She didn’t doubt he would die to protect her. He’d done it before, but this was different. This wasn’t one man’s insane plot for revenge. This was an entire movement, with the central focus on hanging them all and spitting on their graves. Graham was protective, with the strength to rival a titan, but he wasn’t invincible. The scars across his torso and the near constant sterling in his eyes said as much.
Slowly, she leaned forward and brushed her lips against his. With a tiny nibble of his full bottom lip, she pulled back and rested her cheek against his. The scratch of two-day scruff brushed her face and she leaned in closer, wrapping her arms around his waist. “I won’t let anything happen to you either.” She’d worked too hard to bring him back, given everything she had and risked her heart to save him from the silver that shredded his humanity.
“I know,” he said in a soft stroke against her hair.
A quick rap on hotel room one sixteen and Tristan answered. It was almost three in the morning and he stood in the shadows of the room in boxers and nothing else. His hair was mussed and a sleepy frown drew his dark eyebrows down. He twitched his head toward an unoccupied queen bed.
“That one’s yours. Meredith is sleeping. She had a rough day, so we can all talk in the morning.” He climbed back under the covers and curved his body around Meredith’s much smaller frame.
Linden couldn’t take her eyes from the intimacy of it. Mere hadn’t let a boy sleep in her bed ever, that she knew of. It wasn’t her style, but here was Tristan, draping his arms over her hip like she was his.
“Come on,” Graham whispered, tugging her hand until they stood in the small bathroom. It was dingy, and the wallpaper was peeled back to reveal a disturbing amount of mold creeping up the wall. The toilet seat was cracked in half, soap scum clung to the shower stall like cellophane and a neurotic giant sized ant circled the dated light fixture above their heads, threatening to fall into her hair as soon as she looked away.
“If we ever vacation together,” she whispered, “promise me we’ll stay in a hotel that cost at least twenty-five bucks a night.”
A rare smile ghosted his lips, and she touched it before it could disappear. “You’re coming back to me. I can tell. With every day that passes, I see a little more of the old you.”
“That part of me is getting stronger,” he said. “Because of you. I want to be good for you, Linden. I can see how much it hurts you that I’m like this.” His eyes dropped to the green tiled floor. “All I need is time.”
“You know I love you like this too, don’t you?”
Reaching for her hand, he kissed her palm. “I know.”
Chapter Eleven
Three hotels in three days, and Meredith was sick of living out of a suitcase.
No, she would love living out of a suitcase if she’d had time to pack one and bring it. She was currently living out of a plastic shopping bag and would’ve given her middle fingers for a blow dryer and some underwear other than the granny panty six pack she and Linden had gone halfsies on. And that was saying something, because her middle fingers were her favorites.
No credit cards, no checks, no cell phones, nothing to give away their location. Graham and Tristan seemed to think the Hell Hunters had a hand in everything, and didn’t discount their ability to hack into their private accounts or tap their phones.
Mondays were usually her arch nemesis, and today was no different. Except she didn’t have to work or deal with Shouty Shelby or the shit-ton of paperwork that was probably causing avalanches on her desk. No, today she was relaxing, hiding out, and staying under the radar from the murderous crazies who wanted her and all of her new friends dead.
Meredith had been looking, but so far, she hadn’t really found any advantages to being a Lycan. She glanced at Linden, who strolled the sidewalk beside her. Well, besides the super healing abilities that had saved her best friend’s life.
That alone made all of this worth it.
A quick trip to a strip mall within walking distance had been just what she’d needed to get out of the funk that had enveloped her the past few days. She blamed her moodiness on sexual tension. At this point, she was contemplating asking Linden and Graham to let her and Tristan have the hotel room for a few hours, just to relieve the smoldering fire that sexy man had been building in her. Every little touch melted her, and every kiss made her heart pound, and right now she was so desperate to feel him inside of her again, she couldn’t see straight.
Three more hours and his shift would be over. One hundred eighty more minutes and she would see his face again, and know that he’d survived the day beside Graham the Trigger-Happy Werewolf.
Linden sounded miserable as she sighed.
“You worried about Graham?” Meredith asked. She got it. She was worried about Tristan too. It didn’t feel right to be separated from him. Not now.
“Graham with a weapon in a crowd right now is terrifying.”
“He’ll be fine. He’s a professional and has been doing this bodyguard gig for years. He says he’s all right, so let him prove it.” Meredith didn’t believe a word that was coming out of her own mouth.
She was trying to reassure Linden, but Graham didn’t need to be anywhere within a mile of a live round of ammunition. The man was terrifying—all wolfy looking, and growling all the damned time. Linden seemed to be the only one who could soothe him, but being sequestered off from his pack was putting a strain on him. Meredith was utterly human, and even she could sense the storm roiling inside of Graham.
Bad things were going to happen if they didn’t figure out something soon. Run to the wilderness and reunite the pack, or find the Hell Hunters and end this once and for all.
“Graham has been leaving at night,” Linden said, voice low as she swung a shopping bag full of three dollar T-shirts and toiletries that the hotel didn’t offer.
“Leaving where?” And why hadn’t she woken up when he left the room?
“I think he’s hunting them on his own.”
Her mouth dropped open. “He can’t do that! They’ll kill him. Jesus, why doesn’t he at least take Tristan?”
“I think he’s afraid of losing any more of his pack members. There are so few of us left. And when Danny…when he died, it did something awful the Graham, and they weren’t even bonded yet. He’s already teetering on the edge of what his wolf will withstand. If he loses any of his other wolves, I don’t think his human side will be able to come back at all.” Linden’s voice hitched and her shoulders sagged. “I think I’m losing him all over again.”
Meredith turned and hugged her up tight as Linden wept against her shoulder. It wasn’t fair. None of this was. It wasn’t fair that Linden had spent so much of her life sick, or that she met Graham only to lose his human side. Danny’s death, the death of half the damned pack. It was too much for one person to shoulder. Linden had Graham, but Meredith had seen the empty look in his eyes lately. He might as well be a wolf.
And Linden was strong. Meredith had never met a stronger person than her, but she wasn’t invincible. At some point, if everything kept piling up like this, Linden would buckle under the strain.
Even Tristan was worried about the alpha, and he was a steadfast sort of man. He watched Graham with an eerie look in his eyes, like he was waiting for him to explode.
And now they were both pulling a double bodyguard shift for Graham’s first day back, and there was no telling what kind of trouble they would get into today. Another wave of anxiety washed over Meredith as she imagined Graham balking against the orders of his superiors and going on a maiming spree. Or worse, changing into a wolf when his senses became overwhelmed by the chaos of his job.
Lifting her eyes to the two story motel, she got the strangest feeling like they were being watched. But when she looked around, no one seemed to be paying attention. A pair of teens on skateboards rolled by. A woman in towering high heels talked loudly into her cell phone as she strode by, and two old men sat in front of the motel office laughing so
hard one of them was about to spill his soft drink.
She even searched the shadowed corners of the building, but no one seemed to notice two women hugging it out on the sidewalk in the waning evening light.
Even reassuring herself didn’t stifle the feeling of wrongness, and the meeting with the hooded figure in the parking garage had taught her to listen to her instincts. “Come on. Let’s get inside the room.”
Sniffling, Linden nodded and followed her over a stone retaining wall and onto the cracked pavement of the Knights Inn.
“You know,” Meredith said, sliding her keycard and shoving open the heavy door. “I told you I had cash in a jar at my house. If we can get over there sometime and be really careful about it, maybe we could grab it. Then we could stay at a nicer hotel for a night or something. Or, I don’t know, spring for seafood.”
Linden followed her inside and set the grocery bag onto the unmade bed. “The boys said they thought their boss would pay them in cash today if they asked. He’s a supernatural too, and they seem to think he’d—”
Linden screamed as she looked over Meredith’s shoulder.
Horrified, she didn’t even want to turn around. Someone was behind her. She could feel his warm breath against her neck and panicked, she froze completely.
Lurching forward, Linden yanked her arm but she was too late. A meaty hand wrapped around her throat as soon as she moved to escape, and pulled her back.
“Don’t hurt her,” Linden said.
The cold barrel of a gun rested on Meredith’s temple, and she whimpered. Shit, shit, shit.
“Sit on the bed,” a gravelly voice murmured near her ear.
Meredith closed her eyes for a moment and swallowed hard. “Mister, I don’t know who you think we are—”
“Don’t insult me by playing coy, bitch. You’ve been shacking up with Lycans, forsaking your own kind, and now you’ll have to pay the consequences. Sit!”
Linden sank onto the bed, holding her hands up. “Okay, I’ll do what you say. Just don’t hurt her.”
Meredith’s insides felt electrified, like she’d been hooked up to a car battery, and she wanted to cry and scream and punch something all at once. The gun pressed harder into the side of her face and her heart pounded faster against her breast bone.
A phone chirped and the man behind her answered it. “Yeah, I have them. Pull the car around.” The phone clicked closed and he chuckled. “You must think you’re pretty smart, don’t you? You thought you escaped us at that cabin. We’ve been following you for days, waiting, watching you. And no one came to your rescue. Their pack is gone, isn’t it?”
Meredith got a glimpse of the man in the mirror above the bathroom vanity and stifled a scream. His scalp was shaved bald and his skin had a sick, oily look to it. The whites of his eyes had yellowed and his teeth were rotten. And his eyes—there was no soul in them at all.
“Yes,” Linden whispered, heartache lacing her words. “You killed Danny, and now we’re the only ones left.
Lie. Linden usually sucked at fibbing, but for a second, even Meredith had to think twice about the honesty of her claim.
“Don’t you fuckin’ do that. Don’t you act like you are part of their pack. You’re human, It’s disgusting to pretend you’re one of them.”
Meredith’s eyes went wide as she stared at her friend. The hunter thought Linden was human. Why wouldn’t he? Female werewolves were almost non-existent. And they hadn’t seen her as a wolf, so to them, she wasn’t a threat like Graham and Tristan would be.
“Danny, Danny, Danny,” the man chanted in a thoughtful tone. “He was the one we strung up last week, wasn’t he? Screaming and begging. Bleeding.” The man spit onto the carpet next to Meredith’s sneakers and she lurched away, sick at his touch, at his nearness, at the cruel words that tumbled from his disgusting lips about Danny. Tightening his grip, the man yanked her back to him and cocked his weapon. “No, bitch. You’re staying close to me.”
They had to do something. Bash him over the head with the bedside phone, or turn his own gun on him, or scream so someone could hear them. Anything, so they wouldn’t die in this hotel.
The cadence of numbers being pressed into a phone sounded and she sucked air into her lungs to scream, but the man rammed his cell phone against her ear and pressed the gun metal even harder.
“What?” Tristan said through the static of a bad connection.
Her throat seized at the sound of his voice. God, she wished he was here. Tristan would’ve had better instincts than to allow them to walk unsuspecting into a hotel room with the enemy. Linden was new to her instincts, but Tristan? He was lethal.
And he couldn’t save her from two hours away. Perhaps she could save him instead.
If she didn’t say anything, he wouldn’t be dragged into this. She and Linden were the bait. They weren’t the target. The Hell Hunters wanted to use them to lure Graham and Tristan. No fucking way was she bringing them into whatever hell had found her and Linden.
“Hello?” Tristan asked. He sounded pissed.
“Talk,” the man demanded.
Gritting her teeth, she watched the horror in Linden’s face as she refused his request.
“Dammit!” The man shoved her forward and chucked the phone onto the empty bed, then snatched a pillow and pressed it against her chest as she tried desperately to fight him off. Jamming the gun against the fabric, he growled, “You don’t want to talk? Fine. Scream for him.”
Then he pulled the trigger.
Chapter Twelve
Pain. Hurt, sighing, gasping, burning, darkness. Meredith tried to sit up, but she couldn’t. Someone was crying. Was it her? No. “Linden?”
“I’m here. Just stay still. We’re in the trunk of a car.”
A trunk? She jerked and yelped at the sizzling nerves that screamed in her arm. Moving added heat to the fire. Panic seized her throat, making her gasp for breath. “I didn’t scream,” she said, trying to think of anything but the discomfort.
“You did real good, Mere. You were brave but I ran for the phone when he shot you. He was going to kill you, so I told Tristan they had us. The man told Tristan to meet him back at his house. I think that’s where they’re taking us.”
Linden’s hand was clamped down on her upper arm, but warmth was still trickling down her back and making her sweater stick to her skin. “Is it bad?” Of course it was bad. It felt like she’d dipped her arm in magma.
“I don’t know. He silenced the shot with the pillow, and it covered you. As soon as I talked to Tristan, two more men came through the door and dragged us out to a car. A black sedan, maybe a Camry or a Maxima. I don’t know, it all happened so fast. I thought they killed you. You were so still when they threw you in here with me.” The more Linden talked, the more strained her voice sounded. Like she was forcing the words past her windpipe.
Squinting in the darkness, Meredith tried to adjust her position to at least look in Linden’s general direction. She was stuck between what felt like the trunk door and Linden’s body. She’d never had a problem with small spaces, but as she swept her hand across the wall in front of her face and imagined suffocating, she had to fight hard not to panic. She just had to keep talking and focus on coming up with a plan. “Are you hurt? Why do you sound like that?”
“Mere?” Linden’s voice was deep and raspy, like she’d swallowed sandpaper. “I think I’m going to change.”
“I hope you mean change clothes, Linden Ilene Ashby, because there’s no fucking room in here for you to go werewolf on me right now.”
“I know!” A sob wracked her body and Linden convulsed.
She couldn’t. Tristan said the change hurt, and Meredith would be bitten if she was this close. And there was no escape from this stupid trunk. Panicked, she banged on the door, lights, floor, everywhere. Her arm fell like it was going to fall off, but hang it all, she was going to die of a Lycan bite before her murderers even got a good crack at her.
A long growl came from L
inden and tapered into weeping. “It’s all the blood, Mere,” she whispered.
Geez. Meredith scrubbed her good hand down her face and tried to clear the fog of fear. Think. Linden was changing and there wasn’t anything to be done about that. “You won’t hurt me.”
“Mere—”
“You won’t! Maybe this is what we need to do. They don’t know you’re a Lycan. Change and then take those assholes out before they figure out what you are. As soon as they open the trunk, be ready.”
Linden chugged breath and a popping sound filled the darkness. “Mere, I’m scared.”
Not as scared as she was, but Linden didn’t need to know that. “Focus on the change. You have to be quiet or they’ll hear you in the car. Be quiet, be calm. And don’t fucking bite me.”
“I’m sorry,” Linden rasped as a snarl ripped from her.
She was going to die in this tiny trunk at the teeth of her best friend. The tragedy of it all was piling up by the second. Linden had survived something horrific, and now she would have to live with killing her. And Tristan…
A sob hunched her into herself as she clutched her ruined arm. She’d finally found a man to match her, and now she would never see him again. Never touch or hold him. Never reassure him he was nothing like his father and that he was worthy of love.
Linden thrashed and growled, and Meredith could tell exactly when it happened—when Linden turned into a wolf and her human was pushed away. Bucking and scrabbling against her back, Linden seemed furious to escape and Meredith tried to stay as still as possible. How much consciousness did she have when she was a wolf? Some? None at all? Would she even remember that they were friends, or would Linden’s wolf demand her death?
Fear writhed inside of her like some serpent, and she swallowed bile as she thought of the few inches that separated her neck from Linden’s sharp, poisonous teeth. She didn’t want to die. And at the miniscule chance she would be changed into a Lycan, well, she didn’t want that either. Linden’s change had been necessary so she could survive the tumor bent on her destruction. Meredith was healthy and happily human. Sure she’d delved into the Lycan world, but only as an outsider looking in. That had been the deal.
Slip the Skin Page 15
