The Alpha - Joel Abernathy Page 0,64

impressed.”

“Don’t be. There’s still a changeling on the loose.”

“Hmm.” She pursed her lips. “True enough. Well, the good doctor’s death might prove providential.”

“How do you figure that?”

“For one thing, there’s one less Plague Doctor out there,” she said, grimacing as if she found them as distasteful as Colt found her. “If you fail to contain the changeling situation and word gets out, we can always blame it on Vaughn. It’s not like he’ll be able to defend himself.”

That was probably truer than she could know, but Colt wasn’t about to tell her that. If she found out Peter was his brother, she’d follow the trail right back to the Browns, and he wanted to avoid that if at all possible.

“How did you figure out Vaughn’s identity, anyway?” Colt asked.

“If you think I would tolerate knowing there are ghouls out there capable of dropping us on the fly without doing my due diligence, you greatly underestimate my self-preservation instincts.”

“A mistake I won’t make again,” said Colt.

“Speaking of loose ends, how is Jason?” Evelyn's voice lilted a bit each time she said his name, like he was the punchline to some joke she found absolutely hysterical.

“He’s fine. In fact, the changeling wiped his memory. As far as Stan can tell, he remembers nothing about ghouls.”

Evelyn’s eyes widened. “How convenient. And surprising that our little changeling friend has some discretion, after all.”

“He didn’t do it out of the goodness of his heart, he did it to fuck with me,” said Colt. He understood that, now that some time had passed to separate him from the emotion of all of it. “But I’m not letting the opportunity go to waste. I’m out of his life. For good.”

“Oh, really?” she asked, not bothering to hide her doubt. “You’ve said that before.”

“Yeah, well, this time I mean it.”

“I hope you do,” Evelyn said, walking back over to the door. She cast a flirtatious glance over her shoulder. “And not just because I have a thing for pretty and dumb. The two of you together can only ever end in tragedy.”

“That’s almost human of you.”

“Don’t get carried away. You’re just hard enough to manage without the distractions.”

Colt wasn’t going to thank her for killing two people in cold blood and framing them for a loved one’s murder, but he decided not to flip her off. Just the once.

Chapter 27

Colt

It had been three weeks since Colt had hit the nuclear button on his relationship with Jason, and hardly a day had passed without a call or a text from Jason asking where the hell he was. After a while, the tone of the messages had gone from concerned to pissed, and the last one was a declaration that Jason was blocking his number.

Colt had never realized it was possible to be so simultaneously relieved and devastated. Reminding himself that at least Jason would be alive to overcome his hurt helped.

So did throwing himself into whatever distractions he could manage. That night, he had promised his parents he’d show up for family dinner. They hadn’t seen him much, and they couldn’t possibly know he had patrols watching them around the clock.

As Colt set at the family table, enjoying his mom’s chicken Alfredo, it was easy to imagine not all that much had changed. It was the one sanctuary that felt untouched by the insanity of the Kinship, even if he knew that was only an illusion.

He was sure there were plenty of ghouls out there who would use Renee and Gerald against him if they had the chance, but protecting his parents wasn’t as simple as staying out of their lives. Sometimes he wished he could tell them, but even if they did understand, he would feel too guilty bringing them into it.

“What’s wrong?” Renee asked, looking at him as she suddenly interrupted her own story about running into an old enemy at the grocery store.

“What do you mean?” Colt asked. It was a question he should have been used to being asked by now, but he’d thought he was hiding his apprehension better.

Then again, it was hard to get much past Renee. Minor things, at least.

She gave him a knowing look. “You’ve been in space all night. I know something is bothering you.”

“Leave him alone, Renee,” Gerald sighed, flipping through the newspaper. Colt had never understood why he liked to read his paper at the end of the day, but then again, the human world didn’t change as rapidly as his did. “He’s a big shot now. He’s