17
RYDER
An unfamiliar car pulled up outside the apartment complex. I gave Ness a wary look. Her grimace disguised as a grin did not instill any confidence in me. Unfortunately, I could barely stand on my own two feet yet. The women hovered around me like they might be able to catch me if I collapsed.
I’d like to see them try, but I managed to keep myself upright the entire way down the stairs. Ness kept ahold of my mangled shirt the whole time. I didn’t tell her that it was useless because I enjoyed her proximity. Earlier, holding her had given me an anchor when it’d felt like my soul might slip away from this world.
Someone cared if I lived or not. I knew my family wanted me dead for what I did, but at least Ness wanted me alive. She’d risked her friends’ safety to help me. Though I’d only known her for a short time, I knew that she hated involving others if she could help it. She was the kind of person to take a beating for someone else.
Her friends had saved me tonight. Had it not been for them, those wolves would have killed me, then Ness. They’d done something to poison me. I’d known it from that first bite. It’d stung all the way through my chest like claws reaching deep inside me. That poison had tried to hollow me out.
Even now, my beast’s voice was weak. I wasn’t used to the silence inside my own head. I loathed it. No matter how I pulled, the beast would not come closer. I could not give it power to make it stronger because I had nothing left to give.
Connor jumped out of his stupid hatchback sedan and raced around to the back. When he opened the hatch, I glared at him. He shrugged. “I figured you might want to lie down. Besides, the seats are still down, and we don’t have time to lift them.”
Connor wanted to get Ness alone. Who was I to say no? She wasn’t my mate. She wouldn’t leave this place with me when I moved on. She needed someone who would be here for her.
Yet the way she crossed her arms over her chest and backed away from Connor annoyed me. I grumbled, yanked open the passenger door, and folded myself into the seat. Ness laughed and climbed into the back. Her laugh eased something tight inside my chest. I sighed and slouched in the seat, wondering what the hell I thought I was doing.
I could have died tonight.
Those damn wolves shouldn’t have had the strength to bring down a dragon. That had made me cocky, though. They clearly didn’t want to play by the rules. I should have known that when I caught Harvey trying to put a curse on Ness’s car. Of course, they would find a way to hinder me.
Would I be up for my job the night of the hunt? My part in Ness’s plan was simple enough. All I had to do was get in and snoop around. So long as no one found me, then I would be fine.
I wasn’t sure I would have my strength back by then, though. I couldn’t tell Ness that. She would call off the plan. That’s the kind of person she was. I wasn’t going to wait another month to get the same chance, though. In that time, two things would happen:
Morgan would catch up to me.
And Ness would die.
I hated having her life on my conscience. What else was I going to do, though? I couldn’t abandon the woman who’d held me while I felt my life slip away. If she hadn’t done that, maybe I would feel better about leaving.
Ness stuck her head between the front two seats. Connor gave her a glance, which made my beast rise closer to the surface. I marveled at the dumb creature’s possessiveness. Nothing else I’d done had made my dragon stronger, but the moment someone looked at the hound shifter, my beast lost its mind.
Great.
“Are you ready for the hunt?” Connor asked.
Ness groaned but didn’t respond. I sank further into my seat and closed my eyes.
In my dreams, Alvin’s face became my father’s.