I nodded, but I couldn’t stop the pity I felt for him. Petro reminded me a lot of Danny. But Danny had all of us. Petro had only Misha watching out for him. If Uri took out Misha…I shuddered, not wanting to think about what could happen to either Misha or Petro.
The white wolf waited with me until Koda approached…naked. “Thanks, Heidi,” he said to the other wolf. “Come with me, Celia. Aric will meet us back at the car.”
“How do you know what Aric wants?” I kept my eyes straight ahead. Shayna was patient and friendly. But she’d likely ram a toothpick in my eye for gawking at Koda. “In part because I’ve known him forever. But as his Warrior, my wolf is tuned to his emotions. He’ll want you where it’s safe.”
“I’m sorry…if I caused any trouble.”
Koda’s thick brows furrowed. “You did nothing wrong, Celia. The others should have done a better job of guarding the bloodluster rather than counting on that damn net.”
We walked in silence until reaching Aric’s SUV. Weres must have kept the local sports equipment place in business. The back of Aric’s Escalade was packed with sweats in every size, which, fortunately, Koda slipped on immediately. “Are you coming back to the house?”
Koda’s ears seemed trained on the dark wooded area around us, but he still answered. “I don’t want to overwhelm Shayna.” He shrugged like he didn’t care, except it was obvious that he did. “I told her I’d call her in the morning.”
He perked up at the soft movement of feet behind us. Aric appeared, wearing only sweatpants and a pissed-off face. Koda growled.
I hurried toward him. “What happened?”
Aric stroked my face, his voice deepening. “Tell Dan we’ll be getting him that blood. Another pack called. They just killed eight more infected vampires.”
CHAPTER 23
Taran drove us home after work. Both Shayna’s and Emme’s wolves were given the night off from hunting. They met our sisters at the hospital, anxious to see them again.
Goody for them.
I’d received only a few texts from Aric. All stated he’d call soon. But he didn’t, hadn’t, and likely wouldn’t. Naked females with perky body parts literally threw themselves at him. We barely shared a kiss—fully clothed! My lack of confidence threatened to eat me alive. I knew he had a job to do. I realized infected vamps ran amok. I knew this. But it didn’t make a difference. Part of me wished I had invited him to my bed. My more practical, nonobsessed, less scary part didn’t want him needing me only for sex. And, if memory served, I wasn’t the ideal tigress in bed. I resembled more an awkward lamb or a George Costanza.
Taran blared her horn at the car in front of us. The light had turned green, but the driver was preoccupied making out with his passenger.
Bastard.
“Sorry, Celia.”
The misery in Taran’s voice snapped me out of my “woe to me” moment. “Huh?”
Taran focused ahead. “All those times when you sat at home by yourself while the rest of us were out must have been hell.” Tears glistened in her eyes. “How did you do it? Weren’t you lonely?”
I still am. I shrugged. “Gemini hasn’t called?”
“No! For shit’s sake, usually I can’t get rid of men.” She held up a finger. “He’s texted me once—once—just to say they’re still hunting. No, ‘I can’t wait to see you. I miss you. Let’s go out.’ Nothing. No-thing. Can you believe the goddamn nerve?”
No. I couldn’t. Just like I couldn’t believe how badly it affected her. Taran went through men. It wasn’t in her nature to tie herself down to anyone. I knew her beauty and spirit would eventually land her “the one,” but I also thought for sure the sap would salivate at her feet. I wanted to ask her more about it, but her rising temper needed a distraction.
“Have they found anything?”
She huffed. “Nothing but a shitload of infected vampires. They’re averaging eight kills a night. That’s thirty-six vampires since we left Zhahara’s. Where the hell are all these vampires coming from?”
“I don’t know. But the weres can’t continue to keep the human population safe until they find the source of the outbreak.”
“No. They can’t. And if that nastiness spreads outside of Tahoe…” She shuddered. “At least with the wolves out, I haven’t heard of anyone belonging to the area missing.”
I glanced outside the window at the darkening sky. “No, but another tour bus disappeared last night. This time on the Nevada side.”