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Raised voices—some concerned, some angry—echoed down the hallway.
“The Pack’s going to have a lot to say about vampires. But you have nothing to fear,” he murmured and kissed my temple. “Don’t let them push you. Show the monster if you have to, but no fear.”
That he was trying to help me face down the Pack after what had just happened... I didn’t have words for my gratitude. So I nodded, sucked it up, and promised myself I could let it out later.
***
They were gathered in the lounge. “What happened?”
Connor told them about the AAM, the attack on myapartment. And Miranda spun toward me like a hurricane, with fury in her eyes.
“You did this,” she said, stalking toward me. “This happened because of you.”
“She didn’t drive the car,” Connor said. “Or order anyone to do so.”
“Maybe not,” Miranda said. “But without her, it wouldn’t have happened.”
My screen buzzed, and I checked it, found a message from Yuen. He’d lost the vehicle in a jam in Wicker Park, but put out an all-points bulletin. He’d search the plates, and the CPD would also pull traffic camera feeds from the route they’d followed and try to nail down a shot of the driver.
The CPD had already been watching the AAM, and the Ombuds hadn’t gotten an alert that the group had left the hotel. That suggested the driver wasn’t part of the AAM.
Yuen offered to come back, to take an official statement, but I told him to wait. If Connor wanted that, if the Pack wanted that, they could ask for it specifically.
“Miranda,” Connor was saying, “we don’t even know if a vampire was driving the car.”
“Who else would do it? Who else would dare try to take you out?”
I wanted to point out the members of her own Pack in Minnesota who’d done just that, but knew I needed to stay quiet. This conversation wasn’t for me.
“Quit making excuses, Connor! For all we know, this is a vampire plot to take down the Pack.” She gave me a suspicious stare. “This is probably because the Pack denied her sanctuary for her little vampire troubles.”
That had the shifters who watched us whispering to each other.
“She didn’t request sanctuary,” Connor said. “So there was no denying to be done.”
“Whatever. The point is, every time new vampires come into this city, bad shit goes down. Shit that hurts us.”
There were a few rolled eyes, but also a few nods of agreement. They didn’t trust me. And if they didn’t trust me, they wouldn’t trust Connor. I couldn’t let that happen.
“We don’t know who did this,” I said, and every eye in the room turned to me. “But if it was a vampire, or if it was because of the AAM, I will handle it. That makes it my problem, and my responsibility, and I will handle it. And if any of you have issues with that, you can talk to me.”
Silence for a moment. Then, “Agreed.”
I looked back, found Gabriel at the back of the room, arms crossed. “If it’s your problem, you fix it. If it’s our problem, we fix it.”
“Agreed,” I said with a nod, sealing the deal.
***
He shifted alone. Not because he was too shy to do it around me—I’d seen him shift before, and the nakedness that preceded and followed it—but because he was afraid the pain would scare me.
I didn’t hear him scream. But I felt its vibration, the earthquake of magic and rage and agony across the building. And was immensely relieved when he walked toward me again. He’d changed clothes, given the beating taken by the other ones, and his hair was damp.
He reached me, kissed me, pulled me against him. Tears welled, but I held them back. We were still in Pack territory, and the Pack was still angry. Still hurting. It permeated the air.
“I’m good,” he said and ran a hand down my hair. “A little food, a beer, wouldn’t hurt. But I’m fine. Let’s get out of here, and we can talk.” I had the feeling he wanted away from the scene, and away from the magic.
We walked outside to the SUV, and my screen buzzed. I pulled it out again, expecting another message from Roger, an update on what he’d found.
