Read Online Moonshifted by Cassie Alexander - Free Book Online Page B

flicked on, and she stood in it, front and center. “Still in one piece?”
    “No thanks to you, yes.”
    The door to Winter’s were-corral opened. “Hey, I was the one in here with the sick werewolf.”
    “ You were the one with the tranquilizer rifle,” I said. She laughed and handed it back to me, pulling off her gown. “Did you see any of that?”
    “Yeah. I made the cameras one-way. It was a regular telenovella out here.” She tossed her gown into the linen cart.
    “Are all weres so … emotional?”
    “Depends on the were, and the animal. Wolves? Yes. Cats? Not so much. Depends on the pack, too, and the family, and the percentage were, major, minor, bitten or born—”
    “Okay, okay. Sorry I asked. What did you make of all that?”
    “Makes me glad I won’t be the social worker here tomorrow morning—and that I have tomorrow night off.”
    Wishing I did, I set all the charts back down on the small desk. “What now?”
    “Now, I need a new bag of neo. If pharmacy hasn’t sent one, mix one up, will you?”
    I was thrilled to be asked to perform concrete tasks instead of lying to visitors. “Sure. Be right back.”
    *   *   *
    The rest of the night was slow and report to day shift went quickly. All us night-shift nurses waved at one another again at the elevator doors before going our separate ways. I saw Charles in the lobby walking ahead of me—he must have caught the previous elevator up.
    I jogged to catch up with him as he speed-walked out the lobby’s front door. “Hey, stranger—where were you last night?”
    “With my patients.”
    “And you didn’t come down the hall, not once? What is it, I smell?” I shoulder-checked him in a companionable way.
    Charles kept walking quickly, so I double-timed to keep up. “No. Just keeping my head down. As soon as Meaty told me who that patient was—they don’t pay me enough to take care of him.”
    “They don’t pay us enough to take care of anyone,” I said, my voice light. Charles ignored me. “Really, Charles. What’s wrong?”
    “That scar I showed you—I got that during the last were-war. Trying to stop them from fighting in the hall. They always say later they don’t know their own strength, and that they’re sorry. It’s a fucking lie.”
    “I’m sorry, Charles,” I said, because I was, and because I didn’t know what else to say.
    “It’s not your fault. But just don’t ask me for anything more than saline flushes, okay? And even then, I might just throw them down the hall to you.”
    “Okay. I’m a good catcher.”
    We waited for the light to change so we could cross to the parking lots. “I’m parked legally today, Spence. See you later.”
    “Merry Christmas, Charles.”
    “You too.” He waved at me and headed toward the staff parking garage.

 
    CHAPTER ELEVEN
    I didn’t like feeling as if I couldn’t count on Charles—and I was afraid of anything that frightened him, instinctively. Charles was brave, smart, and strong. He was the nurse I wanted to be when I grew up, when I eventually would know it all, or at least know better.
    I picked my way out to the visitor parking lot in the dark morning. The visitor lot always looked like a war zone. There were bags of fast-food wrappers, dirty diapers, crushed soda cans—all the trash people couldn’t possibly be bothered to carry twenty feet to one of the many available garbage cans. The few trees that survived had birthdates of children carved into them, gang signs, profanity. ID bands littered the ground, like patients had chewed them off, or dogs had escaped their collars. Mucky snow wasn’t helping things. I concentrated on stepping around numerous slushy landmines until I reached my car—and there was someone leaning against its side. A man wearing a green hoodie.
    I was conscious of the wind blowing at my back as he pulled his hood down and looked up at me. “I’m sorry for catching you here like this,” he began. “I know it looks