The Werewolf Whisperer (The Werewolf Whisperer Series Book 1) (41 page)

"Do
not get me started with you." Xochitl pointed her finger at Lefty. "He's
your responsibility now, remember?"

"Hey,"
Miguel stepped in front of Lefty. "I'm no one's responsibility. Remember?"

The
memory of Miguel hunched over, pleading for Xochitl to leave flashed through
her mind.

"Yeah,
I remember," Xochi spat. "But I didn't come to this place..."
She felt her throat seize up. "This shit hole...not to tell you that if
you keep turning, you might be fucking furry for the rest of your life.
¿Comprendes?"

"Then
I'm fucking furry!" Miguel took an aggressive step toward Xochitl.

Kai
dropped from the cage ceiling into a low crouch by Lucy and growled at Miguel.

"Up,
Kai." Lucy patted the teen's head. "It's okay."

"I
see you got another little mutt to boss around." Miguel pushed past
Xochitl. "I got shit to attend to." He stormed out of the cage to
another round of boos.

"Miguel!"
Lefty called after his fighter.

Xochitl
started after her brother. Lefty grabbed her arm.

"Just
let him go, Xoch. Don't do this again."

But
Xochitl wasn't finished. She pulled away from Lefty and marched out. Miguel
headed for the steel double doors — now marked
PRIVATE NO ADMITTANCE
.

"What?
You fucking live here now?" She grabbed Miguel, spinning him toward her.

"What
of it?" He pulled away.

"After
Memo?" Hot tears spilled from Xochi's eyes. "After what happened to
me?"

Hurried
steps approached from behind. Cheers roared from the crowd. But Xochitl never
took her eyes off her brother.

Miguel's
body tensed under her grip, his rage-filled eyes burning a brilliant
orange-gold amber.

"This
place is mine. MINE!" He roared. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"Uh,
Xoch?" Lefty whispered. "Maybe you should come back later."

"That
sounds like a good idea," Lucy said, tugging at Xochitl's arm.

"Fine."
Xochitl dropped her grip and backed away. "Attend to your 'shit' Miguel.
But watch your six, or you'll answer to me." Xochitl stared square in her
brother's eyes. "And mijo, you don't want that."

Miguel's
face softened, his rage replaced by sheer pain. Xochitl immediately wished she
could take back the implication of her words.

Too
late...again.

"Let's
go." Xochitl looked at Lucy. "Where's Kai?"

Another
roar filled the warehouse, bringing Xochitl and Lucy's attention back to the
giant metal cube. At that moment, Kai blindsided the tan Werebeast with a
roundhouse kick to the head.

"You
released the Werebeast?" Xochi asked Lucy.

"I
thought we were done." Lucy threw up her hands.

Working
into a frenzy, the blood-thirsty mob shouted, "ground and pound... ground
and pound." Kai jumped onto the Beast, tackling him and pummeling him
mercilessly.

"Crap!"
Xochitl and Lucy said in unison.

"Kid's
got mad skills!" Lefty sounded awestruck as the referee stopped the fight and
raised Kai's arm in the air.

Kai howled, and the crowd went wild.

The evening
chill nipped at Xochitl, and she wrapped Lefty's military jacket tighter around
her. The sweet scent of the pan dulce she'd bought at a nearby Mexican bakery
wafted from the bag she carried. She hoped Miguel's favorite pastries would
suffice as a peace offering.

"Sure
bringing that's not too pretentious?" Xochitl nodded to the copy of
Hounds,
and Ferals, and Werebeasts! Oh, My!
Lucy had grabbed out of El Gallo's
trunk and hastily signed.

"You
always say I need to work on my public relations skills." Lucy walked into
the lobby of Miguel's gym.

Loud
metal music blasted from behind the false wall. An unfamiliar male voice yelled,
"That's it. A little closer, Lonnie. Get in tighter, Andie."

"Hey,
Reggie!" Lucy greeted the receptionist who was closing up for the night.

Reggie
popped his head up from the T-shirt merchandise counter.

"Catch!"
Lucy deftly tossed the book across the room and into Reggie's grasp.

His
face lit up when he realized what he was holding. He opened the front cover and
read the inscription aloud, "To Reggie, keep living La Vida Loba! Lucy
Lowell."

"You
stole my line!" Xochitl swatted Lucy's arm.

Reggie
closed the book and held it to his chest. "Oh Miss Lowell," Reggie's
voice cracked. "You don't know what this means to me."

"It's
just Lucy." Lucy rubbed her triceps, looking pleased with herself.

Once
again, Reggie squealed that his friend Marcus was "gonna kick himself."

After
tonight, Marcus is gonna be pretty black and blue.

Lucy
raised an eyebrow at Xochitl. "So?"

"Fine.
I stand corrected," she grumbled and walked past Lucy toward the main gym.

Xochitl
halted in her tracks, her eyes bugging out from their sockets.

Standing
in the center of the cube-shaped arena amidst the deafening music was her
brother in tight black leather pants and a tight black wolf-face T-shirt. His
muscled arms were folded across his chest, and the Cruz twins were suggestively
wrapped around his legs.

He
looks taller.

A
photographer was shouting out instructions to "smile," "don't
smile," "look sexy," "look angry" while his flash kept
going off. It was all too surreal for Xochi, seeing her baby brother looking
like a man.

"Your
brother looks hot." Lucy sounded shocked.

"Shut
up." Xochitl elbowed her friend but mumbled to herself, "When did that
happen?"

As
if he'd heard their exchange, Miguel, a cocky grin plastered on his face,
turned toward Xochitl and Lucy.

Lefty
waved them over. He signaled the photographer's assistant to cut the music. The
hipster kid dropped his light reflector and hit a switch. The music died.

"Oh,
thank God." Xochitl sighed.

"What
the hell, Brad!" The photographer spun on the kid. "I'm in the middle
of my process!"

"Sorry,
Dominic." Lefty stepped up to the edge of the ring. "We need to call
it a night."

The
Were twin Alondra's head shot up. She sniffed the air and darted out of the
cage. Her sister Andresa followed close behind, shouting, "Kai! Kai!"
The models sped toward the teen Were, nearly tackling him to the ground. They
showered him with kisses. Kai looked intrigued.

Xochi
cringed. "That's just wrong."

"Um,
Lefty?" Lucy wrinkled her nose.

"Girls!
Girls!" Lefty clapped his hands at the giggling pair. "Let the boy up
for air."

Alondra
whined and looked to her sister.

"But
he's so...um, how you say... yummy!" Andresa purred as the girls continued
to pet Kai.

"Okay,"
Lucy pulled Kai to her, "that's enough." She pushed the teen toward
Lefty.

"Come
on, kid," Lefty said, messing Kai's hair. "You wanna check out the
gym equipment in back?
 
You're gonna
dig the hanging rings, homes."

Kai
bounced after Lefty.

"Good
thing the kid's easily distracted," Xochi said. "I'm not ready for that
just yet."

"Hey."
Lucy tipped her head slightly toward the steel double doors. "Miguel's
leaving."

"Miguel,
wait!" Xochitl called out.

Miguel
glanced at her but didn't stop. He pushed through the doors. They shut behind
him with a bang.

Xochitl
slapped her thigh. "That's it! I'm done with this bullshit!"

"Take
it easy," Lucy said.

Xochitl
gave a curt wave to her friend and stormed off.

As
soon as she reached the private entrance, Xochi was wracked with anxiety, her
hands clammy and trembling. A wave of nausea rose from the pit of her stomach
into the back of her throat. The darkness. The smell of urine. The taste of
blood. All fresh in her mind.

None of that matters. I gotta make this
right.

Xochi
inhaled and exhaled long and slow. She pushed the doors open and walked into —
a fully renovated stylish apartment.

Miguel
stood in the middle of the room, his back to Xochitl, staring at a glass wall behind
an L-shaped couch. Beyond the wall was a mini gym — complete with hanging
heavy bag, speed bag and wooden martial art training dummy.

"Why
can't you just stay away?" Miguel's voice was flat.

"What's
your problem?" Xochitl tossed the bag of pastries on a marble kitchen
island. "I've done nothing but try and help you!"

"Help
me?" A dark laugh bellowed from her brother. "No one can help me."

"What
do you think I've been doing for the past two years? Taking road trips for the
hell of it?" Xochi took a step toward him. "Everything I've done, I've
done for you. I've been busting my ass trying to find a way to save you!"

"Save
me!" Miguel spun on Xochi, his eyes glowing amber. He raised his hands
— sharp protracted claws turned toward her like a sacrificial offering. "Look
at me. I'm not human. I'm a shitty, horrible thing. A monster. I can't be
saved!"

Xochitl
ran to Miguel and threw her arms around him. He tried to push her away. She
hung on tighter. "You're my brother...I love you."

"You
should hate me!" Miguel tugged at his hair violently. "I hate me!...For…For
killing those kids...For what I did to you!"

As
if a wrecking ball had slammed into his gut, he doubled over and dropped to his
knees. "Why don't you hate me?" He rocked back and forth, weeping.

Xochi
took her brother's face in her hands and looked him in the eye.

"You
didn't do anything to me. You hear me? You didn't do this." She touched
the scars on her neck. "Memo did. Memo did all of this to you…To me…To
those kids. Not you."

Miguel
wrapped his powerful arms around Xochitl and folded her into him.

She
felt as if her soul had been wrenched from the Inferno. Reprieved from eternal
judgment.

Xochitl
unleashed a guttural moan.

Two
years of anguish, torment —
emptiness
— flowed down her cheeks. Her body shivered uncontrollably. She flashed
on snapshots of her life. Her bar burning down. Memo torturing her. Miguel
missing. The pound. The road. With each memory she released, her body relaxed. With
each tear she shed, her pain drained away.

She
had her Miguel back.

"I'm
so sorry for what I said earlier." Xochi dabbed at her eyes with her
sleeve. "I would never—"

"Xo,"
Miguel clasped her hand, "you'd do what you had to. And if it came down to
it, I'd want you to."

"It'll
never come to that!" The words rushed from Xochi's mouth.

Please God, don't let it come to that.

"Okay."
Miguel smiled weakly and averted his eyes.

"What?"
She searched her brother's face. "Dígame."

"Xochitl."
Miguel pulled away. "I didn't want Lefty to call you because I didn't want
you to know Memo's out." He blinked away tears.

Xochitl
sat back, stunned.

Memo's
free?

"Out?
How?"

"I
don't know." Miguel's voice cracked. "He was ringside...you know...at
the fight that got me my pro gig. Xochi, he smiled at me!"

Oh,
God! Memo's free!

Xochitl's
jaw clenched, and her hands balled into tight fists — the nails digging
deep into her skin.

Oh
God. He knows Miguel lives here.

"I
wanted to rip his head off," Miguel growled. "But he was too well
guarded. Like he was some sort of big shot."

If
Memo hurts Miguel, I'll kill him.

"Mijo,"
Xochi whispered. "I'm glad you didn't go after Memo. Don't worry. When the
time's right, we'll get him and make him pay."

Miguel's
eyes blazed fiery amber, and his lip turned up into a fang-filled grin.

I could get used to that smile.

Xochitl
pulled Miguel into a tight hug. She felt the hole in her heart fill.

"I'm
proud of you," she said, nestling her head under his chin.

"You
are?" Miguel sounded surprised.

"Of
course!" Xochi chuckled. "You sure turned things around for yourself.
Your own gym. A pro fighter." She scanned the apartment. "And look at
this place. Not what you'd expect for a Were and a Marine…But it's nice."

"Yeah."
Miguel waved his hand around the room. "Bob's people did it when he
invested in the business."

"Oh."
Xochitl smiled up at her baby brother. "Well, I like it."