Bitter Blood (Blood and Moonlight Book 3)(43)

He was trapped.

Caged.

Beasts hated to be caged.

Am I different because I’m an alpha? Has Paris already lost his wolf completely? It would seem so. No wonder the bloodlust was hitting Paris so hard. He had no defense against it. Aidan’s wolf was still battling, refusing to give up…

Tearing me apart in the fight.

Aidan sucked in a deep breath. He would find a way to fix of all of this. He wouldn’t give up. He couldn’t.

Aidan and Jane slipped outside. His gaze scanned the street, looking for threats. The cemetery waited nearby, and he could see the statues and the mausoleums creeping above the heavy stone wall. His nostrils flared as he pulled in the scents around him. Humans. Perfume. Wine. Cigarettes.

“He left this phone for me.” Jane pulled it from her pocket. Her shoulder brushed against his chest. “The bastard had another surveillance camera set up, only this time it was in front of the Hathway Psychiatric Facility. He’d been watching my brother. When he called, he said that Drew was going to strike soon. That I had to get to you.”

“And you came running.” His words were rough and the hair on the nape of his neck rose. His gaze scanned the street. He looked back toward the cemetery and…

Light. Glinting.

Aidan didn’t say another word. He just took off running. He went straight for that cemetery wall. Jane yelled after him.

Aidan leapt over the wall. His knees didn’t buckle when he touched down on the other side. He rushed ahead, catching sight of a man’s dark hair.

“Aidan!” Jane yelled.

He glanced back just as she cleared the wall. That was his Jane. Strong. He turned back to face his prey—the fool wasn’t getting away.

The light glinted. He was watching us. Peering over the wall. Staring at us through—

Aidan grabbed the bastard.

And the device the man had been holding—a big, black camera—fell to the ground, shattering.

“What the f*cking hell!” the man screamed. He turned on Aidan, swinging his fist. Aidan took the blow even as he caught sight of the dark lines of tattoos on the man’s wrist and forearm. Aidan laughed at the weak impact of that hit, and then his claws flew toward the fool who had thought to—

Jane jumped between him and his prey. “Aidan, stop!”

A sea of red was before his eyes. He didn’t want to stop. He wanted the bastard to bleed.

And I’ll drink his blood. I’ll drink him down. He’ll beg and bleed and—

“Aidan?” Jane stared at him, worry flashing in her eyes. “Are you okay?”

Aidan drove his claws into the nearby mausoleum. Chunks of stone flew into the air around him. Rage was choking him, and he knew the way he felt was wrong. He tried to breathe, to get past the rage.

“Jane!” It was his prey talking—the guy was reaching for Jane, staring at her with familiarity. And Jane was—Jane was shielding the guy. Some human who was covered with tattoos, with piercings running up the side of his left ear, and who…

I know him, too. Fuck. He’d seen this guy before, back at Jane’s old apartment. When a paranormal fire had swept through the building, this * had been there. Jane had gotten Roth to safety and then, when an ambush happened on the streets and bullets started flying, Roth had run for cover. And this * just left Jane to protect herself.

“Roth!” Jane looked back at the guy. “What in the hell is going on?”

Roth, Roth Sly. The name clicked for Aidan. Fucking bastard. He hadn’t seen Roth since the night he’d gotten Jane away from her old apartment. He hadn’t even given a second thought to the jerk since that time.

Obviously, my mistake.

“I don’t know what’s happening!” Roth yelled back. “I was minding my own damn business and this guy flew at me!”

Aidan tried to shove down his rage, for the moment. Think. Focus.

“I was taking some pictures—you know how f*cking important my art is to me, Jane,” Roth said, his words tumbling out. “Then this freak just came hurtling over the wall and attacked me.”

“It’s okay, Roth.” Jane’s voice was flat. “Everything is under control.” She stared hard at Aidan. “Isn’t it?”

His hands slowly slid from the stone. “For the moment.” Maybe. Barely. He glared at the guy. “Roth. I remember you.”

“Oh, shit,” Roth whispered. “Why do I feel like you mean that in a bad way?”

Because I do. I f*cking do.

“You lived on the bottom floor of Jane’s building,” Aidan’s voice was a rough rumble. He couldn’t manage more than that. “The night I met you, your sorry ass hid behind a street sign when bullets started flying. You left Jane out in the open, vulnerable. You saved your own hide.”

Roth’s eyes bulged. “She is a cop, man! She knows how to take care of herself!” Roth was nearly as tall as Aidan and the guy was muscled, but in a match of strength, Aidan knew the fool wouldn’t even come close to his level. “I didn’t want to die! So, hell, yeah, I ran and hid! That’s what sane people do!” His gaze fell to the shattered camera. “Look what the hell you did…” He grabbed for the camera.

Aidan grabbed the bastard, snagging his wrist. The guy had a black raven tattoo that covered his inner wrist, and a snake was poised to bite that bird…its prey. “Do you like attacking those who are weaker than you?”