Better Off Undead - Cynthia Eden Page 0,62
there’s something I need to tell you.”
But her gaze had just zeroed in on one name. A name that was familiar to her. “Quint Laurel,” Jane whispered. “Sonofabitch.”
“Jane?”
She looked up. “The day after Alan Thatcher died, I went to his dorm room. Quint Laurel was there. He strode inside and acted all torn up when I had to break the news to him that Alan Thatcher was dead.”
“Maybe he was torn up.”
“And maybe he was playing me. Maybe he was the killer and he wanted to find out just what I knew.” She hurried toward the stairwell door.
But Aidan did that too-fast thing of his and stepped into her path. “Slow down.”
“I can’t! Time is running out.” The sun was already sliding low in the sky. “I’m afraid he’s going to kill again tonight, Aidan. That there will be another body found savaged in a cemetery.”
“Then we put guards at the cemeteries,” he said with a nod. “I’ll send my men—”
“Up against another alpha?”
His jaw hardened.
“He’d be able to take down your men, just as easily as you would. And there’s no way I can put human cops out there against him.” That would be a serious blood bath. “No, we need to find him. You and I. We can catch him unaware. Stop the bastard.”
“It might not even be this Quint Laurel—”
“No, but you talk to him for two seconds, and we’ll know if it is or not.” She stepped around him and shoved open the door that led to the stairwell. She rushed down the stairs, her thudding footsteps echoing around her. Aidan was close behind.
“Your brother is here.”
She grabbed onto the railing so she wouldn’t fall. Jane whipped her head back to face Aidan. “What?”
“When you were hurt, you called out for him. I…I wanted to help you, so I got my wolves to find him. Werewolves are good at tracking.”
Her cheeks felt numb. “I didn’t need to track him. I knew where he was all along. Safely away from me.”
“Jane, he wants to help you.”
Tears burned her eyes. “Aidan, what have you done?”
“He’s outside. He’s here to help,” Aidan said again. His voice was halting, more hesitant than she’d ever heard him before. “Jane, I want you happy. I did this…so you’d be happy.”
She swiped at the tears on her cheeks. Dammit, she cried way too much lately. That shit had to stop. “You ever think there’s a reason I haven’t seen him in so long? Aidan, jeez, look at me! I’m a magnet for monsters!”
He flinched.
“That’s not what I meant. You’re not what I meant.”
“You sure about that?”
She swallowed. “Vampires. Werewolves. That’s my life now. It isn’t his. He’s normal. You saw that, right?” Now her voice was hopeful. Because…
I don’t know. Maybe he is like me. Maybe I’m about to ruin my brother’s life, too.
“He’s normal,” Aidan said softly.
Her shoulders fell. Aidan’s words were both a relief and a condemnation. I was the different one. It was because of me that Drew lost his whole family. I brought the vampires. They wanted me.
Because I’m the end.
“He loves you.”
She started hurrying down the stairs again. “I want him safe.”
“He wants to pay back his debt to you. He didn’t help you when you were kids, and he wants the chance now.”
What? She didn’t stop, though adrenaline pumped through her body. “He’s the one who got me out of that basement. Drew owes me nothing.”
When she reached the bottom floor, Jane shoved open the stairwell door and raced outside. The sky was cloudy. Too dark. And there, just a few feet away, with his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes on her…
There was her brother.
“Drew?” Jane stared at him, absolutely lost. For a moment, she was a child again, huddled with her brother as they waited for police to arrive at their house. Her hand had gripped his so tightly. He’d been her whole world.
“Mary Jane.” He smiled at her and looked so freaking happy to see her.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Jane whispered. “I’m working a case.”
Drew took a step toward her. “You look good.”
You shouldn’t be here.
“I-I know, Mary Jane,” Drew said, his words stammering. “About the vampires. About the werewolves. About everything.”
Her gaze swung to Aidan. “What did you do?”
“I know,” Drew said doggedly. “And I’m not scared.”
Liar. She could practically smell his fear. Her desperate stare flew back to her brother.
“We can stop them, Mary Jane,” Drew said. “We can stop them all…”
And that was when she knew that things were