Page 74 of Claimed By the Guardian

He frowned as he scanned her face. “You sure you’re up for another confrontation?”

“He’s a scientist and he’s been trying to get the word out. There isn’t going to be any confrontation. He’ll likely kiss my feet in gratitude.”

Hank didn’t respond, but she could see the skepticism in his eyes.

“Look, I’ll never doubt your paranoia again. You were right about the wolves from the first moment. But this guy…he’s a scientist. These are my people and we don’t…” This morning’s violence reared up in her head, and she choked the words and the images down. She wasn’t going to think about that yet. Maybe not ever.

“Shifters aren’t generally violent, Cecilia. Not more than normal people, except maybe at puberty. But this stuff in the water and the quarantine…” He shook his head. “We’re all going a little crazy.”

She believed him. Which made it all the more important for her to talk to this guy and put an end to the madness.

“Dr. Oltheten will have our answers. I’m sure of it.” And that’s what she needed. The security of one scientist talking to another about measurable data. It was the world she knew, and it didn’t include people changing into werewolves and trying to drag her out of her hotel room. Data didn’t spurt blood or get disemboweled right in front of her.

Science was sane, and she desperately needed some sanity right then because she was still shaking. It helped that Hank was right here beside her. His presence was the only thing that was keeping her from running screaming to the nearest airport. She didn’t want to leave him. She wanted to stay by his side and really work on their relationship. But she couldn’t do that in the middle of all this Detroit Flu chaos.

“The hospital is safer,” Hank began.

“The answers aren’t there. If they were, I’d have already found them. I need to talk to a scientist who knows about shifters. That’s Dr. Oltheten.” He would help her make sense of this. He would put everything into a data-driven box, and together they’d solve the problem of the Detroit Flu. Then all this madness would end, people would stop trying to abduct her, and she could focus on being with Hank.

That was her plan, and nothing was going to stop her from executing it.

CHAPTER 21

“Let’s talk this through,” Hank said, gripping the steering wheel of his car as he tried to remain calm. He was driving slowly, heading in the general direction of the hospital, but he could just as easily hit the freeway and take her straight to the Griz home base where he could protect her.

“Okay,” she said. “I want to talk to Dr. Oltheten. I’m sure he has data that we need.”

He saw the hard jut of her chin and knew she was going to be stubborn. But even as he looked at her sitting in his car completely safe, his mind kept replaying the sight of her being dragged away.

It amped up his adrenaline and made it hard to focus. But Cecilia was a woman of logic. She wasn’t going to stay hidden away without a good reason, so he fought down his terror for her safety and worked with his brain instead of his brawn.

“The wolves wanted to take you to some supersecret lab of theirs.”

“Yes.”

“And you just learned of a shifter lab in Detroit. That has to be the same place.”

She shook her head. “Dr. Oltheten has been trying to get the word out about shifters. Why would the wolves take me to him? They already know.”

He didn’t have an answer. Just a lot of worry. “Let me take you to the hospital. I’ll get Simon to check it out and then get you and this Dr. Oltheten together in a safe?—”

“Aren’t you tired of this?” she interrupted. “Don’t you want this to end now? He’s got information, I’m sure of it.” Her voice was tight and anger radiated out in waves from her body. It hadn’t been an hour since they were attacked and here she was pushing for something he knew wasn’t safe.

It didn’t take him long to figure out what was going on. She was feeling trapped and vulnerable, and for a woman like her, science data was the way out. Right now, she would take any risk to get it.

But that didn’t mean it was smart. Or that part of him wasn’t cut deeply by her words. Because she didn’t just want out of the Detroit Flu problem. She wanted out of the shifter world entirely. She hadn’t said it, but he knew that’s what she was feeling. And if he had any doubts, then the way she curled away from him was answer enough. She even drew away when he reached out to touch her. And rather than talk, her nose was buried in her cell phone as she studied whatever data had come in this morning.

“Cecilia, we need to think about this.”

She looked up and shot him a hard glare. “Either take me to this lab or I’ll jump out and call a cab. But either way I’m going.”

He believed her. And yes, he could tie her up in some hotel room to keep her safe, but that was the surest way to end any hope of a relationship between them.

“Okay,” he said softly. “I’ll drive us there, but I’m going to take some precautions, too.”

She shrugged. “Do whatever you need to, but get me there.”

Fair enough. He turned the car toward the freeway and the Griz home base. Sure, he’d take Cecilia to the very suspicious Gunnolf Lab, but he wasn’t doing it alone. And he sure as hell wasn’t going there without backup.