moments before she turned her hand over in his and squeezed it. Her eyes glistened, which set him off as well.
Dammit, he already cared. One more person to keep safe. One more opportunity for loss and pain.
Images started popping into his head for a robotic arm he could build for her. And, more macabre, ideas for devices to remove her arm quickly and safely. Everything would take time. He only hoped she would give it to them.
“Am I interrupting something?”
Vaughn jumped at Marcus’s voice. Tessa let go of Vaughn’s hand quickly and sat back on her barstool.
“We were just talking,” she said.
Vaughn laughed. “You don’t have to worry about Marcus getting jealous of us. He knows you’re not my type.”
“Not jealous, but curious.” Marcus walked over to them, yawning. “I feel like I walked in on an intense moment.”
“We’re just bonding,” Vaughn said. “I’m trying to get your girlfriend to officially sign up for the Blades.”
“Then I’m making you breakfast this morning.” Marcus bumped against Vaughn’s shoulder as he walked to the fridge.
Tessa snorted. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but that was so cute.”
Marcus paused and stared at her. Vaughn had never seen Marcus look so relaxed. Or sleepy.
“Well, I guess he is rocking the bed-head look,” Vaughn said.
“No, the little werewolf bump there.” She wagged her finger at them. “That shoulder-bump. Werewolves do that with packmates to show affection.”
Vaughn hissed in a breath. “We don’t use the p-word here.”
“What, ‘pack’?” Tessa looked genuinely surprised.
“Yes. That one.” Vaughn shook his head. “Dexter doesn’t want Marcus getting any ideas.”
“It’s okay, Vaughn.” Marcus squeezed Vaughn’s shoulder briefly before giving up on the fridge and walking around the counter to sit next to Tessa. “Dexter and I have come to an understanding.”
“Oh.” Vaughn thought for a moment. “When did that happen?”
“I don’t know.” Marcus put his head on Tessa’s shoulder, his eyes closed. “Yesterday sometime?”
She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair. “An alpha, a pre-apex ghoul, and…”
When she looked up at Vaughn, he said, “An IT guy.”
She let out a huge laugh. “It sounds like the start of a really bad joke. This is the weirdest pack I’ve ever heard of.”
“The awesomest, you mean.” Vaughn put on a confused air. “Wait, is that right? ‘Most awesome’…”
She laughed again, and mouthed, “Thank you.”
Vaughn bowed his head as his eyes filled with tears. Relief flooded through him.
“Forget about signing up for the Blades,” Marcus said. “You just called yourself part of my pack.”
Tessa shrugged. “I can think of worse things. Like really worse—”
Marcus cut her off with a kiss that raised the temperature of the room several degrees.
“Oh, come on,” Vaughn said, pretending to shield his eyes. “Go to your room. Take it out of my kitchen.”
Tessa slid off her stool and took Marcus’s hand, leading him away. She smiled at Vaughn one more time before they headed out of sight.
Once again, he’d kept Marcus away from harm. And if Tessa was what Marcus needed to be happy… Vaughn would support him—support them both. However he could.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Marcus gunned the engine and bounced the front end of his bike off the ground, skidding down the drive on the back wheel. He wore his helmet more to hide his smile than anything else. Well, that and to talk to Vaughn—his beta.
Marcus had forgotten his earpiece, but didn’t feel like going back for it. The sooner he finished his patrol, the sooner he could get back to Tessa. Marcus didn’t even mind the steady rain pinging off of his visor and shoulders. He was glad that his duster was waterproof, though.
“Okay, settle down,” Vaughn said. “Tessa’s not around to watch you show off.”
“I’m not showing off.” Marcus laughed. “I’m just happy.”
Happier than he could ever remember being. After spending the night and most of the morning in bed with Tessa, Marcus was feeling…at home in his skin. For a werewolf who was also a Blade, that was saying something.
He would have spent the entire day sleeping and…not sleeping…with her, but Vaughn had picked up a weird police report that Marcus needed to check out.
The gates to the main road opened and Marcus sped through, spinning the bike in an arc and using his leg to keep himself upright. Werewolf strength and agility definitely had their perks.
Vaughn picked up in his ear again. “I’m glad to hear that, but you’re going to draw too much attention to yourself if you pull stunts like that in town.”
“I have no intention to—”
Marcus swore as a figure stepped in front of him. He jerked the handlebars of his bike too hard, twisting it to the side in an attempt to lay it down and skid away from the guy. Inertia took over, and his bike toppled over.
Marcus leaned into the bike, trying to roll with it. His right leg hit the wet pavement first, his ankle snapping from the impact. The bike crushed the rest of his leg before bouncing over him. He felt his shoulder pop out of its socket as he landed. The bike’s weight smashed into his chest briefly. More bones cracked. He couldn’t breathe.
Marcus did his best to relax his grip and let the bike go on without him. It crashed into his left arm and thigh before rolling a few more times and then skittering to a stop several feet away.
“Fuck! Marcus? Marcus, are you okay?” Vaughn was screaming through the helmet’s comm system.
Marcus’s mouth filled with warm liquid. He coughed, and blood spattered the inside of his visor.
“Jesus, Marcus. I’m sending Dexter. Just hang on.”
Hanging on wasn’t going to be easy. His skin prickled as Marcus felt a change coming on. Changing would heal him faster. But whoever had walked out in front of him would become dinner. Marcus wasn’t sure he could control himself when he was this hurt. He couldn’t take that chance.
He thought about Tessa. About Vaughn. Keeping them safe was more important than healing. Marcus had endured more for his loved ones—when he was first colonized.
This was nothing compared to that.
His bones were already mending, the blood pooling in his mouth lessening. What he had splattered on the visor had already glowed blue and vaporized. Everything on his skin would be reabsorbed, he knew. He took a deep breath, and didn’t feel like he was drowning in his own body.
“Ouch. That looks painful.” A strange voice spoke right above him. Strong and deep. “Let me help you.”
Someone gripped Marcus’s helmet and jiggled it till it came off. If Marcus had been human, that could easily have severed his spinal cord. Luckily, he wasn’t.
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