Page 56 of The Way You Bite
God, what was she going to do if she hadn’t gotten all the silver flushed out…if he didn’t make it?
“You did all you could,” Eric said softly. She flinched and caught his grateful gaze in the mirror. Eric hadn’t changed out of his tactical clothes—black muscle shirt, black camos, and tactical vest amply loaded with weapons.
“Did I? What if it wasn’t enough?”
“If you open that door, then it’s all you’ll think about.”
She tried to suck in deep breaths, fighting the urge to puke. Her vision hazed. “I can’t think otherwise.” A world without Lexan in it… She couldn’t imagine.
“He’s a tough sonuvabitch. Now that he found you he won’t be giving up life easily.”
She smiled at Eric but wasn’t relieved. Her gut told her the silver scare wasn’t over. That medical instinct was never wrong.
Eric ran a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry about earlier when I found you and Lexan. He’s my first priority. I didn’t know you and he…you know.”
“I get that.”
“Without Lexan, we’d all be lost. We’re a bunch of messed-up soldiers he salvaged from near death. We’re cast-offs and criminals no one else wanted or trusted. Someone like him shouldn’t have trusted beings like us, but he can see deep. Damn scary deep, and knows your soul better than you. He gave each of us a chance at redemption. For that, our debt to him is great. Him dying because we failed to do our job would be unbearable.”
She reached out and touched Eric’s arm for a moment. “You’re as vital to him as he is to you, but not just for protection. He trusts you in particular more than any other in this world.” She watched Lexan through reflection in the mirror. Lexan breathed deeply, sleeping.
“How would you know?” Eric asked.
“I’ve caught this impression from him a lot.” She touched her head in meaning.
“Yeah, I forgot you’re Blay’s kid.”
“Did you know Blay? I have a hard time imaging him, well any wolf, as my father.”
“Not well, but we crossed paths a few times. I heard he was a great fighter in the War, not that I was alive back then. Many breathed a sigh of relief when Blay died. The guy could flicker in and out of your mind and pull funny tricks. Damned scary stuff.”
Dead? She’d wanted to meet her bio-dad and try to understand what happened between him and her mother. Lexan hadn’t spoken about Blay in the past tense.
TC appeared, scratching wildly at his arms and cursing. His whole body came to a startling halt. A sneeze detonated, raining a shower of spittle down the front of his shirt.
Vee examined TC from afar. “What’s wrong with you?”
TC looked desperate. “Fucking Vanderburgs keep cats.”
“What?” She stared at his arms.
He held out his arms, which were rashed up to his T-shirt sleeve. Lines from his scratching welted up in horizontal streaks up his forearms.
“You’re kidding. You’re allergic to cats?” Vee bit back a laugh, but it broke free. All three of them laughed, the humor shattering their tension.
“Got any Benadryl left over, Doc?”
