Page 85 of Silver Claw

I held back, though, because despite everything, I really didn’t want her dead.

And when I finally jumped off her, I left my hatred, bitterness, and resentment over the loss of my magic there in her broken face. I let it go. I had to accept the fact that it was gone,and I had to forgive her—sort of—for taking it. It was the only way I’d be able to move past it.

“Now,” I said as she attempted to sit up, failed, and tried again. “We’re closer to even. If you fuck with me again, if you fuck with one of mine, I will kill you.”

Zach held out a hand and helped her to her feet.“Wewill kill you,” he told her. “Kait is willing to give you a pass. You want to make it right. We’ll let you do that. Don’t make us regret it.”

She spat blood and wiped her swollen lips. “Deal.” Her eyes twinkled as she grinned at me. “Maybe I deserved what you gave me. But that’s the last of it. Come at me again, Kait Silver, and we’ll have some real fun.”

I wasn’t the only one with an inner psycho.

I glanced around at the blood and bodies on the ground. “We need to get this cleaned up before…” I shrugged. “Before everything.”

She pulled her cell phone from her pocket. “I’ll take care of it.”

I stepped back into the shadows with Zach to watch, because I for damn sure wasn’t leaving the mayor’s property until she was gone. I might have let go of my grudge, but I wasn’t going to trust her with my friends.

A short time later the mayor’s gates opened, admitting two sleek, black vans. Two men and one woman, all dressed in gray coveralls, jumped from the first vehicle, and four men left the second.

They began quietly and quickly to sanitize the area. In less than forty-five minutes, the bodies were wrapped and loaded into the van, the ground was washed free of blood and gore, and other than some wetness, it looked like nothing had ever happened. At least to the casual viewer.

Other than a quick, murmured conversation with Anika, none of the cleaners spoke a word or even glanced at Zach or me.

And as they sped away, I went to stand beside Anika to stare after the van, impressed despite myself. “Do they have a card?”

She laughed, and then, pissing me off to extreme amounts, she reached out to tug my braid. “I’ll call you tomorrow, kitten. We’ll go after the werewolf.”

She strode away, whistling, though I wasn’t sure how she managed it after the brutal beating I’d just given her.

“I hate that woman,” I muttered.

Zach said nothing, and I realized he was as unconvinced about the validity of that statement as I was.

After making sure none of his injuries were severe, I hurried back into the mayor’s house to check on the detective and give explanations and reassurances to Louis.

Amy was icing a lump over Rick’s temple, and though he was pale and likely had a hell of a headache, he assured me he’d be okay.

But again, there was something in his eyes.

“I’m tired of not being enough in these battles,” he murmured as I sat beside him, my fingers laced with his. “I’m tired of wondering if this is the day the bastards are going to kill me. But mostly I worry about leaving you.”

Maybe it was because he’d begun to realize how uncertain life was that he was saying what he felt.

I considered for a moment cutting him out of my life. Just cutting him out so he could live a somewhat normal life. Forcing him away from the brutal world of the nonhumans.

I could have told him I was afraid, too. I was terrified that each time he found himself surrounded by supernaturals, he wouldn’t come out of it still breathing. As much as he feared I would be ended by the ones I fought, I worried the same abouthim. And my worry was more likely to happen, because he was a fucking human.

But in the end, I said nothing.

I squeezed his hand and said my goodbyes to Louis and Amy.

Then I strode back out into the sunny chaos. And there was joy in my heart, because Rick Moreno was alive.

Chapter Thirty-Three

I’d hidden it from everyone, but I was injured. Not a little, but a lot. I’d been overwhelmed by wolves, and I hadn’t been able to take the time to find whatever magic I’d taken from Zach, and the supposed demon magic Anika had sworn she’d felt.

And I still believed that was because I needed my demon blade to access it.