It had started raining harder. Ryder was wet with it and I knew I was too even though I didn’t feel it.
“It’s me Jame,” Ryder said. “You took a hell of a hit buddy, but we got you.”
Ryder and I locked eyes, then moved Jame as easily as we could onto his back.
Jame whimpered, a soft almost child-like sound, and then went completely limp as he passed out.
“Holy fuck.” Ryder pulled his hands away from Jame and shifted on the balls of his feet. “What the hell is that?”
It was blood.
A lot of blood.
Written in scrolling symbols across his skin. His fur.
But it was not his blood.
There were no gushing wounds.
I had seen these symbols before.
On Sven.
Ichor techne.
“Get some pictures,” I told Ryder.
He paused.
“Before the rain washes it away. Photos. Of the symbols, his body, then the surrounding area.”
Ryder got busy, while I gently pressed my fingers to the side of Jame’s neck, looking for a pulse.
His heartbeat was thready and uneven. He hadn’t shifted back into human form even though he was unconscious. His survival instinct had taken over, and his body was working hard to heal.
I pulled my fingers away from his neck. They were tacky with blood.
“Here.” Ryder held out a kerchief.
I took it and pressed it against Jame’s neck. That wound was the only one still leaking blood that I could find. I knew what had caused it. It was a bite. A puncture made by two fangs.
A vampire bite.
Jame’s breathing changed and his eyes slitted open, amber burning through.
“Jame,” I asked gently, “where’s Ben?”
He snarled and showed teeth, but it was all he could manage. He lay there, staring at me, eyes like fire, chest rising and falling with shallow little jerks.
I scanned the area again. Didn’t see any sign of Ben. “Check inside the shop.” I told Ryder. “Be careful.”
I had a moment to worry if I should have sent Ryder in there. I hoped he wasn’t kidding about carrying his gun. Mine was in the Jeep, and there was every chance whoever had done this to Jame was still around.
There was also every chance that whoever had done this to Jame couldn’t be stopped by a gun.
I shifted on my feet, reluctant to move out of Jame’s line of vision. When I moved away, intending to check on Ryder, Jame whined and tried to reach out for me, which made him moan even more painfully.
“I’m right here,” I said, holding the cloth to his neck. “I won’t leave.”
