Chapter Forty-One
Echo
He should have spent all of these years getting fit for the day that we would be playing this game again. His overweight body came into view quickly, and I lunged, taking him to the ground with my powerful jaws clamped around his leg. Instinct made me shake him like a rag doll, but I pulled back and bared my blood-stained teeth.
He knew his time was over, and part of him looked relieved for it.
“A final gift from my angel,” he whispered through his strained breaths.
“Chaos of the mind, my only solace from a hell created in paradise.” He laughed sinisterly, like he’d succeeded in his life’s mission by relaying that strange quote and was now content to die.
He craved death, and I wanted to give it to him more than anything. I desired revenge for my parents, and for the many other lives this man had destroyed. Good people he ruined, all because he couldn’t accept what he was, and it drove him mad.
That realization hit me, and I knew what I had to do. One more shift and I became a rattlesnake. One bite to his leg was all I needed to keep him where he was until I could get him to the police station. Living was a more potent punishment than death.
He closed his eyes in relief, thinking I was going to let him die.
Quickly, I changed back to my human form and squatted before him.
“You will not die tonight, and you will forever replay the voices in your head until you rot in prison. I’ll make sure they put you in a nice padded cell, all to yourself.” His eyes snapped open, and he began to thrash toward me, furious that I was refusing to end his pathetic life.
“The venom will keep you complacent like your victims, but instead of the painful death, you’ll be at a hospital in cuffs.”
I changed back into a wolf and left him on the cold ground. He wouldn’t be going anywhere. I made it back to my old house and saw Rose had left like with Sarah as I instructed.
They were safe, and it was over. I’d caught the killer and brought justice to those who had been wronged.
I walked back into the house, ignoring the two dead people in the dining room, and went to my mother’s closet for some clothes.
The reservation police and ambulance I’d called after I changed into warm gear showed up within ten minutes.
They took my statements and came back from the woods shortly thereafter with Nathan in handcuffs on a stretcher.
It was hard to explain how Rosalie died from a large cat bite, but we did have mountain lions around here, so it wasn’t one hundred percent unbelievable. The black mamba bite I knew they’d find odd. But Greg the police officer on duty, an old classmate, gave me a wink and told me he’d take care of it.
I was free to go and would be called if they needed me. Nathan would be taken to the local hospital then transferred to the Seahill Police Department after he’d been treated for the snake bite and large gash in his leg. They had a tow come get the white Lexus, and despite knowing I could use my powers to get home, I really didn’t want to transform again, so I hitched a ride with Greg back to Seahill, but as we came to the end of my childhood home’s driveaway I spied my car sitting there, with Rose standing outside the opened door.
They waited for me.
I smiled and told Greg my ride was there. He bid me farewell, and expressed remorse for how he and others treated me after my parents died. It was nice to hear that the people in the area were sorry, but this wasn’t my home anymore. My home was back in the city and wrapped up in a leather jacket with a stupid grin on his face.
“They managed to keep the city from going into the sea,” Rose said as I opened the passenger door and climbed in.
“Good. Let’s go home,” I said and looked at the poor woman sitting in the back seat. She was scared out of her mind but thanked us for saving her from them. Rose offered her psychologist services if she needed them, but Sarah said she would work it out with God. After everything she’d been through, I figured it would be hard to trust in her religion, but what happened with Nathan and Robert wasn’t the real love, kindness, and faith that the true believers shared. Theirs was black and tainted.
“How are we going to prove that it was Nathan all along?” Rose asked, and it was a good question, except I’d already thought of that.
“Our communicator necklaces go both ways. AJ was listening and recording through both of ours in case the sound was bad on mine. Mine disintegrated with my clothes, but yours was still good to catch anything after I changed.” I felt my body sag against the leather seats in exhaustion. I’d been running nonstop for weeks, and I finally felt like I could relax for a day.
Just one day—because then there would be more battles to fight.
We dropped Sarah off at her house, per her request, but did tell her that she had a place to stay at the Society if she wanted or needed it.
Finally arriving at headquarters, Rose parked my car next to Asher’s, and we left the parking lot and returned to our family.
“Thanks for being my hero.” Rose shoulder-bumped me, and I shook my head.
“You were your own hero tonight,” I told her, and she grinned.
Everyone was in the chill room, along with a surprise guest who was tending to everyone’s wounds: Esme.
Phillip rushed Rose and embraced her so tightly that I was worried he might pop her. They both cried happy tears and then he let her go, keeping her hand in his, relaying all his emotions that he didn’t say out loud.
Draco was patiently waiting for his turn to touch his woman, and as soon as Phillip released her hand, he wrapped her in his arms, whispered things in her ear that no one else could hear.
Esme, who had her hair down and was wearing leggings and a sweater, walked over, having noticed I was favoring my right side.
“Let me see,” she demanded and then lifted up my shirt to see my shitty bandaging skills over the knife wound that Rosalie had given me. I’d been in bear form when I was stabbed, so nothing important was harmed; it was just a flesh wound, as they say. Some stitches and I’d be just fine.
She went about cutting the bandage with scissors from a bag she had next to her filled with all sorts of supplies, including pain killers. She cleaned the wound and neatly sewed it up.
“You guys will definitely keep me on my toes,” she commented, and I tilted my head to the side, obviously having missed something.
Lilith came over and kissed my dirty forehead with a loud smack.
“Phillip hired her part-time to be our Hero Society nurse. It seems we are going to need someone who knows more than a few tricks to pull a bullet from the muscle.” Lilith winked at Leon, who was sitting on the couch, looking tired as hell. They all looked like shit, if I was being honest.
My eyes searched for my mate’s, and I found them staring back at me with longing in his eyes but his body limp in the chair.
“His energy has to recharge, so he can’t really move right now, but come later today he should be fine. Go easy on him—he bought the Heroes some time,” Esme told me softly while the others talked to each other and welcomed Rose and me home.
“Thank you.” I leaned in to hug her, and I felt her body freeze at first then melt into my hold. I’d known her for years, and all that time, we could have been friends, had I not had a metal wall around my heart. But now that would change. She was one of us.
“Go get him, tiger,” she whispered into my ear, and I grinned. With fast steps, I was at the couch, lying my upper body over his, listening to his heart, hearing that he was okay with my own ears.
“I missed you too, kitten.” He chuckled, and I picked my head up to look into his perfect face.
“My mate,” I purred, and the soft vibrations coming from my chest at the notion made him grin wider.
“Your mate,” he confirmed, as I leaned in to kiss that stupid smile that drove me wild and made me feel home once again.