Dirty Blood (38 page)

I just nodded. Was she talking about Jack? Or me?

My mom smiled. “Tara, you did it. Leo can’t hurt us
anymore.”

“Good.” I tried to smile back, but my face felt tight
for some reason. “Mom. It hurts.”

“I know, those scratches look pretty deep,” she
said.

I felt a fresh wave of fire wash over me, licking at
what felt like every single nerve ending I had. I felt my body jerk
and my head rolled to the side. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw
my mom’s eyes widen, and her hand went to her throat.

“Oh. I didn’t see. You’re bit. I thought it was just
the scratches.” She glanced up. “Wes!”

A second later, I heard heavy footsteps and the metal
underneath my back vibrated. “What’s wrong?”

“She’s bit,” said my mom, a hint of panic creeping
into her voice.

He hurried closer, and I knew the moment he bent over
me; I could smell him. A wild, animal version of woods and wind.
But his hands on me let me know he was definitely human again. “Are
you sure? I thought you said she was fine,” he said. “You said it
was just scratches.”

“I didn’t see at first,” she said, her voice
breaking. “Look.”

I could hear everything they were saying, but it hurt
too much to turn towards them. I lay there, feeling like a science
experiment, while Wes peered down at my neck. I didn’t need to see
his expression to know it was bad.

Wes cursed and then crouched lower and scooped me up
in his arms. I bit my lip to keep from crying out. “Jack’s already
being loaded into Derek’s suburban, and my car’s too small for her
to lie in,” he said.

He began making his way towards the stairs and my
mother followed. I could hear her lighter steps hurrying to keep up
with Wes’ heavier, longer ones. I struggled to keep silent against
the pain and squeezed my eyes shut with the effort.

“I’ll ask Edie if they have a vehicle,” my mother
said.

I felt the shift of descending the stairs. I must’ve
made some sort of noise, because Wes whispered, “Sorry, almost
there.” At the bottom, Wes hurried forward, careful to keep me
still.

“Edie,” he called out, picking up the pace.
“Edie.”

“Oh my goodness,” I heard her say. “Is she
alright?”

“He bit her on the neck. It’s not good,” Wes said,
his voice grim.

“What can we do?” I heard Grandma asked.

“Fee can help her better than anyone,” he said. “We
need to get her there.”

“But she’s going to be working on Jack,” said my
mother.

“She’ll have to do both,” Wes answered. “Edie, do you
have a car we can put her in?”

“Yes, yes, of course. Come on, this way. Quickly,”
she said.

We began moving again.

“Sophie,” Grandma called as we walked. “Tell everyone
to finish cleaning up here and meet us at the address I gave you.
I’m taking the Hummer.”

Hummer? Grandma drove a Hummer?

“Since when do you drive a Hummer, mom?” my mother
said.

“There’s a lot about me that might surprise you,
Elizabeth. You’ve had your head in the sand a long time.”

I felt the jostling of Wes climbing into the car,
still with me in his arms, and winced, biting my lip harder against
the scream that wanted to escape. He settled us in, and wrapped his
arms securely around me. Someone pressed a towel against my neck
and held pressure to the wound. A second later, I felt the car
lurch forward. The roar of the engine was dull in my ears, against
the roar of the fire inside me. A moan escaped my lips after the
fiftieth pothole in three seconds, and Wes’ hands stroked and
soothed my heated skin.

“It’s going to be okay,” he murmured, sounding way
more confident than I felt at this moment. I kept my eyes squeezed
shut and managed a nod.

“Did you get a head count for your people, Wes?”
Grandma asked from the driver’s seat.

“Yeah. Everyone was accounted for but Miles. Derek
got bit but it wasn’t bad and Fee had already treated it before we
left.”

“Miles?” my mother asked.

“Yeah, Miles Ducati,” said Wes. “He’s a Hunter. Did
some side work for Jack a few times and then got accepted a few
months back. Tall, dark hair. Did you see him at all?”

“No, I didn’t. Maybe he’s back at the house
already.”

“Miles.” I knew the word came out muffled and weak,
but I had to try. They didn’t know, and they needed to. Before he
hurt someone else. “He… shot.” I broke off, knowing if I opened my
mouth again, any words I formed would be accompanied by a manic
scream.

“No, Tara, Jack was shot. Miles is missing,” said
Wes.

I felt myself shaking my head, trying to tell him
what I meant. Then the fire peaked and everything went black.

~ 38 ~

The sky was beginning to lighten around the edges. A
hint of pink lined the horizon, just barely showing through the
treetops that were visible through the second story window opposite
my bed. That was what I saw first when my eyes opened, and I knew I
was back in the spare room at Fee’s. Apparently, this room was now
reserved for nursing Tara back to health. Nearby, a chair scraped
against the floor, and I craned my neck. My mother leaned forward.
Our eyes met, and she gave me a tentative smile.

“Hey,” she said, brushing my hair back from my
face.

“Hey.” My throat felt like the Sahara. She held a
straw to my lips, and I sucked water in through dry lips.

She set the empty glass aside. “How are you
feeling?”

“Alive,” I said, with undeniable relief.

She nodded. “It was touchy. For awhile, I wasn’t
sure...”

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t reassure her, even now,
when I hadn’t been sure, either. “And Jack?” Panic twisted in my
chest.

“Alive.” She hesitated, then said, “It was a bad
wound, though Tara. He’s going to have a long recovery, and he
probably won’t ever be able to move like he used to. The bullet
tore a lot of muscle.”

I nodded, still relieved more than anything else. If
Jack had died, from a bullet meant for me… “Fee’s pretty amazing,”
I said.

“She is. But then again, so are you.” She shifted in
her chair. “Which is why I want to apologize.”

My eyebrows shot up, but I didn’t interrupt.

“I gave myself up to Leo because I thought it would
protect you.” She took a deep breath, and let it out. Her cheeks
reddened. “Obviously it wasn’t my best idea. But, I should’ve given
you more credit because, in the end, you saved yourself. You’re not
helpless, and I’m going to try to stop treating you like you
are.”

“The operative word here is ‘try’, isn’t it?”

“Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

“Right.”

“But, I am still your mother, and things are going to
change. I need to know where you are, at all times.”

“How’s that different from before?” I joked. She
didn’t smile, and I felt a hard knot form in my empty stomach.

“This isn’t over, Tara. We know it was Miles who shot
Jack, and we know it was meant for you. Jack told us,” she
explained, when I looked back at her, questioningly. She twisted
her fingers together, and looked away, out the window. “There’s a
school just a couple of hours from here. It’s for Hunters, and it’s
well protected.”

“You’re sending me away?”

“Your grandmother and I agree that it’s the best
place for you right now, at least until we can resolve the…
situation.”

“Do I have a choice?” I asked, through clenched
teeth.

“Don’t think of it as me forcing you. Think of it as
a chance to learn from the best. Wood Point Academy has the best
instructors available. You could continue your training and be
around other Hunters.”

“But I’m not just a Hunter, remember?”

Her jaw hardened. I knew she was waiting for me to
call myself Dirty Blood, and I knew she’d lose it, if I did. She
rose and paced in front of my bed, wrapping her hands around
herself as she moved. “Either way, you need proper training,” she
said. She stopped and looked at me. “What were you thinking, using
that metal rod against Leo, anyway?”

I shrugged, a little confused. “It’s all I had. My
stakes were gone.”

“Well, you got lucky. Your new trainers will show you
how to properly use metal against Werewolves.”

“Jack’s my trainer,” I said, stubbornly. What was the
big deal with metal, anyway?

“Jack’s going to be out of commission for awhile.
Maybe permanently. Grandma pulled strings to get you in, and it’s
the safest place for you right now. I won’t deny I made a mistake
with Leo, but I also won’t let you talk me out of making it
right.”

My shoulders sagged. I knew her mind was made up.
Between her and Grandma, I didn’t stand a chance of talking my way
out of this. “Grandma.” Suddenly, I felt really selfish for taking
so long to remember her. “She’s okay, right?”

“She’s fine. She’s at our house, making arrangements
to send her people home.”

“How long is she staying?” I asked.

“Until she leaves.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means, she hasn’t told me yet,” she said, rolling
her eyes. “And I wouldn’t be surprised if she settles in for
awhile. She’s pretty excited that I’m going to let you train.”

I knew Grandma must be excited, if she was going to
stay with us. Her and my mother usually had a fifteen minute
maximum on being in the same room together, civilly. “I can’t
believe she’s a Hunter, too. I mean, she really knew what she was
doing. She was pretty scary.”

My mom laughed at that, and I closed my eyes and just
let myself enjoy the simple sound of it. Who knew I’d ever feel
this overwhelmingly happy to hear my mother laugh? Especially when
I was technically mad at her, all over again. But even being angry
at her didn’t diminish my happiness and utter relief that she’d
made it out of all this unharmed.

“Tara? You okay?”

When I opened my eyes, she was staring down at me,
her brows knitted together.

“I’m fine, Mom. Just glad everyone’s okay. Glad
you’re okay,” I said. “And I’m sorry about fighting with you
before…”

She smiled, big enough to let me know that we didn’t
need to go there. She reached out and took my hand, squeezing it.
“Me, too. And I really think you’ll like Wood Point. Everyone there
is a Hunter, too, so you don’t have to pretend anything, like you
do here. You’ll make friends and meet new people.”

There was a specific gleam in her eye that made me
wonder if she wanted me to forget all the friends I had; or just a
specific one. I cleared my throat, almost afraid to ask. “So, have
you seen Wes? Is he here?”

She nodded, pressing her lips together in a tight
frown. “He’s been here the entire time. I just kicked him out a few
minutes ago, to finally get cleaned up. The shower’s been a highly
coveted space for the past couple of hours.” She paused and then
said, “Do you want to see him?”

I ignored her reaction, and her tone, both of which
made it obvious that she wanted me to say no. “Yes.” I sighed,
unsure of what I would even say to him. But I did remember how he’d
held me in his arms the entire way home. If my skin hadn’t burned
so badly, it probably would’ve felt nice. Okay, better than
nice.

“I’ll send him in,” she said, leaning over and
dropping a kiss on my forehead.

“Mom,” I called, when she reached the door. I waited
until she turned. “I love you.”

She smiled. “Love you, too, honey. Everything’s going
to be okay.”

The door clicked shut behind her, and I settled back
against the pillow, amazed at how tired I still felt, even after
being unconscious most of the night; you’d think blacking out would
give your body the ultimate rest, but apparently not. My phone
beeped, and I rolled over trying to find it underneath all the
blankets. I lifted the covers and realized all I wore was a
nightgown; no pockets. The sound continued. I eyed my jacket. It
was draped over the chair a few feet away. The phone was in my
pocket, and no way could I reach it from here. I sat up slowly,
feeling dizzy from the small exertion. A stiff pain shot up my
spine, making it throb. Even my arms protested against the use of
muscle. Ugh. I felt… hung over.

My phone beeped again. I sighed. I pulled the covers
back to my waist, and eased forward, towards my jacket. I managed
to snag the edge of it and pull. As I did, my phone fell out of the
pocket and thudded onto the floor. I eyed it viciously, debating on
how badly I really wanted it.

The door swung open, and Wes poked his head in.
“You’re awake.”

I’d never heard so much relief uttered in two words
before. He came in and closed the door with a click. I felt a pull
to go to him that was so strong, it took my breath away. I watched
his face as he lowered himself into the chair beside me. His eyes
were bloodshot and exhausted, but his jaw was tight with tension.
His hair was still wet from the shower and dripped onto the back of
his plain white shirt. He smelled like rain-drenched woods. I
forgot all about my beeping phone, along with anything else that
might try and divert my attention.

He eyed me with scrutiny, like he didn’t yet believe
that I was going to recover. His gaze kept flickering from my face
back to the gauze on my neck. I waited for him to say something.
Instead, he held out a cup, half full of a mysterious green
liquid.

“What’s this?” I smelled it, hesitantly, and then
made a face. “It smells like old cheese.”

He gave me a look like he agreed. “Fee sent it for
you. It’ll boost your energy. And keep you from needing any more
morphine. Drink up.”

He paused, obviously waiting for me to comply. I held
my breath and threw my head back, taking the contents in one shot
and trying not to let it hit my taste buds. At least I wasn’t
dopey, like the last time.

“Ugh,” I muttered, handing the empty cup back to
him.