Page 107

“No idea. The guy’s been sitting there. He ordered some food, ate it, sat around, went to the bathroom a couple times, and drank like nine cups of coffee.

No one has talked to him except the server.

It’s like he’s sitting there, waiting for someone to find him, which is weird, because he and Kyle have to know we’re hunting for him.

Get over here and take a look for yourself. ”

We did exactly that, shifting and sprinting through town until we got to Langston.

He sat half-hidden by a few trees and a concrete fountain in a small park overlooking a downtown plaza.

Before I could even greet Langston, I spotted Dallas fifty yards away, sitting right by the big bay window of the café.

“You weren’t lying,” Trent said. “He’s hanging out there like a sitting duck.” He turned to me. “You want all of us to jump him? Might cause a ruckus in there, but we can pay for damages and whatnot. What do you think?”

“No,” I whispered through gritted teeth. “I go in alone. We do this quiet. I need to look into Dallas’s eyes and ask him what the fuck is going through his mind.”

“Is that wise?” Langston asked. “He may see you and bolt. Or worse, he may have a team in there with him. They could have gotten there before we did. I have no way of knowing who’s in there.”

“No,” I repeated. “This is for me.”

Before either of them could argue, I strode out into the plaza. Trent and Langston called out to me in low, whispered voices, but I ignored them, my eyes boring straight into the glass window as my brother grew clearer.

If he saw me coming out of the corner of his eye, he didn’t react.

Opening the door and stepping inside, I could see the back of Dallas’s head.

Even when the bell rang over the door, he didn’t turn to see who’d arrived.

When I slipped into the other side of the booth and he finally saw me, he didn’t act surprised.

No flinch, no widened eyes, not even a frown. In fact, all he did was grin at me.

My hands, resting on the table, bunched into fists. “Is there something funny, Dallas?” I asked, biting each word off as I spoke it.

“Not at all,” Dallas said, and sat his mug down. “I knew your dogs had been on my trail for days. Decided to throw them a bone. That’s all.”

“You’re a piece of shit,” I hissed. “Just looking at you makes me want to puke. I’ve seen the shit you’ve done.”

Dallas didn’t blink. Instead, he leaned forward, mimicking my movement, and narrowed his eyes. “Cole, have you looked at this from all sides? Have you stopped to think about why I was doing all these things for Kyle?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” I said, taking on a tone of faux introspection.

“Maybe it’s that you’re a bastard, hungry for money and power?

Could it be that you have no honor or morals?

Or, perhaps, you’re a cold-hearted son of a bitch who doesn’t care about anyone but himself?

Am I getting close with any of those? Shit, maybe it’s all three? ”

“Cole,” Dallas said with a sigh, and that sigh almost sent me over the edge. It almost cut through my barely contained rage and made me leap across the table and kill him.

“ Yes,” I grunted, baring my teeth as I said it.

“There are things going on here that are bigger than you know.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I barked, and the few people paused to glance around. Ignoring their looks of disdain, I went on. “What are you going on about? Something bigger? What? Kyle’s little kingdom is gonna get bigger? Has he decided to crown you his fucking prince-in-waiting?”

“That’s not what I mean.” Finally, he showed some emotion—irritation and maybe a little fear.

“This is bigger than you. It’s bigger than Kyle’s obsession with Avery.

There are other people involved. I’ve done some awful shit, but I’ve done it to keep my head on my shoulders and to help those people. ”

“Stop this cryptic bullshit. Just tell me what the fuck you’re talking about?”

Dallas shook his head. “Can’t do that.”

Fast as a snake striking, I reached across the table and grabbed Dallas’s shirt, lifting him out of his seat until we were nose-to-nose.

Dallas didn’t even flinch. In fact, he looked bored.

That unconcerned look on his face had my rage surging, a mountain of flame roaring in my heart, forcing steaming-hot magma through my veins.

Shaking him slightly, I hissed, “Don’t you shake your head at me. I should kill you for what you did.”

“Maybe you should.” There was no fear in his eyes, not even an ounce, and that disconcerted me. “But if you do, then who’s going to watch out for your boy? Who’s gonna keep him safe?”

“Wha—”

“I’m not innocent, Cole. I’ve done things I’ve despised, and I’ll answer for my sins one day.

” He shoved a hand into his pocket. For a single insane moment, I knew he was going to pull out a gun and blow my brains out.

But he didn’t. Instead, he pulled out two small vials, pale green liquid sloshing inside the glass.

“What’s that?” I asked, finally releasing his shirt to allow him to sit down.

“This is my penance. A gift to try and wash the stain off my soul.” He handed me the two vials.

“I’m not as bad as you think, Cole. I did bad things to stay alive.

Maybe one day, I’ll be able to repay all the shit I’ve done.

” He pointed at the vials. “Use those on the two humans I turned. Intel says you’ve got one and the other is at the police station. ”

With that, he slid out of the booth. Bewildered, I grabbed his wrist.

He glanced at my hand. “Yes?”

“Dallas, what the hell is all this about?” I asked, not liking the strained panic I could hear at the edges of my voice.

“It’s the end of a very long era. Don’t worry about Ashton. I’m making sure he gets back to you safe and sound. I swear to that.”

He tugged out of my grasp and left. All I could do was stare after him, my head spinning.

If I’d been given a billion years to sit down and write out every possible way this meeting could have gone, I never would have come up with this.

I stared at the two vials dumbly, gently shaking them and watching the bubbles glide back and forth in the green liquid.

“Why’d you let him go?” Langston asked when I joined them a few minutes later.

“I don’t know,” I said, and that was the God’s honest truth. “It sort of felt like I had to, you know?”

“I really don’t,” Langston snapped.

“I have a feeling things might go badly for Ashton if I didn’t let him go. He gave me this.” I held up the vials and explained what they were.

Trent looked at them skeptically. “For all we know, that could be poison. Maybe Dallas wants to kill off the proof of his deeds. Or it could be some new chemical that fucking scientist came up with. It could turn them into fucking rabid lions who’ll rip heads or something.”

“I don’t think so,” I said. “I can’t explain it, but you guys didn’t look into his eyes.

You didn’t see what I saw. I know Dallas hasn’t given us any reason to trust him, but I’m going with my gut here.

He had a weird, pleading look in his eyes, almost like he was begging me to believe him.

It wasn’t an act. All I can say is I hope I’m right, and that I don’t end up regretting this. ”

Langston and Trent didn’t look happy, but they didn’t argue. If this was a mistake, and the people I loved ended up getting hurt, I’d never forgive myself. But like I’d told them, that look in Dallas’s eyes had told me most of what I needed to know.

Langston, exhausted from tracking Dallas for over thirty-six hours straight, napped in the backseat of Trent’s truck as we drove home in silence.

When we pulled into the driveway a couple hours later, a pregnant tension filled the air between us.

Trent had been dying to say something but had managed to hold off until we got home.

“Are you really going to inject that shit into him?” he asked, tilting his head in the direction of the garage.

Gabe Kolchak, or the wolf formally known as Gabe Kolchak, lay next to my truck.

The wolf hadn’t eaten or drank anything since being changed.

At the rate he was going, he’d die of starvation soon.

Avery and Farrah were on the verge of taking him to the local vet to get a feeding tube put in to keep him alive.

I’d never seen an animal look that depressed.

“Well?” Trent pressed. “Are you?”

“I’m not sure,” I said. “It might go badly for him.”

“Cole, look at the poor bastard. He’s tiptoeing toward death as it is. Even if that vial kills him, won’t a quick death be better than slowly slipping away like he already is?”

I stared at Gabe. His sides rose and fell as he breathed, each rib sticking out against his skin. His starving body was nothing but angles and knobs.

I opened the door. “Fuck it.”

“Wha… what’s happening?” Langston said groggily as I strode toward the garage. A few seconds later, he and Trent hurried to catch up to me.

Kneeling, I scratched Gabe around the ears.

He raised his head and gazed at me. I had the distinct feeling he was trying to speak to me.

His eyes were those of a tired man who wanted to go home.

To shuffle off the mortal coil , as that old play said.

Well, that wasn’t happening. Not on my watch. Not without trying everything.

“There’s a first-aid kit in the kitchen. Grab that,” I told Trent.

He returned a few seconds later with the kit. After rifling through it, I found what I was looking for: three sealed, sanitized syringes. Intended for insulin injection in an emergency, they’d do the job.

Unsure of the dosage, I threw caution to the wind and filled a syringe with the entire contents of one vial.

“Okay, buddy,” I whispered. “This may hurt a little, but hopefully it’ll help.”