Addict (Hunter #2)(31)

“Be careful, cara mia,” he said, touching his lips to mine. “Come home to me.”

“I promise.” I would. Marcus was the first person to trust me and he proved it by understanding I needed to do this and I had to go alone. He would be waiting for me, and it gave me an enormous amount of strength.

Henri promised to meet with me the next afternoon to go over what his lab discovered. I opened the front door and was surprised to see a boy in footie pajamas sitting across from the door, as if he was waiting. He had a Nintendo DS in his hands.

“Lee Donovan-Quinn,” I said in my most motherly voice. “You should be in bed.”

He smiled up at me and got to his feet. “But you have to go to that club and that means you need a way out without Dad knowing you’re gone.”

The kid was hell on wheels. I wondered how his parents had survived his toddler years and feared for a world in which he could drive. “I suppose you know a way out. What am I saying? Of course you know a way out.”

His arrogant grin said it all. “I do and I printed out this map for you.”

“How did you get the address?”

“Stole it.”

I sighed and checked my back pocket. Sure enough, it was empty. “All right. Lead on, buddy.”

Lee’s chocolate brown eyes lit up like it was Christmas. “Let’s go. It’s really cool. You’re going to love it.”




I did not, in fact, love it.

I muffled my shriek as I went headfirst down the compound’s laundry chute. About halfway down, I realized my folly. Seriously, when falling into a large vat of unwashed underwear, many belonging to werewolves, always, always go in feet first. One would assume that with heightened senses, werewolves would be very clean. One would assume wrong. Wolves aren’t at all judgmental when it comes to the nastier smells. To a wolf, it’s all one big bouquet. They revel in strong odors, as evidenced by their undies.

“Don’t forget the cameras when you come back in,” Lee shouted down.

I stared up and saw his little face craning forward to look down the chute. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he wanted to slide down and join me. It didn’t make any sense to him that he couldn’t come along. I’d resorted to threats of not allowing him in my office to get him to go to bed. They were empty threats because I knew I would never follow through, but it had worked.

“But they’re off now?” I needed that clarified.

“Yeah,” the boy replied. “I turned them off myself. The dude at security will figure it out sooner or later. If the cams are moving or have a green light shining in the back, then they’re on. I told you about the blind spots. Stay in them and Dad won’t be able to see you.”

Guilt gnawed at me. I was helping the boy go behind his parents’ backs and probably not being a great role model. I’d never thought about being a model anything until I had to deal with Lee. I’d never been around kids I had any responsibility for. No one ever depended on me before.

“Go to bed, Lee,” I said in my best big sister voice. “I’ll talk to you about it after school tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow’s Saturday. I have a basketball game, but then I can come find you. Marcus didn’t eat all the candy, did he? I only ask because Mama is bringing the snacks tomorrow and it’s apples and mineral water. It’s so embarrassing. All the other kids bring Gatorade at least. Mama read the label and didn’t like the sugar.”

“I promise he still has a bunch of junk for you,” I said, climbing out of the basket. “Go to bed.”

He grinned down at me in the darkness and then his face was gone. I studied the quiet room. At this time of night it was completely empty, the only light coming from the streetlights outside streaming through the small windows. The camera was right where Lee had said it would be, and the fact that it was neither moving nor had the green light Lee had warned me about gave me confidence. I shook my head as I realized how lucky I was the kid was on my side. I would hate to be up against him. I followed the short path he’d given me and in minutes, I was crawling out a window and falling gracelessly on my ass on the street below. I growled, got up, and let the night air wash over me. It was a cool, crisp January night and I reveled in the freedom. It had been months since I had been allowed even a minute alone. I breathed deeply and realized how much I missed this.

My father, my biological father, had been what’s known as a lone wolf. It’s a rare genetic anomaly in a world of rare DNA. Lee Owens had been stronger, faster, and more ferocious than a normal werewolf. It also made him different. While normal wolves prefer pack life, the lone wolf wants solitude. According to my uncle, my father fought the urge all his life. I didn’t feel a desperate need to wander the earth, but I did need alone time. I hadn’t realized how much until tonight.

The club known as Brimstone was twenty blocks from Ether and in a completely different universe. Ether is in the middle of what Dallas natives call the West End. It’s surrounded by swanky hotels and hotspots. As I ran through the night, I realized that Brimstone was surrounded by something entirely different. The buildings took on an air of neglect in this part of the city. I opened my newly found senses and let my legs take me where I needed to go. Marcus had done more than merely teach me how to meditate. I’d spent some time with Italian wolf packs learning how to use my heightened senses. I’d had to learn how to access that wolf part of me without allowing her to take over.