“You weren’t,” I said. “You saved me.”
Nate grinned, then glanced at the slumped form on the ground and sighed. “I guess we need to deal with him now.”
For the second time in a week, I had to deal with a dead body. Ireallyhoped this wasn’t going to become a pattern.
39
Cameron
Iinspected the damage in the bathroom mirror. The side of my face and chin were crusty with blood, and the flesh above my ear was swollen. My hair looked like shit, and a purple bruise was already forming on my cheek.
“How’s it going in there?” Nate asked through the door.
“I look like I got kicked by a horse. Other than that, I’m doing great,” I said dryly.
“I called JC. He’s sending a team to take care of the body.”
We’d dragged the attacker to the side and piled trash bags on top of him to hide him. The second guy had vanished before we could find him.
Hissing, I dabbed at the wound with a washcloth. “Does he have any idea who may have sent them? Or how the hell they knew where we were?”
“He’s pissed,” Nate said. From the muffled sound of his voice, I could tell he’d turned around to lean against the door. “Once they take the body in, they’ll try to figure out if it’s some lone wolf hitman or someone from the Toronto pack.”
I could imagine JC’s wrath if he discovered one of his own pack members had been behind the attack. If what he’d said was true, then Rick’s family had allies within JC’s ranks, so the idea wasn’t wholly outlandish. Still, I wasn’t sure how the man would react.
“Did you check the gun for silver bullets?” I asked absently as I cleaned the blood off my cheek.
“No. I just shoved it into the saddlebag of my bike. I don’t have any gloves to handle the ammunition, but from the sensation I got when I touched the gun, I have to think it does.”
“Huh,” I grunted, frowning at my reflection. I thought back to when I’d picked up the pistol. Howwrongit had felt in my hand, almost like it made me sick to have it touching my skin. Absently, I touched the spot on my neck where my small silver pendant usually sat. I’d lost it during the skirmish in the forest. Would I experience that same sensation? Would it burn? Ache? Maybe sizzle, like I was being electrocuted? Strange how my body could change.
If I had to guess, the gundidhave silver bullets. That proved how serious the men had been. The man had carried a weapon that would have been uncomfortable for him to hold, all to kidnap me. The mere thought sent a shudder up my spine.
“Hey, can you open the door? It’s weird talking to you like this,” Nate said, a good-natured lilt to his voice.
“Oh, right.” I opened the door.
He stepped in and immediately examined my face.
“How’s that?” he asked, nodding to my wound.
“Probably not as bad as yours.” I gasped. “Jesus, you haven’t cleaned the blood off your head yet.”
His split-open forehead was already sealing, something that, even in my distraught state, I found fascinating. But his face was still caked in blood. It was dried and flaking off in places.
“I’m fine. I’m more worried about you. You’re a new shifter. You won’t heal as fast as me. Not for a few weeks at least.”
“That’s something to look forward to.” I turned back to the mirror and resumed cleaning my face. I tossed a washcloth to Nate. “Clean up. You look like a savage.”
Taking the cloth, he wet it and went about scrubbing his face. “So, what do you think about what your friend Lesley said? About Lenny’s toxicology report?”
“I think it proves that whoever was using Lenny as a weapon used his addictions as a leash. Anyone who would do something like that is the worst piece of shit I can imagine.”
“We really need some way of connecting all this to the Masters family. Maybe I can try and access Rick’s phone records and prove he’s been in contact with Lenny or something. I’ve got a contact who could help with that.”
I turned to Nate. “I’d caution you against anything that goes directly against them. Something likethatwill be taken as a direct threat. We’ve seen what they’re capable of. Maybe you should leave this to JC.”
“They’ve already tried killing Ollie, busting my brains in, chased you through the woods, and attacked you in a fucking convenience store.” Nate tilted his head back dramatically. “Jesus. And let’s not forget they used a feral to forcibly turn you into a shifter. I doubt there’s much more they can do to us that they haven’t already.”
