“Aidan, let me help—”
He grabbed her and shoved Jane against the wall of that alley. That filthy, disgusting wall. His fangs snapped down to her throat and hovered there. He wanted to bite her. He wanted her blood, but if he tasted her right then…
Will I stop?
His head slowly lifted. He stared into Jane’s eyes and saw her fear. He could smell her fear.
Jane should never fear me. I should be the one who protects her, always. But something was wrong.
He was wrong.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. And then he jerked away from her. He raced toward the entrance of the alley, feeling the shift hit him. The beast hadn’t come out before—the vampire within him had dominated up in that apartment—but the wolf was emerging right then, and nothing could stop it. Fur burst along his skin. His bones snapped. He howled at the pain because it was an agony far deeper than he’d felt with a shift before. And when he left that alley…
Aidan wasn’t a man any longer.
Chapter Thirteen
What in the hell just happened? Jane pushed away from the alley’s wall, aware that her knees were shaking. Aidan had been going for her throat—and not in the sexy, lover-like way he’d done back at his club.
He’d been out for blood. Hers.
“I’m guessing he isn’t always like that.” The feminine voice drifted to her, a little weak.
Jane looked at the woman who stood a few feet away. The blonde who’d just appeared with Vincent. The lady was taller than Jane, probably around five foot ten. She wore jeans and a t-shirt, with small, black boots on her feet. She looked utterly normal right then, but Jane knew the woman was packed with magical power. After all, Jane had seen what the blonde did to Aidan.
“No,” Jane murmured as she approached the newcomer. “He’s not.” Her gaze swept over the woman. The blonde wore thick, gold bangle bracelets around her wrists. “You’re Vincent’s witch.”
The woman took a step back. “Is that what I am?”
She was so not in the mood for games. “Lena,” Jane snapped out. “Vincent told me your name.”
“What else did he tell you?” Now Lena seemed vaguely curious.
“That you were strong.” Jane took another step toward her. “That you were the reason the guy can pretty much vanish in an instant, a little trick that I don’t know of any other vamp performing.”
“Umm…” Lena smoothed back her hair, even though it was already perfectly in place. “He does owe that trick to me.”
Jane moved to walk around her, but Lena side-stepped, blocking her path. Jane’s brows shot up. Oh, sister, you do not want to be doing that.
“You shouldn’t go after him right now.” Lena’s voice had dropped. “He’s…he seemed rather dangerous, and I do believe he told you to get the ‘fuck away’ from him.”
“Aidan needs me.”
“I think the guy needs a whole lot right now,” Lena muttered.
Jane’s eyes narrowed on her. “Why didn’t you stop him from fleeing?”
“Because the guy is strong—too strong for me to hold for long.” But Lena actually seemed…happy…about that fact. “Didn’t anticipate that power. Bet Vincent didn’t, either.”
Jane moved to the left.
The witch moved, too.
“Seriously, get the hell out of my way, now,” Jane ordered. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“And I don’t want to be hurt anymore.” Sadness flashed on Lena’s pretty face. “But we aren’t always given options. If you follow Aidan tonight, you will lose him.”
“What? Did you look into a scrying mirror and see that?”
“A scrying mirror?” Lena shook her head. “Never used one. I don’t see the future, just the present, and I can see that right now…that man is fighting for his sanity. No,” she rolled back her shoulders. “I think he’s fighting for his soul.”
And Jane was just standing in an alley, talking shit with a witch she’d just met. “All the more reason for me to get to him.”
“If he hurts you, he’s lost, and he knows it.” Lena’s gaze swept over Jane’s face. “Go to him now, and he’ll cross a line that will send him straight to hell.”
Okay, enough of this crap. “Move…or I’ll move you.” She wasn’t afraid of a witch’s power.
Lena stared at her a moment longer. “The end, Jane. Do you see? It’s all been leading to this moment. For so many centuries, everything has been building up to this.”
“To this?” A dark, smelly alley? The lady wasn’t moving so Jane just grabbed her—and moved her. “This moment is me choosing to follow Aidan. Me choosing Aidan. I know he’s suffering, I can see it—”
“The darkness is swallowing him. His two halves…wolf and vampire…they were fighting for supremacy within him. Didn’t you see that?” Lena demanded.