1 Dicey Grenor (30 page)

I didn’t hear
anything else he said because there was a scuffle, no an outright fisticuff.
Then just as soon as it had begun, there was a loud bang and I felt a searing
pain in my stomach.

Didn’t have to
look down to know Little Dick mother-fucker had shot me.

Chapter 36

Wonderful.

My other wounds hadn’t
healed yet and I already had a hole in the gut to contend with. At least I’d
finally get the trip to La-La Land I’d wanted because I passed out in a matter
of seconds.

No more pain. No
more conscious thoughts.

My brainwaves went
haywire, however.
Short-circuiting straight to
Remi
.
Then Max.
Then Punch.
Franco. Ivan.
Saybree
.
Desperately trying to tap every supernatural connection I
had, blood-bonded or not.

Even
dreamt of my family.
Of happy times with them.
Of moments when my mother had blamed herself for giving me the
chromosome that carried narcolepsy.
Of how my parents had honestly
thought everything they’d done was in my best interest. They had fed, clothed,
sheltered and given me an education, after all.

Promised God I’d
go see them if I survived.

I vaguely got the
sense
Remi
and Punch responded, but it was too much
for my brain to process. One of them said,
Stay with us, Willow. Baby, we’re
on the way
, I think. And I think maybe Ivan was rubbing my head.

There was no way
to tell how long I’d been out when I finally awakened, but I knew it was
nightfall. Darkness was calling to me from outside. Night creatures were
scavenging for food. Cemeteries were bursting with dead, restless energy. And I
was itching to walk barefoot through a recent graveyard, burying myself in the
cool, damp earth. Just for a little while.

First thing I saw
was Dario because he was checking out my condition. Bastard actually seemed
concerned.

Oh, yeah. I was
his only link to Max, the
maistre
vampire
who’s
clan member had killed Dario’s family.

Luckily, Dario’s
bandits had not done their homework. Just like they had no idea the blood they’d
been spilling all day would have given them superhuman strength, they didn’t
know I wouldn’t die from a bullet unless it was silver.

So I got the
chance to fight another day.

Would
have to be later though ’cause I passed out again.

Next time I came
to, the scene had changed drastically. There were body parts and shredded
clothes all around and a big black werewolf was licking my face.

“Punch?”
I said weakly, half expecting him to answer back.

He whined and
nuzzled my shoulder as if to tell me to get up.

I tried.
Couldn’t move.

My mouth was so
dry,
I gave up trying to talk and hoped he’d hear me
telepathically.
Where’s
Remi
?

The wolf put his head
down next to mine and whimpered.

Not a good sign.

I had to get up
and look for him, but I still couldn’t move.
Punch, I need blood. I can’t
move.
I’d never taken blood from an animal before, but there was a first
time for everything.

He whimpered again,
making no move to offer himself.

What is it?
Tell me.

His baritone voice
came in my head strong and apologetic.
I promised Fire I’d never give you
blood again.

Well, fuck me
sideways with a golden dildo. What was I going to do?

I’m sorry
,
but
that was her condition on me coming here to help you.

I understand.
Looking
around at all the scattered parts, I wondered.
How long have the bodies been
torn apart?
There was blood everywhere.

Few
minutes before you woke up.
Then his wolf head cocked sideways.
You
don’t think…

It’s worth a
try.
Drinking blood left in the air too long would be the equivalent of
a human
drinking spoiled milk. But Punch had said it was
only a few minutes ago…

He walked away on
all fours and returned with a severed arm. Small enough to fit up to my mouth
without me having to move my head, and large enough to have enough blood in it
even after a lot had run onto the floor.

The blood was cold
and flat like two-week-old soda. And it was gritty from where it had rolled on
the dirty floor. I almost spit it out.

Then I felt it
start to work. I drank thirstily while Punch pressed the arm with his paw,
squeezing the veins until I couldn’t get another drop.

It wasn’t enough.
More.
I need more.

Punch brought
several body parts one after the other until I was finally able to move my
head, then my legs and arms. When I was strong enough to sit up, I looked for
Remi
in the carnage. There was only one body still intact,
but it wasn’t
Remi’s
.

Crawling over to
Dario’s body, I inspected him in a detached, science-experiment-y sort of way.
He had seen better days. Although he was a bloody mess, I suspected all of it
did not belong to him. He had put up a good fight.
  

As I peeled the
bloody blade from his hand, his chest moved up and down, his heart beat faintly.
He was alive…but not by much. Using the blade to cut the bullet out of my skin
where it had already started sealing, I had half a mind to wait until he woke
up to give him a dose of his own medicine. I could jab the blade right through
his muscular neck or better yet, slice off three of his fingers.

Then I noticed the
teeth marks clawed from the top of his collar bone down to his navel.

“You bit him?!” I
asked Punch, who lifted his head up once and back down again. “Fuck. You bit
him.”

Though they weren’t
an illegal species, there were laws that governed were-animal interaction with
humans. For example, criminal charges for assault with a deadly weapon were
brought against any were-animal caught biting a human.
Which
is why werewolves didn’t usually bite humans unless they were intending to eat
them up completely or add them to the pack as new recruits.

What in the world
was Punch planning?

The wolf whimpered
and rolled unto his back where he showed a gaping, bloody hole.

“Oh,
no.
You’ve been shot?”

He nodded again,
lying still as I inspected his wound.

“Do you want me to
cut it out like I did mine? Do you need to go to a pet hospital or something?”

No. Once I nap,
I’ll heal. The bullet will pop right out.
He rolled to his feet and went to
lick the side of Dario’s face.
This one fought well. He…he may have gotten
my blood in his wound.

Hmmm. Things were
getting really interesting, really fast. No witch or ritual was needed for a
human to turn in to a
were
-animal. Just a bite, where
the animal’s saliva temporarily paralyzed the victim and a dose of the animal’s
blood at the injury site and…
howwwwwl
!

You want me to
kill him? He was trying to save you when we got here so I left him alive for
you to decide. I bit him by mistake.

I thought about
that. It was Dario’s fault this whole debauchery ever took place. He had tried
to save me, sure, but for his own self-interest. Maybe becoming a wolf every
full moon and many times in between if he couldn’t control it would teach him a
lesson. The lesson being, stay away from Sleepy Willow.

Before I could
answer, I heard groaning from the hall.

Remi
!

I rushed out with
no thought for my naked tattered body until I got down next to where he was
lying on the floor. The wolf came over with a denim shirt dangling between his
teeth. The body it belonged to wouldn’t
be needing
it.
I ripped a piece off to tie around my hand where I had missing fingers then
balled up the shirt and stuck it under
Remi’s
head to
make him more comfortable. I still didn’t feel modest enough to put it on. I
was only worried about
Remi
being okay.

The wolf growled.
Apparently, my body was distracting him.

“
Remi
, can you hear me?” I didn’t see blood on him anywhere,
but he had a lump the size of a boulder on his forehead. It was already turning
deep purple. Hopefully, he didn’t have a concussion or internal bleeding.
Wondered if I should take him to the doctor or just give him more
of my blood.

He opened his
eyes, looking around wildly. After focusing his attention on me, he said in a
small voice, “Who are you and where
am I
?”

Oh, no, not again.
“Let me guess—you’re Lil’ Aaron?” He nodded, looking fragile, timid. Probably
not the best time to offer my wrist. Crossing my arms over my bosom to hide my
nakedness, I glanced at the wolf’s side-cocked head and knew he was confused. “I’ll
explain later,” I said to Punch. “Okay. Don’t worry, I’m going to take care of
you,” I said to Lil’ Aaron. “Just look deep in my eyes.”

When he did, I
commanded him to return in six months and not one moment beforehand, which
meant I shouldn’t see him again until June-
ish
. Like
offering a bribe for his cooperation, I promised to take him to the zoo on the
night of his return.
Couldn’t hurt to give him something to
look forward to.
I didn’t know what arrangement he already had with
Aaron, but this was the most practical to me. And since I was doing the mental
manipulation, I was setting the schedule.

Only time would
tell if my captivation worked.

Chapter 37

With Punch in wolf
form and
Remi
in no condition to drive, that left me
behind the wheel of Punch’s truck. We had no other choice. Punch explained he
would instantly go in to a deep sleep after transforming to a man in order to
heal from his gunshot wound, and
Remi
had passed out
once I’d commanded him to shift. So hopefully, I wouldn’t crash the truck and
make all our efforts to stay alive futile.

After donning a
white lab coat from the closet inside the diagnostic lab where I’d been held
captive, we were ready to make our way.
Remi
would
have to return to get his vehicle the following day since
apparently,
he had driven to my rescue all by his lonesome. I could not believe the story
Punch told about arriving moments after
Remi
had gone
in by the seat of his pants to confront my kidnappers.

He’d gotten his
ass handed to him, but wow! Talk about big
cojones
.

Luckily, we made
it back to Hades without me falling asleep along the way. Punch intended to
spend the night in the basement under Franco’s watchful eye since Punch would
be in somewhat of a coma. Made me wonder why Punch didn’t have a pack since I
had always heard sleeping with a pack of were-animals helped them heal faster.
Oh, well. Maybe he was banking on Fire joining him once she got off work.
Though I wasn’t entirely sure she qualified as a
were
-animal.

Franco took one
look at me and said I looked worse for wear so it was good I already had the
night off. He also reminded me humans were not allowed in the basement.

No worries.
Remi
and I had another stop to make.

So Punch allowed
another opportunity to test fate by giving permission for me to drive his truck
over to
Saybree’s
house.
Remi
and I needed that amulet ASAP.

As usual,
Saybree
was not surprised to see me, though she was worried
something bad had happened since I hadn’t shown up the night before. After her
initial greeting, she hardly paid attention to me as she was so engrossed in
checking out
Remi
.

After cutting a
small lock of
Remi’s
hair as payment for the amulet,
she ushered us to a back bedroom. I laid him down and she handed me some
ointment to rub on his head. Then she went back to the kitchen to finish up
with another client. I took a long shower then inspected myself fully, wincing
at how bad the damage was. Grateful the sons of bitches were all dead.

Except
Dario.
The ringleader.

Hope I hadn’t made
a mistake in leaving him behind. He was motivated by something worse than pussy
or money, after all. Revenge was a potent elixir of evil. I knew better than to
leave an enemy alive when he was that determined to get me. But I just couldn’t
tell Punch to do it. Lord knows I wasn’t going to do it myself. Maybe it was
because Dario had suffered a tremendous loss. He had loved his family so much
that he had dedicated his life to avenging their deaths. I couldn’t relate to
that level of devotion, but I wanted to.

Maybe I left him
alive because he may share Punch’s supernatural essence now. Franco said we
supernaturals
should stick together. Did that include a
newly-made werewolf driven by revenge?

What if Dario was
too far gone for Punch’s blood to infect him? There was a possibility his
injuries were too severe. He could be dead.

Or if Punch’s
blood had not gotten in Dario’s wound at all. Should I have Punch track him
down and kill him later if it turned out Dario was no more supernatural than
the man in the moon? Was it right to have Punch doing my dirty work?