the sick feeling as the Weres fed on the bodies, and most of all, the faces of the Weres when they shifted back to human as she and Max watched from their hiding spot. The Were in that picture had been there. He’d rinsed off some of the gore from a nearby barrel of water, and his chiseled, handsome features were unmistakable.
If she hadn’t been warned by Max about the Goliaths, she would never have thought it possible or thought she’d ever see a familiar face from that pack again.
Swallowing back her fearful reactions, the brittle smile relaxed into something more natural as she reminded herself that she was older now, more capable, and had Royce’s protection to turn to if Gavin should ever show his face here.
Analie smiled at Mouse. “Gavin’s my caretaker. He’s like my adoptive father, kinda sorta. He raised me from a baby, so he’s my dad, I guess. He’s the nicest person in the whole world. He’s like a big papa bear.”
Analie started feeling a funny sort of lump in her throat. She coughed and frowned at herself. “Oh, hey, in the background, if you squint really hard, you can see my friend Kimmy. The one with the pigtails. This isn’t a recent picture, she doesn’t have pigtails anymore. She’s a Walker. They have the coolest parties in the world and they’re all really nice.”
“They’re all drink-the-Kool-Aid nice,” Christoph grumbled.
“Shut up,” Analie snapped. To Mouse she said, “They’re nice because they like helping people. They’re big on community service and charities and stuff. If Freddy can ever come visit, I’ll see if he brought his photo album. Then I can show you a better picture of Kimmy and some more of Gavin.”
Mouse nodded, afraid of writing anything in answer. Analie was too young, tender-hearted, and naïve to use veiled threats, so Mouse was certain that she wasn’t talking about Gavin that way just to unnerve her.
That meant that her own pack must shelter the younger ones from the grim reality of what it meant to be a Goliath Were. Mouse was not about to educate her.
Christoph may or may not know, but either way, she didn’t want to come off like she was afraid or unsettled. If Christoph knew, it would make him think he or his pack would have the upper hand if she was ever faced with them in battle. If he didn’t, best not to let either of them find out from her. Whatever the reason their own pack kept quiet about it, Mouse didn’t feel comfortable being the one to enlighten them.
Analie yawned mightily and rubbed her eyes. “Urgh, I have school tomorrow. G’night, Mouse.” She shuffled to her room to crawl into her den-bed. Hopefully Jacques didn’t have some super-complicated monstrosity in store for her.
Christoph was sleepy, too; his head was lolling to the side. Too much excitement and ass-whooping.
Mouse nodded and gave Analie a wave, watching her go. She glanced down at Christoph, breathed a silent sigh, and tucked the blanket around him before retreating to her own room.
Tomorrow would be a very interesting day.
* * *
Ashi was exhausted, had a headache that could end worlds, and had used up his next week’s supply of adrenaline. He still couldn’t sleep.
Maybe it had something to do with being in a vampire pit, and that there was one in the very apartment he was in. There was a human as well, but he didn’t seem to be very welcoming. Small wonder, what with Ashi technically kicking him out of his own bedroom. It didn’t bother him, though—not being accepted by humans was as usual as a blue sky.
What really bothered him was the bite. He refused to touch his neck. He wanted to pretend it hadn’t happened. The dull ache on his throat was merely some blow he’d suffered during the fight with Royce.
Damn it, it wasn’t supposed to happen this way! Ashi shifted his weight in the small closet. He was supposed to be on his way back to California, Analie in tow, to be received as a hero and climb a rank or two. He wasn’t supposed to be here, hiding in a dark closet, afraid of the bogeymen outside.
He was supposed to be the monster.
While Ashi was having his pity party in the closet, Thad was trying and failing to immerse himself in some shoot-’em-up movie with lots of explosions and boobs. His muscles were aching from carting his stuff to his new room.
Royce had warned him and