Forsaken by the Others by Jess Haines Page A

“I wrote the
     address on the box. I’ll call ahead so Gavin knows you’re coming, but make sure you
     don’t have any vampires with you when you go, okay? He‘s—we’re—Goliaths, I mean—we’re
     usually very careful never to have anything to do with vamps. Ever. As long as it’s
     just you, and maybe Sara, too, you should be fine.”
    That sounded ominous. I wasn’t the biggest fan of vampires either, but showing up
     alone at the home of a member of a rival Were pack wouldn’t be the brightest idea.
     Maybe I could just leave the package on Gavin’s doorstep and hightail it.
    “Can you give him a hug for me, too? And Jo-Jo? Please?”
    Oh, cripes. The puppy dog eyes the kid was giving me went straight to my heart, shredding
     it like a politician’s phone records.
    Sara’s giving me a very significant ‘do-it-or-we’ll-be-having-words-later’ look went
     a long way to help me along with my decision. “Okay. Yeah, I’ll do it.”
    Analie squealed in delight and hugged me tight, crushing the box against my chest
     and prompting a twinge in my ribs. The little preteen Were was strong.
    “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
    I gasped out something unintelligible in reply, and she let me go, dashing out the
     door and calling for Mouse at the top of her lungs. She was cute as a button, but
     man, she had no concept of her own strength.
    Rubbing my aching ribs with one hand, I put the box on top of my duffel and continued
     on to the kitchen, using the phone on the counter next to a microwave. Sara called
     out Arnold and Janine’s numbers for me from her spot on the couch, and I dialed the
     mage first. He answered after a couple rings.
    “Arnold, it’s Shia.”
    He didn’t sound terribly surprised to hear from me. “Jeez, where the hell have you
     been? Sara and I have been worried sick about you.”
    “I know, I know. I was extraordinarily stupid, more so than usual, and I’m really
     sorry about that. ”
    “I take it you’ve been saying that a lot lately,” Arnold said. I could practically
     hear him grinning through the phone. “If that’s the case, I assume you don’t need
     me to rub it in, too.”
    “Yeah,” I muttered. “Anyway, listen—”
    “Hold up a sec. Did you end up turning Were? Did you shift with the moon?”
    Train of thought derailed at the station. It took me a sec to get my mouth back in
     gear to answer him. “Um. No, I didn’t.”
    “You didn’t?” He made a thoughtful sound. I heard some rummaging and clattering through
     the phone, as well as a few low curses. Then a thump, and the sound of pages being
     turned. “Hold on . . . just a—here. Anything happen when the moon rose? Anything at
     all?”
    “I didn’t grow fur, if that’s what you’re asking. I coughed up some black stuff, and
     some of it came out my eyes and ears.” It might have been absurd to have listened
     to it, but the belt had talked me out of putting my faith in the mage for finding
     a solution to prevent my potential lycanthropic infection. It hadn’t occurred to me
     until he started asking questions that he might have information about what was happening
     to me. “Do you know why?”
    “Black stuff. Huh. Consistency?”
    I made a face he couldn’t see. “Arnold . . .”
    “Sorry, it’s for science. This is important, Shia. Anything you can tell me about
     the symptoms—even the slightest detail—could make a difference.”
    “Ugh, I don’t know. It was gross. It was mixed with blood, kind of thick and oozy.
     The first time, I had a nosebleed and a headache, then the stuff kept coming for what
     felt like hours. Earlier tonight it plugged up my sinuses and made it hard to breathe
     for a minute or two, then it all came out in a rush. What does it mean?”
    “It means you’ve got some strain of lycanthropy that I need to do more research on.
     Sounds like something in your body is fighting it. Might be the vampire blood. Any
     chance I can get a sample?”
    Well.