Her head spun as she stumbled to her feet. Blood poured down her face from what was most likely a broken nose, making her choke as she struggled to readjust her breathing. Even still, she stumbled after them. Her heart was in her throat as she tried to call out for Elena.

Everett’s arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her back against him. For a brief moment, she was tempted to let herself sink back into his warmth and strength, to cling to the belief that he was there and he’d be able to figure this out. But a wall of rage formed around her heart and she pulled away from him at once.

“Why did you let her go?”

“She won’t hurt Elena.”

Marguerite wanted to hit him, to have some way to release the fear and anger warring in her chest. “You could have stopped her. You should have stopped her. It’s your fault she took her, and whatever she does—”

The shocked, hurt look on his face made her stop at once. Tears came fast and hard, making her choke even more. She swayed on the spot and Everett put an arm around her. His gentleness made the guilt churn harder in her stomach and she just stood there, sobbing and bleeding. With a soft kiss to her forehead, Everett led her to the bathroom where he ran cold water onto a cloth and proceeded to clean her up.

Her face was swollen and tender, her nose about twice as large as it usually was by the time he was done. The blood flow had eased, but the tears still streamed down her face. She couldn’t believe that after the accusations she had thrown at him, he’d still be this gentle with her. He was a rarity among men, that was sure. Not just men – most of the women she knew wouldn’t do this, either.

“It’s my fault,” she whispered, the words like knives as they tore up her throat. “It’s my fault that she took Elena. If I had listened to you and let it go—"

“You were doing what you thought was best for all of us.” Everett shook his head, eyes shining with worry. “I should have told you about Kristen’s plans that night when I found you researching Bell. I should have—”

“You suffered a panic attack. That sort of thing stops you from remembering things. Besides . . . I did make it seem like I was going to stop.” She lowered her gaze in shame. “I know I screwed up, but don’t let anything happen to her. Please. Elena’s all I have . . . ”

She knew it was unfair to beg him to do something when he didn’t have any more control over the situation than she did. To put that pressure on him when he couldn’t control what Kristen was going to do was wrong. But she couldn’t seem to stop herself as she grabbed his hand and stared him in the eye.

“Please.”

“Kristen won’t hurt her.” There was a trace of doubt in his voice but he shook his head quickly and straightened his shoulders. “She won’t. I don’t know that she’s after, but she is not going to hurt Elena. I don’t think she was thinking clearly. We should get a call from her at any moment, telling us to come get her.”

Marguerite waited for half a beat, but just sitting around waiting for a call that might not come was more than she could take. Pressing a washcloth to her face to catch the blood that still dribbled down her chin, she rushed to her laptop.

“If I found information on you, there has to be something on Kristen as well.”

“We should go to a hospital to have you looked at.”

“We should also call the police and report a kidnapping,” Marguerite snapped at him. “But we can’t. We can’t bring any attention to you and Kristen. Shit! The noise we made . . . The police are going to be on their way. One of the neighbors will have called. Get your laptop. We’ll go to a hotel or something. I’ll copy the files to your computer so we can search for her at the same time.”

Everett closed his hand over her wrist as she shut the laptop and reached to unplug it. “And what if Kristen comes back?”

Marguerite hesitated. “We both have her number. We’ll call and leave a message that we’re leaving. Now get moving. We don’t want to have to deal with cops.”

***

Marguerite forced herself to send only one text message and one call to Kristen, telling her where they were going to try to avoid the police. Any more and she was certain that it would get lost in the deluge. She wanted to cry and scream and beg her to bring her daughter back to her, but in this case, she felt that approaching it calmly was the best chance of reaching Kristen.

That didn’t mean that as soon as the file transfer was complete she didn’t start scouring Bell’s notes for information on the other woman. She searched through all the profiles that indicated that a patient was female, and searched every face for similarities to Kristen.

“I don’t remember any of this.”

She jumped, so focused on her task that she had almost forgotten that Everett was with her. His face was pale as he stared at his own laptop.

“Don’t remember what?”

He turned so she could see the screen. He was looking at his own profile. Kristen bit down hard on her inner cheek to stop herself from telling him that he was wasting time and needed to concentrate on finding Kristen. This was his past and he had a right to know it.

That didn’t mean that he needed to know it right away, though. Not when Elena was out there and Kristen . . . 

“We’ll learn more about you,” she promised. “But right now — I found her.”

Everett closed his laptop and moved to her side. The picture of Kristen showed a woman thinner than she was now, but unlike Everett, she wasn’t withered and frail. She, too, had been diagnosed with ALS, but it was still in its early stages for her, not yet advanced enough to start the severe muscular atrophy. Marguerite scanned the profile. Age, name, weight. No notes about family or friends like Everett had. No explanation about who she was.

“She joined just before he was fired,” Everett mumbled.

“It doesn’t have anything useful.”

“Her name’s Crystal, not Kristen.” Everett sat back. His jaw clenched as he looked away. “Damn her.”

Marguerite rubbed her eyes and closed her laptop. She glanced at the time. Two-forty-five. Shock rippled through her. She hadn’t been aware of time passing. Now it was almost the time for the change. Her eyes filled with tears. Had Kristen taken them to a safe place? Was Elena terrified? Was she crying for her? Was Kristen threatening her? Hurting her?

“She was the only person I had for six years. The only friend, the only family. This is . . . Right now, I hate her so much. If she came back, I don’t know what I’d do.”

He bowed his head and Marguerite wrapped her arms around him. She couldn’t bring herself to talk him down or comfort him, though. Not when she was feeling like she wanted to hunt Kristen down and beat her to a bloody pulp for daring to take her daughter away. What if Elena ran away and Kristen didn’t follow? She’d be in her wolf form, wandering the streets, and then what?

“I would have told her where Bell was if she had left Elena.” Marguerite pressed her face into Everett’s shoulder, then winced as her swollen nose twinged in protest. “I would have told her everything she wanted to know.”

Everett’s arms wrapped tightly around her. For a long moment, he just held her. Then, he pulled back and brushed his mouth gently over hers. “I know. And I am so sorry that you’ve been caught up in all of this. But I will find a way to get her back, okay? Maybe I don’t know who Crystal was, but I know who Kristen is. She isn’t going to hurt Elena. I know she isn’t.”

Tears started down her face anew. “How can you know that when she could have killed you with that frying pan? That blow should have shattered your skull.”

He managed a small, almost cocky smile. “Hey, I’m immortal, remember? Can’t get sick, heal fast as lightning. She wasn’t trying to kill me.”

“She could have.”

His big hands cupped her face and he kissed her again. “She didn’t. And she won’t hurt Elena.”

Marguerite nodded, trying to believe him. She leaned into his strength and let out a shuddering sigh. Her whole body felt too heavy, and she knew that the change was coming, but she didn’t care. It had been so long since she’d had someone to lean on. In fact, she wasn’t sure she ever had anybody that she could trust like this. Friends, yeah, but none that she could be utterly vulnerable with. The rush of emotions was overwhelming and she didn’t know how to handle it.

So she did the only thing she could. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a deep, passionate kiss.