Blue had taken the job for money, but she’d also taken it because it made her life endurable. She slept better at night knowing that one less person in the world would suffer as she had suffered.
Viktor’s hand fell to her shoulder. “It is your choice. But you have a place here, and that place cannot be filled by anyone.”
Christian dipped his chin. “Well, lass? What’ll it be? I won’t force you to do anything you don’t want.”
Blue somberly lowered her head. “I’ll do it. But if I die anyway with Vampire blood in my mouth, I’m going to haunt you in the afterlife.”
Christian chuckled darkly. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
Chapter 29
After the EMTs pulled Graham from the tracks, they sat with him while everyone got on the train and went about their lives. I waited impatiently while they bandaged his head, checked his vitals, and insisted that he go to the hospital. Graham remained taciturn, but he was clearly upset judging by the look on his face. He didn’t want to go to the hospital and explained that he’d lost his balance and fell. I corroborated his story—the last thing I needed was to have to bust him out of a psychiatric ward. He could have gone with them to buy some time, but he undoubtedly knew it would only prolong the inevitable. And who wanted to spend their last days of freedom locked up in a human hospital?
Concerned about Blue, I called Shepherd. He sounded grim and said there wasn’t anything he could do but give her pain medication and wait. He’d given her blood thinner and something to absorb the poison, but without knowing what Graham had given her, his hands were tied. Before the ambulance arrived, I’d forced Graham to talk by hitting him with small electric shocks until he finally admitted there was no antidote. The poison was made from a substance unknown to man, just part of a collection he’d inherited from his parents, who once ran an apothecary.
Maybe some would sympathize with Graham because of his childhood trauma, but I didn’t. Shit happens in life, and if you can’t get justice, you don’t turn into a comic book villain who uses that pain to destroy the lives of innocent, good people. Graham had bottled all that rage until he got the brilliant notion that it wasn’t just those boys who had hurt him—all alphas were to blame. He might have seemed normal and highly intelligent, but only a clinically insane person would poison children and pregnant women. As far as I was concerned, he could rot for the rest of his life in a jail cell.
And yet that didn’t seem like enough. Three square meals a day and a bed? Graham didn’t deserve to get off that easy, even if Breed jails were worse than human prisons. That was why I had to call Viktor. Since this was my case, I wanted permission to choose his fate. The higher authority wasn’t aware of what we were up to, so turning him in posed a risk. We’d have to break down the details of our case, and they would learn about our mercenary mission. Not to mention the turbulence it might cause among Shifters to reveal someone from the inside had been targeting their alphas. We had already promised them money, and if they discovered it was really a murder spree and we’d lied to them, they would demand a hell of a lot more. No, it seemed far better to send Graham off quietly into the sunset.
Once the paramedics left, I grabbed his arm and helped him up. “Let’s go. And don’t speak to me.”
My blood boiled at the idea that I would never see Blue again, that I’d left her on a street corner to die. That would always be my last memory of a fighter who deserved a better death. Graham panted for breath as we climbed multiple stairs until we finally reached the long tunnel leading out. He didn’t ask questions because he knew exactly where he was going.
Or so he thought.
We took a long, long walk back to where I’d parked my truck near the hot dog stand. After he scooted inside, I rounded the truck, half expecting him to make a run for it. But he’d relinquished his last ounce of hope prior to jumping the tracks. His behavior baffled me. Some criminals begged to go to jail even though they didn’t want to. They knew there would be a slim chance of escape. But it seemed Graham had no such notions based on his catatonic behavior. His career was over. Even if he could escape, Shifters would put a bounty on his head.
And so the drive was peaceful.
I followed the directions on my phone until I reached a turnoff, and it was at that moment that Graham snapped out of it.
“Why are you bringing me here? What’s going on? Aren’t we going to the higher authority? Where are the Regulators?”
I turned on the radio, blasting “Kashmir” to drown out his incessant whining. When he reached for the door handle, I gripped his shoulder and gave him a strong blast of energy until he went limp. I had to be careful since Relics were weaker than the other Breeds. Too much juice would do serious damage, and I had special plans.
Though the location was deep in the woods, there were spotlights all around the white mansion.
After parking, I got out of the truck and approached three men. “I’m here to see Sambah. He’s expecting me.”
My entire body flinched when I caught sight of a massive lion padding toward me from the right. His gait was as fierce as his teeth. I’d seen a lot of lions but none as graceful. None with such a beautiful mane or confident step. I backed up, sharpening my light.
While still in motion, he shifted to human form without breaking stride. One of the men handed him a blue garment, and I averted my eyes while he pulled it over his head. He was a handsome man but very old judging by the steely look in his eyes.
“You must be Raven. I was hoping to see your friend again.”
“So am I.”
Most people would have ignored the remark, but Sambah was perceptive. He approached me and flicked his eyes between me and the truck. “What has happened?”
“That guy in my truck killed your son. In fact, he murdered a lot of Shifters, including women and children. I think… I think he might have even killed Blue.”
Sambah’s dark eyes lit up with fire and brimstone. “For what reason would he kill so many?”
“You can ask him that yourself, but it’s not an answer you’ll like. He used poison. King was taking medicine—maybe you knew about it and maybe you didn’t. The medicine was tainted, and that’s what caused him to fall down the stairs. The poison killed him, not the fall.” When I felt my lower lip quiver, I quickly turned away and stared daggers at Graham. It hadn’t really hit me until that moment that Blue might already be dead.
“And why bring him here? Doesn’t the higher authority or Shifter Council want him?”
I lowered my voice. “That’s what I’m here to talk to you about.”
Sambah snapped his fingers, pointed to the truck, and spoke in a language I didn’t recognize. The three men surrounded the truck and guarded it.
When I saw they weren’t listening, I turned back to Sambah. “For reasons I can’t explain, turning him in isn’t an option. Hell, even if it was, I’d still be here. I have no sympathy for this man.”
“What do you expect I will do with him?”
“Graham once mentioned he wanted to work for you, but he was also afraid of your pride. He said some men killed a lion in your pride and then just… disappeared.”