“Up against another alpha?”
His jaw hardened.
“He’d be able to take down your men, just as easily as you would. And there’s no way I can put human cops out there against him.” That would be a serious blood bath. “No, we need to find him. You and I. We can catch him unaware. Stop the bastard.”
“It might not even be this Quint Laurel—”
“No, but you talk to him for two seconds, and we’ll know if it is or not.” She stepped around him and shoved open the door that led to the stairwell. She rushed down the stairs, her thudding footsteps echoing around her. Aidan was close behind.
“Your brother is here.”
She grabbed onto the railing so she wouldn’t fall. Jane whipped her head back to face Aidan. “What?”
“When you were hurt, you called out for him. I…I wanted to help you, so I got my wolves to find him. Werewolves are good at tracking.”
Her cheeks felt numb. “I didn’t need to track him. I knew where he was all along. Safely away from me.”
“Jane, he wants to help you.”
Tears burned her eyes. “Aidan, what have you done?”
“He’s outside. He’s here to help,” Aidan said again. His voice was halting, more hesitant than she’d ever heard him before. “Jane, I want you happy. I did this…so you’d be happy.”
She swiped at the tears on her cheeks. Dammit, she cried way too much lately. That shit had to stop. “You ever think there’s a reason I haven’t seen him in so long? Aidan, jeez, look at me! I’m a magnet for monsters!”
He flinched.
“That’s not what I meant. You’re not what I meant.”
“You sure about that?”
She swallowed. “Vampires. Werewolves. That’s my life now. It isn’t his. He’s normal. You saw that, right?” Now her voice was hopeful. Because…
I don’t know. Maybe he is like me. Maybe I’m about to ruin my brother’s life, too.
“He’s normal,” Aidan said softly.
Her shoulders fell. Aidan’s words were both a relief and a condemnation. I was the different one. It was because of me that Drew lost his whole family. I brought the vampires. They wanted me.
Because I’m the end.
“He loves you.”
She started hurrying down the stairs again. “I want him safe.”
“He wants to pay back his debt to you. He didn’t help you when you were kids, and he wants the chance now.”
What? She didn’t stop, though adrenaline pumped through her body. “He’s the one who got me out of that basement. Drew owes me nothing.”
When she reached the bottom floor, Jane shoved open the stairwell door and raced outside. The sky was cloudy. Too dark. And there, just a few feet away, with his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes on her…
There was her brother.
“Drew?” Jane stared at him, absolutely lost. For a moment, she was a child again, huddled with her brother as they waited for police to arrive at their house. Her hand had gripped his so tightly. He’d been her whole world.
“Mary Jane.” He smiled at her and looked so freaking happy to see her.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Jane whispered. “I’m working a case.”
Drew took a step toward her. “You look good.”
You shouldn’t be here.
“I-I know, Mary Jane,” Drew said, his words stammering. “About the vampires. About the werewolves. About everything.”
Her gaze swung to Aidan. “What did you do?”
“I know,” Drew said doggedly. “And I’m not scared.”
Liar. She could practically smell his fear. Her desperate stare flew back to her brother.
“We can stop them, Mary Jane,” Drew said. “We can stop them all…”
And that was when she knew that things were very, very bad.
I stayed away from Drew for a reason. He stopped being the man I knew…he was fanatical. I thought I was making him worse, that by leaving he’d get better, that it was me…
But maybe it had been him. All along…
Drew reached into his jacket and pulled out a gun.
“What in the hell is happening?” Aidan snarled. “He was under my control.”
“No, I wasn’t.” Drew’s chin lifted. “And I won’t let my sister be, either. She’d never choose a monster. Never. I won’t let you do this to her!”
He fired the gun, blasting it right at Aidan.
Jane didn’t think. Didn’t even pause. She just threw her body in front of his.
The bullet slammed into her chest. She heard Aidan scream. She heard Drew scream.
Blood soaked her shirt and pain tore her world apart.
In the next instant, Jane was on the ground, gasping, trying to take in a breath but something was wrong with her lungs. Aidan’s hands grabbed her. He held her tight. “Jane! Jane!”
Her gaze slid to Drew. He was going to shoot again. “No,” Jane whispered because she couldn’t protect Aidan. Not now. She was too weak. And he was too focused on her to protect himself.
The thunder of the gun came once more. In the distance, she heard someone screaming. The kids on campus? Panicking because there was an active shooter. Run. Everyone needs to run.
Aidan jerked and she knew the bullet had hit him, but he didn’t let her go. He rose with her in his arms.
“Leave my sister alone!” Drew roared.
Aidan took a step away from him.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Three shots. One had burned across her arm before it sank into Aidan’s chest. Aidan stared down at her. She wanted to speak but a rough whistle was the only sound coming from her lips.
I can’t breathe. I can’t get any air.
“Love…you…” Aidan whispered.
And then he fell. Her strong, big, bad, fierce wolf fell, and she tumbled from his arms. Jane barely felt the impact when she slammed into the concrete. Her body rolled down the few steps there and when she stopped, she was staring up at her brother.
He still had the gun in his hands. “Don’t worry, Mary Jane. I’ll make sure he stays down.”
A shadow moved behind Drew. Fast. One that hadn’t been there before. It just—appeared.
Stop him. She couldn’t say the words. She tried. Tried so hard.
Stop. Him! Stop my brother!
And then the shadow took shape. Vincent stood behind her brother. His hand lifted and he grabbed her brother. His fangs flashed as he ripped into Drew’s throat. Drew fired but the bullet seemed to go wild.
It didn’t hit Aidan.
My werewolf guards. They have to be somewhere close on campus. Aidan had been making sure she had extra security since the last attack. The guards were there—they would come running soon.
She just had to hold on a bit longer.
But she felt so cold.
“This is how it ends,” Vincent’s voice wasn’t smug. Not happy. Just flat. He was standing over her now. “Are you ready?”
Ready to die? No. No, she wasn’t. Jane’s hands flew out to grab the steps around her, and she tried to haul her body toward Aidan. If she got his blood, everything would be all right. She’d be strong again. She’d dig the bullets out of his body—they had to be silver because she’d seen the smoke coming from him when he’d first been hit—and he’d be okay, too. They’d both make it.
They’d live to fight and love another day.
She pulled her body a few desperate inches.
“No, Jane.” Vincent crouched in front of her. Now his voice was sad. “That isn’t your end.”
Aidan. She couldn’t even say his name. And black dots were dancing before her eyes.
“You won’t get his blood this time. He won’t save you.” Vincent’s hand feathered over her face. “Be content knowing that you saved him.”
That terrible whistle came from her again as she fought so hard to say Aidan’s name.
“The bullet went into your lungs. You’re drowning in your own blood. It’s
a terrible way to go, Jane. Needless suffering.” His hand slid down her throat in a soothing caress. “I don’t like to watch anyone suffer.”
No, no, he couldn’t—
“After the end,” Vincent murmured, “the beginning comes.”
What?
He snapped her neck.
The whistling stopped. The black dots vanished.
Everything vanished.
Chapter Fourteen
It was a blood bath. Paris rushed toward the steps of the college, his beast raging inside of him. He’d gotten to the scene just moments ago because when he’d gone to Hell’s Gate, Garrison had told him that Aidan had gone to the campus in order to help Jane. That they had a lead on the werewolf killer in town.
I wanted to give Aidan back-up. I was supposed to always watch his back.
Paris saw the two werewolves who’d been assigned to guard Jane, only they weren’t guarding her. They were crouched over Aidan’s prone body.
No. A roar broke from him. College kids had scattered, probably at the first blast of gunfire—smart freaking kids. So no one was watching as he leapt up the steps and bounded to Aidan’s side.
I can smell the silver in him.
No one was watching when his claws burst from his fingertips and Paris drove them into Aidan’s chest. Paris knew he had to get the bullets out. If Aidan was going to live…I have to get them out.
The silver bullets burned his fingers, but he didn’t care. He got one bullet. Another. The third…fuck, it was close to his heart. “Get Dr. Bob on stand-by,” he ordered the guards. Guards who’d been fucking useless from the look of things. But they desperately needed the doctor because even with Aidan’s healing powers, the guy would still need help.
One of the werewolf guards immediately backed away and yanked out his phone.
“Where the hell were you two?” Paris demanded. “You were supposed to protect them.” He pulled out another bullet, only this one had splintered. Fucking pieces of silver are in him.
“H-he said he had this,” one of the guards mumbled. “When Aidan arrived, he told us to—to back off a bit. He was with her brother. It was supposed to be safe.”
And for an instant, the red haze of fear that had nearly blinded Paris cleared. He’d been focused just on Aidan. He’d seen his friend, his alpha, lying so motionless. I was afraid I was too late. But the red haze had cleared a bit and now he saw…
Jane.
Not moving.
Not…breathing?
Oh, fuck.
“H-help m-me…” A desperate cry. Paris’s gaze jerked toward the man who’d given that cry. A man with dark hair. With Jane’s dark eyes. Blood pumped from wounds on his throat. “Vamp…attacked me,” he gasped. “K-Killed my sister…”
Paris’s nostrils flared. “You fired the gun. I can smell the gun powder on you. You shot Aidan.”
His claws were still in Aidan’s chest. He pulled out another shard of silver.
“I’m…h-her…brother…m-my M-Mary J-Jane…” More blood pumped from those wounds on the guy’s throat.
Paris touched another tiny piece of silver. He yanked it from Aidan’s chest.
And then Aidan’s hand flew up in a flash. His fingers locked tightly around Paris’s wrist. “Jane.” The name was guttural.
I can’t tell him.
Sirens screamed in the distance. “We have to get out of here,” Paris said. “Human cops are going to be on the scene any minute.” Because what the fuck else would happen when someone started shooting on a college campus? The SWAT team will be coming. It will be a war scene.
“Jane.” Aidan’s breathing was labored, the lines on his face deeper, and he was so pale—like death. “Need…Jane…give her…blood…save…h-her…”
There is no saving her now, my friend.
Aidan’s hold tightened on Paris’s wrist. The bones were grinding together. “Get…me…to Jane…”
“You can’t help her, Aidan.” It hurt to say the words. “She’s…”
Aidan shoved him back. The alpha had been barely breathing moments before, but Aidan’s shove sent Paris flying through the air. Aidan dragged his body to Jane. He stared down at her a moment, his expression utterly lost and broken.
Then he reached out to her. He touched her face. “Jane?”
Paris pushed to his feet. “We have to get out of here.” He motioned to the two guards. “We have to take the alpha.” They would understand what he meant. The alpha was going to fight them like hell.
His world is about to implode. If they didn’t get him away from the humans, Paris wasn’t sure what would happen. He could already hear the pop and snap of Aidan’s bones. The alpha’s wolf wanted out.
Paris shoved his hand into his pocket. His fingers closed over the syringe that he’d been carrying, just in case.
Because Annette isn’t usually wrong.
“Jane?” Now her name was louder, more demanding as it burst from Aidan. The alpha used his teeth to slice open his wrist and then he put that bleeding wrist to her mouth. “Drink, Jane. Drink.”
It was ripping his heart out to watch his friend suffer. Paris eased toward Aidan. “The cops are coming.” Cops who weren’t in on the whole paranormal secret. “We have to go.”
“Drink, Jane.” Aidan kept his wrist at her mouth. “Please.”
Jane’s chest was bloody and her neck was tilted at an…unnatural angle. Her eyes were closed. Her body totally still. It was obvious she was dead. It was also obvious that Aidan wasn’t going to let her go.
“Jane.” Aidan pulled her against him, holding her tight. “No, Jane, no. Don’t do this to me.”
The two werewolf guards closed in on Aidan. They reached out to him.
“Stay the fuck away!” Aidan’s roar echoed around them.
The werewolves froze. They looked at Paris.
The sirens were louder.
“Jane.” Aidan began to rock her in his arms. Tears slid down his face. Paris had never seen the alpha cry before that moment. “Don’t leave me. I don’t…I don’t want to be without you. Please, Jane, please…”
She’d already left. The alpha had to see that.
But how long will she stay gone? Unease slithered through Paris.
“I love you, Mary Jane,” Aidan whispered. “You are my world. The person who always makes me smile. You bring me so much happiness…why, Jane, why? Why did you take that fucking bullet?”
Paris didn’t know what Aidan was talking about. “We have to leave.” They had only moments before the cops were there. And he could see a few of the college kids peeking out at them now.
“Help m-me!” That pain-filled bellow came from Jane’s brother.
Still alive.
Still—
Aidan’s head slowly turned toward the human.
Goosebumps rose on Paris’s arms.
“You’re dead,” Aidan told the younger man. “Dead. And it will be a long, slow, terrible death. I will peel the skin from your body. I will make you scream. I will ensure that you leave this world in more agony than anyone else can imagine.”
Oh, shit. This scene was getting bad.
Paris slowly pulled the syringe from his pocket. He didn’t want to do this. “Aidan…we have to leave.”
But Aidan was still rocking Jane in his arms and his gaze still promised death to her brother. “Are you ready to see my hell?”
Paris couldn’t let that happen. The police were almost there. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. Then he lunged toward his alpha, the syringe gripped tightly in his hand. He sank the needle into Aidan’s back. The alpha roared. His claws flew out and slashed across Paris’s stomach and then—
Then Aidan collapsed, falling down so that his body was over Jane’s, and their faces were just inches apart.
Paris’s breath heaved out and his chest jerked as he stared down at his alpha…and at Jane. She looked almost peaceful right then. Hardly like some terrible, sinister threat.
She will be.
Paris grabbed Aidan. He slung the alpha over his shoulder. And he gave Jane one last look. I will remember you as you were.
And not as she’d become.
“What about him?” One of the werewolves jerked his hand toward Jane’s brother. The guy wasn’t calling out any longer. He barely seemed to be breathing.
“Leave him.” There was enough blood already on the ground. And too many witnesses lurking nearby. Eyes were on them now. “Let the cops deal with him.”
Or maybe Jane’s brother would die from his injuries in the next few moments. Save them all the effort.
Maybe…
Paris rushed toward his vehicle, Aidan was still slung over his shoulder. He jumped inside, the others helping him to secure Aidan. Moments later, he was gunning the engine and racing away.
He didn’t let himself look back at Jane. What was the point? The woman he’d known was gone. Soon enough, Aidan would understand that.
Just as…soon enough…the alpha would have to stop the beast that Jane would become.
***
“I’ve never seen the alpha like this.” Dr. Bob Heider was obviously hesitant as he studied Aidan’s prone form.
They were inside Aidan’s office at Hell’s Gate. Paris had gotten them to the nearest safe place so that Heider could examine the alpha’s wounds.
But the wounds are already closing.
“He’s out cold,” Heider continued. “But his vitals are good. The wounds are healing rapidly and—”
“I drugged him,” Paris said. “So don’t focus on him being unconscious. Just…just check everything else, okay?”
“You drugged your alpha?” Heider’s mouth formed an “O” of surprise.
“Yes, well, it was either drug him or watch the guy peel skin from a human’s body in front of who the hell knows how many college kids.” It was already going to be a bitch handling the situation from the campus. When Aidan was back to normal—when, not if, when—then the alpha could do some serious damage control. Aidan would need to make sure plenty of people forgot all about the events of that day.
Paris raked his hand over his face. “Look, right now, priority one is making sure Aidan is all right. So finish examining him, okay?”
“He’s fine. You got the silver out. You saved him.”
No, I didn’t. Sure, he’d gotten out the silver, but Paris thought Jane may have saved the alpha long before he’d arrived on scene. But Paris hadn’t gotten the full story about what happened. Not yet. He figured Jane’s brother was the one who knew that particular tale. “Finish his exam,” Paris ordered once more, then he turned and marched from the room. He wasn’t the least bit surprised to find Garrison pacing just outside of Aidan’s office.