Shiv Crew (19 page)

Lex grabbed for Rune’s hand. “I’m
sorry.”

“Why?”

“I took too much. But you need to
know. There’s so much you need to know.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. I couldn’t grasp it.
But it was there, floating by in your blood. I knew it all for a moment.” She cocked
her head. “I think. You’re something
unimaginable
. That’s all I know for
sure. And you’re not from here.”

Rune’s legs were shaking. She had
to rest and recover. She couldn’t think.

“You’ll be fine now,” she told Lex.
Her voice was hoarse and hurt her throat. She needed something to drink. “I
have to go home.”

Lex tightened her grip. “Wait.
You’re wandering in the darkness. Lost and hurt. I saw you there.”

“I’m right here.” She sent a
pleading look to Ellis, who’d lifted himself off Lex and stood mopping at his
wet face with his shirt hem.

“Not all of you. Not even most of
you.”

Ellis gently extracted Rune’s hand
from Lex. “Let me take her home, sweetheart.” He leaned over and planted a
gentle kiss on Lex’s lips. “I’ll send in your boys.”

“Rune.”

She stopped when Lex called her,
looking at the girl over her shoulder. “Yeah?”

“I…I found the silence. When I
drank, I found the silence.”

If she could have cried, Rune’s
eyes would have filled at that moment. “I’m glad.”

“Rune!”

Rune wobbled on her feet. “Yes,
Lexi?”

“I’m healed.”

“I know, baby.”

“No, I mean from the episodes. You
fixed me.”

She hoped with everything inside
her that Lex was right.

Ellis put his arm around Rune and
helped her from the room. Levi and Denim ran to them, their already pale faces
draining completely of blood. “Oh God, is she—”

“She is healed,” Ellis said.

They gaped at Rune, at her wounded
face and her bandaged wrist, then with wide eyes full of hope they were afraid
to acknowledge, sprinted away to find their Lexi.

Their jubilant cries followed Rune
all the way home.

FORTIFY

She slept until dark, when Ellis
reluctantly shook her awake. She had seventeen missed calls and eight messages
on her cell.

Mitch, Denim, Levi, Jack, Raze, Z,
and even Jeremy had left voicemails. They’d all called Ellis too, who had
explained that she had “taken ill” and was asleep.

Ellis peered into her eyes and felt
her forehead. “How are you feeling? You saved Lexi’s life, Rune.” He voice was
light, his eyes filled with wonder. And maybe a little something more.

“Don’t be getting all freaky on me,
Ellie.”

“I’m sorry. But think about what
you did. You saved her
life
.”

She frowned, not at all
comfortable. “Monsters can heal with blood. Not a big deal. Think of how fast…”
She stopped talking, reluctant to finish her sentence.

“How fast you heal yourself?”

She nodded. “And it’s getting
stronger.” She felt the blood drain from her face as she had a sudden thought.
“I do not want to be fucking immortal.”

He hugged her. “Get over it.
Whatever you are, you are. No sense in crying about it. Now let me catch you
up.”

She wasn’t feeling terrible, but
she recognized the signs of a downward spiral. Tired, emotional…pretty soon the
anger would rise up, join the guilt, and start to choke her. And the hunger
would begin. Hunger for exactly
what
she couldn’t have said. Or wouldn’t
admit.

And she’d call Jeremy.

Jeremy.

No, no. Not this time.

She’d promised Ellis. God, how
depressing was that?

She shook off thoughts of Jeremy
and listened to Ellis.

Mitch had sent Raze and Jack to a
village complaining of rats. Not your regular garden variety rats but rat
shifters. Some humans found shifters—any Others, really—romantic and
mysterious. But no one loved the rats.

Raze, Ellis reported, had been
bitten trying to get one of them out of a shed full of junk. It was well known
that Raze had a rat phobia, and in his terror, masked as rage, he’d taken a
shiv to the rat and killed it.

The rats were numerous and used
Other rights groups routinely. The dreaded APRO was already involved in the
case. “Raze might go to jail,” Ellis finished.

Rune groaned. “Fucking Raze. He
knows
how the rats are with the rights groups.”

Ellis checked his watch as he
headed out the door and home. “And you know how Raze is with the rats. Mitch
should have sent Z and Jack, not Raze.”

“He won’t send Raze again, not
after APRO kicks his ass. Ellis?”

He stuck his head around her front
room door. “Yes?”

“Where the hell are you going in
such a hurry?”

He answered her question with one
of his own. “Don’t you have to visit the wolves?”

She’d told him earlier about Amy’s
words. Damn right, she was visiting the wolves. And
Sherry
. The floater
should have told her about the human abusing the females. Why the hell had she
held that information back? “Yes.”

“I’m just getting out of your
hair.” He looked everywhere but at her. “Gotta go.”

Very interesting.
“Ellis.”

He’d almost made it out her door.
“Damn it, Rune.”

She grinned. “Do you have a date?”

“Yes, if you
must
know.”

“You always tell me about your
dates. What’s different about this one?”

“Can’t a guy have a secret?” He
sounded almost offended. “I’ll call you later. And be careful tonight.” He
pointed his finger at her. “Take Z.”

She got dressed and strapped on her
weapons, musing over Ellis’s strange evasiveness. Not her business, maybe, but he
always told her about his dates. Told her too much, usually.

After calling to check on an irate,
slightly abashed Raze, she called Z. She’d take him with her to meet with the
wolf alpha Marc Beldane, because backup when one paid any of the wolves a
surprise visit was always smart.

But Z was at the clinic, marveling
with the rest of them over Lex’s miraculous recovery. Rune didn’t ask him to
accompany her.

“What did she say happened?” she
asked Z.

“She has no idea.”

Only the twins would have an
inkling, and they’d never tell.

But she had a feeling they were
going to nag her and Lex until they got some answers. She wasn’t even sure what
she could tell them.

Jack had been sent to a little town
on the outskirts of the city and wasn’t available, so she loaded up with extra
silver and went to meet Marc on her own.

Maybe—
maybe
if she hadn’t
been feeling off she would have waited for someone to go with her.

She pulled into a fast-food place to
grab a couple of burgers and a large coffee. A familiar hunger gnawed at her
insides. She knew from experience that she could eat and eat but that hunger
would only grow stronger.

Until one of her encounters took
care of it.

She was so fucked.

Hello, old friend.

Feeding Lex had accelerated the
process. “Whatever, you fucker. It was worth it.”

Her monster did not answer.

It always surprised her that
Beldane chose to live in the center of Spiritgrove instead of finding a quiet,
wooded area somewhere in River County the way most of the Others did.

It also surprised her that he was a
CPA.

But humans were as strange as the
monsters, and some of them liked telling their friends they had a werewolf
doing their taxes. He could never doctor them or teach their children or work
in the food service industry, but being their accountant was totally cool.

He was more accepted socially by
the adults than any of the Others. Maybe because he was so charming and funny
and handsome. Or maybe because he’d never even attempted to hide what he was.
Whatever the reason, they’d taken him into the community—not all of them but a
big chunk—some of them claiming he kept the neighborhood safer than the cops
could.

Doubtless none of them had ever
seen him shift, though. They hadn’t seen him all furry and bloody. They hadn’t
seen him eat someone.

Stuff like that might have cooled
their enthusiasm just a little.

She parked on the street in front
of his house, listening to the ticking of the cooling engine as she surveyed
the place. There were other cars along the street, and she had no idea if
Beldane had company.

Not that it mattered. She was
talking to him regardless. She climbed out of her car and walked to his house.
No neighbors peeked out their windows, but a few houses up the street a dog
barked. Sounded like an ankle biter.

The burgers sat uneasily in her stomach.
Food never made her sick. The queasiness was a result of her earlier blood
loss.

She didn’t bother ringing the
doorbell but let loose with her customary hard knocking. Though the street was
lined with lights, the porch light came on at her thumps. She was pretty sure
Beldane was standing on the other side of the door either trying to get a whiff
of her or trying, as Nicolas had done, to figure out what she was.

If they found out, they were more
than welcome to clue her in.

Because he was taking too long, she
punched the door again. “Beldane. It’s Rune Alexander with SCRU. I want to talk
to you.”

He pulled the door open. “I have
visitors, Alexander. Call and make an appointment.”

“I don’t need my fucking taxes
done. Either let me in or we can have this conversation out here. We have to
talk about a man named Preston.”

Everyone she mentioned that name to
had a reaction—except Beldane. But really, his obviously contrived lack of
reaction was more telling than if he’d fainted dead away.

He spoke over his shoulder. “We can
finish this later. I’ll call.” He opened the door farther and his visitor,
flushed and frowning, rushed out.

He brushed past her without a word
and climbed into a dented Oldsmobile parked on the opposite side of the street.

She knew him. She’d seen him
recently but couldn’t remember where. Her senses, stronger than ever after her
last encounter with Jeremy, had weakened considerably. She had no idea if the
man who’d just left Beldane was a human or a wolf.

She shivered, suddenly cold. Where
had she seen him? And why did it suddenly seem so important?

Beldane stepped back and motioned
her in, his movements jerky and impatient.

“Who was that?” she asked him.

“He’s no one.”

And just like that she remembered.
She’d had that exact exchange of words with Jeremy about that same man. He’d
been the Other she’d heard Jeremy yelling at inside his office.

Another link.

Beldane lowered himself into an
overstuffed chair and stared at her, the mask he wore to court the humans gone.
He didn’t ask her to sit.

She sat anyway. “Nice place.”

“What do you want, Alexander? I
don’t have time to entertain nosy hum—” Abruptly he cut himself off, and
sniffed the air.

Fuck.

He frowned, tilted his head at her
like a curious puppy, and sniffed the air again. He didn’t even try to be
subtle about it. His apple-cider colored eyes brightened with interest. “Might
I ask, Alexander, just what the fuck you are?”

Why was her monster so easily
noticed now when a mere week ago none of the Others would have caught her
scent? Her monster was up to something, the bastard. It was like he was leaking
out of her pores, and the Others could smell him.

She could have made something up,
said she’d been up close and personal with a whole lot of stinky Others that
day, but she didn’t.

She gave him a cold stare,
realizing that she really, really didn’t like the were. Funny. She would have
thought Llodra would have drawn her dislike, not the wolf.

“As I said, I have some questions
about a man named Preston. Also, I’ve gotten word that the females of your pack
are being abused by a human. First thing I want you to do is give me a simple
yes or no to this next question. Is Preston the one abusing the women?”

“I don’t see that—”

She held her palm up. “Yes or no.”

He narrowed his eyes and smiled.
“Alexander. You’re the human Cross is fucking, aren’t you?”

Her hand wobbled and she put it
down. “Answer my question. Or would you rather I take you in and ask my
questions there?” She shouldn’t have come. Not until she’d had a chance to
recover from Lex’s feeding. She was sick and weak and her mind was cloudy.

Which meant she was no match for
the alpha.

He crossed his legs, carefully
smoothing a crease in his perfectly pressed trousers. He wore his power like a
suit, and she could understand how he handled an entire pack of wolves with
total authority.

“You’re not accustomed to those of
us who aren’t cowed by you, are you, Alexander?”

She hated the way he said her name,
drawing it out and then spitting it at her with contempt. But he was right, the
son of a bitch. Most of the Others were at worst obsequious and at best
respectful. She’d grown used to that.

Some of them wouldn’t hesitate to
sneak up on a human law enforcer in the dark of night and tear her to pieces,
but face-to-face they were careful.

It was, after all, a human’s world.

But then, she wasn’t really human,
was she?

She slid her hand down to her gun,
unsnapping the sheath. He watched her, amused, saying nothing.

“Beldane—”

He ran his hand through his thick
hair and slid his tongue over his bottom lip. “No wonder Cross wants you. You’d
be a tasty little bitch. So determined, so fearless. It would be…interesting to
break you.”

“I came here tonight to help you
and your pack. But you’re making it pretty fucking hard.”

“I don’t believe Cross would back
you up on this visit.” He smiled. “As a matter of fact—”

His smile disappeared when they
both caught the faint sound of a tormented howl. It came from inside the house,
no doubt about it, but sounded far away with its faintness. She was certain the
house wasn’t all that big. Maybe it had come from the basement.

She slid her gun from its holster.
“What’s going on?”

“You need to leave.” He stood
quickly, ignoring the gun she’d aimed at his head. “You cannot come into a
man’s house uninvited and start harassing him. I
will
get APRO
involved.”

She stood, gun steady in her hand.
“And I
will
relieve you of your head, motherfucker.
Sit down.
”

He stood for a moment, undecided,
but good sense or maybe the look in her eyes made him cautious. He sat.

It stunned her that he was so
antagonistic. He hadn’t even pretended to be friendly or helpful. “You don’t
give a fuck about your pack, do you?”

He shrugged. “My pack is my
business, not yours.”

She wasn’t going to get anything
out of him. It’d been a complete waste of time to try. “Have it your way. But I
will find out what your part in all this is. I’m guessing it’s pretty fucking
big.”

She was going to leave. She had it
in her head to do so—to just walk out the door. She was already thinking of the
next two on her list to visit. First Sherry, then Jeremy.

Gun still firmly in her grip, she
turned to leave.

But the haunting, anguished howl
came again, and it changed everything.