Otherworldly Bad Boys: Three Complete Novels by V.J. Chambers Page A

wolf down.
    The guard stopped in front of a white door. “He’s in here. You have any problems with him, you can bang on the door. There’s a guard who walks this hallway, and he’ll hear you. Also, there’s a panic button on the wall that you can hit if you need it. It’ll set off an alarm at my desk.”
    Dana nodded. “Thanks.” She reached for the door.
    “You think we’ll need a panic button?” asked Avery.
    The guard shrugged. “He can be unpredictable.”

 
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER FOUR
     
    When Dana was seventeen, she’d been one of two survivors of the Brockway Massacre, in which two rogue werewolves had killed an entire gymnasium full of students, parents, and community members attending a local basketball game. The two wolves had been students at her school, unpopular strange boys who she’d never associated with. They’d planned the entire thing out.
    Dana had been bitten. And she wouldn’t have gotten free if it hadn’t been for Cole Randall, who’d managed to find an open door in the boys’ locker room. Without Cole, she would have died.
    It was only the second time she’d ever spoken to him. They sat in the hospital, wrapped in blankets, both shocked and terrified, waiting for the team from the Sullivan Foundation to come and take them away. The hospital staff wouldn’t treat their wounds for fear of contracting the lupine virus.
    Cole held her hand.
    She was shaking, and her teeth were chattering, but she wasn’t cold. Still, she hugged the blanket tighter with the hand that wasn’t holding Cole’s. “We’re going to be werewolves.”
    “We’re going to be alive,” he said.
    She looked into his eyes, his dark brown eyes. It was the first time she’d ever noticed what color they were. “Thank you for saving me.”
    He turned away. “I couldn’t save anyone else, though.”
    “I’m glad we’re alive,” she said. She squeezed his hand.
    His gaze met hers again. “Me too.”
    * * *
    Cole was sitting at a white table inside a white room. He was wearing the maximum security uniform—a navy blue jumpsuit. He was clean-shaven. His dark hair was cropped very short. He was still wearing his glasses.
    Why did he wear those things? They had to be an affectation. Dana had never met a wolf who didn’t have twenty-twenty vision.
    He looked up at her when she entered the room. He smiled.
    Her knees turned to jelly. She had to place her hand against the wall for support.
    “Hello, Dana,” he said.
    She didn’t answer. She stood rooted in place, gazing into his eyes. The moment seemed to go on and on.
    Then she felt Avery’s hand on her shoulder. “You all right, Gray?”
    She turned to him, managing to move out of the doorway so that Avery could come into the room behind her. “Fine.”
    Avery moved around her, placed himself between her and Cole. She couldn’t see Cole anymore.
    “I only want to see Dana.”
    Dana peered around Avery, mostly to make sure Cole was actually real. He was. He was there. They were in the same room. Everything felt slower. Her racing pulse quieted. She could breathe easier. Cole’s presence was calming. For the first time in six months, she felt okay again. He was close.
    “You’ll have to leave,” said Cole.
    Avery smirked. “Too bad. I’m staying. I won’t let her be alone with you.”
    “This is my partner, Avery Brooks,” said Dana. She moved smoothly across the room and took a seat opposite Cole. “He’s working these cases with me. Obviously, he’s interested in what you have to say.”
    Cole’s hands were resting on the tabletop. They were handcuffed together. His feet were probably shackled too. She had an urge to reach out for him, to interlace his fingers with her own. She put her hands in her lap instead.
    “I specifically said I’d only talk to you,” Cole said, looking deeply into her eyes again.
    Her breath caught in her throat.
    Avery sat down next to her. “Like I said, I’m not leaving. So you either talk, or