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I wasn’t about to drop the bracer, which meant I couldn’t bite the hand that held me. But I could kick backwards for all I was worth. Maybe my toenails would catch on the guard’s skin....
No dice. The foot he wasn’t holding skittered off his clothing. The guard swore and clenched down tighter on my other leg.
The door pressed against my shoulder as I was dragged inexorably back into the guard house. A wild glance in the opposite direction proved that Tank was too far away to stop the inevitable. Within seconds, I’d be locked behind a door that required a keycard to open. I’d lose the bracer and be captured in my lupine skin.
No. Wasn’t happening.
I twisted, ignoring the pain in my stuck ankle and the strain down my side that felt like the worst sort of power yoga. Lashing out with my right front paw, I scratched at the guard’s face, careful to steer clear of his eyeballs.
And this time, he reacted. His hand twisted against my ankle, pain and instinct working against his impulse to be kind to furry critters. A sharp spike of agony ran up my hind leg. Despite myself, I yelped.
The yelp, not the scratch, is what made the guard let go. He was a dog lover at heart and he knew he’d hurt me. His formerly unbendable fingers sprang away as if my leg had turned into a hot poker...
...And I accepted the reprieve. Squirmed out the gap between door and frame, glad that I had four legs so running was feasible despite the throbbing in my right rear appendage....
I was ten feet from the door when something furry brushed past me in the opposite direction. Tank. Darting between our pursuer’s legs and tangling him up. Or so I assumed from the burst of expletives and the thud behind my back.
Tank hadn’t left me. Even when my injury turned me into a liability. My lungs expanded, something fierce and joyful pushing my legs faster.
Unfortunately, the guard was equally tenacious. Tank caught up to me within seconds, but human footsteps weren’t far behind us. And unlike Tank, I couldn’t outrun our pursuer. Not when I was hobbling on three paws, biting back each jolt of pain when I skipped the fourth.
It was all I could do to follow Tank’s tail as he led me to a hole in an old wooden fence. As if he’d scouted out a human-proof escape plan before joining me. My own plan was fuzzy beneath the pain of my ankle. All I could focus on was Tank, waiting solid as a stone.
This time, I didn’t even consider distrusting him. Instead, I shimmied through the gap. Followed as Tank once again took the lead and guided me down a path I was unfamiliar with.
Behind parked cars. Down dark alleys. I could neither see nor smell the guard now. We’d left him far behind.
Only then did I realize we were traveling in the wrong direction. Away from the safety of my apartment rather than toward it. Still, I didn’t curve toward my original destination as Tank skittered down a steep slope into a pool of pure darkness. Instead, I followed, my paws splashing into slowly moving water. In front of me, Tank had finally stopped.
I did too, panting hard and trying to ignore the throb of my injured ankle that made my teeth ache. Tentatively, I dropped that paw down to join its fellows. Frigid liquid soaking through dirty fur felt unbelievably good.
As I recovered my equilibrium, I remembered the spot we were in from earlier scouting. The stream where I soaked my sore paws rose to the surface for half a block before being channeled back beneath streets and residences. It wasn’t a park. Just a forgotten corner of wild land.
No one came here in daylight. In the dark, it was bound to be empty. Safe enough to risk shifting into humanity.
Safe...other than my lupine companion. Still, ignoring the shiver of bad experiences with other male werewolves, I sucked in courage and shifted up.
***
COLD AIR STRUCK HUMAN skin as fur receded. I shivered. Spat the bracer into one hand, slapped it onto my opposite wrist for safekeeping...then fought for balance as my injured ankle collapsed beneath my weight.
Broad hands caught my shoulders before I fell. For an instant, they burned heady awareness into me. Then exhaustion and pain beat out attraction.
And it was as if Tank could smell my mood. His fingers stayed far from erogenous zones as he growled out an order. “Sit,” he demanded, lowering me onto the muddy stream bank.
Then his fingers were prodding my ankle. I hissed, barely able to see the buckling of skin as his jaw tensed.
I didn’t want to know, but I asked anyway. “How bad is it?”
Tank’s head shook ever so slightly, a flutter of movement in the darkness. “Could be worse. Probably a minor strain.”
“Minor?” Despite the cold water, my ankle felt like a train had run over it.
“If you keep the foot elevated, it’ll likely heal within twenty-four hours.”
Well, that was impossible. Not the healing part—the keeping my foot elevated part.
After all, I needed to collect my car then head up to Highlands to nab Harper’s cell phone. She’d promised to remove the battery as soon as she hung up, but I couldn’t trust a teenager to dispose of incriminating evidence. The guard had seen me leave the museum with the bracer. This wouldn’t be a cold case, unnoticed until the following day....
Tank’s hand returned to my shoulder, pressing me backwards. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“The job’s not complete. I need to....”
My voice trailed off. I wasn’t about to spill my guts in front of a stranger. It was oddly difficult to remember that about Tank. That he was a stranger.
“Stay here,” he ordered, ignoring my abortive explanation. His hand retreated and something in me regretted the loss of contact.
Just because of the cold, of course. Cold air, cold water. A bit of shock in the aftermath of my injury. I was shivering and Tank’s hand had provided much-needed warmth.
Now, he loomed above me, more like a tower than a tank. “I’m getting my car. I’ll be back in five minutes.”
Before I could answer, he was gone.
***
I DIDN’T INTEND TO wait, of course. Not for a man who’d butted his way into my life without explanation or permission.
But it took over a minute to feel around for a stick hefty enough to lean on. And when I struggled my way to standing, there was someone present at the top of the bank.
Not Tank. Not a male of any sort. Instead, the streetlight behind her silhouetted feminine curves. Meanwhile, I inhaled the scent of blackberries so strong I could almost taste summer on my tongue.
Marina’s voice had all of the berries’ tartness and none of their sweetness. “You look...terrible.”
“How did you find me?” I demanded as she picked her way down the slope. Her lack of answer was answer. She’d found me, I knew, because she was more than human. Whatever Lupe thought, Marina was somehow affiliated with the fae.
But that wasn’t the most relevant point. She held out her hand in silence, demanding the bracer. Instinctively, I twisted sideways so the thick metal bracelet wasn’t within stealing distance. “The check,” I countered.
Unlike most of my employers, Marina didn’t try to cheat me. “Of course,” she murmured. “Must adhere to the formalities.”
And...there was a check between her fingers. I was 99% certain there hadn’t been one present a second earlier. But the night was dark and my ankle throbbed and Tank would be back any minute.
I took it. Unfolded the paper to ensure my name appeared on the proper line and a scrawled signature on the other. There were quite a lot of zeroes. More, if I was honest, than I’d seen in my bank account in my life.
While I gawked, Marina plucked her own prize from my wrist, raising it to rub against her face. Like a cat scent-marking her favorite armchair. The aroma of blackberries intensified. Out of the corner of my eyes, I thought I caught half a dozen fireflies illuminating a city sidewalk.
“Should I leave you alone to make out with your jewelry?” I asked dryly, sliding the check away into the hidden pouch in my wolf collar. Even though the precious paper would be safe there, my fingers lingered for a second before I managed to force them away.
Marina didn’t miss my reluctance to lose skin contact with my payment. Her eyes glinted...which they shouldn’t have. Not here in the darkness by the creek.
After all, the moon—if there was one—was hidden behind clouds. The street lights were arranged to illuminate road and sidewalk rather than stream bank.
Her voice, when she spoke, was similarly wrong. Musical, like the peal of bells. “There’s more where that came from.”
I didn’t need more. For once in my life, I had enough cash. I could finally consider scratching itches that had seemed irrelevant while serving as Harper’s secondary guardian. Perhaps I’d sign up for an art class....
And yet, my body disagreed with me. It leaned forward without my permission. My mouth echoed Marina’s assertion. “More?”
She smiled, the gesture so beautiful it shouldn’t have chilled me. But it did. “If you’re interested, I’ll be in touch.”
She turned away...and my greed popped like a soap bubble. What was I thinking? If there was even a 1% chance that Marina had been involved in the horse incident....
“This is between you and me only,” I called after her. “My sister isn’t involved.”
But Marina was already gone.