Page 67 of Bent Out of Shade
Emmett and I ran to meet them halfway.
Sabrina snarled and lunged at us, but Laurent yanked her back, allowing Emmett to jam the syringe into her neck. Barely ten seconds later, she was unconscious.
Well, I hoped she was, because young vamps were cold to the touch, and it wasn’t like I could check her breathing.
The golem helped Laurent drag her to my car and lay her in the trunk with a snort. “Finally,” Emmett said. “Shotgun.”
I opened the back door for Laurent to retrieve his clothes and go shift, but he hopped inside and lay down, licking my hand before his eyes closed. His fur was matted with blood and sweat and I let him be.
Emmett was already making a big production of settling into the passenger seat, so I shut the back door and went around to my side.
“Fasten your seat belt.” I jerked my chin at Emmett while clicking mine in. My car stank, mostly of wet wolf, so I cracked a window. I left the radio off so I could hear any thumps coming from the trunk, but other than the wolf’s soft snores, all was quiet. Even the streets were relatively free of traffic.
“Why’d you bring me tonight?” Emmett said, fiddling with all the buttons on the dashboard. “You could have jabbed her yourself. Am I on a pity retainer from Tatiana?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You man the enthrallment hotline and I couldn’t have stolen the Torquemada Gloves without you.”
An ambulance siren grew closer, so I pulled over to the shoulder of the road.
“Because I don’t have a heartbeat, not because of anything I actually did.”
“That’s not true. When we were ambushed by that guy with the poison needles, I’d have died without your quick thinking. Same for getting into that pod unscathed when we took Route 666 into the Human Race. And you helped Tatiana get the lowdown on Vincenzo.”
“The only thing I’ve ever had going for me was my prophecy ability and now I’m not supposed to do that.”
I tightened my grip on the wheel. I wasn’t at my best to handle his existential crisis, but I’d be a shitty friend if I wasn’t there for him now, especially since he’d also voiced these feelings back in Vegas after Vincenzo froze him.
The ambulance whipped by and I resumed driving.
“Emmett, you’re not even a year old.”
“What does that have to do with anything? I’m not a kid.”
“No, you’re not, and a lot has happened to you in your very short life. But humans don’t just burst out of the womb as action heroes.”
He crossed his arms, staring sullenly ahead.
“Even as a librarian, I had to work my way up.”
“But you started solving kidnappings and murders as soon as you got your magic.”
“After hiding my powers for almost thirty years, I reclaimed them with no clue what I was doing. Thanks to all my other life experiences, I could apply them to the new situation I found myself in. Give yourself time to learn and live. As for tonight?” I did a quick shoulder check before merging into the right lane. “Other than chase after Sabrina, which I didn’t do either, there wasn’t much else you could have done.”
“You gonna say the same thing to our client? Shit happens, sorry. You think that’ll make him feel better? If all his life experience didn’t keep that lady safe, what hope do I have? Bad things happen to good people all the time, but if being magic can’t stop them, what’s the point?” He slumped down in his seat.
He wanted to protect his loved ones, the same as I did. “We do the best we can in every situation.”
“That’s not always enough.” His frustration was palpable.
“No, it’s not. Sometimes life kicks you in the teeth.” My hands tightened on the wheel. “We can’t always protect people, hell, we can’t always protect ourselves, no matter how hard we try. Maybe our greatest asset isn’t our strength but our perseverance. Our ability to remember even in the face of tragedy, or especially in the face of tragedy, that life is worth living to its fullest and to help others remember that.”
Emmett was silent. Hopefully he was digesting my words, but in case he was sinking deeper into depression it was better to keep him busy.
“Call Tatiana for me.”
“Why?” He dug his phone out of his leather jacket.
“Change in plans.” I turned off Cordova into the Railtown neighborhood. “Have her bring Juliette to Laurent’s place. It’ll be safer.” The healer was already on staff for Tatiana so the blood oath wouldn’t be an issue.
