The fact that the guard hadn’t fired at him must mean my grandfather wanted Jon alive as much as he wanted me alive. Which meant we had the advantage.

  “Can I turn around?” I asked. My arms were starting to pinch and I wasn’t sure how long I was going to be able to hold them up.

  “Fuck no, you can’t turn around,” he snapped. “What are you, stupid?”

  Jon growled again. I pressed my mouth together to keep myself from saying something I was going to later regret. I didn’t want to piss the guard off any more than he already was and then do something stupid like shoot me or Jon or both of us, regardless of what his orders were. From my limited time being a prisoner here, I could tell there was some dissension of me being here and who I was to my grandfather. It didn’t seem to matter that he intended to do something awful to me. The fact that I was allowed to get away with certain things seemed to piss everyone off.

  “You better shut that mutt up,” he snapped. “I’ll fucking shoot him in the fucking face.”

  “No, you won’t,” I said. “I’m going to turn around. Slowly. You’re not going to shoot us. You’re stalling for backup. There’s no point in pretending.”

  My heart jumped in my throat but I forced myself to follow through with what I said. I moved slowly, turning around so I could face him.

  Him and Jon.

  Because Jon was here, right in front of us. I would recognize the long, built Lycan, the rich, black hair. He wasn’t doing anything particularly intimidating, but he was ready to pounce should he feel the need to. More than that, he was positioned directly in front of me, so if they did think they should shoot at me, he would be right there, taking the bullet. I wanted to tell him to move, to get out of the way because I did not approve of him risking his life for mine, but I was also aware of just how stubborn he could be, and I knew, deep down, that there was no way I could get him to move.

  “You’re going to let us go,” I said, keeping every word soft, quiet. We were still alone. We hadn’t been rushed by additional security. At least, not yet. But I knew our time was dwindling.

  “Yeah, no.” He shook his head. “I-I can’t do that. Your grandfather would kill me.”

  Jon growled, sinking his claws even further underneath the grass.

  “What do you think the wolf’s going to do if you don’t let us go?” I asked, trying to be reasonable. I wasn’t sure if I was succeeding or not, but at least I was trying.

  “I can shoot him,” he said. I could tell the confidence in his voice wasn’t as certain as he wanted it to be.

  “No, you can’t,” I said. “And you know it too. Jon is faster than you could even imagine. He’ll be on top of you before the bullet even fires. The only reason he hasn’t killed you is because he’s trying to protect me. If you let us go, he can’t hurt you.”

  “Maybe not,” the guard said. “But he will.”

  I didn’t have to clarify who he was. I knew he was referring to my grandfather. And the truth of the matter was, I also knew my grandfather would harm him if the guard let us get away. There was no doubt in my mind about any of that. But at the end of the day, there was nothing I could do to help him.

  “Pick your poison,” I said instead. “Would you rather be mauled to death? Or would you rather be –“

  “What? You know how Grandpa is going to punish me?” the guard said. “You don’t know shit. He won’t hurt me. Physically, I mean. But your grandfather will take my son and –“

  Jon attacked before the man could finish his sentence. I didn’t want Jon to kill the guy. The guard was just doing his job. Jon seemed to know that too because he only scratched at the guy. He would definitely need stitches, and Jon was definitely angry about the whole thing, but I was glad to see that he hadn’t killed him.

  The guard dropped the gun onto the concrete and I rushed over to grab it. I wasn’t sure how long we had before the others would realize what had happened, but I didn’t want to waste any more time. Jon seemed to be thinking the same thing because he grabbed the back of my dress with his teeth and tossed me on his back. I threw my left hand out to clutch his fur while maintaining a grip on the gun. I didn’t want to risk losing it.

  Jon ran. I squeezed my thighs against his sides, doing everything I could to hold on. It was only then that I saw more guards come out. A couple were on their walkies, probably asking for orders.

  The gate was closed, locked up. There was no way we would have any time if I got off Jon to try and open it – and that was only if there was a chance I could open it in the first place, which I doubted. My grandfather was an intelligent man. I was pretty sure he planned for all sorts of contingencies, even an escape.

  Jon glanced to the left, to the right. The guards were closing in.

  A shot went off and flew past my shoulder. I jumped, nearly losing hold of Jon. My ear throbbed where I had been scraped by a bullet from before. I was not in the mood to get shot at again. I wasn’t going to let Jon risk capture because he came for me.

  “We can’t go back,” I told him. “I can’t go back there. Please.”

  Another bullet whizzed by. This one hit Jon in the back of the leg. He roared. My eyes widened. I could tell by his scream that he was in pain. If it was his back leg, that meant he wouldn’t be able to run as fast or jump as…

  “The gates,” I said, leaning forward so Jon could hear me. “Can you jump them?”

  Jon snuffled. I wasn’t sure if that was a yes or a no. Another shot went off and hit my shoulder. I bit down on my lip so hard, I could taste the sharp metallic taste of blood as it seeped into my mouth. I didn’t want Jon to know I had been hit. I didn’t want him to distract himself from getting us out.

  Jon raced for the gates. My eyes filled with tears. I kept waiting for the adrenaline to course through my body so the sharp, piercing pain that surrounded the bullet wound would numb.

  But it never came.

  I wasn’t sure what I expected. The movies and television shows were all bullshit. Why would I think otherwise?

  My dress began to dampen with sticky blood. I couldn’t think about that, not as we raced towards the gate.

  At the last possible minute, Jon leapt up. I clung to Jon as tightly as I could. The last thing I wanted was to fall behind because I couldn’t hold on. My shoulder burned with pain, and a garbled cry fell out of my lips before I realized what was happening. Luckily, Jon either didn’t seem to notice or didn’t care. He landed on his feet, managing to scale the fence.

  Gunshots whizzed by us. More guards appeared, all armed and taking aim at us. These were the most skilled people in the sector. I knew that, knew my grandfather wouldn’t trust anyone less than the best with something like guarding his research, his creation. I knew if Jon and I didn’t move, we’d be hit, probably fatally. The fact that we weren’t dead yet either meant they were trying not to kill us or they were getting their bad shots now before they started to try.

  “Don’t let them get away,” I heard one call.

  Jon ran. I could tell it wasn’t his usual speed because of his leg, but he pushed through the pain. If he could do that, then I certainly wasn’t going to complain even if I wanted to. Tears trickled down my face the farther away we got. I had no idea where we were going, but I trusted Jon to get us there to the best of his ability. All I had to worry about was hanging on.

  Tears continued to blur my vision. I wasn’t even sure why. My arm ached and my body felt as though it had been trampled by a stampede of wildebeest. But there was also guilt inside of me, guilt for risking Jon’s life, for leaving Alex behind even if he was an asshole. I couldn’t just leave him behind. I couldn’t leave any of them behind.

  I knew I wasn’t responsible for what happened to them. The sins of my father - grandfather - weren’t mine. I wasn’t that person.

  But that didn’t make me feel any better.

  I had to make this right somehow.

  The problem was, I wasn’t sure how I would even go about doing that. Even if by some miracle, I was able to release any and all test subjects, then what? Would the government let them back into society, knowing how dangerous they were? Knowing they’d shift into a beast at every full moon? But maybe if I could cure them…

  And what if they don’t want the cure?

  That was the part I was concerned about. What if they didn’t want to cure themselves of this awful variant coursing through their system? What if they wanted to remain exactly as they had always been? Then what?

  I closed my eyes, burying my face in the crook of Jon’s shoulders. The run was bumpy as he ran as fast as he could. Bullets whizzed by us. I wasn’t sure if we were going to survive this. I wasn’t sure if I should be worrying about the other were-weapons when we were still within firing range.

  A growl emitted from Jon’s mouth and I clung even tighter. I wasn’t sure if it was enough.

  I started to count. If I didn’t have to worry about holding on for dear life, I would have been clutching my necklace and praying to God. As it was, everything escaped me completely. I didn’t think about God. I didn’t think about being saved. I just thought about being alive, about Jon being alive, and doing everything I could to ensure that both of those things happened.

  One. Two. Three.

  Another shot rang off. Birds zipped from tree branches into the sky, feathers flying to the earth along with the leaves they emerged from. I let out a squeal as Jon made a sharp left.

  I forced myself to open an eye, to see where we were. Instead of heading to the city, we were going through the forest. This was good. Jon knew this forest better than anyone. I was almost positive we’d be able to lose the guards chasing us if he just kept steady.

  Another shot rang off and Jon stumbled forward. It must have hit him. A whimper scratched its way out of him. Tears filled my eyes. If he was going to whimper, if he was going to cry, that meant he was hit.

  Again.

  Which meant there was more silver in his body. Which could only be bad for him.

  “Keep going,” I urged him. I wasn’t even thinking of me, but I knew if Jon collapsed, if he stopped, we were both done for. He had to get us somewhere safe, and I could do the rest. “Don’t stop. I know you’re in pain. I promise to take it all away. I promise. You just can’t stop.”

  He growled again. Whether he was frustrated with me for my words or he was propelling himself onward, I didn’t know. I pressed my lips together. I didn’t want to badger him, either. I doubted he would hear my words and take them as encouraging.

  Another shot pierced the night and splinters of a tree trunk flew off to the side. I swallowed a sob and repositioned myself low on Jon’s back. I tried not to think about the way Jon was slowing down, how he wasn’t pushing himself the way he used to, how I could feel a limp to his step as he ran now. I refused to think about any of that.

  Tall trees cast shade around us. That had to be a good thing. Jon was completely black. Surely he could blend in with the night.

  And you? a voice asked pointedly. You aren’t black. They’ll see you.

  Not if I kept myself low. Not if I pressed into Jon as much as I could. But doing that would cause my weight to press onto him, and he had been shot with silver twice.

  Jon’s breathing got rapid. He slowed his running. I knew he didn’t want to, but it looked as though he didn’t have much of a choice. I let out a sob, and immediately bit my bottom lip. The last thing I wanted was to have Jon think that I was in pain, that something was wrong with me. I needed to be strong for him. I needed to help him the way he helped me.

  He literally walked back to the place he escaped from just to make sure he rescued me.

  At that moment, Jon stopped completely. His legs gave out from underneath him and he dropped to the dirt floor. I quickly rolled off of him, not wanting to add any pressure to him, to hurt him more than he already was. I couldn’t hear anyone chasing us, but that didn’t mean that we were out of the woods yet, both metaphorically and literally.

  A groan pierced the silence, though it wasn’t loud enough to draw too much attention to us. I glanced back at Jon and found him back in his human form, completely naked, face contorted into pain. He wasn’t even trying to hide it.

  “No,” I murmured, crawling over to him. My knees pinched and dirt kicked up at my jerky movements. Some of it found its way into my gaping mouth, but I didn’t care. All I was focused on was Jon. “No, no, no, no.”

  “I-I’m sorry,” Jon managed to get out.

  I cupped my hand against his cheek and he immediately closed his eyes, leaning into my touch.

  “I thought I could – but the silver…”

  I still didn’t understand how the silver affected him. I looked down the length of his body. I didn’t see too much bleeding, even from his gunshot wounds. And yet he was acting as though he was dying.

  Tears filled my eyes. I tried to blink them away. I needed to be strong for Jon. I didn’t want him to see me sad. I didn’t want him to see me crying.

  But I couldn’t help it.

  I let out another sob, and then tried to hold the rest. Snot burst out of my nose, and I used the back of my hand to wipe my face.

  But it was no use.

  The tears kept coming.

  I was fucking useless, a helpless child who couldn’t do anything. It wasn’t like I was strong enough to carry Jon myself the rest of the way. I couldn’t even move him somewhere out of sight, in case the guards did stumble across us.

  Maybe if my grandfather had injected me –

  No.

  I refused to think that way.

  The night grew even darker. The cold pinched my bare skin. I didn’t care about any of it.

  Jon’s eyes slowly closed, his entire body going still.

  I pressed my ear to his chest, desperate to hear some sort of heart beat.

  But I couldn’t find it.

  Chapter 18

  “Focus, Robby.”

  “I am focused, Gwen, but I don’t know what you want me to do. He literally weighs three hundred pounds, if not more. I know I’m strong, but I’m not that strong. You have to give me some time to get him in the car.”

  I groaned. My head pounded. My shoulder ached. There was this strange numbness that I couldn’t quite pinpoint. It started from the top of my shoulder and spiraled down the entire length of my arm. I wasn’t sure if I should be worried about it, but something told me I probably had some medical issues I needed to focus on.

  And then I remembered.

  I had been in the forest with Jon. We were running away from guards. Jon had been a Lycan and he had collapsed.

  I struggled, only then realizing I was in someone else’s arms.

  “Hey, hey. Easy. It’s okay. We’ve got you.”

  The voice was feminine and familiar, but for the life of me, I had no idea who it belonged to. At least, my brain was under so much pressure that I couldn’t pinpoint who it was just yet.

  “What-what’s going on?” I managed to get out.

  “Lara?” another voice called. This one I instantly recognized, and a sob of relief pushed past my lips. “It’s Robby. We found you, okay? You’re safe. We’re going to get you back to the safehouse, and from there, we’re going to get you and this asshole cleaned up, okay?”

  “You know,” Gwen pointed out as she tightened her grip on me. A door opened and suddenly, I was placed on leather seats. “That asshole saved her life. You should probably be nicer.”

  “It’s not like he can hear me, Gwen,” Robby pointed out. “I mean, he’s unconscious. I doubt he’s offended.”

  At that moment, the trunk popped open. Something hard and heavy hit it and Robby let out a grunt. He started cursing, some in English, some in Hebrew, before he continued to push whatever it was in the back. After a moment of struggling, he shut the trunk.

  Gwen popped in the passenger seat while Robby all but collapsed in the driver’s seat.

  “What about Jon?” I asked. My voice sounded far away, like my body was on one side of the cave and my voice was on the other. It was strange. “I’m not leaving without Jon.”

  “Oh, calm down,” Robby said as he started the car. “Who do you think I lugged in the back? Lover boy will be all right. You just need to relax while we get to the house. Clearly, you’ve had a day.” A pause. “What? I’m only being honest.”

  “Sometimes, you don’t need to be honest,” Gwen pointed out in a low voice. “And sometimes your version of honesty is an excuse to be an asshole.”

  My lips started to smile before I even realized I was actually smiling. It felt foreign, like something I hadn’t done in a long time. I was surprised I still remembered how to do it in the first place. However, the bickering between my ex and his new girlfriend was enough to put me at ease. If Robby had us, we were safe. I could finally relax.

  It wasn’t long before my eyes closed shut and I drifted off into blissful slumber.

  My eyes snapped open the second the car stopped moving. I tensed. Had Robby parked the car or was he being forced to? I tilted my head to the side, but besides the tinkering of the car keys as they pushed together and the labored but steady breathing of Jon in the back, I didn’t hear anything.

  “What-what are you doing?” Robby asked Gwen as he got out of the car.

  “I’m burning sage to ward off negative energy,” she said as though it was obvious. “Robby, I told you I was going to do this. You said, That’s a great idea. Anything we can do to make sure we’re off the grid.”

  “I said that?”

  “You think I would use the phrase, off-the-grid?” she asked.

  “It’s just, it smells like pot, and it’s starting to bring back – I’ve been sober for eleven years, and it’s bringing back memories,” he said.

  “You are more than welcome to stay in the car,” she replied. “Roll up the windows and keep an eye on them. Lara looks bad. She’s been in that dress for days. The soles of her feet are torn up. And Jon…he has silver in him.”