AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I hated how soft Sylvie made me feel. I normally would’ve had no problem letting her wallow in her embarrassment. Instead, I found myself digging for something I could say to ease her shame. “On full moons, our wolves take over,” I said quickly, even as I was internally kicking myself for the story I was about to tell. “Mine was in a new forest once, just roaming. Well, he found some berries and decided to go to town on them. You could say he never paid the price for that bad decision, but I did.”
Sylvie slowly raised her eyes to mine, then a grin spread her lips. “Really?”
I nodded.
“I appreciate all of this, you know,” she said. “I know my sister and I kind of tried to escape twice and I sort of hit you with a spoon.”
“And a bat,” I added.
“Right. But I’m starting to believe you really are just trying to help us. And I’m sorry we’ve made it harder on you.”
“Believe it or not, your reaction wasn’t that unusual. I’ve been doing this a long time. Well, I haven’t in years, but I did this sort of thing for a while before that. It was my line of work before I became the Alpha of the Silverbacks. And hardly anybody wants to admit they need saving at first. There’s always an adjustment period.”
“That’s a delicate way of putting it.”
“You know me. Always delicate.”
She grinned. “I like you this way. You’re not as mean as you want people to think, are you?”
I realized how close we were sitting then. I could smell the sweetness of the strawberry shortcake dessert I’d brought with her lunch on her breath. I could see her dilated pupils and the way her breaths were coming a little too quickly.
“To tell the truth,” I said, feeling myself lean closer to her.
She leaned toward me; lips parted.
“I have no problem being an asshole to everyone else. You must’ve knocked something loose with that baseball bat. Because I’m starting to-”
Maisey squirmed behind Sylvie on the bed, hands clutching into claws. She opened her mouth wide and let out a quiet hiss of pain, canines bared and sharp.
Sylvie jumped back from me. I leaned away, feeling whatever electricity had been forming in the air dissipate.
I cleared my throat and got up. “I should go call Felix to see how it’s coming with finding her help.”
“Thank you,” Sylvie said. She was leaning over Maisey, rubbing her hand down her hair and making soothing shushing sounds.
Once I was outside the room, I let out a long breath. Fuck. What had I been about to do?
I didn’t mess around with human women, for starters. I definitely didn’t mess with human women who had sisters that were turning into vampires. If that wasn’t bad enough, this particular woman was my client. She was someone I’d sworn to protect.
Failing to protect someone I cared about had nearly destroyed me five years ago. If I failed this, I knew I wouldn’t be able to carry on.
I needed to get my shit together and focus on what mattered: keeping her safe.
19
Riggs
Felix let me know the only way he'd be able to get Maisey "fed" was going to be if we snuck her out. Worse, the rebels only agreed to care for her if she came and stayed at their base of operations—an old, secluded mansion outside the city called Blackridge.
It had been six days since I brought the girls to The Wet Flea. I hated leaving before we had to, but there wasn't much choice. Maisey's condition was worsening by the day. Thankfully, Sylvie seemed to be fully recovered. She was currently curled up with a book Fang had managed to smuggle in from the crime scene that was her apartment. By my count, it was the fifth book she’d conned him into going and getting for her. The idiot kept bringing one at a time, and I wondered if it was so he had an excuse to keep doing her favors.
I'd talked to Felix on the phone a few hours ago and knew I was running out of time to think of an alternative to what he was suggesting. The idea of living with the fucking rebel vamps turned my stomach, even if it was only temporary.
But I'd turned the possibilities in my head over and saw no other way. Sylvie wasn't going to let me separate her from her sister. I was sure of it.
Sylvie was cross legged on the bed with the book in her lap. She’d run out of clean clothes from the stash I’d brought and resorted to borrowing some of mine this morning. She was currently wearing one of my black t-shirts, which she'd tied up at the side. She had on an oversized pair of my jeans as well, which she had tried and failed to secure with a belt that didn't go small enough for her waist. When she got up to use the restroom, she had to clutch the pants to keep them from falling.
