Hunter's Rise (45 page)

Matt looked up over the table where his cousin Shelby was dealing with Toronto’s leg. Heaving out a sigh, he said, “I’ll head out there in a few. Tell Hank not to lose his calm.”

“You can’t.” Jason shot Toronto a glance. “She’s in the bar.”

Matt rolled his eyes. “I’ll just tell her to bring her ass out, then, so we can talk.”

“Hank already tried to kick her out. She wouldn’t budge. And… I…” The boy shifted from one foot to the other, nervous. “I think he’s scared. Didn’t want to sound that way, but he didn’t sound right.”

Staring at the mess of his leg, the skin still black in some areas, Toronto grabbed a towel. “I’ll handle it.” He looked at the doctor messing with his leg and she stopped almost immediately, dropping the forceps and gauze down by the scalpel she’d had to use to cut into his flesh.

“You need to let Shelby finish with your leg.” Matt shook his head. “You’re injured.”

“And you’re sixteen. You go into a bar in a town where the majority of the people are mortal, you’re asking for trouble. At best, you’ll get branded as a troublemaker. At worst, you get arrested.” Toronto probed his leg— the resulting pain was less than it had been. She’d gotten a lot of the glass out and the poison was burning through him. A few days and he’d be good as new. “She can finish cutting the glass out later. For now, I’ll deal with this.”

“Toronto—”

“This is the job a second would do,” he said softly. “You need to start figuring out how an Alpha is going to act, Matt. Otherwise, we’ll be doing this again in a few months. You have to show them you’re capable of this— show them you’re able to do it, or they won’t respect you, and everybody who resents you for being strong enough…” He shook his head. “You want another one turning out like Graham?”

Matt’s silence was answer enough.

He let Shelby clean up his leg while Jason brought him some clean jeans. He was sweating by the time he got them on, but he had an hour’s drive ahead of him. If he grabbed some food, he’d be good.

Although… considering the way his life was going lately, it wouldn’t hurt to be careful. On his way out, he hit
his room and raided his weapons chest. His Glock, loaded with the kind of bullets that would take down even some of the oldest vamps, went into a sheath under his arm. He slid a few knives into place and then grabbed a jacket.

Hopefully this wouldn’t be anything.

It wasn’t a Hunter, though— he would have sensed that, and he probably would have been called. So it was anybody’s guess what kind of situation he was walking into.

A brief wistful moment passed through him… he knew who he
wished
it was.

But he figured he was as likely to find Sylvia in Gallatin as he was to find his memory. She’d walked away, as he’d expected. She was done.

He couldn’t even say
they
were done, because there had never been a
they
. A few days… they’d only had a few days and he’d still…

“Shit, don’t do this,” he muttered, his voice hoarse even to his own ears. He’d spent more than two months working his ass into the ground to keep from thinking about her, to keep from wishing things could have turned out differently. Maybe…

Hell. Maybe he should have tried to find her. Talk to her.

You still can
, a sly little voice whispered, that cunning, selfish bastard— the man he was trying to leave behind. He couldn’t go back to that. Wouldn’t. Although speeding down the highway in the dead of night, it was hard to remind himself of that fact.

Fate had given him a good, hard bitch-slap, showed him just how self-centered, how much of a bastard he’d been. If he couldn’t be better than that, then he didn’t
deserve
her. Until he could be better, he wasn’t going to ask for things he knew he shouldn’t have.

And the ugliest part of the mess… he couldn’t be better overnight, couldn’t become better by walking away from the responsibilities he’d agreed to take on. Right?

Shit, he’d feel better if somebody would just tell him he was right— that he was doing the right thing.

“No, you wouldn’t,” he muttered, checking the miles.
Gallatin was still a good thirty miles ahead. “It doesn’t matter if you change or not… if you’re doing the right thing or not, because it’s not going to help with her.”

And it wouldn’t. If she’d wanted anything between them, she wouldn’t have been so quick to walk away.

“L

He gave her another nervous look, light glinting off his eyes. If he’d been human, he would have already called the cops. But then again, if he had been human, she wouldn’t be there.

If Toronto was anywhere around here, somebody would know.

Sylvia hadn’t been able to find any sign of him, so she figured the next best thing was making herself a pain in somebody’s ass. Sooner or later, she’d find somebody who would tell her something.

But this guy wasn’t that someone. She’d seen it on him the minute she walked inside. He was a midlevel shifter and he was freaked out just at the sight of her. A scared, nervous bastard who hadn’t wasted any time in going to make a phone call about her after she’d refused his “polite” request that she leave.

She wasn’t leaving. Sylvia was damn tired. She’d spent the day sleeping in the bathroom of her hotel, she hadn’t fed in two days and water and alcohol weren’t going to cut it for
too much longer. She was going to keep her ass in this bar for as long as she damn well had to. If he’d called somebody, there was a chance
that
somebody might have answers… and a little more spine.

A ripple rolled across her skin. That presence of something…
other
…

The bartender’s eyelashes flickered and he stared at her, his pulse slamming inside his throat.

“Who did you call?” she asked quietly.

“My pack. The majority of them live out on the compound an hour away.” He jerked his chin up, trying not to look too nervous. “You come onto our territory, you really ought to talk to the Alpha.”

The Alpha. Shit. That twinge of hope withered away and died.

This guy was a natural shifter. The shifters weren’t like weres— half the time, the two races didn’t even get along. If whoever she’d just sensed was the Alpha, if there was a local pack, then what was she doing here? Toronto wouldn’t be here…

Carefully, she lowered her glass. Pushing her hand into her pocket, she pulled out a twenty and tossed it on the scarred surface of the bar. He wasn’t here. She didn’t know what kind of game Rafe was playing with her, but Toronto couldn’t be here.

Head bowed, she slid outside. She needed to get to the room and refocus. Replan. The Alpha could go fuck himself—

H

Shit.

This… what… no.

A job, he thought.

She was here for a job, he figured. For a half a second, he wondered if one of the idiots back at the compound might have hired her. But that didn’t seem right. Although considering the burn in his leg, it wasn’t an option he was going to dismiss…

“Stop it. Get your head on straight.” Swearing, he hit the
brakes and parked the car on the side of the road. He didn’t give a damn if it was illegal— he needed to walk for a few minutes and think, make sure he had himself under control when he saw her.

Although each second seemed to make control even
less
likely. His heart raced, his mouth felt dry, his palms sweated and his entire body
ached
. The wolf in him whispered,
Want… find her. Want… want.

“Can’t,” he muttered. He’d already had what he’d get from her.

And it wasn’t enough… because he wanted everything.

M

Those words swirled through her head, but her heart was racing.

Because she
knew
that figure striding toward her. The long blond hair was pulled back from his face, and he was limping a little, but damn it, she knew him, even from this far off.

Sylvia wanted to run to him.

But she didn’t.

Wouldn’t. Not until she had… something.

So she kept her pace even, her hands in her pockets and schooled her face into a blank mask that didn’t reflect anything she felt inside. Inside she was in agony— and ecstasy. Toronto… it was Toronto.

Shit, she’d missed him. The way he smiled, the way he looked at her, although the look in his eyes now was decidedly emotionless, the way he smelled…

She took a deep breath. She couldn’t run to him, but she could…

Wait. What…?

She didn’t even remember running to his side.

But she was there— at his side and ready to kill, because she knew that scent. It was the acrid, awful scent of flesh dying— what happened when somebody poisoned a shifter with silver. Not stabbed… this was worse, a slow poison that ate away at the body, a slow, burning agony. “Who hurt you?” she demanded.

*  *  *

T

“Your leg. It’s your leg, isn’t it? That’s why you’re limping. Shit, how did you manage to get yourself jacked-up like this out in the middle of nowhere? You having a pissing match with the local Alpha or what?” She crouched down by his leg, reaching up to touch him, but stopping with her hand just a breath away.

“Ahh… Sylvia, could you get up?” Toronto asked, shifting away.

She shot him a look and rose, her spine going rigid, but then she caught sight of his eyes… the way the blue started to swirl.
Ahhh…
not so emotionless, she realized.

“How did you get hurt?” Moving a little closer, she continued to watch his shifting, glowing eyes.

“A fight. What are you doing here? If it’s a job, you need to be careful and if it’s to do with the pack…”

“I’m not here for a job.” She reached up, toyed with the lapel of his jacket. “I came looking for you.”

I came looking for you…
His brain stopped.

Just stopped.

I came looking for you
…

She hadn’t said that. He’d had all sorts of wishful thoughts on the drive in, and when he saw her, all of them had decided to dance through his mind again and now he was just having a temporary break with reality. That was it.

Clearing his throat, he caught her wrist and nudged it aside. “The pack is my responsibility now, so whatever the problem is, if it’s a pack thing, we’re going to have some issues and—”

“It’s not the pack.” Sylvia touched her fingers to his face. “Hey… you don’t seem to want to look at me. What’s the deal there?”

Shifting his gaze to her, he found himself falling. Falling into that dark, silver-flecked gaze. “I like looking at you just
fine,” he muttered. Reaching up, he curled a hand around her wrist. Under his touch, her skin felt like silk, soft, cool skin… wrapped around steel. Her strength amazed him, delighted him. He wanted her so damned bad. He could all but taste her mouth… no. Stop. Just no…

“Hmmm.” She swayed closer, pressed her lips to his chin and whispered, “I like looking at you, too. Even if you are stupid enough to let some idiot get you with silver.”

Tipping his head back, he fought the growl rising in his throat. “Sylvia, stop. Whatever you’re doing… just…”

“Why?” She rubbed her cheek against his neck. “The silver is burning you— you’ve got a fever.”

Fuck, no kidding. Her name is Sylvia and she’s currently driving me insane. Breaking my heart.
Reaching up, he rested his hand on her shoulder, eased back. “Baby, look, I can’t…”