Dirty Blood (17 page)

“Tara?” he said, his eyes going from my face to the
bloody mess that was my forearm.

The realization that Wes was safe made giving in to
the pain a lot harder to resist. Black dots danced around my
vision, this time closing in. My left shoulder slumped heavily and
my knees began to buckle. I desperately just wanted to sit. “Yeah?”
I managed.

Wes didn’t answer. He backed up a few steps and then
the air around us seemed to quiver and I blinked against what felt
like a breeze. My blurred vision revealed nothing but empty space
and I felt myself begin to panic as I realized Wes was gone. I
blinked back the tears that burned my eyes. When I refocused Wes
was standing in front of me - human again. The last of my strength
seemed to slip away, and my knees gave out. Wes shot an arm out and
grabbed me firmly around the waist, keeping me upright. With his
other hand, he grabbed my wounded arm, and held it up for a closer
look.

“What the hell? You’re bit. Why didn’t you say
something? I thought it was just a scratch like before.”

“Um, I’m bit. I’m saying something,” I said, in a
near whisper.

He looked at me and released my arm. It fell limply
back to my side. “Give me your keys,” he demanded.

“They’re in the ignition,” I mumbled. I felt the heat
travelling again, this time across my chest, and down my back. When
it hit my heart, I could feel the rhythm increase. I gasped. “It …
burns,” I managed to choke out. I squeezed my eyes shut.

Wes cursed. Wasting no more time, he scooped me up
and carried me around to the passenger side of the car. Some aware
part of my brain noticed he wasn’t wearing a shirt and the delirium
in me relished in how cool his skin felt against my burning body.
And that the smooth skin of his chest was a stark contrast to the
sleek coat of fur he’d worn moments ago. I pressed my palms to his
skin until I felt myself being lowered away from him.

He set me in the passenger seat and belted me in.
Then he came around and slid into the driver’s seat, revving the
car’s engine. I heard him mutter something that sounded like ‘piece
of crap’ and then we were racing down the empty road.

The pain only got worse as Wes drove. Every little
pothole and bump was like an extra sting. I wanted to yell about
that, but when I tried my voice only came out in a whisper, so I
gave up. I watched the scenery pass with bleary eyes. I wondered,
vaguely, where we were going, but the pain was bad enough that I
didn’t even care. All I could think was, wherever it was, they
better have a way to make it stop. Wes pulled the car up in front
of Jack’s in a flurry of dust and rocks. He wrenched the door open
and all but flew around to my side. Somewhere between the car and
the front door, I blacked out.

~ 15 ~

When I came to, I could hear muted voices. They
sounded far away, almost like a dream. I turned my head towards the
sound, and realized with some surprise, the movement didn’t hurt.
As a matter of fact, I couldn’t feel much of anything, pain or
otherwise. I glanced down at my arm and saw it was heavily
bandaged. There was a small circular mark on the vein inside my
elbow. They must have drugged me; I was pretty numb. It felt nice,
especially after the blistering heat that had seemed to scorch me
from the inside out.

I heard the voices again and tried to make out the
words through the buzz in my ears. The door to my room was cracked
open and the conversation drifted in from the hallway.

“She’s going to be fine Wes.” That was Jack. I
recognized his baritone voice easily.

“Yeah, this time,” Wes shot back.

I was shocked to hear the desperation in his words.
He sounded… bleak.

“What do you want me to do? I can’t force her,” Jack
replied.

“I know, I know. But we have to convince her,
somehow. She can’t be left helpless. What if I hadn’t been there?”
There was a pause, and then he rushed on before Jack could respond.
“I should have been there sooner. I don’t know why I decided to
meet her at home, instead of meeting up the minute she left
school.” Another pause, then, “or driven her myself. That’s what
I’ll do from now on.”

“She’s got to make the decision for herself,” said
Jack. Wes didn’t reply and I could easily picture the stubborn set
of his jaw as he tried to think of some way to force me to do
whatever it is he wanted.

Jack spoke again and this time his voice was milder
and unmistakably amused. “Trying to force her to train is not going
to work. She’s just as stubborn as you are.”

“He’s not going to let this go,” Wes said, ignoring
the last comment.

Fee’s voice joined the conversation. “No, he’s not.
The question is, is he telling the truth.”

“Liliana was part of it. He said so himself,” said
Wes.

“Maybe they were involved. We all knew Liliana was
turning on us. She could have easily told him about you,” said
Jack.

“Yeah. I know but that doesn’t explain how he knows
about Tara. If he even really knows. He could’ve said it just to
mess with me,” said Wes.

“I don’t know…I’m going to call Vera, see if she can
tell.” That was Fee.

“We’ve got to convince her. She has to train.
Otherwise, you might as well paint a target on her.” The
desperation returned to Wes’ voice.

“We’ll all try to convince her,” Fee said, her tone
placating. “One of us should check on her now. She should be awake
soon, and I don’t know if I’ve given her enough pain meds.”

“I’ll do it,” Wes said quickly.

I heard footsteps, and then the door opened fully.
Wes stood there, leaning on the frame. When his eyes met mine, and
he saw I was awake, he left his post, and hurried forward. The
relief and happiness that rocked through me was overwhelming, and I
felt a big stupid grin spread across my face.

“You’re awake,” he said, taking my hand in his and
peering down at me. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m not feeling much of anything,” I admitted, in a
croaky voice. “What did you give me?”

“Morphine. We had to. Jack had to stitch the wound
closed.” He looked pained as he said it. “You don’t remember?”

“No.” I glanced down at my left forearm, covered in
gauze and decided I didn’t want to look just yet. “But I feel great
now. Kind of loopy.” I grinned, unable to help myself. I felt like
an idiot in some sober part of my brain, but the drugged part just
shrugged and grinned bigger at that. Wes looked unsure how to
respond. I think he was expecting to have to comfort and soothe me,
like he had that first night, but I was so far from that reaction
right now, it was ridiculous. Still, I tried to stay focused on the
day’s events. “So, are you going to tell me who Leo is?”

“What makes you think I know who he is?”

“He talked to you like he knew you. And besides, I
heard you talking to Jack.” Oops. I hadn’t meant to admit that
part. Dang these drugs.

Wes’ eyes narrowed at that last part. “How much did
you hear?”

I shrugged, which was kind of hard to do, considering
I was still lying on my back. I suppressed a giggle at the
awkwardness of the movement. “It doesn’t matter. Are you going to
tell me or not? And don’t say ‘or not’, because Jack or Fee will
just end up telling me anyway.”

Wes sighed. “Leo’s a powerful pack leader that is
adamantly against the message of The Cause. He speaks out against
us every chance he gets, but mostly prefers to just silence the
messenger, if you know what I mean.”

“Huh. Sounds like a great guy. So how do you know him
personally?”

“What makes you think I do?”

I threw my hands up in frustration though it was kind
of impossible to actually feel angry with this much pain medicine
still floating through me. “Here we go. Back to dodging my
questions. Why are you always trying to keep things from me?” I
demanded.

“I’m trying to protect you.”

“No, that’s
your version
of protecting
me.”

He crossed his arms and rolled back on his heels.
“And what would be your version?”

“Tell me everything you know. Anything less than full
disclosure could get me killed. If I had known who he was before I
ran into him, maybe I –“

He cut me off. “What? Would’ve been able to kill him
more easily?”

“No, but I wouldn’t have gotten out of the car,
that’s for sure.”

Wes looked thoughtful. “I was wondering about that.
How did he manage to get you out?”

I told him how Leo and I had run into each other –
literally. “And since I didn’t really know who it was, or that this
was the big bad wolf himself, I got out to see if he was okay or
whatever.”

Wes’ eyes had gone wide near the beginning- right
around the part where I’d hit Leo – but when I got to the bit about
wanting to see if Leo was okay, they almost popped out of his
skull. He stared at me for a long moment after I was done and then
finally shook his head back and forth a few times. I waited for the
lecture I could see coming. When he finally spoke, his words
surprised me. “You’re right. I should have told you everything I
knew. And I will. But you have to do something for me.”

“Like a deal?” I asked, skeptical. I tried to raise
my eyebrows but they were numb and I wasn’t sure if it worked or if
I just looked goofy.

“Exactly.” He sounded way too cheerful. “A deal.”

“What is it?”

“I’ll tell you everything I know about Leo, from here
on out, if you promise to let Jack train you.”

I rolled my eyes. I had a feeling that’s where this
had been going. Then again, after today’s fight, I couldn’t deny
that I needed help. Besides, I still needed to figure out a better
weapon to carry. And a better way to carry it. Still, there was the
matter of keeping it from my mom, and my friends. But at least this
way, Wes could think it was his idea. “I don’t know,” I said, not
wanting to seem too eager.”

“Tara, you stabbed him with a pencil,” he said,
throwing a hand up. “You need some help, admit it.”

I huffed out a breath, tempted to defend myself
against that move. Then I remembered how well that had gone with
the plunger handle conversation, and decided to let it go. Besides,
my fuzzy brain had no shot of winning an argument right now. And I
didn’t want to be mad at him, after almost – well, getting hurt
like this. “Fine, but only until this thing with Leo is over. After
that, the deal’s off. I may or may not continue my training. It’s
my choice.”

“Fair enough.” Wes’ eyes were sparkling with his
victory and a half smile had formed on his lips.

At some point during the negotiation, he’d leaned
closer, and I could feel his breath on my face. It mingled with his
scent, an earthy musky smell that scrambled my thoughts until the
only coherent thing in my mind was him. All thoughts of training
and blood disappeared. I found myself staring at his lips and
wishing they were on mine.

I sighed. “You’re pretty cute when you get your way.”
Oops, something else I hadn’t meant to say out loud. Things just
kept slipping out.

Wes’ lips curved in amusement but his eyes were
serious and intense. “You’re not so bad yourself. Drugged and
tangled is a good look for you.” He brought his hand up and brushed
a lock of hair away from my face. The amusement disappeared as some
new thought dawned on him; his expression turned sad. “Some
bodyguard I turned out to be,” he whispered. “If you hadn’t been
okay…” He didn’t finish and I realized some deeper part of me
yearned to know what those unspoken words were, exactly.

The problem about asking him was, stringing words
together was kind of difficult for me at the moment. Instead, I
reached out and grabbed his shirt and pulled his lips down to mine.
I felt his shock for a brief instant, and then he relaxed, sinking
closer and letting his fingers tangle in my hair. My hands were
clasped around his neck, and our lips firmly locked - when my phone
rang.

Wes was the first to pull away. “You going to get
that?” he asked, in a husky voice.

“Do I have to?” I mumbled.

He chuckled.

The phone stopped ringing, and I shrugged. “Too late,
it went to voice mail.” I tried raising my head so that I could
reach his lips again.

He inched back. “You’re drugged, Tara,” he said,
giving me a scolding look.

“So?”

He sighed. “So, I’m not going to take advantage of
you this way.”

“I thought it was kind of the other way around,” I
mumbled, as he sat back.

He grinned down at me.

I sighed loudly. “Fine,” I grumbled.

My disappointment seemed to amuse him. I glared at
his crooked smile and pushed up onto my elbows. I grabbed my phone
and reluctantly dialed my voice mail. I punched the numbers for my
password and waited. As I listened, all of the amusement and
laughter faded, replaced by panic and horror. Before the message
had even ended I was already struggling to stand, with Wes holding
me in place by an arm on either shoulder.

“What is it?” Wes asked, as soon as I’d hung up.

“George was attacked,” I whispered. I looked up at
him. “That was his mom. He’s in the hospital.”

“Damn.”

“I have to go see him.” I tried pushing past him
again but he held me firmly in place.

“You’re hopped up on painkillers, and you’re
hurt.”

“I have to go see him,” I repeated, my voice gaining
volume.

“Not until the medicine wears off.” The finality in
his tone left no room for argument. “What did the message say?”

“That some stray dog had attacked him for no reason
when he got out of his car, after school. It had to be Leo. He
must’ve gone there right after he left us. I’ve got to do
something, Wes.” I struggled to get up again. This time Wes didn’t
need to lay a hand on me to send me slumping back to the pillow
again.