Chapter Three
Jane was afraid of him.
Aidan paced in front of his desk. Jane was in the bathroom. He could hear the blast of the shower. He’d wanted to go in there with her, but…
Jane is afraid.
Did she think he didn’t know? He’d smelled her fear. Fear had a distinct scent—coppery, bitter. Jane had stared at him, even while he was still balls deep in her body, and she’d been afraid. Her hands had flown between their bodies and she’d pushed him away, muttering about needing to freshen up.
What. The. Fuck?
He stopped pacing and glared at the bathroom door. Had he been too rough with her? Yeah, okay, going straight into the office and immediately fucking her didn’t exactly shout romance, but he’d been at the damn edge. Jane had nearly died. Again. That shit had to stop. She was too important to him. She needed to realize it.
He spun from the door and marched to his desk. He stared down and then…
Then his fingers traced the deep gouges that she’d left across the top of his desk. Claw marks. Her hands had scraped over the desk right before she’d grabbed onto him. When her claws had curled into his shoulders, he’d loved the burn of pain.
Even as he knew just what it meant.
I did this—I did this to Jane.
Paris had warned him, over and over, that Jane was different. No average vamp. Because of Aidan, she wasn’t. Because of Aidan, hell, he wasn’t even sure what Jane truly was. A hybrid? Half-vampire, half-werewolf? Something else?
Something…worse?
The shower had turned off. His shoulders stiffened as he listened to the soft rustles of movement from inside the bathroom. A few moments later, the door creaked open. He caught Jane’s scent drifting in the air—soft, sweet, feminine.
Not the bitterness of fear, not any longer.
The breath he’d been holding slipped away. “Jane, I—”
“I’ve done something to you.” Her voice was stilted. Sad.
Not Jane.
He spun to face her. She was pale—okay, yeah, most vamps were a little pale, but this was different.
“I’m sorry,” Jane said, and her fingers rose to press against her neck. “I never meant to hurt you.”
Hurt him? In a flash, he was right in front of her. “You scared the hell out of me, baby.” He pulled her into his arms and held her close. “When I came into that alley and saw you—shit, don’t do that crap to me again, got it? My heart can only take so much.”
She was tense in his arms.
He didn’t want that. Aidan squeezed her tighter. “Okay, so I flipped out a bit. That happens when the woman I love is attacked. It happens when—”
“You bit me.”
His body tensed.
“When we were having sex, you bit me, Aidan.”
Handle with fucking care. “You…didn’t like that?”
Her hands curled over his shoulders and she pushed back so that she was staring up at his face. “I thought I was supposed to be the vamp in this relationship. Paris said—”
Shit, shit, shit! Paris needed to stop saying things.
“Paris said I was changing you. That can’t happen, Aidan. I can’t hurt you. Not you. You can’t become—”
He made himself speak carefully as he explained, “Werewolves mark their mates. They bite them.”
She stepped back. Her hands slid from him.
“They bite them…” Aidan continued, and he was the one to reach out and touch her. His fingers trailed over her collarbone then slid to the soft curve where her shoulder and neck met. “Right here.” The sweet spot. Not the sweetest spot, though. That area was lower on her lovely body. “I bit because you’re mine, Jane.”
Her lips parted. “You…you drank my blood.”
Tread carefully. “Did I?” He shook his head. “Paris doesn’t know what he’s talking about. The guy’s a worrier. Always has been. You aren’t hurting me. You aren’t doing anything to make me weaker.” That was the absolute truth. “Together, we will always be stronger.”
Her gaze searched his. He saw the exact moment when she decided to believe him. A relieved breath slipped from her and her eyes gleamed. “Always.”
He knew the storm had passed, for the moment. “Glad that’s settled,” Aidan muttered. His hand slid up the delicate column of her throat and he leaned toward her, pressing a quick kiss to her lips. Jane leaned into him, kissing him back so sweetly and then when he pulled back, she smiled at him.
His beautiful Jane.
Mine.
Hell, yes, he’d marked her. No other werewolf had better get close to her, and if Paris thought she’d drink from him…
Think again, buddy. Think the hell again.
“Are you going to tell me what you found in that alley?” Jane murmured. A furrow appeared between her brows. “I guess the clean-up is all handled now and—”
Right. Time to get back to business. Though the pleasure part of their relationship had certainly been fun. “Someone beat me to that particular job.”
The furrow deepened. “Come again?”
Oh, baby, I plan to. At the first available opportunity. He cleared his throat. “The bodies were gone. The alley reeked of bleach. No work for me there.”
She blinked. “But…who did it? Why?”
Might as well tell her all now. The better for her to be ready for the threat that would come again. “I found a video camera out there. Someone was watching you, baby. Those humans in the alley? They might have thought they were there to take you out, but I suspect they were really just bait. Someone wanted to watch you. Maybe see how strong you were.”
“What?” Then she gave a bitter laugh. “Well, if that’s the case, then that someone saw me nearly get taken out. If you hadn’t been there, I—”
“Even at death’s door, you killed your attacker,” he said flatly. “That’s what the watcher saw. He knows how you fight now. Knows that you don’t stop, even when you barely have a breath in your body.”
Sadness darkened her expression. “Two men died tonight.”
Yeah, he wouldn’t exactly be grieving over them. “Why’d you go into the alley?” His hand was still curved around her neck. He could feel her pulse jerking beneath his touch.
“Because I smelled the blood.” Her gaze turned distant. “Someone was hurt. The blond man was yelling, saying he needed help.” She shrugged. “I might be a vamp, but I’m still a cop, too. So I went to help him.”
“And got ambushed.”
“Yes.”
His voice roughened as he said, “The next time you hear someone calling out for help, you’re not even going to hesitate, are you?”
“Aidan…”
“You were warned before, Jane. Being a hero will just get you killed.” That particular warning had come from a very powerful voodoo queen, a queen who had foreseen Jane’s fate.
Sometimes, you couldn’t change fate, no matter how hard you tried.
Jane’s lashes lowered. “I already died once.”
His hand slid from her neck.
“And I can’t just watch while an innocent suffers.” Her hand was at her side, pressing against the scar that marked her. No, not a scar. A burn.
A burn left by a sadistic vampire long ago.
“That’s not who I am,” Jane said.
No, it wasn’t.
She gave him a tight smile. “I have to go now. I need to…to check in at the station.” Her chin notched up. “I’m supposed to see my brother today.”
Aidan’s body iced. “That’s a bad idea. Very, very bad.” He’d prefer for her to never get anywhere near Drew Hart again. The guy was a ticking time bomb—one who had already exploded once and Aidan knew for certain, Drew would again.
“After he got out of intensive care at the hospital, Drew was transferred to a maximum security psych ward. I can’t just leave him there.”
Why not? As far as Aidan was concerned, the dick was getting off too lightly. Jane’s brother Drew had shot her—he’d been the one to set in motion the horrible chain of events that resulted in Jane’s transformation into a vampire.
No, I’m the one who did that. I’m the one who brought her brother to this town. Because Aidan had mistakenly thought he was doing something to make Jane happy. He hadn’t realized her precious Drew was a nutjob.
He tried to kill me, but Jane got caught in the cross-fire. He took her out.
And I will destroy him.
“Drew hasn’t spoken to anyone, not since he woke up in the hospital. I need to see him.”
“The guy opened fire at a college campus. He needs to stay locked away.”
Jane swallowed. “Once upon a time, he saved me.” She turned away from Aidan and took two steps. “He—”
“Bullshit.” Aidan grabbed her wrist. “Once upon a time, a sadistic vampire bastard broke into your house. He killed your mother and step-father. The vamp tied you up and tortured you and your brother left you to that hell.”
Tears gleamed in her beautiful eyes. “Drew hid to protect himself. When it was safe, he came back for me. He got me out of there. He—”
Time for hard truths. “He wants supernaturals dead. You’re a supernatural now. What do you think that means?”
She looked down at her hand, then back up at him. “It means I have to see him. Drew is my responsibility.”
Fuck. There she went. Being all noble again. He had to break that habit before it killed her—a second time.
“I’ll do some digging and see what I can possibly uncover about those jerks in the alley.” She pulled her hand free. “I’ll check some mug shots. Guys like that—maybe they’ve got a criminal record. I get a name to match a face, and it will be the perfect lead to take me to whoever was pulling the strings in that alley.”
That wasn’t exactly a face-off that he wanted. “Don’t charge into battle without me.” He had leads that he’d be following up on as well.
She stared at him, and her face softened. “You won’t change, will you?”
He made himself smile. “Baby, I can already shift into the form of a wolf. What more change do you want from me?”
She smiled back at him. Such a beautiful sight. Then Jane was walking away. His gaze dropped to her ass and the sweet sway of her hips.
Another beautiful sight.
Jane unlocked the office door and left him. He turned back to his desk. He touched those claw marks once more.
And he swore that he could still taste Jane’s blood on his tongue. He could taste it—and he wanted more.
His hand fisted over those marks. What am I becoming?
***
Paris paused outside of the Voodoo Shop. He was going behind his alpha’s back, and that didn’t sit right with him. As a rule, he never kept secrets from Aidan. Aidan was his best freaking friend. Aidan was family but…
Aidan is also in danger. And the guy can’t see the danger because it’s wrapped up in a sexy Mary Jane bow. His hand lifted and he started to pound on the shop’s door, but the door swung inward before he could make contact and Paris found himself standing face to face with the infamous voodoo queen.
Annette Benoit.
Drop-dead gorgeous and far too deadly Annette Benoit. The woman he’d secretly been fantasizing about for far too long.
“Well, well,” Annette gave him a slow smile, one that didn’t quite reach her dark eyes. “If it isn’t the handsome Paris. Coming to pay me another visit?” She moved back, motioning with her hand for him to enter. “If you’re not careful, I’ll start to think you like me.”
He crossed the threshold and his body brushed against hers. “I do.”
Annette’s face—absolute damn poetry to him—softened with surprise.
“But I’m here on business.” Because he wasn’t sure either of them were ready to cross that particular line yet. He’d known Annette’s last lover, known the guy well—and had come to hate the bastard. Would Annette really be open to trusting another werewolf? The last thing he wanted was to get shot down by her.
Better to have his fantasies.
She hurried past him, all smooth, chocolate cream skin and sweet-smelling woman. She wore a long, flowing dress, one that did little to hide her perfect curves, and hoop ear-rings adorned her delicate ears. No other jewelry, not for Annette. She didn’t exactly need other adornment.
The woman is perfect as she is.
She led him into the back room and pointed toward her table. Shards of broken, black glass were carefully positioned on that table. “Why don’t you have a seat?”
He kept standing. “How can you even see anything, with your scrying mirror shattered that way?”
She eased into her chair and stared down at the chunks of glass. “All of the power in that mirror…it came from me.” She looked up at him, her light brown gaze glinting with determination. “I’m still strong, Paris. So if you are looking for weakness—”
He had to laugh. “Annette, you’re as far from weak as a woman can get.”
She smiled at him. A real, breath-taking smile.
I am in such trouble with her.
Paris cleared his throat. “I came about Aidan.”
Her fingers tapped on the table. “Of course, you did. It’s not as if you came by to ask me out on a date.”
Ah…hell, no, he wasn’t going to touch that one. Not yet. But…what kind of date would impress a voodoo queen?
“What’s happening to the fearless alpha?” Annette asked.
His fingers curled over the back of the nearby chair, but he still didn’t sit. “He’s changing.”
Her smile vanished.
“He keeps giving Jane his blood. She was attacked earlier tonight and he let her drink from him again. The bond between them just gets stronger.”
“Jane isn’t evil.” She looked down at her broken chunks of glass. “You and I both know that.”
“It’s not Jane I’m worried about.” And it pained him to say this. “Alpha werewolves aren’t like the rest of the pack. They’re stronger, deadlier, and…more vicious.” Because sometimes, you had to be vicious when you were the boss of all the paranormals in town. “So what will happen to him if he keeps changing? What will happen to his beast? It’s sure as all hell not going to be some peaceful change. His blood is mutating, we both know that.” Because they’d taken some of Aidan’s blood and some of Jane’s blood…and they’d given it to the doctor on the pack’s payroll, Dr. Bob Heider, so he could run some tests. “He’s already starting to show vamp traits, and that shouldn’t be possible.”
She picked up a chunk of glass and shivered. “You think Aidan is the one we need to fear.”
“I think Aidan is already powerful enough. I think vampires—Jane being the damn exception—live to kill and destroy. What the fuck happens to an alpha werewolf when he suddenly has all of those dark desires?” I don’t want Aidan losing the humanity he has. “I tried to get Jane to drink from me instead. I thought maybe that would be safer.”
Her hand fisted around the glass. “Let me guess, Aidan didn’t like that plan.”
He raked his hand over his face. “Serious understatement.”
Her gaze met his.
“So what am I supposed to do now? How do I help him?”
She put down the chunk of glass and slowly rose to her feet. Her steps were silent as she rounded the table and came to his side. Then her hand lifted and touched his arm. Paris swore that touch singed him. “You be his friend. You stay close to him. And if you see him crossing a line…” Her breath whispered out. “Stop him.”
“That’s easier said than done.” Like stopping an alpha was child’s play.
“I’ll see what else I can learn. I’ll scry. I’ll check my books. We will fix this. Aidan is a good man. And Jane isn’t going to let him go into the darkness.” For an instant, he could actually feel the swirl of magic around them. He stared into Annette’s eyes and saw her gaze go distant, as if she were watching something he couldn’t see. “She’d follow him into the darkness,” Annette murmured. “Long before she ever surrendered him.”
That didn’t make him feel better. It made him worry even more.
***
Annette watched Paris as he drove away. His shoulders had slumped as he left the Voodoo Shop, as if he carried a terrible burden.
He did.
Paris was right to be afraid. All of the wolves should be afraid. A change was coming, she could practically feel it in the air. She went back inside, making sure to shut and lock the door behind her. She wasn’t in the mood for tourists that day. Didn’t feel like making love potions or telling of what fates might come.
She almost wanted to hide because the danger she felt…it was that consuming.
Annette headed into the back of the shop—into the room that was her haven. Her steps quickened and—
“I was starting to think the wolf would never leave.”
She stilled.
The man who’d been waiting for her—the vampire who’d arrived to visit her just moments before Paris appeared on her doorstep—lifted one brow. “What? You knew I was waiting.” Vincent Connor smiled at her.
Yes, she’d known he was hiding out of sight, but Paris hadn’t so much as scented the vamp, a bad thing. Werewolves were supposed to have the best noses in the world. “You really do have some powerful magic.” Or rather, she suspected he had one very powerful witch working for him.
Vincent laughed. “It’s just a little trick to disguise my scent. And if I didn’t move, I knew the wolf wouldn’t hear me. It’s not like Paris is an alpha.”
No, but Paris was still plenty strong and dangerous. There was a reason he was the alpha’s assassin.
Vincent lifted both of his hands and put them in front of his body. A gesture that she knew was supposed to show he was no threat.
Too bad she always believed vamps were threats.
“Despite what the alpha believes, I am really not here to hurt anyone. I don’t know how many times I have to say it but…not all vamps are monsters. We aren’t all driven mad by bloodlust. Born vampires—vamps like me, vamps like Jane—we stay in control. We were meant to be this way. It’s only the ones who are transformed that go mad. And really, how can you blame them? They are becoming something that nature never intended. Humans weren’t meant to be vampires. They can’t handle that kind of power.”
She scooped up a few chunks of broken glass. “What about werewolves?”
His hands fell. “I heard what Paris said.”
I know you did.
“And I’ve maintained, all along, that Jane and Aidan never should have been involved. Vamps and werewolves aren’t meant to be together. I’m afraid that when Jane tries to leave him, Aidan won’t be quite…sane about it.”
Now she was the one to laugh, a shocked laugh of disbelief. “You actually think Jane will leave Aidan? She loves him.”
“Love isn’t always enough. Especially where monsters are concerned.” He paced closer to her and his index finger tapped against her fist, the fist that she’d made over the chunks of glass. “So that’s what became of your magic mirror.”
Her eyes turned to slits. The guy was mocking her?
“Too bad. I think we could have all used your foresight about now.” He exhaled. “How are we supposed to stop the threats, if we never see them coming?”
Such a very good question.
His hand slipped away from hers. “The alpha wants me to stay away from Jane.”
She dropped the glass onto the table. “Do you blame him?”
“I’m not Jane’s enemy, no matter what he thinks. Everything I’ve done, it’s been because I wanted to help her achieve her destiny.”
Now he was getting all sanctimonious on her.
“Soon enough, Jane will see reason. And when she does…” He handed her a slip of paper. “Make sure she gives me a call. I will always be there to help Jane.”
Right. Fabulous. “I think you’d better focus more on getting out of the city. Aidan isn’t a man you want as an enemy, but you sure have pissed him off.”
His lips thinned. “I don’t run from wolves.”
Maybe you should.
“Goodbye…for now, voodoo queen.” He gave her a little bow and then sauntered away.
She put his card on her table, right next to her broken chunks of glass. She stared into the glass and, for just an instant, she saw fire.
Fire…
And a vamp rising.
***
“You sure you can handle this?”
Jane glanced over at her police captain. Vivian Harris stood with her in the too bright hallway of the Hathway Psychiatric Facility. Vivian’s badge was pinned to her belt, but the captain didn’t have her weapon with her—both Jane and Vivian had been ordered to surrender their weapons at check-in.
It didn’t exactly work out well to have loaded firearms around mental patients.
A guard stood just a few feet away, watching the exchange between Jane and Vivian.
“I can talk to the prisoner,” Vivian assured her. “You don’t have to do this.” Vivian’s suit didn’t sport so much as a single wrinkle and her hair was pulled back in a twist, emphasizing the elegant lines of her cheeks and jaw. Her coffee skin gleamed, even under the horrible lights, and her gaze was steady as it focused on Jane.
Sympathy. Jane could see the emotion in her captain’s eyes. Vivian pitied her. Just when Jane had thought things couldn’t get worse. I want Vivian’s respect, not her pity.
Jane’s shoulders straightened. “Drew hasn’t talked to anyone else. He’s not going to speak, not unless he’s talking to me.” She had to go into that little room and see her brother. She’d been dreading this meeting…dreading it from the moment she realized that death wasn’t going to keep her in its tight grip. Drew would know that she should have died after that shooting spree that he’d initiated. And when she walked into that room…
What will happen then?
“Just make sure the security camera in his room is turned off,” Jane whispered. “We don’t exactly want anyone getting a record of this little chat.”
Vivian knew the score. After all, she was a werewolf, one of the many wolves in positions of power in New Orleans.
“Don’t worry,” Vivian assured her as she inclined her head toward the silent, watchful guard. “That’s already been handled.”
The guard nodded back toward her.
Another werewolf? And to think Jane hadn’t even been aware of the werewolves, not until a few months ago. How quickly things had changed.
“Your brother has been restrained,” Vivian told her. “So you don’t have to worry—”
Jane’s sad smile stopped her words. “I don’t have to worry that—what? He’ll try to kill me? Been there, done that.” But she still hesitated to put her hand on the door knob and open the damn door. Coward. I am a coward at my core. Jane licked her lips and risked a quick glance at Vivian once more. “Are we good?” She blurted out those words in a really, terribly awkward way.
Vivian’s dark brows shot up. “Good?”
Jane waved her hand between them. “Yeah. Me. You. Me being all…” Jane pointed at her mouth. Vampire-like. Only there was no “like” to it. She was a vampire. And as a werewolf, how did that make Vivian feel? Did it—
“You don’t come at my throat, you don’t start draining any humans, and yes, we’re good,” Vivian said briskly.
But Jane still had to push. “You don’t…feel the urge to attack me?” It was that way for other vampires. Aidan should have killed her as soon as she’d transformed. Paris should have gone for her throat but…
They hadn’t.
Because I had so much of Aidan’s blood in me. Werewolf and vampire all combined.
“I don’t,” Vivian said simply. Her head cocked. “You want to tell me why that’s so?”
I’m a crazy vamp-slash-werewolf. That’s why. Jane knew her smile was weak as she said, “I’d better go and talk to my brother.” Before any non-werewolf guards started their shifts and wondered why the video surveillance in Drew Hart’s room wasn’t working.
Squaring her shoulders, Jane took a deep breath. Then she reached for the handle on his door and she stepped inside.
The walls were yellow. Cheery. Sunlight spilled through the blinds and through the bars that were on the lone window.
A sharp gasp came from the right and Jane’s head turned—and her eyes clashed with a gaze that was just as dark as her own. Her older brother, Drew, was in bed. Strapped down to the bed. His dark hair was a stark contrast to the white pillow case. His body strained on the bed as he twisted and heaved against the restraints. “Mary Jane.” His gaze widened as he seemed to drink her in. “Thank God…Mary Jane.”
She shut the door behind her and then Jane pressed her back to it. Not a wooden door—metal. Reinforced. She stared at her brother as her heart twisted in her chest.
“You’re okay.” His voice was rasping. “So glad you’re okay.”
She was far from okay.
“I had to kill the werewolf, you understand that, right?” His hands had fisted. “He was evil. Dangerous.”
“Aidan isn’t evil.” She couldn’t move. Her brother’s face was lined, pale, showing the strain from his recent hospital stay. But she’d read the reports on him—he was healing fast. Almost too fast.
At her words, Drew’s dark brows shot up. “Isn’t…isn’t evil. Isn’t?” Drew heaved against the restraints once more. His handsome face reddened. “I shot him! Are you saying he’s still alive? He should’ve died! He should’ve—”
“You shot me.” She kept her voice flat with an effort. Her brother had apparently been dead silent for days but the minute he saw her…
I knew he’d talk.
“You jumped in front of him,” Drew muttered. “I never meant to hit you. I was so scared. So worried…but you’re here. You’re alive.”
And she couldn’t help it. Jane shook her head.
He stopped struggling against his restraints. “Mary Jane?”
“You have to let go of all that rage you carry inside,” she told him, her chest still burning. “It’s destroying you. I saw it…for years. Like a festering wound. Just getting worse and worse, never better. I stayed away from you because I saw what you’d become. I thought I was making it all worse. Making you remember…”
Vampires. Death.
Hell.
She took a step away from the wall. Then another. She walked slowly until she reached the edge of his bed, then she stared down at Drew. His hair was mussed, sweat beaded his brow, and his eyes….
“You killed me, Drew. You did that.”
“No!” He screamed the denial. “I was just trying to stop the werewolf! He’s a monster! He thought you loved him!” Drew gave a hard, negative shake of his head. “You don’t belong with someone like that. Something like that!”
“I do love him.”
Drew shook his head.
“And I love you.” That part hurt so much. “Even with what you did, I still love you.” That was why it hurt so much to look at him. When Jane gazed at her brother, she remembered the boy who’d pulled her from hell one dark night. A dirty hand, reaching out to help her.
Her side seemed to burn. Her side—her scar. The twisting mark that she’d been given when she was just eleven years old. A twisted, sadistic vampire named Thane Durant had broken into her home. He’d killed her mother and step-father, then he’d tied Jane to the table in the basement. He’d pulled out a soldering pen and burned the Greek letter Omega into her skin as she screamed.
Omega. The end. Is that what I am?
“You aren’t dead, Mary Jane.” Drew wasn’t screaming any longer. He was whispering. “I see you. You’re right here. You’re breathing. You’re talking. You’re—”
Jane leaned down close to him and in his ear, she whispered, “I’m a vampire.”
His whole body jerked as he tried to pull away—from her. Her gaze slid to his forearm and the tattoo there, a tattoo of the Greek letter Omega. A tattoo to match her burn. Only he’d chosen to get that tattoo. He’d said he’d done it to remind him of her.
The pain in her heart just got worse.
“If you get free,” Jane asked him, “what will you do?”
He wasn’t looking at her. Just staring at the far wall.
“Will you come after me again? Go after Aidan?”
Again, no answer. Drew just kept staring at that wall as if it held all the secrets in the universe.
Her laughter was sad. “The silent treatment, huh? Aren’t you tired of that bit?” Then, driven too far, Jane just broke. She caught his chin in her hand and wrenched his face toward her. She stared at him, their faces inches apart. “I am not your enemy.”
His jaw hardened. “Get me the fuck out of here.”
“What will you do,” Jane asked again, “if you get free?” Because she could still feel the fire of his bullet going into her chest.
“I won’t stop,” he rasped. “Not until I destroy the monsters.”
She jerked back from him, as if she’d been burned. Again. Jane marched into the bathroom, her gaze searching frantically around. And then—then she looked into the mirror. She hadn’t wanted to look in the mirror at Aidan’s place…because I knew I wouldn’t like what I had to see. But, sometimes, you had to face the monsters. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at herself. Jane drew back her hand and drove her fist right into the mirror. It shattered.
She grabbed a big chunk of that mirror and marched back to Drew.
The door to his room flew open. Vivian stood there, her body ready to attack. “Jane, what happened?”
Jane just shook her head, and she shoved that broken mirror before Drew’s face. “Take a good long look in there,” she ordered him. “And you’ll see a monster staring back at you.” Because I’m not the only monster in the family.
His gaze locked on his reflection.
“Aidan never did anything to you. He never would have gone after you. And me…well, I just wanted to love you. You are the only family I have left.” The mirror was shaking in her hand.
Vivian crept closer to the bed. “Jane…”
“You destroyed your own life, Drew.” She was just sad now. “What comes next, well, it will be on you.” She moved away from the bed, taking the mirror with her as she and Vivian headed for the door.
“Mary Jane…” Drew called.
She stopped. Looked back.
Drew smiled at her. “You won’t leave me here.”
What else was she supposed to do with him? Let him out so he could go and attack again? Go after Aidan? Hurt innocent people who got in his way?
“I didn’t leave you,” Drew reminded her softly. “When the vampire had you in our basement. When he was burning your skin and you were crying, I didn’t leave you. I got you out of there. I saved your life.”
She swallowed.
“You won’t leave me,” Drew said, utterly confident.
Jane turned away from him once more. Her eyes squeezed shut. “Goodbye.” And she walked out, as fast as her shaking legs could carry her.
He bellowed her name. She didn’t look back.
He screamed for her.
Jane kept walking. From the corner of her eye, she saw Vivian jerk her head toward the guard and then point to Drew’s room. The guard quickly ran inside.
But those screams followed Jane.
“Aidan can make him forget,” Vivian said, voice brisk. “He can make sure that your brother forgets everything that happened in New Orleans. You know an alpha werewolf can control a human—Aidan can control Drew. He can make it so that your brother—”
The screaming had stopped.
Jane looked at Vivian. “So that Drew forgets me?” Because he’d have to forget her—otherwise, she’d just be another monster that he had to hunt.
I didn’t leave you. Jane exhaled on a ragged breath. “Keep a guard with him until I can get Aidan back here.” Because only an alpha werewolf had the power to control a human’s mind that completely. Other werewolves could influence humans, could charm them, sway them, but an alpha…
Mind-freaking-control. An alpha was a whole other level of power.
“I’ll make sure my man stays here,” Vivian assured her.
Jane nodded. She looked down at her hand and realized she was still holding the chunk of broken mirror. Her reflection stared back at her.
Hello, monster.
Jane shoved that piece of glass into the nearest garbage can. Then she reached for her phone as she rushed down the long corridor. Unfortunately, there was no signal in that place.
No signal, but she could have sworn she heard the echo of her brother’s screams.