by Dakota Rebel
He shook his head then walked out the door without another word. I wasn’t sure what that meant, but he hadn’t put a bullet in Jarrod’s head. For the moment, it would have to do. I turned to see Jarrod standing by the balcony doors, staring out onto the street. I walked up behind him and put my arms around his waist, laying a light kiss on his shoulder.
“We have to talk about this.”
“I know,” he said. “But Mitch, I can’t give up Skip. I have been covering for him for years. I’ve helped him hide the bodies. I’ve protected him from people who have tried to kill him before. I won’t let you hurt him. I’d rather die by your hand than let anything bad happen to him.”
“You might want to rethink that.” I turned him around and made him face me. I kissed a tear from each of his cheeks before pulling him into my arms. “I have to tell you what Skip’s been saying to me lately. And I don’t think you’re going to like it. I just hope you can believe me, because I wouldn’t lie to you. Not about this.”
I led him back to the sofa, pulling him against me with my arm over his shoulders, and I told him what Skip had said to me. All of it. What he had said he would do to Reagan that night at Torque, what we’d talked about at the party, everything.
Jarrod sat stoically as I talked. He didn’t seem to even breathe. His body was rigid against me, but he didn’t make me move, didn’t make me stop touching him. I think that for him, like me, it had all gotten so awful so fast that he needed the physical contact.
When I stopped talking, he took a shaky breath. He looked up at me, his eyes dry but a sad expression on his face.
“Why? What could he possibly gain from any of this?”
“I think he’s still in love with you,” I said softly.
“No. He’s jealous or angry or something, but Skip made it clear to me a long time ago that we were over. I don’t know why he’s stuck around at all. Maybe he was afraid I’d spill his secret.” Jarrod gave me a small smile, but there was no happiness in it. “He’s a crossbreed of vampire and werewolf. They are not very common, and they’re hated fiercely by both races because of what’s required to achieve such a thing.”
I opened my mouth to ask him what that meant, but he shook his head.
“I don’t want to talk about that right now. Maybe, someday, but right now there are more important things.”
It was my turn to go still. I remembered him saying earlier that Skip was not a true vampire, but I hadn’t thought to question it at the time. Listening to Jarrod spill his story to me, it had all started to click into place.
“That’s why those photos didn’t make sense to you,” he continued. “Because they weren’t vampire kills. They were werewolf victims. I don’t know how the Army got pictures of me with the bodies, though. Skip was always so careful when he dumped the bodies, but I still ended up burying them for him just in case, to make sure he never got caught.”
“I don’t know, but whoever took those pictures sent them to the Army to frame you. And the military didn’t care who. They just knew someone had handed over a big pile of evidence. A cut-and-dry case. There were no hard facts about the bodies because the Army never saw them. They looked at the pictures and made up the details as they went.” I didn’t want to tell him I believed it was Skip who had set him up. I hadn’t really figured out why he would have done it—unless he thought someone would figure out it was him, and he needed a convenient scapegoat. But if he loved Jarrod as he claimed to, it just didn’t make sense that he would try to get him killed.
“So what happens now?”
I knew what he was asking, and to be honest, I wasn’t sure. Dad had made it clear that there was no way to cancel a contract once it was made. But there had to have been cases of mistaken identity before. They couldn’t really expect me to kill an innocent man.
“I don’t know,” I said finally.
“I have to go. I have to find Skip and talk to him.” He stood up, sliding his feet into his shoes. He leaned down and kissed me softly on the lips. “I’ll come back tonight…if I can.”
“Be careful,” I called after him. The only answer was the sound of the door closing behind him.
I lay back on the sofa, staring at the ceiling. I only had to wait about five minutes before Dad let himself back in the apartment. The jangling keys ruined my image of how he got in all the time.
“Mitch?” He sat in the chair facing me. “I understand that you love him, but the Army won’t. Do you get that? The best that will happen if this gets fucked up is that they’ll have the Feds fire you. But honestly, you could be lucky to even get out alive. These people don’t fuck around. Especially since one of the vics was a general’s nephew.”
Well, that explained the urgency.
“They can’t expect me to kill someone who hasn’t done anything wrong. I have never asked you for anything, Sir. But I’m asking now. I need to tell you what’s been going on then I need you to help me. Please?”
He nodded, and I started talking. I explained who Skip was, what he’d been doing, Jarrod’s role in everything, and how the Army had received their evidence. I left out the fact that his daughter had been…keeping Skip company. I figured it wasn’t relevant to the case and I could handle that particular problem without his help. He listened to all of it, nodding occasionally, but never interrupting.
“I’ll see what I can do about Jarrod. For now, you have approval from your C.O. to hold off on the hit. I’m going to make some phone calls and, at the very least, get a contract out in Skip’s name. I can’t promise you anything, but I will try my damnedest get you off this case. I have a feeling your boyfriend might take offense to you killing his friend.”
I gripped his hand tightly, patting his back with my other hand in a display of the only affection I was ever allowed to show to him. We saluted each other, and he left. I shut the door behind him, leaning back on it. Exhaustion caught up to me, and I slid down the door to sit on the floor. I lay my head backward and stared up at the ceiling.
It was all too much, too fast. Jarrod, Skip, Dad, Reagan. It was unreal, surreal even. I just hoped that my father would really be able to save my lover’s life.
Chapter Thirteen
I woke up to the sound of someone beating against my skull. I opened my eyes, looking around the room in confusion for a minute. I realized I had fallen asleep on the floor, and someone was knocking on the door.
I scrambled to my feet, opening the door to find Jarrod standing there, his clothes covered in blood. I pulled him into my arms, leading us backward into the room and kicking the door closed with my foot.
Jarrod sobbed, his whole body shaking as he clung to me. I ran a hand over his hair, holding his head to my shoulder while he cried. After a few minutes, his body stilled in my arms and his breathing started to even out. I continued to hold him, wanting him to pull away rather than me pushing him. Finally, after clinging to me a little while longer, he backed away.
“Do you want to sit?” I asked. I felt so stupid and awkward. I didn’t know what to do for him.
He nodded. He kept his gaze on the floor, and his hand clenched around mine. I led him to couch, easing him down next to me. I put my arm around his shoulder, squeezing softly. He took a few deep breaths, wiped at his eyes then turned to face me.
“It’s Skip. He was waiting for me when I got home. As soon as I opened the door, he tackled me. He said he could smell you on me, that he’d warned you to stay away from me. He was so angry.” Jarrod took another deep breath. I kissed his forehead which earned me a small smile.
“Jarrod, did he hurt you?” I wanted to know where the blood had come from, but I didn’t want to be so blunt as to flat out ask. Jarrod was so shaken. I didn’t need to make it worse.
“No, not really. I mean, he knocked me around a little but nothing major.” He stared at his hands. He seemed to have suddenly realized he was covered in blood because his eyes went wide and he turned his hands over and over. It was splattered up his arms and ac
ross his chest, too.
“I can’t believe I didn’t get arrested on the way here.” He gave a little laugh. “I wasn’t really thinking about the blood. It’s from Skip’s latest victim. He told me he’d been so angry when I wasn’t home yet that he’d gone crazy. He said he doesn’t remember doing it, but there was a body in the apartment. It was so mangled I don’t even know if it was male or female. He was sitting on the floor next to it crying. He didn’t want to tell me, but I finally got him to promise me it wasn’t Reagan.”
I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. “Are you sure? You’re absolutely fucking positive my sister is okay?”
“I didn’t say that. I said the body wasn’t hers. He wouldn’t tell me where she is. I didn’t see her at the apartment, but I know he was with her tonight. I don’t think he would hurt her, though. In his own sick way, I think he really likes Reagan.”
I didn’t say it to him, but he had just killed Skip with those words. Even if the case got reassigned to a different hunter, I would take the hit. I wanted to find him and murder him with my bare hands if I could manage it.
“Mitch, what are you thinking? I don’t like that look in your eyes. Please tell me you aren’t going to do anything stupid.”
I grabbed my phone off the table and dialed Reagan’s number. It went straight to voicemail. I tried Mom’s house and got her machine, too. It was awfully late for them to be out, and Mom always answered the phone. It didn’t matter what time it was.
I was about to call my father when Jarrod’s cell phone went off. He answered it and looked at me. He nodded with his hand up, telling me to keep my mouth shut. He didn’t say anything, just sat and listened for a minute.
When he hung up he stood and walked over to me. He gripped my arms, staring into my eyes.
“Mitch, I need you to stay calm for me, okay? Everything is going to be all right. Skip has your sister, but he swears he hasn’t hurt her. He wants us to come get her. I don’t know what he’s planning, but we have to go. We have to get to her before the sun comes up, or I’m not sure what he’ll do. I’ve never seen him like this.”
I pulled away from Jarrod and walked to the office to start loading up on weapons. I wasn’t sure what would kill a crossbreed. I had to imagine they were pretty tough fuckers, so I figured I would grab one of everything I could carry.
Jarrod stood at the door watching me strap guns to myself. “He’s not going to let you in there with weapons, Mitch.”
“So what? We go in there unarmed and let him kill us all?”
“He’s not going to—”
“Stop. Just stop it, Jarrod.” I walked over to him. “I know you love him. But Skip is seriously fucked up. And if he hurts Reagan, I swear to Christ I am going to watch him bleed to death as painfully as I can make it happen. If you can’t deal with that then I’m sorry. You’re not going to change my mind on this.”
He reached up, running a hand over my cheek. “This is all my fault. If I had left you alone the night of the concert, none of this would be happening. If I hadn’t invited you back stage—”
I cut him off again. “If I hadn’t met you that night, I would have killed you. You would be dead, and Skip would still be out there killing. No matter what happens tonight, I will never be sorry I met you. Never be sorry I fell in love with you.”
Our arms wrapped tightly around each other as he kissed me hard and fast. If we hadn’t been in the middle of a crisis, I would have ripped off his clothes and kissed every inch of his skin. I would have spent the last hours before dawn exploring his body with my hands and my mouth. But that would have to wait.
“If we make it through this, you are going to live here until I am done with your body,” I said, pulling away from his kiss. “I am going to fuck you until you beg me to quit and maybe for a while after.”
“We are going to save your sister. We are going to be fine. And good luck ever getting me out of here after that.”
I dumped most of the weapons back into the safe. I still took a few guns with me, though I was sure Skip would demand I hand them over. On the off chance he was so crazy he didn’t notice I had them, I wanted something that could help us get out of there alive.
* * * *
Jarrod led me through a door on the side of the building. We were walking toward the large freight elevator that led to the living space when I stopped him with a hand on his arm. I pulled my gun from its shoulder holster and clicked off the safety.
I thought I’d seen movement from the corner of my eye. But when I turned in that direction, no one was there. I eased off the trigger just as I was hit from behind. I tumbled to the floor and heard my gun go sliding across the cement. Fuck, that shit was only supposed to happen in terrible action movies.
“Glad you could make it, Mitch,” Skip growled into my ear. I saw his arms were in wolf form so I held as still as I could. I didn’t want him infecting me if I could help it.
“Where is she, Skip?” Jarrod stood close, but I couldn’t see him.
“Who? Oh, Reagan? She had to go home. It’s past her bedtime. Besides, it would have been rude to have a girl around when I was expecting company.” He licked my cheek. “And what delicious company he is, too.”
It was a trap, and we’d both fallen for it.
A shot went off, and suddenly, I could move again. I jumped to my feet, sweeping the room to see where Skip had gone. I saw Jarrod standing with one of my guns in his hand. He must have shot at Skip, but I didn’t see the werewolf.
“Where did he go?” I think I was yelling. The shot had been fired a little too close for comfort.
“I don’t kn—”
Skip landed on Jarrod the way he must have launched himself at me. But Jarrod had turned, so he faced Skip. The gun went off again and Skip’s body jerked, but he kept Jarrod pinned to the ground.
“Skip, stop! Let him go!”
Skip lifted Jarrod’s head and slammed it down into the cement. He stood, giving me a clear view of Jarrod laying in a puddle of blood, his eyes closed. I tried to run to him, but Skip stood in my way.
Now that I saw him clearly, I was more scared of Skip than I’d thought I would be. He looked as if he had only half-shifted. His face was slightly elongated, protruding his fangs out but not turned into a full muzzle. His chest, arms and hands were covered in black fur that reached all the way to razor-sharp claws. His clothes were tattered and covered in blood.
“Where is my sister?”
“Probably at home, tucked safely into her bed and dreaming of the day she and I will run away together. Visions of puppies and such floating through her pretty little head.”
Skip walked toward me as he talked, and I backed up in time with him. Not running exactly, but I didn’t want him to get any closer to me. Unfortunately, I was about to run out of space. I was getting closer and closer to the wall, and he just kept coming.
“Reagan likes puppies. She and Jarrod and I are going to be very happy together. It’s a shame you won’t be there to see it. There’s just no room in our lives for you, Mitch. Reagan has outgrown you, and Jarrod doesn’t need you. He needs me. He loves me. Always has. Always will.”
I bumped into the wall, out of space to get away. Skip raised a clawed hand, but before he could cut me, Jarrod grabbed his arm, spinning him around.
“How dare you?” Jarrod screamed at him. “You have told me so many times that we are never going to be more than we are now. What the fuck is wrong with you? I know you set me up. I know you sent the military those pictures, to get them to kill me and take the heat off of you. To be rid of me forever. And now, you’re acting like a spoiled child who doesn’t want anything to do with a discarded toy until someone else shows interest in it.” Tears rolled down Jarrod’s face, but he didn’t seem to notice. “I’m not a toy, Skip. I am not something that you can put away until that special rainy day you want to play with me again. You have broken my heart more times than I care to count. And I have let you, because I thought
that I loved you.”
“You thought you loved me?” Skip laughed, a horrible sound that felt like broken glass under my skin. “You have followed me around for years. Pining for me, begging me to take you, and then this…thing comes along, and I don’t exist anymore. I don’t matter.” Skip pointed at me, a clawed finger outstretched and pushed into my chest, breaking the skin until blood seeped around it. “Who the hell is this guy? Why is he so fucking special? What is it about him that makes you not love me anymore?”
With every question, his claw dug deeper into my chest until I couldn’t hold back the cry of pain anymore. Skip smiled wickedly, twisting the claw to open my flesh more.
I couldn’t believe how badly it hurt. I’d been cut up before. I’d been stabbed and even shot once. But I had never felt pain like this. It was as if he were able to put the pain from my skin right into my skull. My entire body burned with the torture of it. I felt my body sliding down the wall, felt the world going black around the edges. I didn’t know what he was doing to me, and I didn’t seem to be able to move.
“Skip, no!” Jarrod hit Skip at the waist, taking him to the floor. I screamed at the feel of Skip’s claw tearing through my skin, but he wasn’t in my head anymore. I could breathe again, which I hadn’t realized I wasn’t doing until that first breath of sweet air filled my lungs.
I fell to the ground coughing, unable to focus on what Jarrod and Skip were doing. I heard them struggling, but my vision still swam.
The unmistakable sound of Jarrod’s screams forced me to my feet. I was unstable still, but I knew he was in trouble. I had to try to save him. I pulled free the gun from my ankle holster but left on the safety since I couldn’t see anything clearly.
“Jarrod? Talk to me damn it. Are you all right?” I watched for shadows, trying not to focus too hard on any one object. Instead, I tried to keep everything in perspective, hoping I would notice a big, dark blur if Skip rushed me again. But it looked as if they were both still on the floor.
