Bitter Blood (Blood and Moonlight Book 3)(33)

But inside she worried, she feared…

There are some things that can’t be fixed.

***

As Jane’s footsteps faded away, Annette knelt beside Paris once more. She brushed back his hair, and her fingers drifted over his cheek.

Paris Cole had been fighting darkness for most of his life. It didn’t seem right that the darkness should now try to claim him. No, not right at all.

How did a werewolf become a vampire?

Jane changed the rules, for all of them. Annette had known that truth, she just hadn’t wanted to face it. Now, there was no choice, not for any of them.

Carefully, she spread out the chunks of her precious black mirror. She would have to forge a new mirror soon, but building a mirror like that would drain her power, and with all the danger coming to their town, she couldn’t afford to be weak, not even for a moment.

So the new mirror had to wait.

Her fingers fluttered over the chunks of glass. When she’d touched Paris’s cheek, a drop of his blood had gotten onto her finger. Now, she smeared that blood on a chunk of the glass. She wanted to look into that mirror, and see Paris fighting the darkness. She wanted to see him surviving. Having his control back.

She stared into the glass and her heart chilled.

She could see Paris, an image shimmering in her mind’s eye. He was strong. He was whole. He was…

Sinking his teeth into Aidan. Drinking from the alpha, gorging on his blood.

Annette threw the chunks of glass against the wall. A sob broke from her. “I won’t let this be your end. I won’t.” Then she began to chant, low and fast.

Who said magic couldn’t change the world?

Magic could change anything, even fate.

Provided, of course, that the magic used was very, very dark.

As dark as a werewolf’s tortured soul.

***

“He must have been given vampire blood. No other explanation for it.” Vincent paced along the sidewalk. Dawn had come, but the sun barely peeked in the sky. Darkness still hung heavily in the city.

Jane glanced at Vincent—suave, polished Vincent who barely had so much as a hair out of place, despite their hellish night. Then her gaze slid to Aidan. Her Aidan. His hair was thick and wild, his eyes blazing, and the t-shirt he wore stretched over the powerful muscles of his chest and shoulders.

It was a good thing Aidan kept spare clothes in his car. Because after that shift at the lab, he’d been stark naked.

“I never gave him vamp blood,” Aidan spat. “So try another explanation.”

“Maybe you didn’t…” Now Vincent focused on Jane. “But maybe she did.”

What? Jane held up her hands. “Slow down there, *. I did not. I didn’t so much as even nip the guy when he asked me to, all right? I know how werewolves feel about vamps. It’s not like I’d ever want to give him this fate.”

Her fate.

“I’ve never known of a werewolf to become a vampire,” Vincent said as he began to rub the back of his neck. “And I’ve been around a long time. It’s just…not done.”

“Uh, obviously, it’s done.” Jane pointed to the building behind them. “Got an undead buddy in there who is proof of that fact.”

Vincent’s mouth clamped shut.

Aidan crossed his arms over his chest and studied the vamp. “You’re telling me that you’ve never heard of this before? I thought your ass was alive when the Vikings were here—”

“I was a Viking,” Vincent began hotly, “so don’t tell me—”

“Because I’m not buying,” Aidan continued, cutting right over his words. “That this has never happened before. Someone knows what is going on. Someone can fix this!”

“I’ll put a call in to my witch.” Before Aidan could respond, Vincent threw up his hand. “And, yes, she’s a real witch, with more power than anyone I know.” He hesitated. “Aside from Annette Benoit.”

Jane inched closer to him. “Will your witch be able to help?”

“Possibly. Maybe. I don’t know.”

So he wasn’t exactly building them up on hope.

“I’ll get Lena out here as soon as I can, okay? She was a bit angry at me the last time I saw her, but I can convince her to help us out.”

That was something.

“In the meantime, we keep Paris here,” Vincent added doggedly. “We keep trying to feed him blood—your blood, alpha. He didn’t spit it back up, so that means he can survive on it. We give him enough, and maybe we’ll reach the guy’s humanity once more. If his control can hold, then he’ll have a fighting chance.” But he shook his head grimly. “Either you were born to change, or you weren’t. Humans weren’t meant to grow fangs, and werewolves—hell, they definitely weren’t meant to live on a blood diet.”

“The rules have changed,” Aidan said.

Jane’s head turned toward him. He was staring at her, and his eyes seemed to shine with the power of his beast. A shiver slid over her.

“You changed the rules,” Aidan said, almost as an accusation.

Another shiver. “I never meant to,” Jane said. She’d never wanted to be a vampire. That choice—it hadn’t been one that she’d ever wanted. She squared her shoulders and marched closer to him. “We’re going to find a way to help Paris.”