Bitter Blood (Blood and Moonlight Book 3)(59)

Aidan wasn’t a man any longer.





Chapter Thirteen


What in the hell just happened? Jane pushed away from the alley’s wall, aware that her knees were shaking. Aidan had been going for her throat—and not in the sexy, lover-like way he’d done back at his club.

He’d been out for blood. Hers.

“I’m guessing he isn’t always like that.” The feminine voice drifted to her, a little weak.

Jane looked at the woman who stood a few feet away. The blonde who’d just appeared with Vincent. The lady was taller than Jane, probably around five foot ten. She wore jeans and a t-shirt, with small, black boots on her feet. She looked utterly normal right then, but Jane knew the woman was packed with magical power. After all, Jane had seen what the blonde did to Aidan.

“No,” Jane murmured as she approached the newcomer. “He’s not.” Her gaze swept over the woman. The blonde wore thick, gold bangle bracelets around her wrists. “You’re Vincent’s witch.”

The woman took a step back. “Is that what I am?”

She was so not in the mood for games. “Lena,” Jane snapped out. “Vincent told me your name.”

“What else did he tell you?” Now Lena seemed vaguely curious.

“That you were strong.” Jane took another step toward her. “That you were the reason the guy can pretty much vanish in an instant, a little trick that I don’t know of any other vamp performing.”

“Umm…” Lena smoothed back her hair, even though it was already perfectly in place. “He does owe that trick to me.”

Jane moved to walk around her, but Lena side-stepped, blocking her path. Jane’s brows shot up. Oh, sister, you do not want to be doing that.

“You shouldn’t go after him right now.” Lena’s voice had dropped. “He’s…he seemed rather dangerous, and I do believe he told you to get the ‘f*ck away’ from him.”

“Aidan needs me.”

“I think the guy needs a whole lot right now,” Lena muttered.

Jane’s eyes narrowed on her. “Why didn’t you stop him from fleeing?”

“Because the guy is strong—too strong for me to hold for long.” But Lena actually seemed…happy…about that fact. “Didn’t anticipate that power. Bet Vincent didn’t, either.”

Jane moved to the left.

The witch moved, too.

“Seriously, get the hell out of my way, now,” Jane ordered. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“And I don’t want to be hurt anymore.” Sadness flashed on Lena’s pretty face. “But we aren’t always given options. If you follow Aidan tonight, you will lose him.”

“What? Did you look into a scrying mirror and see that?”

“A scrying mirror?” Lena shook her head. “Never used one. I don’t see the future, just the present, and I can see that right now…that man is fighting for his sanity. No,” she rolled back her shoulders. “I think he’s fighting for his soul.”

And Jane was just standing in an alley, talking shit with a witch she’d just met. “All the more reason for me to get to him.”

“If he hurts you, he’s lost, and he knows it.” Lena’s gaze swept over Jane’s face. “Go to him now, and he’ll cross a line that will send him straight to hell.”

Okay, enough of this crap. “Move…or I’ll move you.” She wasn’t afraid of a witch’s power.

Lena stared at her a moment longer. “The end, Jane. Do you see? It’s all been leading to this moment. For so many centuries, everything has been building up to this.”

“To this?” A dark, smelly alley? The lady wasn’t moving so Jane just grabbed her—and moved her. “This moment is me choosing to follow Aidan. Me choosing Aidan. I know he’s suffering, I can see it—”

“The darkness is swallowing him. His two halves…wolf and vampire…they were fighting for supremacy within him. Didn’t you see that?” Lena demanded.

Jane marched to the edge of the alley. Lena rushed behind her.

“The wolf took over when he left!” Lena’s voice was breathless. “The beast doesn’t reason. It just reacts. I know, I’ve seen more than my fair share of alpha werewolves during my time on this earth. But right now, Aidan Locke is like an alpha on serious steroids. Even his mate can’t calm the beast in him.”

Jane had Aidan’s scent, and she knew she could find him, no matter where he’d gone. She looked back at the witch. “Want to bet?” She didn’t wait for an answer. She turned to the left, locked on Aidan, and she ran after the man who mattered most to her.

When he’d had her against that wall, it had been as if she were staring into the eyes of a stranger. There had been no tenderness, no love in his blue gaze. Only rage. Bloodlust. He’d looked at her as if she were his prey…

And she’d been afraid. Of him. Of what was happening to them both.

There were so many people on the streets. How the hell had they missed a giant black wolf rushing past them? Were the people on Bourbon that drunk already?

Jane’s pace quickened as she tried to catch up to him, but even though his scent drifted in the air back to her, Jane couldn’t see Aidan.