Aiden stopped at the end of the road. Therewere a few cars parked nearby, probably from overnight employeesworking the warehouses. At the end of the road was a cross street.A few cars idled at a red light there. When they started driving,one of them turned toward them and crept forward. He’d run at leasta mile from the ambulance before stopping, not nearly as far as hewould have liked, but he’d had to check on Maggie.
He should have gone further.
CHAPTER 13
Aiden’s fangs throbbed as he watched thevehicle, fully prepared to destroy any threat lurking within it.Most Savages preferred to use their feet as transportation whenthey hunted. It was a lot easier to jump someone and kill them onfoot than it was to park a car and go after them, but he’d comeacross Savages hunting from cars before.
The streetlights illuminated the couplebehind the wheel. From somewhere nearby, music thumped, and hesuspected someone was throwing a party in one of the warehouses.They could go to that party in search of a phone; any man wouldgladly hand his over to Maggie if she asked for it. However, hewasn’t about to send her into somewhere with people he didn’t knowalone, and she was right, in his condition, he would only attractunnecessary attention.
He felt the pockets of his jeans again as herecalled the phone in his hotel room. He’d tucked the key card tohis room into his back pocket, but it was gone too. The hotel hadbeen about as nondescript as it got, there weren’t any cameras, butthere had been a fair amount of foot traffic on the street outsideit.
He could change the memories of the clerk,but he’d never go unnoticed by pedestrians in his condition, and hecouldn’t alter the minds of everyone he encountered. Also, if thepolice found the key card, they might go to the hotel before hecould cover this up.
The phone and key card wouldn’t lead back tohim in any way. The phone was a burner, the hotel room rented underanother name, and the clerk wouldn’t be able to recall hisappearance. Aiden had twisted that memory in his mind. It wasn’toften Ronan’s men messed up, but they had strict regulations inplace to cover their asses in case it happened.
He wasn’t one of Ronan’s men yet, he stillhad more training to go through, but he followed their rules andprecautions. After tonight, Ronan might decide to cut him loose andAiden wouldn’t blame him.
He had to return to the alley where he’dbeen attacked to see if his phone had fallen out somewhere there.If he couldn’t find it, he would have to go back to Carha’s club.He didn’t want Maggie anywhere near Carha. From what he’d seen ofMaggie tonight, she could hold her own, but Carha was a malignant,twisted thing.
Carha was also his shameful secret; Maggiecould be the redemption his ravaged soul needed.
He could make his way to Saxon instead ofreturning to the alley or Carha’s, but his meeting place with Saxonhad been twelve blocks beyond the club. Without Maggie, he couldcover the distance in no time, but he couldn’t move as fast withher. Trying to reach Saxon would only waste more time and, with theSavages hunting them, put Maggie at unnecessary risk forlonger.
He had to take care of this mess if he wasgoing to keep all those he cared about safe. It had been monthssince he’d seen his young nieces and nephews, but he loved them alland would die for them. Their lives would be in peril if the truthof vampires ever came out to the human world.
As much as he preferred to shelter Maggiefrom Carha, he might not be able to.
“This way,” he said and turned to theright.
“Where are we going?”
“My phone might have fallen out in thealley.” He wasn’t going to mention Carha’s place unless it becamenecessary.
Some of the color leeched from her face.“We’re going back there?”
“Yes.”
“There are probably still police all overthe scene,” she said.
“I’ll deal with that when we get there.”
“You could let me go. I promise I won’t sayanything about what I saw tonight or vampires. I prefer not beinglocked away for the rest of my life because people think I’mcrazy.”
“I can’t let you go until I know you’ll besafe.” He didn’t want to let her go at all, but he might not have achoice if she decided to be free of him.
“I’d go straight to the closest hospital orpolice station to find out where they took Roger. No one is goingto attack me before then.”
“Maybe when the sun is out.”
“Vampires really can’t go out in the sun?”she blurted.
“The killers amongst us can’t. I can.”
“Why can some of you go out in the sun, butnot others?”
“The more a vampire kills, the stronger andweaker their corrupted soul becomes. Their physical strengthincreases, but they lose the ability to tolerate sunlight, holywater, crucifixes, and they become less able to cross bodies ofwater. Some of the legends the humans weaved over the years have abasis in fact.”
“Fascinating,” she murmured.
