Fever (12 page)

She turned in her seat to give him a dorky thumbs up. He returned it with all the strength he could muster. They should really get a move on before her adrenaline faded and the pain kicked in.
Ibuprofen wouldn’t tide her over for long.

“Hey, Ann
a.” Logan sounded thoughtful. “Do you still have the grenade you’ve been dying to use? The basement of this place is filled with files that point to the existence of werewolves. You said you’d grabbed the important ones earlier today. The fire might destroy the rest, but–”

“Hell, yeah!” Anna cut him off
.

Vincent
smiled as she bounded from the car. Most of the time he’d spent with Anna had been at the end of her loaded gun. It wasn’t the friendliest of introductions. But if she was the kind of prowler who packed grenades, he could grow to like her style.

There was a faint grunt of exertion as Anna threw the grenade. Her running footsteps were muffled against the grass. Their rhythm faltered when she stumbled once, but then she dove into the car.

“Go, go, go,” she gasped.

Logan hit the gas.

The vinyl of the passenger seat strained when Anna turned to watch her handiwork.

There was a muffled
explosion. Debris rained down on the roof of the car, further denting the exterior. A ball of fire blossomed in the rearview mirror.

Logan and Anna shouted their victory. When Anna leaned over to give L
ogan a kiss on the lips, they almost swerved off the road.

The steady
roar of air breezing through the car lulled Vincent into a stupor. He closed his eyes and let himself drift. Even when he felt the car stop, first at the fire station and then at the motel, he only floated on the edge of reality. In the abyss between lucidity and sleep.

When he shiver
ed with cold, he felt two things as if from afar. The wolf, lazily emitting warmth from within. And a jacket, tenderly placed over him like a blanket.

At long last,
Logan pulled onto the main road and began driving west for Montana. The rumble of Anna’s motorcycle trailed behind them.

Perhaps there was something special about his reaction to silv
er. Perhaps he would need to keep a low profile to avoid ending up in a lab. But right now, in this moment, he felt a sense of freedom that he hadn’t felt for two years.

He curled up and tucked Logan’s jacket more securely over his shoulder.
As the world faded away, he heard the faint voice of the little girl, his Alpha, singing him to sleep.

Ashes, ashes,
we all fall down.