“S’fast.”
“Yes.”
“I’m tired now, okay?”
She’d said it like that since she was a little kid. Asking if it was okay that she was going to fall asleep.
“Go to sleep. We’ll let you know when they’re going to move you to a room.”
“Night, honey.” Myra slipped her hand into Jean’s other hand and looked around for a chair.
There was only one and it was filled with a very tired werewolf.
“He should get his own room,” Myra said quietly so as not to disturb either of them.
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he doesn’t really do what he should do no matter who tells him.”
“Sounds like someone else I know.”
“Hey. I’m trying. I really am, Myra. This whole vampire thing has me off my game. Do you know when that car headed for Jean I didn’t even think about pulling my gun–which I wasn’t even wearing–and I didn’t even try to stop it. I just…” I rubbed at my eyes with my free hand.
“I think I’m tired.”
“You are,” she said gently. “You were assaulted, then pretty much threw yourself into organizing a hunt for your assailant.”
“We’re not going to find him in twenty-four hours, are we?”
She stared at Jean, who was sleeping deeply enough her eyes were moving behind her eyelids. “It can happen, but it’s not a lot of time. Yancy said we’d find him, right? Because of a choice you would make.”
“Yes.”
“Ryder and I haven’t come up with any leads through the DoPP. Rossi’s so angry he’s gone silent, which I hate, and the Wolfes haven’t made progress either. I think we’re going to have to meet him with that book, Delaney. Maybe even give it to him.”
“No.”
“He sent a zombie vampire to kill Jean.”
“She’s not dead.”
“He won’t let Ben stay alive much longer. There was never any guarantee he’d keep him alive as part of the deal.”
“We’re bringing Ben home. We’re saving him.”
“Listen.” Her word was a low, harsh hiss. A whisper that she didn’t want either Jame or Jean to hear. When she turned her eyes to me, I could see the gloss of too many sleepless nights. “I almost lost you. I almost lost Jean. We are not going to solve this problem with a little elbow grease and police work and a can-do attitude. The only way to deal with that evil is to lure him in with what he wants and then eradicate him. Period.”
I held her gaze for long enough, the flush on her cheeks cooled some.
“We have to attack, Delaney. Defending isn’t working.”
“We’ll attack. But we’ll do it the smart way. He does not get his hands on that damn book. We do not give darkness weapons with which to hurt us even more. We do not answer danger with fear. We do not respond to pain with pleas. We are going to find him, and Ben. No book. Do you hear me?”
“I hate this,” she whispered softly. She wiped a hand over her eyes, pressing with her fingers. “Okay. I hear you. I know you’re right. But I’ve got jack squat to go on, Delaney and it’s killing me.”
“We’ve only been at this for a few hours. We still have time.”
She looked over at Jame again. “He needs a bed. And painkillers.”
“I know. He’s not leaving me, so where I go, he goes.”
