Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson #2)(45)

Tony laughed as he got in his car and started it. He left the door open to let the heat out, holding a hand in front of the vent to catch the first trickle of cold air.

"It'll probably cool down about the time I get to the station," he said.

"Toughen up," I advised him.

He grinned, shut his door and drove off. It was only then that I realized Honey's car wasn't in the lot.

Gabriel looked up when I came in. "Mr. Hauptman called for you," he said. "He said you should check your cell phone for messages."

I found the cell phone where I'd left it, on top of a rolling tool chest in the shop.

"Just picked up Warren," Adam's voice had that calm and brisk rhythm he only used when things were really bad. "We're taking him to my house now. You should meet us there."

I called Adam's house, but the answering machine picked up. So I called Samuel's cell.

"Samuel?"

"I'm on my way to Adam's house now," he told me. "I won't know anything until I get there."

I didn't ask if Warren was hurt. Adam's voice had told me that much. "I'll be there in ten minutes." Not that it mattered, I thought, pressing the end button. There wasn't anything that I could do to help.

I told Gabriel to hold the fort, and to lock up at five.

"Werewolf troubles?" he asked.

I nodded. " Warren 's hurt."

"You all right to drive?" he asked.

I nodded again and dashed out the door. I was halfway to my car when I realized that probably no one would have thought to call Kyle. I hesitated. Warren and Kyle weren't an item anymore-but I didn't think it was due to lack of caring on either of their parts. So I found Kyle's office number on my phone's memory and got in touch with his hyper-efficient office manager.

"I'm sorry," she told me. "He's unavailable right now, may I take your name and number?"

"This is Mercedes Thompson." It wasn't easy to buckle in with one hand, but I managed. "My phone number-"

"Ms. Thompson? Hold on, I'll patch you through."

Huh. Kyle must have put me on his important people list. I listened to classical music in my ear as I turned onto Chemical Drive and put my foot down. I was pretty sure the driver of the green Taurus behind me was the werewolf who had been tailing me.

"What's up, Mercy?" Kyle's soothing voice replaced Chopin before I made it to the welcome to finley sign.

" Warren 's hurt. I don't know how badly, but Adam called in the troops."

"I'm in my car near Twenty-seventh and 395," he said. "Where is Warren?"

Behind me, I saw flashing lights as the police car that usually hid just past the railroad overpass pulled over the Taurus. I put my foot down harder on the gas.

"At Adam's house."

"I'll be there shortly." As he hung up, I heard his Jag's big V-12 open up.

He didn't beat me there, but I was still arguing with the idiot at the front door when he skidded to a stop, splattering gravel all over.

I pulled out my cell phone and played Adam's message for the door guard. "He's expecting me," I grated.

The idiot shook his head. "My orders are no one but pack."

"She is pack, Elliot, you moron," said Honey, coming to the door behind the big man. "Adam's claimed her as his mate-which you very well know. Let her in." Honey's hand clamped on Elliot's arm and dragged him back from the door.

I grabbed Kyle's arm and pulled him past the obstreperous moron-guard. There were werewolves everywhere. I knew that there were only about thirty wolves in Adam's pack, but I'd have sworn there were twice that in the living room.

"This is Kyle," I told Honey, leading Kyle to the stairs.

"Hello, Kyle," Honey said softly. " Warren 's told me about you." I hadn't realized she was a friend of Warren 's, but her smeared mascara told me she'd been crying.

She didn't follow us up the stairs-doubtless she'd have a few unhappy moments with Elliot before she could do anything else. Idiot or not, Elliot was a dominant, and so higher in the pack than Honey, who took her rank from her submissive husband. Have I mentioned that werewolf etiquette is stuck in another century? Honey had really put her neck out for us.

Adam's house has five bedrooms, but I didn't have to guess where Warren was. I could smell the blood from the top of the stairs, and Darryl, Adam's second, stood watch at the door like a Nubian guarding the Pharaoh.

He frowned heavily at me. I was pretty sure it was for bringing a human into pack business. But I had no patience for it right now.

"Go rescue Honey from that idiot who was trying to keep me out."

He hesitated.

"Go." I couldn't see Adam, but it was his command that sent Darryl past us and down the stairs.

Kyle entered the room first, then stopped abruptly, blocking my sight of the room. I had to duck under his arm and scoot past before I got a good look.

It was bad.

They'd stripped the bed down to its bottom sheet and Samuel was working furiously over the battered, bloody thing that was Warren. I didn't blame Kyle for hesitating. If I hadn't smelled him, I would never have known who the man on the bed was, there was so little left that was recognizable.