Page 33 of Shadow Bound

Ransom shrugs. “I didn’t trust her—always assumed she was going to turn on me. She all but warned me she would.” I could argue, but it’s true. “And then today, when she had every chance and opportunity to leave us, she saved us instead. Even though it cost her a lot to do it, she dug me out of the snow and then helped me get Sawyer out. Without her,Pruittwould be dead,Sawyerwould be dead, andIwould be dead.”

Winslow stands next to her furious mate, head cocked to the side as she examines me with a look that makes me feel like she’s looking at my soul. Hell, for all I know she could be. She doesn’t say anything yet, just continues to examine me until my own skin feels uncomfortable.

This confrontation has made the pounding in my head exponentially worse and a wave of nausea washes over me, making my hands feel clammy. I just want to go to my motel room, pack up the few belongings I have left and leave. First, I’ll need to get my hands on some blood in a way that doesn’t mean I kill another person and then I’ll find Nessa’s trail again. Or at least, I’ll attempt to.

“Maybe she needs you alive for whatever twisted plan Sterling has drawn up for us.” Ranger is basically grasping at straws now.

I can’t fight him physically right now, but I can fight him with the truth. I nod my chin in Ranger’s direction. “I also saved you.”

Ranger freezes and Ransom’s head whips around in my direction. “What? When?” he asks.

“In New York? The night of the auction, who do you think let you get away with that baby? You really think you were that lucky, that you justwaltzedout of that parking garage with no one seeing you? I was there the whole time. I saweverythingthat happened.” Saw my brother die and saw Ranger die. “I was the last one left, between your demon friend and you, you’d taken out all the guards. I was the only one there that could have stopped you, but what did I do instead? I let you guys have yourpreciouslittle moment where you declared your undying love for one another and then I let you leave with the baby. And then I covered for you with Sterling. Lied and told him I had no idea what happened on that level of the parking garage, according to what his report says, I was on the other level, doing a perimeter check when shit went down. I even went as far as wiping the security footage because if he saw” —I point at Winslow— “what she can do, he would find her and force her into his breeding program. Necromancers are a rare breed these days and he has a fascination for them. If he knew about her, he’d hunt her down like a dog and breed her like one too.”

That earns me a growl. Good. Maybe he’ll realize I’m not the enemy. Not anymore anyway.

“Think what you want of me, I’ve earned it, but don’t insinuate that I’m secretly plotting with Sterling to take down your family. Sterling has taken things from me I can never get back and for that he’ll pay.” I don’t usually like letting people in on my plans, but I have the sudden need for them to understand I’m not a threat. Well I’m still a threat, considering the wild bloodlust in my veins, but I’m not a double agent of Sterling’s. “I’ve spent the past ten months hunting down each one of his allies, because I want him weak and defenseless when I finally go after him. I had the chance to kill one of his strongest supporters today, but instead, I helped your brother.”

Remington steps around Ransom and looks at me. Blue eyes narrowed like she’s looking for any sign of deceit. She doesn’t say anything, but Winslow finally does. “I like her.”

Ranger’s head turns so fast, I’m surprised he doesn’t break his neck. “What?”

Winslow shrugs and purses her lips. “I like her, I’m not happy about what she did to Pru, but I believe her. It never made sense how we were able to get away so cleanly in New York, but now I know why.” Her two-toned eyes look me over again. “You were like our dark guardian angel.”

“Fairy,” Ransom corrects, his lips pulling into a smirk.

“Fairy,” Winslow repeats. “You’re part fairy? Since when do fairies exist? I swear one of these days, someone is going to announce that unicorns and dragons are real and I’m going to have to check myself back into the psych ward.”

Remington and Ransom can’t help it, they both choke on laughter. Ranger just shoots his mate an exasperated look.

Ransom leaves me and walks toward his brother. With their heads bent together they whisper about something. That something being me. I can’t make out what they’re saying, the humming in my ears is too loud. Remi takes the opportunity to shift toward me, a skeptical look on her face. “I don’t trust you.”

I lift a shoulder, unfazed by her comment. “I don’t trustyou.”

“But if my brother is willing to get between you and his twin… there must be something about you that he likes that I’m missing.”

“You’re not missing anything,” I assure her, shaking my head.

She shifts her eyes to her brother before slowly looking back at me. “I don’t know about that. Ransom’s always been a good judge of character. His taste in women?Atrocious, absolutely horrifying, but when he’s willing to defend someone like he did you, I’m inclined to believe him.”

The back door of the black SUV opens and a woman with dark hair and olive skin hops out. A medical bag and cooler in her hands. “Can I please see my patient now?”

* * *

Sawyer’s screamssound from behind the motel door. His advanced shifter healing means the bone started to regenerate, even when half of it was sticking outside of the skin. The doctor has to break the bone again to get it back into place. While everyone had gone inside to be at his side and support him—as a pack does—I’d elected to stay outside. It felt like a moment I didn’t need to be a part of, like I was intruding on them.

I am intruding. I’m the odd outsider in the situation right now. The right thing for me to do would be to go grab my backpack of things and slink away into the night, but for some reason, I can’t get myself to leave yet. I’m blaming it on the exhaustion, that my body is too tired to move.

And not the real reason, which is that I’m not ready to walk away from Ransom yet. He awakens a part of me I had thought was long dead or didn’t even exist.

With my knees pulled to my chest and my head resting on the cold brick of the exterior wall of the motel, I listen to Sawyer’s cries of pain. The doctor had asked Ransom and Ranger to hold him down while she worked. Winslow and Remi are in there for moral support. If my senses were working properly, I could make out what they’re saying, but all I can hear from out here is Sawyer.

The door creaks open and combat boot-clad feet come into my peripheral vision. Slowly tilting my head up, I find Winslow looking down at me. “Thank you for letting us leave with the baby that night.”

This is the second time someone has thanked me today and I’m not liking it any more than I did the first time it happened. I shrug my shoulders halfheartedly in response. She isn’t deterred by my silence though. “She’s safe and happy now, just had her first birthday a couple months ago actually. Every picture I get of her, she’s a drooling mess. Teething, I guess. Everyone thinks it’s cute, the drool, but I find itkindagross? Does that make me a horrible person if I find baby drool gross?” Winslow rambles.

“I don’t think it’s possible for you to be considered a horrible person.” The whole lot of them are so selfless that it makes up for any flaws they might have.

She shifts uncomfortably on her heels. “I’m also sorry for your loss.”

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