His thumb brushed over the back of my hand—once, twice—before he continued.
“I came across a puppy a long time ago. He was filthy, tick infested and starving. When I touched him, I knew that one day he’d be hit by a car. There were no flashes of future tragedies or happenstances, only happiness. He provided me with companionship, and I provided him with a home. It worked beautifully until the day fate was set to strike, and I was unable to stand idly by and allow it.” He turned away from the view ahead, bringing us face to face. “The day I saved Lex, a domino effect was started. Every single person he came into contact with suffered some kind of accident or mishap, and the trend continued for months. As time passed, it became clear that he was altering things—no matter how small—and the result was a shift in what should have been.”
I wasn’t sure I wanted to know, but had to ask. “What happened?”
“One day during the summer, Lex fell into one of the oil wells. I imagine he swam for as long as he was able, but eventually he succumbed to the heat and exhaustion. One of the workers found him and hauled him out.” Paine released my hand, lifted his arms, and rested his palms on my shoulders. “He suffered horribly. Had he died the day he was intended to, he would have gone quickly. Instead, he treaded oil in unbearable heat for God knows how long.”
“And you didn’t see it?” I was genuinely confused. “You couldn’t see how he died and stop it?”
Dark eyes narrowed and plush lips thinned. “No. I can only see the manner in which a person dies once. After that, I can’t see anything.”
“But—”
“He wasn’t meant to live,” Paine interrupted in an uncompromising tone. “My interference meant when he finally passed, he did so cruelly.”
“You can’t believe he died a miserable death because you interfered.”
“There’s no way to know for sure,” he conceded, but pressed on before I could question him further. “But there’s also no way of knowing I’m wrong, either. Death comes to all of us. It’s not my place to dictate the when or where.”
Whatever I might have said next was interrupted when a shout came from Paine’s apartment. We turned just as a vampire I didn’t recognize burst through the door to the roof, his expression one of alarm.
“You’re needed downstairs. Now.”
“What’s the matter?” Paine released me and started walking in the direction of the vampire, who glanced at me before he answered.
“Some of the guests brought their pets. It’s getting nasty.”
Paine cursed and hustled to the door. He and the vampire who summoned him traveled much too fast for me to keep up, but I remained behind them when I heard the horrific, ear-piercing sounds coming from the building just next door. The closer I got, the louder the noises became. I distinguished horrific, stomach-churning howls. Paine’s apartment was connected to The Razor on the second floor, where a narrow, covered corridor was erected between the brick structures.
The sea of vampires had already parted by the time I ran across the metal stairwell and stopped far above the crowd. Paine and the vampire who had retrieved him were rushing into the fray, but I wasn’t watching them. I was too distracted by the werewolves locked in a heated clash in the center of the dance floor.
They were completely nude, their bodies twice the size they would be as men, covered in thick, coarse-looking fur. The ragged gashes along their torsos and shoulders wept freely, streams of blood splattering as they continued to slash at each other with clawed hands and fanged snouts. As I gawked in disbelief, I noticed four vampires standing nearby holding thick chains attached to the collars of the beasts.