Bitter Blood (Blood and Moonlight Book 3)(50)

Heider hesitated. “Got to say, at this point, I’m surprised Paris actually still has a head. I would’ve thought the guy would be well on his way to the afterlife by now.”

Garrison growled once more. “Careful, doc. That’s my pack member you’re talking about. But, yeah, he’s still got his head.” And Garrison wanted the guy to keep it. He liked Paris. Paris was his friend, and Garrison didn’t have enough of those.

Heider’s gloved fingers gingerly picked up the knife. “A vampire killed your family,” he said as he turned away from Garrison. “Shouldn’t you hate them all?”

“I do hate the vamp who took my parents.” Rage would always twist in him when he thought of that bastard. “But that guy is nothing but ash now. He can’t hurt anyone.”

Heider was taking some samples from the knife.

“I don’t hate all vamps.” The words just seemed to slip from Garrison. “I don’t hate Jane.” He couldn’t hate her. As for Paris…“Like I told you, Paris is pack.”

Heider was silent as he ran his tests. Garrison just stood there, shifting a bit from foot to foot and glancing at the body bag to his left. Why the hell would anyone want to work with the dead all day?

“You haven’t felt the urge to attack Paris?” Heider’s voice drifted to him.

Garrison rubbed the back of his neck. “At…at first, I could feel my beast and he wasn’t happy but…but the more blood that Paris took, the better it got.”

Heider glanced up from his microscope. “Blood?”

“Yeah, he’s been drinking the bagged blood that Aidan had. I think the alpha’s blood is really helping him,” Garrison added. “He looks better and he…seems saner.”

“Alpha blood.” Heider peered back through the lens of his microscope.

“It can cure anything,” Garrison murmured.

But Heider stiffened. “No, it can’t cure anything.” He looked over at Garrison. “Where is Jane now?”

“With Aidan.”

“Of course, she is. Because Jane doesn’t see the danger with him. She thinks she can trust him…” Heider made a long hmmmp sound. “Will she still be trusting him when he tries to rip out her throat?”

“That’s not going to happen!” Garrison glared at the guy. “Aidan loves her.” He’d seen the way his alpha looked at Jane.

“Love and obsession can often be confused, especially by someone like Aidan.”

The doc was pissing him off. Garrison’s hands fisted and he took a menacing step toward Heider.

“Easy, wolf,” Heider spoke quickly. “I’m not the enemy.”

“Then who the hell is?” Garrison demanded. “I need to know. We all need to know exactly who we’re facing.” So they could take the bastard out. He advanced on the doc. “What do you see in his blood? Can you figure out which vamp it was that changed him?”

He saw the doc’s Adam’s apple bob. “Yes, I think I’ve figured that part out.”

Garrison waited.

The doc didn’t say more. He did pull out more slides and put them under his microscope.

“Uh, want to clue me in? Who’s the enemy?” Who did Garrison need to kill? Because he was more than ready to fight in order to protect his friends.

Dr. Bob took off his glasses and set them—very carefully—on the table. “Jane.” His voice was soft, and his expression had turned ashen. “It’s…Jane.” He stared at Garrison in growing alarm. “I think she’ll be the end of you all.”





Chapter Eleven


The water poured down on Jane as she stood beneath Aidan’s shower. He’d carried her up the club’s stairs. A sweet, but totally unnecessary gesture. She hadn’t stopped him, though, because if the guy wanted to carry her…

Why not relax and enjoy the ride? He’d been so tender as he eased her into his shower. His hands were careful on her skin. Even now, he stood just behind her, lightly smoothing soap and lather over her arms.

“Did I hurt you?” His voice was quiet.

She smiled as she turned toward him. Her body was slick and her skin slid against his. “Not even a little.” But…was that the truth? When he’d marked her, it had stung. A sharp flash of pain that had caught her off-guard. The pain had only lasted a moment, and then there had been so much pleasure.

His hands slid down her arms.

And he stepped away from her.

Jane stayed beneath the warm spray of the shower, watching him as he slipped out and quickly toweled off. He knotted the towel around his waist, and her gaze drank him in. Those wash-board abs, his powerful shoulders.

Sexy. So very sexy.

“I…died in the fire, Jane.”

It took a moment for his words to register. She shook her head, and even managed a quick laugh. “No, you didn’t. I got you out. I saved you, Aidan.”

Steam drifted in the air around her.

And Aidan shook his head, just once. No.

The warm water was suddenly chilling her. Jane’s hand flew out and she turned off that water. The drip, drip, drip that followed seemed way too loud to her sensitive ears. She stepped out of the shower, standing on his lush mat and dripping all over the place, but not really caring about that.