Page 84 of Bad Medicine

I wasn’t sure I believed her.“I hope so.”

“Kait,” Rick said, on our wayback to the office, “your world is dark. Darker than mine ever thought aboutbeing, and I’m a cop. I’m worried you’re going to get lost in all thatdarkness. Go somewhere different. Somewhere warm where you can lie on the beachall day and get too much sun. See the world outside your circle of gloom. It’snot all bad.”

I took a deep breath, then letit out slowly. I was drowning in the despair of Jakeston. I did need somethingdifferent. “My mother gave me her house in Huntersburg, you know. I’m going tobe moving in soon.”

He lifted an eyebrow.“Huntersburg isn’t exactly somewhere different.”

I grinned at him. “That’s allI’ve got, Rick. For now.”

But he wasn’t wrong. I neededto get my friends in that house, start getting it whipped into shape, and justbe a normal person for a while. And I would.

As soon as I figured out whatthe hell to do about Sam the shapeshifting serial killer.

ChapterThirty-Nine

When Rick dropped me off at myoffice, Zach was there waiting with Joe and Max. So was Jared. My heartstuttered when I saw him sprawled out in one of the chairs in the outer office,and I realized my reaction to him wasn’t easing. It was only growing stronger.

He smiled lazily, then hisstare dropped to my lips, making my stomach tighten painfully as my breathcaught and my mouth went dry. And as I stood frozen in place, forgetting therewere other people in the room, he got to his feet and walked toward me like thebig wolf he was, stalking me, almost, and part of me wanted to run, because hewas a dangerous predator…

But then I released a breathand went to meet him, because I was no one’s prey.

I slid my hands over his chestand raised up on tiptoe to press my lips to his. I closed my eyes and pulled inhis familiar, heady scent as I reveled in the taste of him on my tongue. Itdidn’t matter that I hadn’t wanted to fall in love. There was no stopping thething between us.

No denying it, either.

When finally I pulled away, hestared down at me, the look in his eyes soft and fierce at the same time. “Becareful,” he murmured. “And if you can’t be careful, call me when you gethurt.”

I grinned. “Back at you,Alpha.”

“Always,” he said, then dippedhis head for one final kiss before he patted my ass like he owned it, and then hewalked away.

For a second, a strange fearrose inside me, and I wanted to call him back. I didn’t, though.

I didn’t.

“Ready to hunt?” Zach asked,watching me with a cross between pity and amusement.

I swallowed hard and pushedJared from my mind. “I’m ready. Let’s go see if we can pick up a trail, ascent, a rumor, anything.”

“If they were fucking up thecity it’d be a hell of a lot easier,” Joe said. “Why are they being so quiet?”

“They’re killing,” I said,absolutely no doubt in my mind. “But they’re not feral braindead assholes.They’re sly, slithering snakes, sneaking in to grab humans and swallow themwhole the way they would a fucking rat.”

“They’re smart,” Zach said.

His voice was a little toocalm, but when I looked at him, I saw none of the despair and horror that hadbeen there before. He was truly rid of Frederick Axton. He’d excised thatbastard from his brain, and now there was only Zach.

Bastien wanted to hunt, aswell, and he would—but only at night, of course.Hewasn’t a daywalker.

Something was holding me back,as well. The excitement I always felt for a hunt was muted. Probably because Ihadn’t caught the scent of them yet. I hadn’t caught sight of them. I wassimply going on words from the council. And the worry and doubt over Sam wasn’thelping. I was supposed to catch him and deliver him to a council who wouldonly torment him—and he’d gone through enough of that when he was young.

I straightened suddenly andstared into space, ignoring the looks the others were giving me. “I’m not goingto give him to the council,” I murmured. If I caught him, I was killing himmyself. I owed him that.

“Kait,” Joe said. “What is it?”

“I have to deal with Sam beforewe hunt for the daywalkers,” I told them. “I feel like something’s wrong. AndRick hasn’t called to tell us they’ve found slaughtered humans from thedaywalkers, so I don’t feel the urgency of that situation. But my gut churnswhen I think of Sam. I have to deal with him first. If I don’t, every future womanhe kills is on me.”

“So we’re going to hunt Saminstead of the daywalkers,” Joe said. “You’re going to end him.” He didn’tsound happy about it, really, but there was no judgment in his eyes.