Then it hit me.
The two of them were related? I hadn’t picked up on it before, but the family resemblance was obvious seeing them next to each other now. Using violence and threats to solve all of their problems must run in the family. Jack’s expression was decidedly unamused. He didn’t appear happy to see me at all. Not that I was much surprised by this.
“Shiarra, I didn’t think I’d ever see you again. Not in daylight.”
I forced a thin smile. “No need to worry about that. I’m not planning on turning into a walking corpse anytime soon.” No, I just might turn into something else. Something worse.
“Why are you here?”
What at an excellent question. I wasn’t about to tell him it was because I could no longer afford to hide with Royce. The vampire most likely would have tried to prevent me from carrying out the plan I had formed to get rid of Chaz and his pack, and I didn’t have enough time to risk being detained. The White Hats were my best shot at ensuring the Sunstrikers were destroyed before the next full moon.
The werewolves needed to be stopped before any other innocent bystanders got hurt or killed because of a connection to the werewolves. If I turned into a monster at the end of the month, I’d be one of them. It was imperative that I found and stopped Chaz, Dillon, and any of the other Sunstrikers who were responsible for the deaths of a number of people who had been infected outside of a legally binding contract with an Other and then killed before they could press charges. Even if not for myself or those other victims, I owed it to Jim Pradiz, also murdered—most likely due to his last big story that leaked the names of the victims and the local Were packs involved—to do my best to stop them.
I met Jack’s expectant gaze with a steady look of my own, praying he would consider my request. After how I’d walked out on him and the rest of the White Hats some months ago, declaring them too extremist for my tastes, to join forces with Royce against Max Carlyle, it wouldn’t be out of line for him to flip me off and send me on my merry way.
“I’m here to ask for your help. There isn’t an easy way for me to say this, and I’m too tired for tact. There’s a chance I might become a Were at the next full moon.”
Nikki stared. Jack said nothing, a tic starting in his cheek.
“I came here because someone from my ex’s pack might have infected me. I want to find him. I want to make him and the rest of the Sunstrikers pay.” I left out the part about what Chaz had done. He might have been the alpha of the Sunstriker pack, but he was a poor decision maker, and I wanted cheating on me to be the last mistake he ever made. “There are people after me, including police. If I do turn into one of... into an Other at the end of the month, I know I can trust you to end it. Until then, I need a place to stay, and someone to work with me to find where the Weres are hiding. Will you help me?”
Nikki’s wide-eyed stare grew into a rather unbecoming gawp that made me want to walk over to shut her mouth, if only my feet didn’t hurt so much.
For his part, Jack wasn’t showing any emotion. His only reaction was to lift one hand to rub at the pale stubble on his jaw. I think it’s the first time I’d ever seen him anything but clean-shaven.
He edged around Nikki and rested both palms flat on the display case as he loomed over it. The intensity of his gaze was a bit much, and I found I couldn’t meet his eyes directly as he examined me.
“You realize what you’re asking? You know what we’ll do if you turn?”
That question gave me enough courage to meet his eyes again. “Yes, I know. I’m counting on it.”
His smile, white and shark-like, sent a shiver down my spine. “Welcome to the White Hats.”
Chapter 3
“Not that I’m not pleased that you came to us first, but what changed your mind? As I recall, you were more interested in siding with the monsters last time we spoke.”
The smell of the place—cigarette smoke and stale beer—was getting under my skin. Though I was bordering on too-tired-to-care territory, I used the back of my hand to rub at my eyes, hoping I wasn’t grinding dirt under the lids. “Yeah, I know.”
Nikki gave a growl that would have done a Were proud. “That’s it? Just ‘I know’? No apology?”
It took a great deal of effort to muster the energy to give Nikki a glare, but once I did, her already pale skin whitened, and she couldn’t meet my gaze. There was something eminently satisfying about her reaction, but it also gave me the feeling I was turning into something I didn’t want. Forcing my eyes away, staring at some of the pithy T-shirts and posters plastering the walls behind the counter, I mustered up the apology she and Jack so obviously wanted.
“I’m sorry. You were right when you warned me not to trust them. Blind, stupid luck is all that’s kept me alive this far. I’m surprised I survived that vacation, to be honest. Though I’m wondering how you knew something bad would happen to me there, Jack. You tried to warn me ahead of time. How did you know something was up?”
Jack had folded his arms over the counter and was using it to support most of his weight. He shifted, his boots squeaking on the cheap tile, not answering me right away. He coughed and mumbled something, so I dragged my attention back to him to see what was wrong.
So help me, the man was blushing.
“Come on, Jack,” I said, smiling despite myself. “You can tell me.”
The big bad hunter covered his eyes with one hand. “We never stopped watching you. Didn’t have a choice.”
Didn’t have a choice? That sounded ominous. Odd to think the hunter was embarrassed about spying on me. Or maybe it was due to his failure to recruit me?
“I kept hoping you’d change your mind. Leave the leeches and the dogs alone. There was some word on the local OtherNet message board that the Sunstrikers were planning a trip, and that you’d be going with them. There was a group of people calling themselves the Nightstrikers who were making threats and saying they were going to cause some kind of trouble.”
“Oh,” I said, unable to think of something more coherent to give in response. This was not the first time I’d heard of the OtherNet, but things were becoming clearer to me now. I’d have to investigate it further, once I had access to a computer again.
“I should have stopped it somehow. Should have known there would be trouble like this.”
Nikki lightly punched his shoulder. “Don’t start that shit again....”
“Jack, please don’t beat yourself up over it. Nobody could have foreseen the trouble I ran into out there. The Nightstrikers weren’t after me, they were after Chaz. They’re decent guys, and they wouldn’t have hurt me.”
I hated to think that Jack was looking like hell because he had been worried about me, but I was starting to suspect it. He took his work far too seriously.
His icy response made me blink and wonder whether I’d really seen that chink in his emotional armor at all.
“You don’t understand, do you? Don’t you know why I wanted you to join us?”
I blinked at this sudden turn in topic. This conversation was giving me whiplash. “Uh, no. Not really.” I couldn’t say I had cared before now, either.
Jack rose to his full height, which would have been more impressive if he wasn’t skinny as a rail. He came around the counter and pulled out a chair across from me, studying me intently. I shifted uncomfortably under that probing look, finding both the topic and his scrutiny to be out of place. Though I’d known in advance that this conversation was coming, I had hoped he wouldn’t want to hash all this out right from the start.