His Jane.
He wouldn’t lose her. Not to anything. He couldn’t. Aidan wasn’t sure if his sanity would survive without her. That thin thread of control that was holding in his mind? It was there because she was there. An anchor inside of him, a light pulling him back from the darkness that Aidan could feel threatening to swallow him whole.
“We’ll do it together,” Jane whispered.
His gaze slid to her throat. He could see her pulse racing there, could almost taste the blood beneath her skin. He’d had such a small sip from her before.
He needed more.
He would have more.
His hold tightened on her. They left that hell, and he glanced back at Paris. Annette had knelt beside him, just beyond the line of dirt that she’d cast around his body. Paris hadn’t been able to cross past that dirt, not yet. Even when he’d lunged to attack Aidan, he hadn’t gone beyond the line. Aidan had crossed it in order to get to Paris, but his friend…
He was trapped.
Caged.
Beasts hated to be caged.
Am I different because I’m an alpha? Has Paris already lost his wolf completely? It would seem so. No wonder the bloodlust was hitting Paris so hard. He had no defense against it. Aidan’s wolf was still battling, refusing to give up…
Tearing me apart in the fight.
Aidan sucked in a deep breath. He would find a way to fix of all of this. He wouldn’t give up. He couldn’t.
Aidan and Jane slipped outside. His gaze scanned the street, looking for threats. The cemetery waited nearby, and he could see the statues and the mausoleums creeping above the heavy stone wall. His nostrils flared as he pulled in the scents around him. Humans. Perfume. Wine. Cigarettes.
“He left this phone for me.” Jane pulled it from her pocket. Her shoulder brushed against his chest. “The bastard had another surveillance camera set up, only this time it was in front of the Hathway Psychiatric Facility. He’d been watching my brother. When he called, he said that Drew was going to strike soon. That I had to get to you.”
“And you came running.” His words were rough and the hair on the nape of his neck rose. His gaze scanned the street. He looked back toward the cemetery and…
Light. Glinting.
Aidan didn’t say another word. He just took off running. He went straight for that cemetery wall. Jane yelled after him.
Aidan leapt over the wall. His knees didn’t buckle when he touched down on the other side. He rushed ahead, catching sight of a man’s dark hair.
“Aidan!” Jane yelled.
He glanced back just as she cleared the wall. That was his Jane. Strong. He turned back to face his prey—the fool wasn’t getting away.
The light glinted. He was watching us. Peering over the wall. Staring at us through—
Aidan grabbed the bastard.
And the device the man had been holding—a big, black camera—fell to the ground, shattering.
“What the fucking hell!” the man screamed. He turned on Aidan, swinging his fist. Aidan took the blow even as he caught sight of the dark lines of tattoos on the man’s wrist and forearm. Aidan laughed at the weak impact of that hit, and then his claws flew toward the fool who had thought to—
Jane jumped between him and his prey. “Aidan, stop!”
A sea of red was before his eyes. He didn’t want to stop. He wanted the bastard to bleed.
And I’ll drink his blood. I’ll drink him down. He’ll beg and bleed and—
“Aidan?” Jane stared at him, worry flashing in her eyes. “Are you okay?”
Aidan drove his claws into the nearby mausoleum. Chunks of stone flew into the air around him. Rage was choking him, and he knew the way he felt was wrong. He tried to breathe, to get past the rage.
“Jane!” It was his prey talking—the guy was reaching for Jane, staring at her with familiarity. And Jane was—Jane was shielding the guy. Some human who was covered with tattoos, with piercings running up the side of his left ear, and who…
I know him, too. Fuck. He’d seen this guy before, back at Jane’s old apartment. When a paranormal fire had swept through the building, this asshole had been there. Jane had gotten Roth to safety and then, when an ambush happened on the streets and bullets started flying, Roth had run for cover. And this asshole just left Jane to protect herself.
“Roth!” Jane looked back at the guy. “What in the hell is going on?”
Roth, Roth Sly. The name clicked for Aidan. Fucking bastard. He hadn’t seen Roth since the night he’d gotten Jane away from her old apartment. He hadn’t even given a second thought to the jerk since that time.
Obviously, my mistake.
“I don’t know what’s happening!” Roth yelled back. “I was minding my own damn business and this guy flew at me!”
Aidan tried to shove down his rage, for the moment. Think. Focus.