The phone rang in my ear while Maddox read the note. His jaw clenched so tight that I could see the muscles twitching from the effort.
My friends were all powerful in their own right. I couldn’t imagine someone with my power going up against Ness or Vi. The killer would have to swarm them with undead in order to even get close to them. Vi would burn through the corpses with her divine light. Ness would find the killer and command him to stand down.
That left one person vulnerable. Like me, Cerri’s power wasn’t offensive. If this were a video game, we would be what some might call squishy.
“She’s not answering.” My panic rose and filled the back of my throat with bile. “She’s not answering!”
Maddox took both of my elbows in his hands and forced me to look at him. “Who? What’s happening? I can’t help you unless you tell me exactly what you think is going on.”
“You read the note!” I snapped.
My stomach churned like the ocean. I dropped to a crouch and wrapped my arms around my middle. The world around me tilted back and forth. My vision darkened at the edges. A chill crept in and sank deep into my bones. When I exhaled, I could see my breath on the air.
“Shit,” Maddox grumbled above me.
He fell to his knees and pulled me into his arms. Immediately, the warmth of his body eased the rising panic that had been dragging me away. I gripped the front of his shirt and inhaled deep. His scent permeated the sweater I’d given him. I was tempted to ask him if I could have it back now just so I could wrap myself in his scent.
“Cerri is in danger again,” I said into the sweater.
I’d led the killer to her last time when I’d run to her for help. He knew about her, and he likely knew about her arcana from the potions we’d pulled out that night. She wouldn’t be able to defend herself from a surprise attack. I had to go to her now, but I couldn’t bring myself to move yet.
“I’ll call wo—” Maddox cut himself off.
He couldn’t send a human cop over to check on Cerri. It’d be a death sentence if there were zombies there.
“Hm, I’m going to have to figure out who is and isn’t human in my precinct.”
That didn’t matter to me right now. I threw myself out of Maddox’s grasp. This wasn’t happening fast enough. We needed to go.
Now.
Maddox rushed past me. He snatched the keys from my shaking hands. I opened my mouth to argue, but he was right. I was in no shape to drive right now. He had capable hands and a clear head.
This was his job, I realized. Maddox knew how to act in emergencies. Nothing shook him, not even becoming a shifter. He’d taken it all in stride, as if this was how he expected life to be. While I broke down, he held it together.
Soon, that hard exterior would break. I didn’t have the time to tell him that now. We would have to deal with his impending break soon, though. If we didn’t, Ryder might have a feral shifter on his hands, and I would be to blame.
Maddox
I didn’t reachfor my weapon. For one thing, I didn’t have it. I’d lost it when I shifted in a rush to get to Addie. I would have to find it later. For now, the beast’s claws would be enough. The creature filled me with strength. I climbed the stairs up to the warehouse apartment in great leaps, clearing five stairs at a time.
Addie struggled to catch up, but the scent on the air was strong, and I wasn’t about to lose the trail. It struck me that I was becoming more animal than man. I would have to deal with this change later. There wasn’t time for it now.
But I could feel the mounting tension from putting it off. Dread built deep in the pit of my stomach. It grew and grew, turning into a ticking time bomb. I could ignore the soft click of the countdown for now. I had to.
I didn’t bother knocking on the door when we reached it. I shouldered it open and sent it flying onto the wall because I no longer knew my own strength. A part of me half expected to find Cerri lounged on her couch with a romance novel in hand. However, the apartment was empty, just as Addie expected.
“God. Damn. It!” Addie stomped her foot in frustration.
She was close to another breakdown. I could smell it on her. Even though she hid the tremble of her hands behind her clenched fists, I could smell the adrenaline hitting her system. It was oddly sour, which I didn’t expect. My beast thrashed at the smell.
“Get yourself together,” I said to her as I scanned the apartment.
There was broken glass on the floor. I crouched and took in the spread of the shards. What could have been broken? It didn’t look like a vase. There was a small cork that made me think it wasn’t a cup, either.
“I-I-I don’t think I can do this,” Addie said, her voice cracking.
My head jerked up. We were three stories above the ground. I highly doubted there was anything dead that she could accidentally summon—unless she could pull meat from the freezer.