Page 25 of Beautiful Madness

And finally, I strode withouthesitation toward the waiting vampire. Remy was right. There was work to do. Amountain of work.

A couple of the warriorsfollowed along behind me, and I didn’t wave them away. I was glad they werewilling to follow me—and that I didn’t see any signs of resentment on any oftheir faces.

That meant they believed theiralpha was alive, and that he was coming back.

Already, the pack was cleaningup the mess and helping tend the injured, and the trauma of what they’d seenwas fading, as was the harshness of their physical injuries. When I stopped toglance back, I was gratified to see Gray Shadow wolves working alongside StoneMoon wolves, and I knew they’d be okay. They’d needed to get their resentmentsout of their systems, and with the alpha missing, the integration wasn’t goingto be quite as seamless.

The waiting vampire watched mewalk toward him, his eyes unreadable. He didn’t so much as twitch, despite thefact that there were shifter warriors at my back. He’d have his own backupspread throughout the woods behind him.

Bastien Martel was the vampirecounty master. I’d saved his life a couple of times, as well as that of hisfavorite, Farrow. His favorite what, I wasn’t quite sure, but that he loved herwas undeniable.

She stood just behind him,close enough to touch, but turned just slightly away, her face hidden by herhair. Farrow had gone through some really bad shit at the hands of the council,and honestly, I wasn’t sure how she was able to function.

But vampires were a wholedifferent animal, and who knew how their brains worked? They weren’t like us.They weren’t like the humans, either. They were just…

“Crazy fucks,” Remy murmured.

I turned my head, surprisedhe’d followed me. “You don’t need to be here.”

He waggled his eyebrows at me.“And miss seeing your uppity ass take on one of the monsters you hate? No way.”

I snorted. “You think with Joeout of commission I need you to have my back.”

He only shrugged and toyed withDolly, his lucky stake.

“You can’t use that,” I toldhim, just in case he had any ideas. “I need him.”

“Kait.” Bastien slid from theshadows toward us, and the moonlight glinted off his fangs when he gave me asmall smile. “Your message sounded urgent. What do you need?”

I couldn’t suppress my shudder.Then I straightened my spine and looked him in the eye. “I’ve been told thatFarrow carries the scent of the daywalkers inside her. You’ve fed her andyou’ve bitten her. I need you to transfer that scent to me.” I was pretty suremy voice wavered only a little. “Maybe it won’t work, but I have to try.”

He tilted his head and frowned.“Are you saying you wish to taste my blood?”

I clutched my stomach andglared at Remy when I caught his smirk. “No.” I cleared my throat. “I’m sayingI need you to bite me. The scent will still be transferred. I’m not tastinganyone’s blood.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Atleast, you’re not tasting avampire’sblood.”

“Yeah,” I said, and I didn’tlook away.

He shrugged, then smiled. “Youare a wolf, and it’s only natural you would hate us.”

Farrow peeked around hisshoulder, showing only half of her face. “She does not hate us,” she said, hervoice barely above a whisper. “She only wants to.”

Bastien reached behind him andpulled her from hiding. “Kait won’t hurt you,” he told her, but he didn’t lookaway from me. “You will not be afraid of her.”

Slowly, Farrow lifted her stareto mine. “Thank you for snatching me from the afterlife. I was nearly therewhen you pulled me free. I will not forget.”

I couldn’t help but soften.“You don’t have to thank me, honey. I’m glad you’re okay.”

Now it was Remy’s turn tosnort. “Yeah,” he snarked. “The hatred just drips from you.”

I ignored him.

Farrow lifted her chin andstraightened her shoulders. “Please allow me to hold on to you while my mastertransfers the scent. You are a wolf, and you fear the bite. I swear to you thatI will keep you safe.” Then, as though I’d given assent, she hurried to theclosest tree and sat with her back to it, then held up her slender arms.“Please.”

“This is going to be hot,” Remysaid.

“Shut up,” I told him, thenstrode to where Farrow sat. I was unable to deny her. I wasn’t sure why. Iguessed we’d somehow bonded when I’d saved her from Lilah’s sadism, though alittle part of me just wanted to see the haunted look in her eyes disappear.And maybe it would, in time.