“I don’t know.”
“How do I—” But then her head snapped up. She stared at him, her mind slowly processing all that he’d said in the moments after she’d woken. “Aidan…and Garrison.” Aidan was alive. Alive! Dr. Bob had said they’d been taken to the werewolf compound—she knew that safe haven was hidden deep in the swamp. But they hadn’t been the only werewolves in the fire. “What about…Paris?”
Dr. Bob looked away from her.
No, he wasn’t looking away. He was looking at the other black body bag on the nearby exam table.
“No.” Jane shook her head. “That’s not happening.”
“His…his neck broke, Jane. When he came flying from the building—”
“When I threw him from the building.” Her body started shuddering. Jerking.
Dr. Bob swallowed. “He didn’t make it. If we’d been able to give him Aidan’s blood sooner, it might have made a difference, but…by the time I reached him in the ambulance, he was dead. The EMT was working frantically on him, I tried to help her, but…there was nothing to be done.”
Jane shoved at the bag that still imprisoned her legs. She jumped from the slab—slab, table, whatever the hell it was—and staggered toward Paris. Her claws ripped into his bag, pushing it out of her way. His face was so still. Burned, blistered. His eyes were closed, his heavy lashes casting shadows on his cheeks.
Paris had always been so handsome. The ladies’ man. Charming.
And…
Now he’s dead. Because of me. “I tricked him into going back inside.” Her words tumbled out. “Acted like he was the one going to rescue Aidan when I knew I’d be going into the flames, too.”
“Jane…” Dr. Bob began.
“I did this.”
Oh, God. She’d killed Paris. She’d killed Aidan’s best friend. She’d done this.
Dr. Bob curled his hand around her shoulder and—
Paris’s eyes flew open. He sucked in a sharp breath.
What?
His lips curled back from his teeth and she saw his growing…fangs.
“Fuck me,” Dr. Bob swore as his hold tightened on Jane’s shoulder. “You did this.”
***
He hurt.
Aidan eased open one eye. He saw the familiar dark wood furniture of his bedroom. Saw the huddled figure of Police Captain Vivian Harris as she stared down at him from the right side of his bed.
“Jane…” Her name slipped from him. Jane needed to know about what had happened. She’d been on the phone with him. She’d been asking him to control her brother…
Then hell had exploded all around him.
It did more than explode…for a while there, I swear I was being dragged right down to hell. For a moment, he’d lost everything.
“The burns have faded,” Vivian told him, her voice brisk. “I didn’t think that even you could come back from damage that bad.”
He opened his other eye. Sat up. Groaned as he felt the weakness in his body. Weakness and…
Hunger.
“You risked your life for Garrison.” Now her voice was more angry than brisk. “If Jane hadn’t gone into the fire after you, hell, you and the pup would both be dead—”
He grabbed her wrist. “Jane.” His hand was trembling. He was trembling. He was so damn weak.
And he swore he could still feel the flames, melting away his skin. Destroying him. Killing him. Then…
Hunger…
Aidan swallowed. He ran his tongue over the edge of his teeth. His canines were sharp. Too sharp. “Jane…wasn’t in the fire.” Jane had been on the phone with him. She’d wanted him to help her brother.
The only help is death.
“Yes, she was there.” Vivian met his stare directly. She’d always done that—never flinched away. She was one of the few werewolves who’d never feared him and who’d always had his back. “The woman ran into the fire and threw you out of that building. She knocked a wall down to do it, but…”
No. No. His hold tightened on her wrist. “Where is she now?” He needed to see her. Needed to make sure she never went into another fucking fire again.
Jane saved me? And he couldn’t remember. He could only recall fire. Flames eating at his flesh. Garrison begging him to run.
But Aidan hadn’t been able to leave the other wolf. He’d known Garrison would never survive the flames. He’d tried to protect him but—
Chill bumps rose on his skin. The fire was too strong. Too strong even for me.
“Jane’s with Dr. Heider.”
He freed Vivian and rolled to the edge of the bed. Aidan stood up.
And promptly fell on his ass.
“Aidan.” She sighed his name as she bent to help him up. “I just watched your body completely regenerate over the course of hours. You should have been dead. You—damn, alpha, you looked like you’d literally walked through hell. Your skin was melting.”
Okay, that wasn’t the best image to carry around, but he knew she spoke the truth. He’d felt it melting. He’d felt hell. Hell had wanted to hold tight to him but…