Crashing into Fate (Maple Grove #25) - Lynn Hagen Page 0,19

low hiss. “It doesn’t matter how many of us you kill. We’ll never stop hunting you.”

The hallway began to spin. Lewis’s head felt as if it would explode. His entire body throbbed with pain as he lifted his gun, but the vampire was quick to disarm him.

He pressed the barrel against Lewis’s temple. “One shot and it’s over for you. Shifters can’t come back from a headshot.”

Jammed against the wall, Lewis bared his canines and gave a low, threatening growl. “And no matter what, I’ll never rest until Mena, and the freaks he created, are dead.”

The vampire bared his fangs. “I’m one of those freaks.”

Lewis braced himself for the blow he saw coming, but it never came. Instead, a shot rang out, making the sound echo in his ears.

The vampire dropped.

Lewis jerked his head to the side to see Malik at the top of the stairs, his weapon still clutched in his hands. “You can’t seem to stay out of trouble.”

Lewis sagged to the floor, wrapping his arm around his midsection. “What can I say? I lead an exciting life.”

“How bad are you?” Malik holstered his gun and helped Lewis to his feet.

“Depends on who you ask.” Lewis hissed as he held his side. “But seriously, I need to shift. They got the jump on me and worked me over.”

“What about your mate?” Malik helped Lewis to his bedroom. Fuck, how had he forgotten his torn-up house? His mattress was shredded. The stuffing looking like snow laying all around the room.

“Maybe I should take you to the motel. You can check into one of the rooms until you can get your house cleaned up.” Malik held on to Lewis around the waist. It hurt to just stand there.

“I don’t need a bed.” Lewis pulled his arm from around Malik’s shoulders. “And Mike is protecting Arlan right now.”

“I’ll get Deputy Christopher to help,” Malik said. “He can keep an eye on Arlan until you recover.” Malik held up his hands. “No offense to Mike, but I’d feel better knowing Darren was there.”

Lewis knew Deputy Darren Christopher was a coyote shifter. Mike was a wolf shifter. With those two, and whoever Mike had helping me, Lewis was confident Arlan would be in good hands.

“Thanks, man.”

“Just get some rest. I’ll be in my patrol car in the driveway. Sheriff Copache already knows I’ve been tasked with keeping an eye on you, and he’s signed off on it.”

Lewis was done talking. He wasn’t sure if he could take another breath. His ribs felt broken, and it was painful to breathe. He stripped down, which hurt like hell, and shifted as Malik walked out.

As he dozed, he thought about the vampire’s warning, that Mena wasn’t going to stop until Lewis was dead. It was time to stop running and track Mena down. Killing the guy who had a boner for him was the only way Lewis and Arlan would ever get any peace.

Chapter Six

“Lewis was injured, and his house was trashed.”

Arlan had been finishing up a room when he heard the voices outside the door. One belonged to Mike, but he wasn’t sure who the other person was.

Lewis had been injured? Who would do that, and why had they trashed his house? Even though Arlan had told himself to keep his nose out of other people’s business, he’d started toward the door to talk to Mike when Mike’s next words stopped Arlan in his tracks.

“Two newborn vampires attacked him,” Mike said. “They were killed but not before doing some serious damage.”

The room began to spin. Arlan took a step back and sat on the edge of the bed. Vampires? Had he heard Mike correctly? God, did they even exist? How?

Arlan still wasn’t over the fact that Lewis had shifted into a tiger, and now his mind was once again blown. He’d sat there for a moment, trying to digest what he’d heard, when a thought occurred to him.

Did it matter what Lewis was? He’d come to Arlan’s rescue in that field. That spoke more to Lewis’s character than the fact that he wasn’t fully human. Lewis had rushed into a burning room to save a guy, even though he didn’t have to.

And someone had hurt him.

Arlan jerked from the bed and marched out the door. Mike grew quiet when he saw Arlan. Arlan ignored the other guy as he turned to his boss. “Take me to him.”

“Excuse me?” Mike’s dark brows furrowed.

“Take me to Lewis.” Arlan still felt a strange, deep connection to Lewis, even