“Kade, the Sabre Were, saved Jessie from Braden, the Dire Were,” Cara stated, as though that made it any clearer.
Zach couldn’t look at either of them. “I can call a taxi from your place,” he said to Cara.
Cara snorted, but she didn’t reply.
* * *
Jessie shifted in the tight confines of the back seat. Her entire body itched. But it wasn’t external. It was like a million ants crawled beneath her skin. Urging her to move.
If she shifted right, they eased a bit. Left, and they went nuts. If she leaned toward Cara, the relief was immediate. The sensation almost vanished altogether.
Had to be this viral attraction thing. It was uncomfortable as hell. And insidious. If she wasn’t aware, her body would cave. She’d be prancing off to meet psycho Braden in some dark alley somewhere.
Jessie distracted herself from the itch by watching Zach. He’d fallen silent after his last exchange, staring out the side window. He’d seemed incredulous about the werewolves. Didn’t he know about them? He hadn’t known Kade’s name. How could he know Cara and not know this stuff?
Had Cara kept the secret from him? Maybe they didn’t entirely trust Zach? Or, more likely, he wouldn’t have believed them. Jessie would never have if she hadn’t seen it herself. Hadn’t believed her own eyes. Still had issues believing it, to be honest.
Cara slowed as she wound her way through the maze of streets. Jessie leaned as close to the back of the woman’s seat as the belt allowed, seeking the calm that radiated from her. Cara navigated in an odd pattern. The river was somewhere west of them, maybe?
But when Jessie tried to remember exactly where Cara lived, she couldn’t. Not the street. Or even what the house looked like.
Exhaustion was playing tricks on her brain.
She glanced again at Zach. What would it be like, being able to read other people’s emotions? He’d looked so haunted when he’d come out of the station. Like he’d been stressed beyond endurance. And his nose had been bleeding.
There were many causes for bleeding noses. Most were nothing to worry about. But Zach’s ability—she had no points of reference for it. Her training told her that if he was stressed enough to trigger a nosebleed, he might be causing bleeding in other places too. Places that might not recover as easily—like the brain.
Her stomach twisted. A lot of negative emotions in the police station. And the suspicion toward Zach himself couldn’t have been pleasant. Her thoughts drifted to the driver. Empaths. Werewolves. What kind of Cryptid was Cara? At the moment, Jessie theorized the woman was a lost Cryptid.
“Where are we? I think we’ve passed that house once already.” She pointed to a yellow home with a wrought-iron fence. Was Cara driving in circles?
Cara waved one hand in a graceful motion that was curiously reassuring. “My place is off the beaten path.”
A vehicle fell in behind them, and Jessie twisted to see a truck. Kade? Similar color, but she thought it was a different model.
Cara abruptly pulled over and parked. And there it was. Jessie remembered it now. A cute two story, fenced yard, vines and bushes everywhere. How could she forget?
The truck pulled in directly in front, and Kade got out. Cara hurried out of the Jeep and up to his truck. Jessie followed. Zach trailed behind.
Kade was fussing with someone in the back seat. A man, almost as big as he was, completely naked and covered in blood.
“Bloody hell,” muttered Zach, pushing past her to lend a hand.
Kade glanced at Cara. “He managed to get back to his truck, but that was as far as he got.”
Ah, the truck was Neil’s, then. Jessie regarded the bloodied body with horror. So much damage. Was he even alive? She grabbed the man’s wrist. It was as big around as two of hers. The skin was warm beneath her fingers, and when she groped, she sensed the reassuring, but slow, pulse.
Kade dislodged her as he maneuvered the body to the edge of the seat. Zach positioned himself to help, taking an arm. “Your friend looks like he tangled with a tiger.”
“Not a tiger,” Kade commented. Zach shot him a look.
They started to lift the bloody, naked form out. It was broad daylight. Wouldn’t someone see them? But no one was in sight. Zach and Kade focused on lifting the injured man out of the truck. The guy looked heavy; he was almost as big as Kade.
“He needs a hospital.” Zach slid under the opposite arm from Kade.
“No hospitals.” Kade lifted his friend. “Cara’s a healer.”
A healer? That fit. Jessie glanced at the plants growing thick throughout the yard. Maybe she healed more than just humans?Humanoids, Jessie corrected herself.
