Read Online Pack of Strays (The Fangborn Series Book 2) by Dana Cameron - Free Book Online
Authors: Dana Cameron
Ads: Link
that’s the worse time to blink out.”
I shook my head and sat down. “No, each time they’ve helped in some way. Except this time …”
“What about this time?”
“Artifacts, you know, like …” I held up my arm so he could see the bracelet. “They’re calling me. I need to find more. They were … crazy, painfully insistent. I have to find a house in a place called Roskilde.”
He nodded. “Okay, I get it … but can you be sure you got it right? It would be a hell of a thing to go all that way and find out you’re in the wrong place.”
“I haven’t got much choice in the matter. I can’t exactly call up and say, ‘Do you have any mysterious Fangborn artifacts,’ can I?”
“I suppose not.” Now that the danger was past, Adam was sweating. He got up, pacing off the nervous energy, then went into the bathroom to splash water on his face. “I’d rather not shoot you, you know. I mean, I might only be human, but I’m as much a slave to my survival instinct as you are to yours.”
“I know. It won’t happen again. I’m sorry.”
Inspecting the scratches on his neck, he grunted. “Nothing major.” He turned back to face me. “No, maybe not tonight. But maybe tomorrow we think about separate rooms. Or I’ll sleep in the car. Or something.”
We’d been sharing, registering at cheap motels, because I was using a credit card given to me by a criminal so I could help him steal. Adam always seemed to have a lot of cash, but we didn’t know how long either would last. There was nothing between us, and so far our biggest tensions were about who got first shot at the shower and Adam’s snoring. There couldn’t be anything between us, since my love, Will, was still out there, somewhere close by I now knew.
There couldn’t be anything between me and Adam because until very recently he seemed to switch sides with ridiculous ease, and always with a good excuse. But never a trustworthy excuse. He’d worked for Senator Knight, getting me into a whole lot of trouble when he stole the artifact I needed to ransom my cousin Danny. But then, he picked me up and helped me escape the TRG facility, just as they were isolating me and doing experiments on the bracelet.
So as for Adam, even though we were traveling as a pair, I was still very much on my own.
He cleared his throat, bringing me back to the here and now.
“No, you don’t need to sleep in the car,” I said. “You’re probably safe. For tonight.” I didn’t try to make it sound like a joke; dream-fire and waking violence wasn’t funny.
“I don’t want to die because of your bad dreams, Zoe.”
I shrugged again. I couldn’t blame him; the situation sucked. “I’ll go to the pharmacy tomorrow. See if there isn’t something to make me sleep better.”
“What we need is something for you to wake up better.” He dried his face and hung the towel up carefully.
Instead of getting onto his side of the bed, he sat down next to me. “Is there anything I can do?
He patted my shoulder.
Just that little bit of comfort in a day full of violence, both personal and impersonal. Humanity, in a day full of what seemed like my increasing alienation from both the human and Fangborn races. My face grew warm. Other parts of me grew warm, too, and it was with a Christmas-morning delight that I understood I could feel something as ordinary as lust again.
I thought about what it might be like with Adam. He was good looking, he had a ridiculous Captain America body, and he had saved my life now, more times than he’d endangered it. Given my present lifestyle, that counted for a lot.
I thought about what it would feel like to put my hand on his thigh just below the leg of his boxers—
A knitting needle through my gut. I doubled over, the vision of the old house and the name “Roskilde” the only thing between me and the pain. Every other thought disappeared.
“Zoe!” Adam grabbed my shoulders.
No, no more touching. I held up
I shook my head and sat down. “No, each time they’ve helped in some way. Except this time …”
“What about this time?”
“Artifacts, you know, like …” I held up my arm so he could see the bracelet. “They’re calling me. I need to find more. They were … crazy, painfully insistent. I have to find a house in a place called Roskilde.”
He nodded. “Okay, I get it … but can you be sure you got it right? It would be a hell of a thing to go all that way and find out you’re in the wrong place.”
“I haven’t got much choice in the matter. I can’t exactly call up and say, ‘Do you have any mysterious Fangborn artifacts,’ can I?”
“I suppose not.” Now that the danger was past, Adam was sweating. He got up, pacing off the nervous energy, then went into the bathroom to splash water on his face. “I’d rather not shoot you, you know. I mean, I might only be human, but I’m as much a slave to my survival instinct as you are to yours.”
“I know. It won’t happen again. I’m sorry.”
Inspecting the scratches on his neck, he grunted. “Nothing major.” He turned back to face me. “No, maybe not tonight. But maybe tomorrow we think about separate rooms. Or I’ll sleep in the car. Or something.”
We’d been sharing, registering at cheap motels, because I was using a credit card given to me by a criminal so I could help him steal. Adam always seemed to have a lot of cash, but we didn’t know how long either would last. There was nothing between us, and so far our biggest tensions were about who got first shot at the shower and Adam’s snoring. There couldn’t be anything between us, since my love, Will, was still out there, somewhere close by I now knew.
There couldn’t be anything between me and Adam because until very recently he seemed to switch sides with ridiculous ease, and always with a good excuse. But never a trustworthy excuse. He’d worked for Senator Knight, getting me into a whole lot of trouble when he stole the artifact I needed to ransom my cousin Danny. But then, he picked me up and helped me escape the TRG facility, just as they were isolating me and doing experiments on the bracelet.
So as for Adam, even though we were traveling as a pair, I was still very much on my own.
He cleared his throat, bringing me back to the here and now.
“No, you don’t need to sleep in the car,” I said. “You’re probably safe. For tonight.” I didn’t try to make it sound like a joke; dream-fire and waking violence wasn’t funny.
“I don’t want to die because of your bad dreams, Zoe.”
I shrugged again. I couldn’t blame him; the situation sucked. “I’ll go to the pharmacy tomorrow. See if there isn’t something to make me sleep better.”
“What we need is something for you to wake up better.” He dried his face and hung the towel up carefully.
Instead of getting onto his side of the bed, he sat down next to me. “Is there anything I can do?
He patted my shoulder.
Just that little bit of comfort in a day full of violence, both personal and impersonal. Humanity, in a day full of what seemed like my increasing alienation from both the human and Fangborn races. My face grew warm. Other parts of me grew warm, too, and it was with a Christmas-morning delight that I understood I could feel something as ordinary as lust again.
I thought about what it might be like with Adam. He was good looking, he had a ridiculous Captain America body, and he had saved my life now, more times than he’d endangered it. Given my present lifestyle, that counted for a lot.
I thought about what it would feel like to put my hand on his thigh just below the leg of his boxers—
A knitting needle through my gut. I doubled over, the vision of the old house and the name “Roskilde” the only thing between me and the pain. Every other thought disappeared.
“Zoe!” Adam grabbed my shoulders.
No, no more touching. I held up
Similar Books
