Blood Rule (Book 4, Dirty Blood series) Read Free Page A

his problem? Can
you read him?”
    I shook my head. “Not with this. It’s
… I don’t know what it is. But it’s not him.”
    Wes frowned but said nothing. I needed
to change the subject. To move on—back to normal …ish.
    “ So what are your plans for
the day?” I asked, making a special effort to lighten my tone. “Are
you and Jack still heading out?”
    “ That’s the plan. Jack’s in
the weapons room doing a reorganize. Figured I had some
time.”
    “ He must be stressed if
he’s doing that.”
    Wes nodded. “The packs are getting
nervous about this thing with CHAS. It’s rubbing off on
him.”
    “ You know we won’t be able
to find anything in there for days once he’s done.”
    “ I know. Fee started baking
when she saw what he was up to.”
    “ Great. So I’ll stay away
until at least tomorrow.”
    “ Probably best. What are
you going to do this afternoon?” he asked.
    I rubbed absently at my temples. “Get
cleaned up and head over to the hospital.”
    He didn’t answer right away. His arms
tightened around me. “Well … be careful,” he said
finally.
    Obviously, we still weren’t going to
talk about it.
    “ I will,” I promised. I
kissed his nose before stepping away. “You too. I’ll see you when
you get back.”
    “ I’ll call you
tonight.”
    The strain between us, though
unspoken, tugged at me. At my tent’s entrance, I turned back. “Wes,
the bond …” I paused, searching for the right words.
    “ What about it?”
    “ It wasn’t something I
chose. You are.” 
     

Chapter Two

    I’d taken to wearing earphones when my
mom threatened to remove every stereo and music-playing device from
the house if I didn’t turn it down. By now, everyone knew if they
wanted my attention, they better tap my shoulder because I wasn’t
going to notice them otherwise.
    I removed my earphones and tucked them
into my sweatshirt as I passed through the automatic doors that led
inside the hospital.
    The mental hum of voices, thoughts,
and feelings rushed back in. I gritted my teeth and focused on my
other senses to distract myself: the bright white of the walls as
sunlight streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling lobby windows
behind me, the smell of disinfectant and rubbing alcohol that was
inherent to medical facilities, the comforting feel of fabric where
my fingers clutched the inside of my hoodie pockets while I walked.
After almost a week of steady rain, the late afternoon was
unseasonably cool for August in Washington, DC. That, and I was
running low on decent-looking shirts from too many unplanned
shifts. Hence, the hood. I was lucky enough to find it buried
underneath some unreturned textbooks from the public school I’d
been expelled from last year.
    Wow. My life had become a supernatural
soap opera.
    As I passed, the pale-faced nurse at
the desk looked up and nodded before going back to her computer
screen. It’d been two weeks—sixteen days, actually—since Alex had
been admitted. I’d been here often enough during that time the
staff didn’t bother with me anymore. I almost wished they would
since it would mean some sort of update on his condition. Most of
all, I wished someone could tell if I’d helped him or made things
worse.
    My blood injection had saved him, or
it had at the time. But then he’d fallen into a coma and by that
time we’d transported him here, a civilian hospital with a wing
paid for and dedicated to Hunters—CHAS didn’t skimp on health care.
And yet, the doctors were unable to coax him out of it.
    I came every day. Sometimes twice,
when my music-fueled runs led me this far north. I didn’t know why.
The sight of Alex’s face, unmoving, pale, so devoid of anything
that made him Alex, always made my throat constrict and my chest
ache. And then there was the anger. I was furious. Still. After
days, and now weeks, of wondering whether he’d even get well, I
still found it in me to be mad at him for what he’d
done.
    The hybrids weren’t happy