there are. That’s one of them. With the Guild’s long reach, how could they not know an entire village had been consumed by a viral outbreak so contagious? The simplest answer, Marijka, is usually the correct one.”
“Okay then,” she said calmly. “I’ve been a Guild cop for ten years. I’ve enforced the law universally all over the world and across dimensions. The Guild has always been on the side of every oppressed or abused people, stepping into conflict and putting ourselves in harm’s way to help those who cannot help themselves. Even those dogs that do nothing but prey and destroy. I have ten years with the Guild and twenty-four hours with you. There’s the simplest answer.”
So many superaturals hated his kind, and he knew they could be brutal, but they kept to their own tribes, their own packs. Only hiring themselves out as mercenaries when they couldn’t feed themselves. At least they had until this virus. “Marijka, what happened to your mother was horrible and unforgiveable. But that was one wolf. Why do you have to hate them all? That would be like hating all Gypsies for one curse.”
She looked down at her hands, the hard-ass cop gone. She had the same set to her mouth, like she was holding back sobs, as she had the night before when he’d told her the pack was coming.
Marijka wet her lips, pursed them, wet them again. She obviously wanted to tell him, and suddenly, he regretted the question.
“You don’t have to tell me.” He refused to let go of her when she would’ve pulled away.
“I found her body in our vardo . It’s why I became a Guild officer.”
Rage scalded through him. His beast burned to destroy the one of his own who would have done that to her. He clamped down on his beast with an iron will and pushed him back down beneath his humanity, lest she see the animal.
“Do you know his name?”
“No. I don’t know anything about him. Only that he killed her. Ripped her open and took her heart.”
“And you’re going to Ostrava? What if the whole city has been turned and infected?”
“I already told you, I refuse to be afraid. If I die, I die. I have a job to do.” The cop armor was back in place.
He had to admire her strength, he even understood her hatred. Intimately. “And what if it’s the Guild who designed the virus?”
A flash of movement out of the window caught his eye and they both turned to see an unknown pack of infected wolves with gaping, salivating maws keeping pace with them until the largest one launched himself into the air—headed directly for their train car.
Chapter Six
The mutant beast slammed against the window, but the glass didn’t even crack. Two more crashed into the car and water sloshed out of the tub.
Luka’s mouth grazed over hers for a rough kiss. “Whatever happens, Marijka, you should know what you mean to me.” Another solid body thudded against the side. “We don’t use words because they don’t cover the depth of what we feel. But you are not one of my people, and the link between us is still new to you, so I will use the words, pale and flimsy things that they are. Are you listening?”
Another impact, and more sloshes of water spilled over the side. Marijka nodded, even though she was thinking about the carpet. How it would mildew.... They were under attack and he was confessing something to her and all she could think about was the stupid carpet.
“I love you.”
His words gut-punched her, but when she focused on his eyes, it was all there—he was right. The words were like paper, whereas what she saw inside of him was the tree that made the paper, the rich soil it grew in, the water that quenched it—even the sun shining down from the sky. It was earthy, elemental and wholly Luka.
He didn’t wait for her response. Instead, he climbed out of the tub and pulled a pair of guns from a cabinet which he tossed on the couch. “The wolves will derail the train. That’s a given. We’ll be able to hold our own
“Okay then,” she said calmly. “I’ve been a Guild cop for ten years. I’ve enforced the law universally all over the world and across dimensions. The Guild has always been on the side of every oppressed or abused people, stepping into conflict and putting ourselves in harm’s way to help those who cannot help themselves. Even those dogs that do nothing but prey and destroy. I have ten years with the Guild and twenty-four hours with you. There’s the simplest answer.”
So many superaturals hated his kind, and he knew they could be brutal, but they kept to their own tribes, their own packs. Only hiring themselves out as mercenaries when they couldn’t feed themselves. At least they had until this virus. “Marijka, what happened to your mother was horrible and unforgiveable. But that was one wolf. Why do you have to hate them all? That would be like hating all Gypsies for one curse.”
She looked down at her hands, the hard-ass cop gone. She had the same set to her mouth, like she was holding back sobs, as she had the night before when he’d told her the pack was coming.
Marijka wet her lips, pursed them, wet them again. She obviously wanted to tell him, and suddenly, he regretted the question.
“You don’t have to tell me.” He refused to let go of her when she would’ve pulled away.
“I found her body in our vardo . It’s why I became a Guild officer.”
Rage scalded through him. His beast burned to destroy the one of his own who would have done that to her. He clamped down on his beast with an iron will and pushed him back down beneath his humanity, lest she see the animal.
“Do you know his name?”
“No. I don’t know anything about him. Only that he killed her. Ripped her open and took her heart.”
“And you’re going to Ostrava? What if the whole city has been turned and infected?”
“I already told you, I refuse to be afraid. If I die, I die. I have a job to do.” The cop armor was back in place.
He had to admire her strength, he even understood her hatred. Intimately. “And what if it’s the Guild who designed the virus?”
A flash of movement out of the window caught his eye and they both turned to see an unknown pack of infected wolves with gaping, salivating maws keeping pace with them until the largest one launched himself into the air—headed directly for their train car.
Chapter Six
The mutant beast slammed against the window, but the glass didn’t even crack. Two more crashed into the car and water sloshed out of the tub.
Luka’s mouth grazed over hers for a rough kiss. “Whatever happens, Marijka, you should know what you mean to me.” Another solid body thudded against the side. “We don’t use words because they don’t cover the depth of what we feel. But you are not one of my people, and the link between us is still new to you, so I will use the words, pale and flimsy things that they are. Are you listening?”
Another impact, and more sloshes of water spilled over the side. Marijka nodded, even though she was thinking about the carpet. How it would mildew.... They were under attack and he was confessing something to her and all she could think about was the stupid carpet.
“I love you.”
His words gut-punched her, but when she focused on his eyes, it was all there—he was right. The words were like paper, whereas what she saw inside of him was the tree that made the paper, the rich soil it grew in, the water that quenched it—even the sun shining down from the sky. It was earthy, elemental and wholly Luka.
He didn’t wait for her response. Instead, he climbed out of the tub and pulled a pair of guns from a cabinet which he tossed on the couch. “The wolves will derail the train. That’s a given. We’ll be able to hold our own
Similar Books
