Moonlight's Ambassador (Aileen Travers Book 3)(57)

"How so?" Nathan asked.

"She's bigger than the normal werewolf. Faster. Stronger. And I suspect her wolf's needs are slightly different than the norm as well," Clay said.

I wonder if they had told her all this. If it made her feel even more out of sync than she had before. She would have felt isolated, like a freak who didn't belong. It's hard to trust, when you're afraid the people who should be helping you are one bad mood from pronouncing you too much trouble.

"She left me a note," I said, choosing to trust that they'd told me the truth. Trust had to start somewhere and even if I found Caroline, I wasn't sure I could help her. This would take knowledge and finesse much greater than I possessed. I pulled the folded-up note from my pocket and handed it to Brax.

His brow furrowed as he read over it before handing it to Liam. "What does this mean?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, but she doesn't have a cat."

"No, she doesn't," Sondra said, peering over Clay's shoulder to read the note once Liam had passed it over. "It was one of the questions I asked when she first woke up. We usually foster any animals until the pup is ready to resume their life."

"Senior year, that's high school, right?" Nathan arched his eyebrows in question.

I forgot that as centuries old vampires they might not be up on current school lingo. "Yeah, it's high school."

"Would she go back to the school?" Brax asked.

I shook my head. "I doubt it. We both hated that place. Neither one of us could wait until it was time to get out of there."

"School's not in session. Might be a good place to hide, especially if you're familiar with the layout," Sondra said.

"Were there any places there that you guys liked to hang out?" Brax asked.

"Not really. Neither one of us were the type to skip class and any extracurriculars took place in the classrooms."

"I don't care. It's a lead. We need to send someone over there to check it out," Brax told Clay.

"On it, boss." Clay pulled out a cell phone, his voice hushed as he walked out of the alley for some privacy.





CHAPTER THIRTEEN

"ANYTHING ELSE YOU can think of?" Brax asked, arching an eyebrow.

I rubbed my hands together as I stared at the bodies, feeling like the worst sort of traitor. "Yeah, my downstairs neighbors talked to her before she left. She told them she was calling in a favor and to let me know that not all is as it seems."

I left out the part about how those same neighbors weren't exactly human and how they'd shielded her from detection when Brax and Sondra had paid me their little visit. Those were not my secrets to tell.

"It's odd she would tell such a thing to a stranger," he said, his eyes never leaving my face.

I shrugged. "He's a charming guy."

In every sense of the word, I suspected.

Clay stepped back into the alley. "I sent a couple of wolves to check out the high school. We should know something soon."

"I don't suppose you'd let me speak to the wolf Caroline savaged," I said, lifting an eyebrow.

Brax studied me before sliding a sidelong glance Liam's way, asking without words for his thoughts. Liam's arms were crossed over his chest, his face inscrutable. He looked dark and dangerous, the kind of man whose very presence threatened your piece of mind—the bogeyman with the face of a fallen angel.

"She may see something you missed," Liam said after a long pause. "She's shown a certain talent for this sort of work."

"More like she's a trouble magnet," Nathan said, his lazy humor peeking through for a moment.

"Either way, I don't see how you have much choice at this point," Liam said. "The city's master isn't going to be happy about this latest turn of events, and he'll hold you responsible since Caroline's one of yours."

Brax's face darkened, but he didn't argue. He looked resigned, determined.

Sondra paled, her eyes going to the bodies before coming back to me. There was something in her gaze, something I almost thought might be pleading. That couldn't be right, though. Sondra was a fierce warrior. Self-assured and confident in her abilities. There was nothing I could do that she couldn't do one hundred times better.

There was subtext here that I just wasn't getting. Frustration at my lack of knowledge ate at me.

"I can bring the pup around tonight," Brax said.

"Not tonight," Liam responded, looking up at the sky. "We'll be here a few hours longer, which will put us too close to dawn. Bring them tomorrow, first thing after sunset."

I started to protest. If catching Caroline before she did any more damage or went insane was so important, then we should do anything that might find her a priority.

Liam silenced my protest with a cutting look. "Unless you'd like to take blood straight from the vein."

I closed my mouth and hesitated. My gaze falling on the bodies.

"I thought so."

It was the last line I hadn't crossed. The few times I'd drunk from Liam didn't count. He was a vampire, and it was unlikely that I could kill him should I lose myself in the taste of blood.

"I'll do it," I said, not looking up. "I'll drink from the vein."