Page 38 of Wolf Bane (Marked #3)

“Sounds to me like someone’s a liar,” she said finally. “Vinnie.”

Vinnie reached as if to grab me by the arm, but I twisted away, taking myself to the door, waiting for him to unlock it as I turned to look back at Celestine.

“Whatever’s happening to the folks out here, to the ones in the other communities, there’s a good chance it could affect your family too, Ms. Clemens.”

Her smile was downright cheerful at that. “Oh, I don’t think so, Doctor Babin. We’re pure. Our blood is good blood.”

Jesus .

Vinnie didn’t give me another second to argue.

He crowded me through the front door, following a hair’s breadth from my back as I headed for my car.

Next door, the champagne SUV had been joined by a battered black truck that looked familiar until I reminded myself I lived in Texas, where battered black trucks were the state animal.

Still.

It was pinging something for me.

I stared at it for just a few seconds, trying to parse out why, even with Vinnie literally breathing down my neck, my inner red alert sirens were going off. Vinnie didn’t let me have my moment though, instead bumping his chest against my arm, pushing me against the car door.

“You’re the only doctor for a hundred and twenty miles in either direction weres can see without being outed.”

“Somehow you’re making that sound like an insult,” I noted, pushing back.

“I’m trying to help you, Vinnie. Help the entire were and shifter community.

Communities,” I corrected at the flash of anger in his eyes.

“And right now, there’s some bullshit going on that looks like a targeted attack on weres and shifters.

Someone is trying to cause some significant harm and probably deaths.

Hell, people have died, Vinnie. Because someone is playing some fucking games with your lives.

Someone is out there, passing out poison to folks and it’s definitely fucking intentional, Vinnie.

And whatever happened to Mr. Robards? It sounds an awful lot like someone in your family is part of this whole thing.

His symptoms? Just like the folks that are dying out there. ”

Vinnie hadn’t moved during my rant, but wolf radiated from him in thick, heavy waves that swamped my senses to the point my own body was reacting, trying to push that wolf part of me to the surface.

It was still new, this whole shifting thing, and I couldn’t manage a complete one.

Just some partial horror that made me feel like I’d been hit by several trucks afterwards.

And it wasn’t something I could easily control, either.

It seemed, so far anyway, dependent on heightened emotions.

Ethan liked to tease me that it was like the old Hulk show.

They wouldn’t like you when you’re angry, Lan .

Right now, Vinnie and that damn truck were doing a fine job of heightening those emotions.

“There’s not a damn thing I can do to stop whatever it is you’re involved in, Vinnie. But maybe you can really consider what’s going on. It’s clear y’all know more than you’re letting on, and whatever it is, it’s getting people killed.”

He stood there as I got into the car and started it up, only stepping back when it was apparent I had zero problem running over those size thirteen feet if need be.

I felt his glare on me all the way to the end of the street.

The entire neighborhood, I thought, felt like it was watching me even without anyone visible.

Paranoia, thou art a heartless bitch. At the stop sign on Tulip Tree and Easter Lily, I fumbled my phone out with shaking hands and set it on the console so I could call Ethan.

Who, of course, didn’t answer. Nor did Tyler.

“Jesus,” I muttered. “I’m starting to feel like y’all are avoiding me.”

Giving it up for a bad job, I turned out onto the farm-to-market road that ran past the neighborhood.

I turned right, heading back towards Belmarais.

I had about four hours before I had to be on site for the t-shack set up, and I wanted to get in touch with Tyler and Justin to find out if they’d found anything.

I tried Ethan again via Bluetooth as I took the first curve, the rattle of gravel on the undercarriage loud and irritating.

Ethan’s voicemail greeting was nearly lost under the rumble.

“Hey.” I sighed. “It’s me. I won’t go into the details, but let’s just say suspicion confirmed on the Clemenses.

” Frowning, I slowed as I neared another spill of gravel.

The road itself was asphalt, recently resurfaced just last summer by the county.

There was no reason for the gravel to be everywhere.

It made it a pain in the ass and meant I had to slow down on the curves, so I didn’t slide.

“I’m heading back to Belmarais now. Call me. ”

Another curve, more gravel. A lot more. What the hell? Slowing to just about thirty, I glanced up in my rearview mirror reflexively.

A black truck was right behind me.

Paranoia wobbled to life in my stomach. I accelerated a bit coming out of the curve. They kept the same distance between us as they followed.

“Okay,” I muttered. “Either super dedicated to road safety, or I’m being followed.

Super, super, super.” Focusing on the road ahead, I mentally cursed the area for being so fucking remote.

There were no turn-offs save for a few small farms and a McMansion set too close to the road.

All the better to show off the new money, I thought wildly as I glanced up again.

This time, the truck had someone following them.

A champagne SUV.

Super, super, super, superfuckingsuper.

Another curve, more gravel.

Slowing my pace again, letting the truck get a little closer on that dangerous stretch.

The road straightened and I sped up.

So did my entourage.

The road would go straight for a good six miles, I remembered, staring straight ahead, mentally willing Ethan to call me. Or even Reba at this point—someone so I wouldn’t feel on my own. Someone who would know if I suddenly disappeared.

As if someone actually heard my prayers, my phone chimed. I answered by voice.

“Hey,” Mal drawled. “Listen, I need to tell you something?—”

“Shut up. Sorry. I mean. Not now. I’m kind of being followed.”

Mal was quiet for a moment, then, “Real shit?”

“ Seriously ?”

“Sorry, just… Shit. Okay. Um. Ethan! Ethan?—”

“Isn’t answering. Neither is Tyler. And I’m kind of too involved in re-enacting Duel to call everyone in my address book.”

“Where are you?”

I gave him my general location. “I should be hitting the intersection between this road and Red River Bend in about five minutes.” A quick look told me the truck was much closer now. I gave the car more gas. “More like three.”

“Shit, shit, shit,” Mal chanted. “Okay. Okay. Look. I’m going to call you back in like two minutes. I’m calling Waltrip.”

“Wait! Mal!”

But he’d already hung up.

“Fuck my life,” I muttered. The intersection would likely be only a little busy—not many people came out this way, not since they put the spur for I-10 just south of Belmarais.

But there was a good chance there’d be someone passing through, and I’d need to slow the fuck down unless I suddenly developed some super awesome evasive driving skills in the next two minutes.

Lucky for me, I didn’t have to. Unlucky for me, it was because an ambulance came rocketing out of a hidden driveway right in front of me.

I didn’t have time to brake before slamming into the side of it, everything spinning and flashing in a scream of metal and, no, that was me, not the car making that sound.

Then it was quiet save for the crunch of steps through broken glass and low voices murmuring. Blood ran into my eyes. Every breath was fire.

I realized, distantly, I’d tried to shift in those panicked moments. One hand was curled into a claw, the other fully a wolf’s giant paw.

Someone bent close, and I had a vague realization I knew them.

“Hello again, Doctor Babin,” the man said with a small, polite smile. “Don’t worry. We’ll get you right out.”

“Daniel,” I rasped. “How…”

He bent lower, reached in and grabbed the front of my shirt to yank my head against the side of the car door.

Then everything finally did go dark.