I stood staring, my mouth open, eyes wide for several beats. The thrill of the fight wound tightly inside me like a loaded spring ready to explode. I felt no pain, only pure elation. I forced myself to bend over, bracing my palms on my thighs, taking in several quick breaths. I had to calm down, shut myself off from the adrenaline. But my wolf wanted more, rubbing against my mind like an itch I couldn’t scratch. She demanded we finish what we’d started here.
I had to settle her. We did it, the bad guy is down. Now we have to get ourselves under control, because it’s going be crazy around here any minute. People will be crawling all over. Honestly, I couldn’t have done that without you, but I need to be fully in charge now, and I can’t do it if you fight me. It’s too damn hard to concentrate when my brain is divided. Do you understand?
She gave a frustrated bark, but eased back down.
Someone was calling my name. “Jess! Jess, are you okay?” Nick jogged in my direction. “Jesus Christ, Jess! That was completely insane. I’ve never seen anyone fight like that. I couldn’t even track you, you were moving so fast. I think you might have killed him.” He looked from me to the listless pile of Drake.
I met his eyes and he gasped.
“My God,” he breathed. “Look at your eyes. They’re fully changed. How in the hell are you doing that?”
“They’re still lit?” I gasped between breaths. “I’ve got to calm myself down. When the crowd comes I can’t have glowing yellow eyes. That would be a teensy bit suspicious.”
“Um, Jess?”
“Huh?”
“They’re not … exactly yellow,” Nick said quietly. “They’re actually kind of … purple …”
I rose to a standing position so quickly I almost tossed myself ass backward. I stumbled to get my footing and opened my mouth to tell Nick he had to be out of his frigging mind, but a voice inside my head interrupted me before I could get the words out. Jessica! Jessica, what’s going on! Jessica, are you okay? Goddammit! Answer me this instant!
It’s okay, Dad! I’m here. I put a finger up to Nick and turned and walked a few paces away. I’m fine. There was just … I had a little trouble at work. Are we on an open line here?
No, of course not. Your wolf called to mine and I answered, like I’ve always done when one of mine is in need. Then for some reason … I couldn’t connect with you. I could feel his confusion. I’ve been trying my damnedest to reach out to you ever since. What in the hell is going on down there?
Well. I surveyed the scene in front of me. Jen was quietly weeping and Drake was still unmoving against the tree. It seems I just won a fight against an angry imp who was gunning to kill me. At least I think he was an imp. He was actually stronger than we’d originally anticipated. I wasn’t sure what to say about the next part. And because I underestimated him, I sort of needed … well, I guess you could say I brought my wolf to the forefront to help me get rid of him, but I didn’t shift. If I hadn’t used her, I’m not sure I would’ve won. I glanced over at the pile of Drake bleeding profusely from his face. I think I may have killed him by accident.
There was dead silence in my mind.
Dad? Listen, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to do anything wrong. I honestly don’t know what happened, it all went so fast. A fight like that should’ve taken an hour, but it seemed to happen at warp speed. There was no time to slam on the brakes. I just reacted as best I could. I never should have come out tonight on this run, but I thought I could handle it.
After a long pause, my father said, Jessica, we’ll discuss this later. We have strict Pack rules and guidelines that must be followed. No exceptions. You don’t know our ways yet, so I am going to give you some leeway. Using your wolf is acceptable, but shifting is not. But I’m more concerned about your safety right now. It’s my top priority. Do you need a cleanup crew? I can have James and Danny there in five minutes. All supernaturals had a strict “cleanup” protocol. If we called in the human authorities every time a fight happened between us, our secret would be out with the first dead cadaver. When something with fangs, no working organs, yellow eyes, or pointy ears showed up in the morgue it tended to get noticed. There were breaches, but for the most part every Sect followed the rules.
I considered taking my father up on it. I’d never used a cleanup crew before, and it would be so much easier to have Drake disappear. No, this one will have to be aboveboard. We have a teenage civilian. Something streaked by my peripheral vision. It was Becky. She took one look at Jen, who was lying where Drake had left her, and dropped to her knees, wrapping her arms around her pal crying. Make that two civilians. There’s going to be a huge scene in about ten minutes. Police, ambulances, concerned parents, the whole nine yards.
What can I do?
There’s nothing you can do here. Are you at the Compound?
Yes, I’m here. The wolves are still … in some unrest. I am occupied for the moment.
What about the tranq? I knew Ray would be breathing down my neck as soon as my involvement with Drake came over the wire.
Jace is putting together medical papers for you and he’ll fax them down tomorrow. He’s confident the lab won’t be able to identify the serum. He’s going to label you as having some kind of a seizure disorder.
Got it. Becky was beginning to get hysterical. I have to run.
Jessica? There’s one more thing. I heard—or rather felt—tension in his voice.
Yes?
What I say to you now has to be kept between us at all costs. I can’t stress this enough. Do you understand? Anxiety thrummed through the connection.
Yes, of course I understand. I won’t repeat it.
Tonight? What you did? Blocking me like that? He took a breath. It’s never been done before. There has never been a wolf strong enough to block me the way you just did. I’m fairly certain that’s what you were doing—whether you intended to or not. No matter how much power I pushed toward you, and even though your wolf had called to mine, I couldn’t break through. I felt his fear then. Jessica, I felt all your emotions … and I couldn’t do a damn thing to control them.
Well, fuck.
8
As predicted, the scene was chaos in under ten minutes. Huge spotlights drenched every inch of our little pocket of grass. It was lit up like a stadium during the Super Bowl. The place was crawling with reporters, cops, firefighters, curious moviegoers, theater staff, and a double set of furious parents.
Nick and I sat half perched out of a squad car, giving our statements to the attending officers. Thankfully, Ray hadn’t shown up yet, but there was little doubt he would materialize soon enough.
I hoped I’d be excused before then, but it seemed doubtful.
“Okay, Ms. Hannon. We have what we need for now. Someone will be in contact with you soon. Mr. Jensen’s final condition”—the female cop nodded toward the ambulance—“will affect this process, as you know.” She meant, if Drake managed to survive, I would be expected to testify in court, and if he died, well, there would most likely be a detailed investigation into his death. I wasn’t looking forward to either scenario.
Before we put a call in to 911, Nick had persuaded both girls, changing the story of what had really happened to something easier to swallow. Poor Jen would retain most of her “before” part clearly—but watching me almost kill her attacker bare-handed with stupefying speed had been tweaked as necessary. In the spirit of things, Nick had even coaxed her out of severe shock before the paramedics arrived, which had been a big task because he’d also had the wailing Becky to contend with.