"He was also trying to kill us. Those bullets meant business."
"Moves awful quick, even for a wolf," Jessie observed.
"And changes quick, too. Between the time I saw a wolf, then someone shot at you, couldn't have been more than a minute."
"Could have been two of them again."
She was right. Most likely the white wolf drew me away from the kill, then circled back. Someone, or something else, had shot at Jessie and Will.
"Let's burn what's left and get the hell out of here," I said.
"I'm with you."
Pulling the body parts back into a pile was one of the least pleasant experiences of my life. Thankfully, I had help doing it. By unspoken agreement, Will did the physical labor along with me while Jessie stood guard. We'd been surprised once. None of us planned to be surprised again.
I had just dumped more accelerant on the pyre and thrown on a match when Will exclaimed, "Oh, my God!"
I spun, gun already in my hand, but nothing was in the clearing save the three of us and what was left of the dead wolves.
Will ran across the damp, trampled grass toward Jessie. She scowled at him. "What is your problem?"
He ignored her question, grabbing her by the shoulder and yanking her around. A bright red splotch of blood marred the back of Jessie's uniform shirt. Since she hadn't touched a single wolf body part, this concerned me.
"You're hit." He turned her to face him and tried to unbutton her blouse.
"Get a grip, Slick." She smacked his hands away. "Not now."
"Let me see." He tried to undress her again.
"A scratch. Forget about it."
My heart thundered; my mouth was dry. She'd been wounded because of me. I'd worried that Will would be hurt, maybe killed, and Jessie would be unable to cope. In reality, it was the other way around.
The anguish on Will's face, the blood on Jessie's clothes... I was having a hard time thinking straight. I had to get them out of the line of fire.
"Take her to town and clean her up," I ordered.
Jessie threw me an annoyed glare. "Who put you in charge?"
"Edward."
"This is my town. I'm not going anywhere until we're done here."
"You're done."
She stepped forward until we were toe-to-toe. Since she had a good six inches on me, I had to crane my neck to meet her gaze. This made some of my authority go straight down the toilet.
"I'm done when I say I'm done."
I quivered with rage - at the one who had hurt her, at myself for getting them into this, at Jessie for being so damned stubborn.
All of a sudden the tension drained out of her and she glanced at Cadotte. "Watch the fire while I talk to Leigh."
He hesitated, then nodded and moved off. Jessie turned to me.
"I can handle this myself," I began.
She snorted. "Right. You need us. We need you. Get used to it."
"I'll call Edward. He'll come back."
All I had to do was tell him that Hector was here, he'd be on the next plane. Up until now I'd avoided that conversation. Edward had saved me once. This time I wanted to save myself. But not at the cost of Jessie and Will.
"You'll call Edward and tell him what? That I'm incompetent? That Will's a pansy?"
I frowned. "No..."
"I chose this. So did Will. We knew the risks."
Did they? I had a hard time believing that. If they knew their chances of surviving this job were forty to two, would they stay? Maybe I should tell them.
"You have each other. What do you need a dangerous job for? What if - ?"
"We die? I've asked myself that question a hundred times. I could get hit by a truck tomorrow. Will could get shot by an overeager redneck today. That's life, Leigh. At least we're trying to save the world before we go."
A crusader. Who'd have thunk it?
"It's not like we plan on dying," she continued. "I did kill the wolf god - all by myself." I lifted a brow.
"Kind of."
"Hector is bad news." I looked around the bloody clearing. "And getting badder."
"Oooh, I'm all a-shiver."
I started to think ahead. I'd go out hunting alone. Ditch them whenever I could. Maybe I could end this without ending them.
"I'm gonna stick to you like glue," Jessie murmured.
My eyes went to hers like a magnet drawn to metal. Amusement lightened her face, but her voice was stone-cold serious.
"You're not running around like Dirty Harry. We're together now. All for