Page 81 of A Token of Blood and Betrayal

“Wait,” Eli said when I lurched toward my apartment.

Swaying to a stop, I glanced behind me in time to see the elemental open his arms wide.The parking lot trembled.More cracks formed in the pavement, joining the fissure that had swallowed the werewolf.Then Eli swept his arms inward and toward my car parked just a few yards away.

Fresh earth surged from the ground, almost like a wave on a beach, the rich, dark soil pouring beneath the vehicle’s undercarriage.A loud, deafeningclapsplit the air.When my hearing recovered, the sedan’s rumbling engine was the only sound that filled the night.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Idon’tremembergettinginto the car, leaving the parking lot, or driving out of the city.All I noticed was the clock on the dashboard changing to2:02 a.m.

A traffic-free highway stretched to infinity.I pressed the accelerator down as far as it would go.

2:07 a.m.

My speed crept past 100 mph.Then 120.I couldn’t feel my arm.I refused to look at it.My wet, sticky clothes and a tremble that had spread through my entire body told me how screwed I was.Get bitten by a werewolf during the full moon, you were guaranteed to turn.

The week of the full moon?Your odds of remaining human were damn near zero.

It had been three days since the moon was at its fullest.

2:22 a.m.I hit the brakes too late.My car fishtailed over The Rain’s slick parking lot.My head was spinning on its own.I had no chance to stop the collision.The car left the pavement, tore through soft earth, then slammed into the service entrance’s brick wall.

Black splotches darkened my vision, but I fought to stay conscious.I had to get inside the Null.Had to disinfect my arm.Had to make sure I stayed human.

I shouldered the car door open and fell out onto broken bricks and earth.

Get up.Keep moving!

My injured arm wouldn’t support me.I crawled using only my left arm.It was agonizing.It was slow.It was the only way I managed to get to theEmployee Onlyentrance.Reaching up, I grabbed the latch and pulled the door open.Then I collapsed over the threshold.

“Ms.Rain?”

Cool concrete pressed against my cheek, which was the only part of me that didn’t burn.Everything else felt hot and sticky.

“Oh shit!”Fingers pressed against my throat.

I opened my eyes.Saw Thad crouched in front of me.

Relief flashed across his face.“I thought you were dead.I’ll get help.”

“No,” I rasped out.

He froze mid-rise.“No?”

My thoughts were sluggish.I wasn’t sure why I’d stopped him.I needed help.I needed to…

I needed to remain human.

“Get me to the kitchen.”I tried to sit up.

Thad took my good arm, started to lift me.He must have changed his mind or determined I wasn’t in walking condition because he scooped me up and carried me.

I might have passed out again.When I blinked the black splotches from my vision, I was on my feet in front of the kitchen’s industrial-sized sink.

Had I asked Thad to bring me there?I couldn’t remember, but it didn’t matter.I reached for the faucet.

My knees buckled immediately.Had I been standing at all?The counter and Thad’s arm around my waist were keeping me upright.

“Water,” I said.I waited, staring at the bottom of the sink, wondering why it wasn’t filling.