I gave her one last hug before walking away.
Harper was going to fight.
I just knew it.
We went backto the cage room after that, and I prepared myself to talk to Carter.
He was still refusing to speak to anyone else. And while Maverick was pissed about it, he had cooled down enough to acknowledge that the turned vampire wasn’t a threat to me while locked in a cage.
We needed to know. Sooner was obviously better.
I understood his reasons enough to bring him and his sister food and coffee when we went down to the cells. He didn’t touch thecoffee. Probably assumed it was poisoned, but I wouldn’t stoop that low.
“Hi, Riley.” I stepped in front of her cell, far enough that she couldn’t touch me. Maverick’s hand was locked in mine, his eyes on the man in the other cage as Riley looked up at me with big, beautiful eyes. “How bad is the bloodlust?”
She blinked rapidly, and I realized she wasn’t making tears. She really was starving. “I think I’m dying.”
She probably was.
“Help her, and I’ll tell you anything you want to know,” Carter said, his voice cracking.
“I’m sorry, but the werewolves aren’t going to help her unless you tell them what you know first,” I said quietly.
It was a lie.
They weren’t going to let her starve to death. Like Maverick said, they would give her a fighting chance.
Carter’s expression was dark. “They’re going to kill me.”
“You knew that before they brought you here.”
Carter’s darkness faded, leaving just anger and exhaustion. “They were supposed to save her. They said they would save her.”
“Who’s they?” I asked.
He clenched his jaw and shook his head, like he couldn’t tell me. “Help her first.”
“Eve,” Riley whispered. “Her name is Eve. The woman who brought the vampire who turned us. Please, let me bite you.”
“Biting another vampire won’t help anything,” I said.
Her gaze lifted to Maverick.
Despite the cage between them, I stepped in front of him quickly. “He’s mine.”
Riley blinked faster.
My heart clenched.
Fuck. She was starving.
“What’s Eve’s last name?” Maverick asked her.
“I don’t know. I was barely conscious. She has long, brown hair and pale skin. She’s cold and unkind.”
The blood drained from my face.
No.
