Blood Magic by Laken Cane

Chapter Thirty-Six

I waited until they’d disappeared into the building, then turned to Joe. “Joe—”

“Not this time, Kait.”

“But you—”

“Not this time.”

He leveled a cool stare at me, and there was nothing in his eyes that said he’d be willing to sit this fight out. He was coming with me, or he was coming without me, but either way, he’d end up at my mother’s house.

I sighed, then nodded. He had no idea what he was about to face, but Joe was a smart man. When he saw the wolves and vampires fighting, surely he’d keep his ass in the car.

Surely.

Also, I did not want him to see me shift. I wasn’t ready to show my wolf to the humans. Not even Joe. I saw that some of the nonhumans were letting themselves be seen, and gradually, supernaturals were going to be a not so well-kept secret. But I was not ready.

Maybe the humans, so accepting of demons and spirits, were already primed for the rest of it. Likely, they were. The supernaturals would probably have more trouble with it than the humans would, when it came right down to it.

I had emergency clothes and boots in the back of my car, and I pulled the boots on, and then climbed into the back of the car and pulled on a shirt before discarding the bloody jacket. I didn’t bother changing the jeans. They fit well enough.

“Joe, listen,” I said, as I drove us to Huntersburg. When I stopped and said nothing more, he finally prompted me.

“Kait?”

I sighed. “When the nonhumans start fighting, it won’t be like the humans fighting.”

“I’m aware.” He lifted his hand and fake shot the windshield. “No guns. Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself.”

“Can you text my mother again?”

“Sure.”

It seemed like I was always fighting and always worrying about someone getting hurt. One of these days, I was going to take a vacation.

“What does it feel like?” Joe asked me. “To be so obviously injured and keep going? Do you feel pain?”

When I glanced at him, I saw genuine curiosity in his eyes—and maybe some admiration. “I do feel pain. Oh man, do I ever.” I laughed, but it sounded so much like a sob that I clamped my mouth shut for a few seconds. “I go on because it’s…” I shrugged. “It’s what I do. My father taught me to be strong. Since I was a baby. It was important to him that I grow up to be strong. Anytime I feel like I can’t power through, I hear his voice. He pushes me to be better. Always has.”

“Maybe he should give you a fucking break,” he muttered. Then, “You don’t always have to be the strongest, Kait. It’s okay to just be—”

“Weak?” I curled my lip. “Would you say the same if I were a guy?”

“I wasn’t going to say that at all,” he replied. “I was going to say, it’s okay to just be normal.”

“Normal?” I wrinkled my nose. “What the hell is that?”

He laughed. “Damned if I know, Kaity Bug.”

I couldn’t help but grin. “I like you, Joe Patrick. Don’t get hurt at my mom’s.”

“Absolutely,” he agreed.

And then we were there. I’d had bad gut feelings all day—pretty much about everything—but I figured it was completely understandable with what I was facing. I wasn’t being paranoid. There was a lot of shit being thrown my way, and it was possible that I’d lose someone tonight. Or tomorrow night. Or the next night. But in that, I wasn’t so different from anyone else. Life was risky. People died.

Even before I was halfway down the long gravel driveway I knew the vampires and the wolves were fighting. It wasn’t a sound or anything I saw. It was just something I felt in my bones, in my heart. I belonged out there with those people.

Joe was human, and he did not. They would kill him without a thought. If he would stay in the house he’d be safe from vampires, but that wasn’t going to happen. Joe was eager to fight.

I stared at him after I parked the car, seriously considering knocking him out and then tying him up and leaving him in the car. I’d clenched my fist when Jared knocked on my window.

I jerked around, then stared at him for a few seconds before I opened my car door and got out. Joe got out as well but wandered toward the house, giving us some privacy.

Jared took my shoulders and held me as he looked me over, and when he was finished with his inspection, he stepped back, frowning.

I was glad he stepped away because it was hard for me to breathe when he was standing so close. I took a deep breath and crossed my arms. “I feel them out there,” I told him. “What’s going on? My mother?”

He smiled, surprising me. “Axton and three of his vampires came after Susan’s house guest. She was ready for them.”

I relaxed a little. “Shotgun and silver shot?”

He nodded. “Sunshine in a gun. Axton’s three men were standing in front of him, protecting him. They got the brunt of it, but Axton was hit, as well. Knocked them on their asses and when they were on the ground trying to recover, she and Zach began to stake and decapitate them. But Axton, he took his wounds and ran.” He paused. “You don’t seem surprised.”

I grinned. “I know my mother.” Still, Axton was a master. “The wolves are tracking them?”

He took a step toward me. “Kait, your mother is inside. She’s injured. Axton took Zach. He called in dozens of his vampires as a roadblock and distraction—my wolves are dealing with them now. But Axton…” He shook his head. “He has what he came for.”

I was already running to the house.

“Kait?” Joe asked, and I heard his heavy footsteps as he tried to catch up with me. But I was a wolf, and I was inside and kneeling at my mother’s bedside before he crossed the threshold.

One of the women who lived with her was sitting in a chair by her bed, and she quickly got up and left the room, shutting the door behind her.

“Kaity,” my mother said, lifting a hand to push my hair out of my face. “You’ve lost your braid.”

“Mom.” I laughed, but it was watery. “What the hell were you thinking, going after a master vampire?”

“Sweetie, what else could I do? While Zach was helping me kill the vampires, that bastard swooped from the shadows like a deranged bat and snatched him up.” She shuddered. “That boy shut down like nothing I’ve ever seen. I had to try to get him back.”

“You should have called me.”

She lifted an eyebrow. “I did call you.”

“Shit.” I leaned my forehead on her shoulder. “I lost my phone. I’m sorry, Mom.” I looked at her, anger slowly replacing the worry. “What did that fucking corpse do to you?”

“He was all, “Go home, mama wolf.” I told him, “No can do, daddio,” and then I shifted and even for a wolf like me there’s a pause, you know? I was vulnerable. I thought he’d run and I’d chase him. But he waited for my shift and he’s fast. He’s the county master, of course he’s fast. He caught me halfway into my shift and…”

“What?” I whispered. “What’d he do?”

“He shoved a silver spike into the back of her neck and while she was helpless between her shifts, he beat the fuck out of her.”

I looked up at Jared, who’d slipped into the room so quietly I hadn’t heard him arrive. I’d known he was there, all the same. He put his hand on my shoulder and I covered it with mine, squeezing gently. “I’m going after him,” I said.

“I know. I’ll be going with you.”

I nodded.

“Kaity,” my mother said. “You stay here with me and let the alpha handle it. You look like you’ve gone a couple of rounds with the master already. You need to rest.”

I stood, then leaned over to kiss her forehead. “We’ll take care of Axton, and we’ll get Zach back.”

She sighed. “Fine. Go get him. That boy is fly for a human.”

I slipped her my demon knife. “I’ll need to shift.”

She pushed it beneath her pillow, flinching only a little at the movement. “It will be here when you return.”

When I left the bedroom, Joe was surrounded by my mother’s three roomies, who were currently plying him with cookies and coffee. He stood immediately, a little shamefaced. “They told me your mother would be fine.”

“She will.” I stopped in front of him. “Jared and I are going to find Zach. Can you guard this house while I’m gone? I’m afraid Axton might return.”

“He can’t get in, can he? Unless they ask him in?”

“No,” I admitted, “but he’ll bring people with him who can.” I knew Axton wasn’t coming back here, but Joe absolutely couldn’t chase down a master vampire with two wolves. “I need you to guard this household, Joe. You’re the only one I trust to do the job. My mother might also decide she’s feeling well enough to leave. You can’t let her.”

Maybe he understood I was lying through my teeth, making things up as I went along, desperate to keep him safe. I knew he’d hate that I was trying to protect him. In the end, he nodded and sat back down with his cookies and coffee, and I rushed from the house with the alpha, eager to finish a night that seemed determined to kick my ass.