Page 34 of Bad Medicine

I’d let myself believe, overthe years, that Adam wasn’t as bad as he wanted to believe he was. I’d beenwrong. And because of what he’d done to Max and Joe and was about to do toJared and the pack, I was never going to forgive myself for not killing himwhen I’d had the fucking chance. “I’m not drinking that,” I said.

The wolf who’d come in withElaine held up his phone. “Brooke,” he said. “Make the little human scream.”

And Max did scream.

“Now,” Elaine said. “Place yourweapons on the desk, then pick up the flask.”

“Fuck,” I whispered, glad Joewasn’t awake to hear them hurting Max. I unbuckled my belt and dropped it ontothe desk, then I picked up the flask, unscrewed the cap, and I didn’t hesitateagain. I drank the noxious liquid. It began to work immediately, fucking up notonly my body, but my mind.

I blinked in and out like oneof the spirits I used to see, before I’d grown in power. I couldn’t see, notreally. I got glimpses and flashes of light, heard laughter, voices, and once,a scream. I didn’t know where it was coming from, though, or where we were. Ionly knew we were no longer in my office. I didn’t remember the trip. I didn’tremember being inside a car.

But the pain. I wouldn’t forgetthe pain of liquid silver burning through my insides. “I have a guardianangel,” I mumbled once, but they only laughed. And Nicole didn’t come to saveme. Maybe she couldn’t come. She’d said she’d been with me through every battleI’d ever faced, though, so I couldn’t believe she wouldn’t come to this one.

I dimly realized that shecouldn’t save me. Or wouldn’t. She was only here to save my soul. To take thespillover of horror that would make it impossible for me to live. I guess thatwas all the saving she could do.

When the edges of my visioncleared, my brain became less foggy, and my hearing returned—although none ofthose things were wolf strong, only human strong—I was sitting slumped over inthe middle of a cavernous room on a cold, filthy concrete floor. I wasn’trestrained. Not even my hands were cuffed behind my back. I was free…

Sort of.

The silver inside me was allthe restraint they needed to use on me. Would it wear off? Eventually, yes.Hours. And by then, it probably wouldn’t matter anymore.

Eric was talking on his phoneto his alpha. The reason I knew was because his voice and attitude completelychanged. Even his stance changed. Back and shoulders straight, chin up, pridein his voice. He would not let his alpha down. Ever. That was the loyalty of awolf to his alpha, which is why most of them were so upset over my father’sbetrayal.

I groaned as the pain continuedto burn through me, only my mind was no longer foggy enough to muffle it. Whenone of the wolves, Elaine, I believed, moved to the side, I saw Max.

They’d tied him to a woodenchair, one that had once belonged to a cheap dinette set, and his stare,horrified and dazed, was on me. He had to be wondering why I didn’t rise up andkick ass. Why I didn’t take care of the wolves and save him. He knew what Icould do. We stared at each other, and maybe that connection made us both feela little better.

“She’s aware,” Eric said, thencame to crouch down next to my swaying body. He held his phone closer to me.“She’s listening, sir.”

“Kait,” Adam Thorne said. “Iknow you won’t believe me when I say I’m sorry things had to get this bad. But inorder to protect my pack and myself, you have to be taken out of the equation. Icannot let you have my wolves. I’ve told my warriors to give you a quick deathonce Jared turns himself, his beta, and his warriors over to me. I will notdrag out their deaths, either.” He hesitated. “I’m sorry, Kait.”

I leaned closer to the phone,and when I spoke, my voice was husky and dark and full of death. “I’m comingfor you, Adam,” I murmured.

Eric’s hand jerked and hedropped the phone, then he scrambled to pick it up. He walked away, and henever once met my stare. He knew he was going to die. In that second, I thinkhe knew.

As did his alpha.

I wasn’t dying there at thehands of a bunch of thugs and a body full of liquid silver. Not that night. Ididn’t know how I was going to survive it, I really didn’t, but I was nothingif not confident. And I was so very angry.

I was full of power. I just hadto figure out how to build it with the bad medicine they’d forced inside me. Ihad to figure out how to call it. And that wasn’t something I’d managed to doeven without Adam’s silver and Lennon’s spells.

But then Eric called Jared, andmy rage crumbled beneath the mountain of pain I knew I was about to cause theones who loved me.

Because Jared would know thatno matter what he heard there that night, he could not trade himself and hispeople to save me. There was no saving me. I was dead either way.

ChapterSeventeen

My entire body shudderedbeneath the quiet rage in Jared’s voice. “I should have killed you long beforenow,” he told Adam. “When this is over, I won’t be the one in the ground.” Helowered his voice to almost a whisper. “I will kill you all.”

One of Adam’s wolves shiftedright then and there. It was shameful and humiliating and completelyunacceptable, but he couldn’t help it. Adam Thorne wasn’t the nightmare rightthen.

Jared was.

Then his voice changed to acaress. “Kait. Kait.”

I straightened my spine andlifted my chin. “Alpha,” I murmured. “You stay strong for your people. I knowyou have no choices. Take care of my mother and Lucy.”

I heard sobbing in thebackground, quickly hushed, but I recognized it anyway. “Mom,” I said. “Youshouldn’t be there. Jared, please. Send her away.”