“Are you okay? Is he? What happened?” I glance between Grayson and Colt, finding panic but no answers.
Freak out is a mild understatement.
A current of terror makes thought impossible. I run my hands over Grayson’s chest and the scratch marks, the bite marks, Colt’s jacket wrapped around his waist. There’s nothing left of the clothes he’d ruined during the shift.
“He fought like hell.” Colt twists the keys in the ignition, gunning the car and slamming his foot on the gas.
We bolt out of the woods and peel off down the road.
“That doesn’t answer my question.” My tone goes high.
I taste blood but I’m not sure if I bit my tongue and it’s mine or if I’m imagining things.
Colt refuses to answer. He checks the rearview mirror before settling with both hands on the wheel and his eyes black and worried.
That worries me even more. Colt is the stoic one.
If he’s checking for threats in the mirror, then they’re real. And they’re coming for us.
Chapter
Sixteen
The vampires probably somewhere in the woods are determined to erase us from existence.
Tree limbs close in around us and blot out the night on this stretch of road. As long as we’re heading in the opposite direction of the Vanishing Mile?—
Grayson breathes heavy, his chest rising and falling erratically.
My hand smooths across his forehead and stays there, electricity pulsing where our skin meets. “Grayson, come on. You’re safe now. You have to come back to me.”
Please don’t let me hurt anyone anymore.
He’s in this state because of me.
I cup his face in my hands and angle him like it will make a difference, helping him breathe easier. I brush his hair back and my heart breaks again when he doesn’t lean into my touch.
“This is bad,” Colt murmurs.
“It’s going to be fine.” Even Lacey’s assurances fall flat. She doesn’t believe a word she’s saying.
“We have more moon-mad wolves to deal with, and now the vampires who own the circus have our scent. What part of this is going to be fine?”
“I stole the shaman’s journal.”
Colt is silent a beat, then says, “How do we know the cure is in there? She might have been jotting down notes on making homemade cat treats for the white beast of hers.”
He shivers like he’s remembering the brush of the cat’s tail snaking around his calves.
“Say the cure is in there. Great. What then? Both sides are closing in on us.” Colt stops, swallowing audibly. “And Grayson is?—”
My head snaps up. “What about him?”
“You didn’t see him back there. You didn’t see what this is doing to him.”
Colt’s voice drops and I shiver. “He’s fine. We’ve got the suppression potion and now we’ve got the journal. We’ll be able to find a cure in time.”
Colt won’t respond but he lifts his head, peering at me in the rearview mirror. His silence speaks volumes. The words I’m terrified to hear.