pulled back my lips in a silent snarl and looked at the man on the floor. The urge to kill him rode me hard. Michelle bent down, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a phone.
The man twitched and I took a step forward until I realized he was shifting back to human, too broken to maintain his fur. He opened one eye and looked at Michelle.
“Don’t try this again,” she said. “I choose who I Claim. Not you.”
She stood, and I moved back to the window.
“You’re not the only one,” the man rasped before closing his eyes again.
We’re outside, Grey sent. Police are at the door. I hope you’re not in there.
Leaving out the back window now.
I scooped Michelle up into my arms. She flinched, and I hated myself for what she would likely have to endure until I found us somewhere safe.
She looped her arms around my neck and buried her face against my chest a moment before I jumped out the window. I ran fast, blazing a trail through the swamp before the door in the hotel flew open.
Head east, Grey said over our link. I’ll watch the hotel, and Carlos is circling back to check on the four we left in the alley. Let me know if you run into any problems.
The little daylight that had remained when I’d stepped into the hotel vanished in the trees. I didn’t need it to know east, though. Skirting another area of trees, I slowed my pace and jogged out onto a sidewalk.
Streetlights were intermittent, and I stuck to the shadows to avoid attention. Michelle didn’t move much in my arms. Her scent was a mixture of that musty hotel room, her blood, and the fetid smell of the mutt who’d taken her. Before I could take her somewhere safe, I needed to clean her up.
I slowed when I spotted a trashy looking hotel. It was small and advertised rooms by the hour.
I’m renting a room with cash and cleaning her up. After that, we need a place to stay. She needs rest.
The man you left behind managed to climb out the window before the police caught him. I tailed him back to our first hotel, but I didn’t follow him inside. I’m watching him to see where he goes next. Carlos is with me. The other four went fur and took to the woods. I let your father know what’s happening. Call Winifred’s phone. They’re waiting. They can make new room arrangements under someone else’s name.
He thought that the men who’d come after us already knew what names we’d used for the hotel.
All right. Thank you, Uncle Grey.
Stay safe.
Shifting Michelle’s weight to one arm, I freed the other to open the door. Inside, the place was just as bad as where she’d been taken. The original color of the carpet was buried under layers of dirt.
I carried Michelle to the front desk, unwilling to let her down.
The man behind the counter eyed me then Michelle. It was probably because of the blood on her cheek.
“We need a room for an hour,” I said. “I need soap and a towel. A clean one.” I placed money on the desk, and the man nodded before reaching under the counter and setting out the things I had requested.
Michelle took the towel, soap, and room key. The man cleared his throat uncomfortably, looking at Michelle.
“You okay, lady?”
She was pale, covered in blood, had a gash on the back of her head and was being carried. He was an idiot for asking.
“I am now,” she said. I turned away, furious with myself that she honestly believed that. She wasn’t okay. She was hurt...on my watch.
Michelle rested her head on my chest again as I climbed a dimly lit set of stairs to get to the room number on the key. The place was disgusting. Human odors clung to every surface. The air conditioner rattled but didn’t bring any clean air into the dank, musty room.
I carried her straight to the bathroom and used my elbow to turn on the light. Only one of the three vanity bulbs flickered to life. Stains decorated the laminate counter around the once-white sink.
First, I’d let her be kidnapped. Then, I brought her to a hotel that probably required tetanus shots.
Without much choice, I sat her on the counter and turned on the water. It ran clear so I wet the towel and rubbed the soap against it. Hopefully it would kill any remaining germs on the towel.