Crimson (The Silver Series Book 3) (9 page)

Taye packed a bandage against my side and
instructed me to keep pressure on the wound. “Meg’ll get you fixed
up and soon you’ll be good as new,” she said.

“
Mom's great at patching
people up,” Nikki agreed. Her voice trembled slightly and I glanced
over in time to see her wipe away a tear. She hesitated, then threw
her arms around my neck. “Thank you,” she whispered quickly before
she shut the door and climbed in the back.

Jaze said something quietly to Mouse and the
scrawny werewolf slipped out of the SUV and disappeared. He came
back a few minutes later with a surveillance tape and tossed it on
the floor, then started the engine and steered us silently to the
freeway. He reached for the CD player and his hands shook slightly
before angry lyrics and singing guitars wailed from the
speakers.

“
The singer’s a werewolf,”
he said, his voice soft.

I glanced at him. “How do you know?” Pain
coursed through my side and I winced.

“
He’s my cousin.” A smile
touched the werewolf’s lips, then vanished as quickly as it
appeared.

I sat back in the seat and listened to
lyrics about a man who found himself but lost everything in the
same moment. Another jolt of pain stabbed my side and I closed my
eyes. I worried about Grace and hoped the same men hadn’t found
Jaze’s house. She was so vulnerable, and the protectiveness that
welled in my chest when I thought of her was unfamiliar, yet so
powerful that I hated leaving her. My thoughts tangled with
exhaustion, pain, and the memory of the soft, trusting touch of
Grace’s fingers in mine.

Chapter 8

“
We’re home,” a voice said
by my ear.

I felt a rush of fresh air pass my face
before I opened my eyes to see the door open and Jaze standing next
to it. “Do you need help to Meg’s?”

“
Is Grace alright?” I asked
quietly.

Jaze nodded, concern in his eyes at my
condition. “They didn’t come here. I’m sure she’s anxious to see
you, but we’d better get you patched up first.”

I wanted to go straight to Grace and make
sure she was alright before I went to Meg’s, but Jaze was right.
Showing up the way I felt would probably just worry her more. I
tried to push myself up, but a wave of nausea and dizziness rushed
through me at the loss of blood and the memory of killing people. I
closed my eyes against the tilting world and nodded. “A little help
would be good,” I said quietly.

Jaze and Jet helped me from the SUV and
practically carried me across the lawn and into Meg and Roger’s
house. Nikki had run ahead and both of her parents were waiting in
the sterile room when we walked in. “You must like it here,” Meg
said dryly.

“
Nothing like having a
bullet removed to remind you that you’re alive,” I replied in a
tight voice as Taye removed the bandages and Jaze helped me lie
down on the table.

Meg turned her attention to the wound and
didn’t reply, though the corners of her lips pulled into a
begrudging smile. I gritted my teeth at the prodding of cold
instruments against tender skin and turned my head away while she
worked.

Jet sat on a metal chair close to the wall
while Taye scrubbed the knife wound in his shoulder and began to
stitch it up. His shirt was off and for the first time I saw a
patchwork of scars across his body, or to be more accurate, a
patchwork of body between the innumerable scars. I couldn’t help
but stare at a series of slashes across his chest and stomach, and
followed one up his neck only to find him watching me. His gaze was
hard and unreadable. I dropped my eyes and concentrated on the
floor instead.

An unexpectedly sharp probe made me grab at
the table, then Meg let out a breath and held up something between
what looked like thin serving tongs. “Got it,” she said
triumphantly. “I’m getting faster at that.”

“
You sure are, honey,”
Roger replied with a proud grin.

He held out a sandwich bag and Meg dropped
the bullet into it. “Silver,” she said with a sigh. She met my
eyes. “Good thing you seem to be immune to it, at least as far as
the metal’s concerned. You’ll be almost as good as new
tomorrow.”

Roger set bandages on the wound, wrapped
several strips around my stomach to hold them in place, then handed
me a plastic bag with several more inside. “Change the bandage when
you wake up. If it hasn’t stopped bleeding by morning, let us know,
but I don’t think you’ll have any of the trouble the others do when
it’s a silver wound.”

I thanked them both and tried to rise, but
Meg held me down with a hand on my shoulder. “Rest for a few
minutes. You lost a lot of blood and the last thing you need is to
pass out and hit your head on something, then need stitches there
as well.”

The others left the room with Meg and
Roger.

“
I thought he wasn't a
trained fighter.” Jaze's voice came quietly through the closed
door.

“
He's not,” Jet replied.
“He got lucky, but he's going to need some real training if those
men come back.”

Jaze's voice rose with a hint of surprise.
“You're planning on training him?”

Jet grunted. “Yeah, if he wants. He has
potential.”

“
He saved my life.” Jaze's
voice was solemn. “I didn't expect that.”

I sat up slowly and held my side against the
throb of pain that answered the movement. The gray room felt cold
and sterile; the scent of blood sent a shiver through my skin. I
wanted more than anything to be at Grace’s side, to feel safe again
and away from the chaos my life had turned into. I rose and pushed
off the table.

The door opened and Jaze's eyebrows lifted
on seeing me up. “Want to go home?”

The question sent a pang of longing through
me, but I nodded. He lifted my arm over his shoulder. Jet fell in
behind us as we made our way down the hall and into the living
room. Meg and Roger sat together on the couch reading a book. It
was a cozy scene that reminded me of my parents until I saw the
title of the book, '101 Ways to Flay a Werewolf'.

Meg caught my look and gave a chagrined
smile. “You'd be surprised how much you can learn about werewolf
anatomy from these old Hunter books. They were recalled during the
reform, but we hung onto a few for research.”

Roger closed the book. “Actually, we were
searching for any reference of werewolves who are immune to the
effects of silver like you.”

“
Any luck?” Jaze
asked.

He shook his head with a sigh and set the
book on the arm of the couch. “Unfortunately, no. There's also no
mention of wolves being genetically created, like you
mentioned.”

Jaze nodded. “I figured as much. Grace said
that Kaynan was the only one who survived the experiment, but it'd
be nice to know why.”

“
What'd be nice,” Meg cut
in, her tone curt, “Is to stop them from creating their own
werewolves in the first place.”

Roger set a hand on her shoulder. “We're
working on it, honey. First we have to find them.” He threw me a
worried look. “We found the facility in Utah. Unfortunately, it's
been abandoned. We have Hunters combing every inch of it for a lead
on where they'll turn up next.”

“
It was abandoned?” A pang
of loss filled my chest. Everything about what I was and why was at
the labs. “Did they leave anything behind?”

Roger shook his head. “Unfortunately, no.
The computers, files, and everything were taken before we got
there.”

I nodded, feeling numb and completely worn
out. “What do we know about our attackers tonight?” I forced myself
to ask.

“
Not much,” Jaze admitted,
frustration clear in his voice. “But we left quite a mess. The FBI
should be on our tail before long. We should have been more
careful.”

“
We’ve been watching the
news,” Meg said, her tone curious.

“
What did they say about
the bodies?” Jaze asked.

She shook her head. “Nothing, not a darn
thing.” The disbelief on her face was echoed on Roger’s. “You’d
think that something like a shooting at a gas station with,” she
glanced at Jet, “At least several dead, would call for some sort of
story.”

“
Unless they’re covering it
up,” Roger concluded.

“
Which means your friends
have got some powerful allies,” Jaze said to me, his eyes tight
with concern.

My muscles tightened. I wanted more than
anything to lie down and think of something besides werewolves.
Jaze must have read my expression. “Let's go. I know Grace is
anxious to see you.”

I thanked Meg and Roger, then Jaze helped me
out the door and across the lawn. The midnight sky had lightened at
the western edge, and the moon hovered close to the horizon behind
us. I turned toward it and Jaze stopped.

“
Feels good, doesn't it?”
he said quietly.

I closed my eyes and filled my lungs with
the humid night air while moonlight bathed my face with an almost
palpable caress. I nodded. “Why?”

A smile touched Jaze's voice. “The moon is
our mistress, or it's the other way around. It calls to us the same
way sunflowers turn their faces to the path of the sun. It's in our
blood.”

I nodded because even though it didn't make
sense, I felt the call of the moon through my veins. My bones
throbbed to answer the call and I fought a brief urge to phase.

“
Like endless acceptance,”
Jet said quietly behind me.

My heart surged in answer to his words. It
felt like to the moon I was the most important thing in the world,
as if each breath I took here was answered in the haunting
moonlight. I took another deep breath, then turned back to Jaze's
house.

“
Kaynan!” Nikki, Taye, and
Grace rose from the couch when we entered. The girls led Grace over
and she threw her arms around my neck. “Never, ever do that again,”
she said with tears in her eyes.

“
Which part, going to the
mall, fighting off attackers, or taking a bullet so I could get a
break?”

She grimaced. “All three.”

Nikki gave me a hug. “My mom says you're
pretty tough. I told Grace I doubted a bullet would slow you
down.”

“
Not by much,” Jaze said
from behind me.

Nikki's arms tightened. “Thank you for
saving him,” she said. She gave me a warm smile and stepped
back.

Taye gave me a hug as well. “You werewolves
and your need to endure as much pain as possible.” She let go and
shook her head at all three of us. “Next time, call the cops.”

“
And tell them what? We're
werewolves being attacked by humans who want to take us back to
their lab so they can perform experiments on us?” Jaze asked, his
smile wry.

Taye sighed and went back to sit on the
floor by the couch. Nikki joined her as Mrs. Carso entered the
room.

“
Oh, Kaynan,” Jaze’s mom
said, her voice filled with both relief and anxiety. “Thank
goodness you were there.” She gave me a motherly hug, then stepped
back to give me a critical once-over. “You better sit down before
you fall over,” she said, motioning to the empty cushions. I
settled slowly on the couch and Grace sat down next to
me.

“
It's not like I was
waiting to be shot or anything, Mom,” Jaze said,
chagrined.

“
Just the same,” Mrs. Carso
replied. “You boys need to figure out what's going on before they
find us here and you don't get off as easily next time.”

“
That was easy?” Brock
asked, coming from the kitchen with a plate of heated pizza
rolls.

“
Easier than if they bring
backup, which they will from here on out.” Jaze glanced at me. “We
have to figure out how they tracked you to the mall. They didn't
just get lucky.”

A throat cleared quietly and I noticed Mouse
standing in the corner by the door. He definitely lived up to his
name. “A microchip,” he said, not looking at anyone.

Jaze had taken a seat on the floor next to
Nikki with his head lolling back on the cushion behind him. Now he
lifted his head to look at the werewolf. “I’ll bet you're right.”
His eyebrows rose. “He was probably embedded with a tracking chip.
Now we just have to find it.”

Everyone fell silent for a moment, then
Mouse said, “What about a vet? They locate microchips in dogs.
Maybe they could find one in Kaynan.” He glanced at me with a small
smile, then dropped his eyes again.

Jet leaned against the wall near the door.
He was quiet for a minute, then looked at Jaze. “My dad has a
friend who's a vet. He could locate it for us, it's just-”

“
What?” Jaze
pressed.

Jet shrugged uncomfortably. “He doesn't know
about werewolves.”

My heart fell until Taye turned to us with a
smile. “He doesn't have to know Kaynan's a werewolf. He could just
go as a large dog.”

I shook my head. “My fur's as red as my
eyes.” I looked away from their surprised gazes. “There's never
been a dog that color.”

“
We could dye your fur,”
Nikki said.

Mrs. Carso laughed. “That'd be a lot of dye.
Are you sure it would work?”

“
Sure.” Nikki sat up and
glanced at Jaze, a blush coloring her cheeks. “I tried to dye
Jaze’s fur orange once when I was bored.” Mrs. Carso's eyebrows
lifted and she laughed. “Trust me, we were really
bored.”

“
But it worked?” Grace
asked.

Nikki nodded, then looked at me. “But make
sure you phase in the shower afterwards because it's a mess to
clean up.”

“
That's why there's an
orange footprint by the bathroom,” Mrs. Carso said, her eyes
twinkling. “I wondered how that got there.”