Page 75 of Into the Fire: After
Her supplier wasn’t hard to find. The only soul in the far row of the parking lot. He eyed me suspiciously as I walked up.
“You here meeting the omega?”
He glanced in both directions. “Nope.”
I pulled a folded wad of cash from my pocket. “All right. Well, did a not-omega have a deficit to settle?”
The man chuckled. “Damn, no wonder she turned me down. The girlpulls.”
I supressed the urge to gag. “Show me the meds,” I said.
He held up a baggy filled with round yellow pills. My anger rose up in me like steam in a tea kettle. “Aren’t heat suppressants generally oblong?”
The guy stared at me blankly. “These are special.”
I scoffed. I bet they were. “Deal’s off.” I stepped closer and lowered my voice. “By the way, lose her number. I catch you with my omega again, or sniffing around after her, and I will fucking kill you.”
Wedrovebacktothe apartment in tense silence.
When I’d returned to Taryn—bless her, right where I’d left her—and told her the pills weren’t right, I could see her questioning. Wondering if I was just saying so to keep her from completing the deal.
We returned to an empty apartment. Good. Better to handle this on my own for the time being.
Summoning every ounce of patience within me, I grabbed her hand, kissed her temple, and pulled her into my room. I pulled a worn reference book off the shelf in my closet, scanned the contents, and opened it to show a picture of what a full heat suppressant pillshouldlook like. Oblong and yellow, HST1293 stamped on one side, Z9 on the other.
Then I sat her on my bed and held both her hands in mine. “Sweetness,” I said gently, “I know you want to help, and I know you’re angry.” Pink bloomed on her cheeks, but she didn’t interrupt. “But this isn’t the way to do it. You could’ve gotten hurt. Someone else could’ve gotten hurt.”
Taryn shook her head, shoulders slumped. “Brea always handled getting my meds,” she said quietly. “She somehow always knew the right people and the right places to find what we needed. But not everyonehasa Brea, and maybe they can’t afford to Register, or maybe they just don’t want to.” She lookedat me, tears tracing shiny stripes down her face. “What was I supposed to do?”
I exhaled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Well, for one thing, you could ask this doctor you know if he could help.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “Something like this could lose you your license. And that’s not the point! This is my thing. I’m supposed—”
“You’re supposed to stay safe,” I cut her off. “That’s the plan, right? We lay low, stay safe, wait until we can expose the assholes running the game.”
Taryn rolled her eyes. “And in the meantime, we just keep playing by their rules,” she murmured. “Rules that hurt people.”
Her pain echoed in me. An ache in my chest so deep it stole my breath. She wasn’t supposed to have to fight anymore, but still she swung. But her opponent was bigger, meaner than she was. It had armor where she had none. Steel where she had fists.
I chewed on the inside of my cheek, then I stood. Crossed over to my desk. Pulled out a prescription pad.
“A year’s heat suppressants,” I said, scribbling down and tearing the sheet off for Taryn. “Prescribing doc assessed you, and due to trauma and hormone regulation, you are not yet fit to endure another heat.” I nodded once, tossing the pad and pen back down on the desk. “After this, Sheyna can make her connections on her own.”
Taryn held the paper before her like it was a note from God. She looked back at me. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
And with that, every drop of anger, of fear, melted down and away. It didn’t matter which of the sins she apologized for. Keeping me in the dark, putting herself in danger, twice making me her accomplice. All of the above.
I framed her face with my hands, pulled her close so I could press my lips against her forehead. Against every fear andnightmare and sadness, every hope and brave misdeed she could dream of.
“Forgiven, love. Always.”
Thirty-one
Brea
Theairintheapartment had been lighter over the last week. Lin’s tension had eased, Caine had showered Taryn with sweet caresses and kisses, Brooks had texted me his daily score on the Crossword Mini.
Then, this morning, Lin’s phone rang.
