Page 87 of Bad Medicine
“I can’t,” he whispered, then, hisvoice just a little harder, “and I shouldn’t have to. I won’t.”
“Then I’ll have to stop you.”
“Yeah,” he said. “You keepsaying that, but I don’t think you believe that yourself. It’s not a bad thingfor me to kill abusers, human or not. You killed your ex-alpha.”
“He kills people.”
“Like your father.”
“Yes. And plenty of others.”
“You kill vampires.”
“Rogue vampires who feed fromand kill or turn humans.”
“You have excuses for everyoneyou kill,” he said. “But you have no more right than I do.”
“No one else needs to die.” Ilowered my voice. “I will make you suffer if you hurt the woman you’re holding.You will never belong then. Not to anyone.”
“I told you I’m giving her toyou. I fought her for you—and this little witch is a lot stronger than shelooks.”
“Sam, please. I’m begging you.”And I blurted it out, despite myself. “Don’t hurt Lucy.”
He was silent for a few longseconds. “How did you know Lucy was with me?”
“Shit,” I whispered, and theminiscule hope I’d had that Saul was wrong disappeared.
“You haven’t been toHuntersburg for a little while, Kait. I think it’s time you came by for a visit.”
“You’re at my mother’s house?”
“We’re waiting for you. Don’tbring anyone you can’t bear to lose.” He ended the call.
“Well that’s different,” Joesaid, turning in his seat. He held out his hand. “Zach.”
Zach leaned over to get Joe’smachete from the floor. “It may be a trap.”
“No,” I said, flying by a lumberingtruck. “I think he wants me to be in on his kill, as though he honestly believesI’ll kill Lucy. Maybe he thinks it’ll bind us together. He’s insane.” And howcould he not be?
“Should I call anybody? Rick orJared?” Joe asked.
“No…and honestly, Joe, I’drather you and Zach not be there either. You heard what he said—and I can’tbear to lose either of you.”
He patted my hand. “I’m notgoing anywhere, Kaity Bug. Have some faith.”
“Let me do it, Kait,” Zachsaid. “You get Lucy to safety, and I’ll take out the shapeshifter. I know it’llhurt you to kill him.”
“No,” I said grimly. “Notanymore, it won’t. He crossed a line and he’s not coming back from that.Besides, no human can kill a shapeshifter. I’ll do it. I have to do it.”
“Okay.” He went back to staringout his window.
The fact that he didn’t argueworried me a little, but I pushed it from my mind. I had enough to worry about.Lucy might die because I hadn’t gone after the shapeshifter with everything Ihad. He’d saved my life. I’d felt sorry for him. He fascinated me, and he wasextremely powerful…on and on. He could have done amazing things on my team, butI guessed it was true what I’d always heard. All shapeshifters were mad,twisted, evil things that had no heart. It wasn’t his childhood that had warpedhim. He’d been born warped.
And he’d taken Lucy.
Something began growing insideme, whirling and screaming and battering my insides, and I could physicallyfeelit. It hurt. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew where it came from.It came from my psycho. It came from my magic, and my wolf, and my rage. And Ihonestly felt like if I didn’t release it, I would explode.
The hugeness of it grew by thesecond, and so did the pain. I was holding it in, hobbling it much as myex-alpha had done my wolf, and I was afraid I was going to pay dearly for that.
