Trevor pushed those thoughts aside for the moment, needing to focus on Sage and getting her back to the complex before Dick or anyone else discovered she was gone.
“No one wants to shoot her,” Tanner was telling Alina. “But we can’t take the chance Sage might lose control in there and hurt the priest or one of us. Trust me when I tell you this. Hurting someone is the last thing Sage wants to do. It would tear her apart.”
“We’ll try and talk her down first,” Trevor promised as he slid the dart gun inside his belt at his lower back. “We only pull the weapons as a last resort, understood?”
Giving Tanner and Jaxson a nod, he and Alina headed around to the back of the church while Tanner and Jaxson took the front.
They passed a tiny house attached to the rear of the church that was most likely the priest’s residence, then made their way over to the back door of the church. Trevor hoped like hell she hadn’t gone into a rage and killed the poor man already.
“A hybrid’s eyes will turn bright red when they’re on the verge of losing it,” Trevor told Alina. “When they get like that, it’s nearly impossible to get through to them. That’s when they’re really dangerous. If you see her eyes turn red, get the hell out of the way, okay?”
Alina looked like she wanted to argue, but then shook her head. “Fine. But how about we make sure it doesn’t come to that?”
“That’s the plan,” he murmured as he pushed open the door. “But everyone knows what they say about plans.”
Giving Alina a nod, Trevor led the way down the hall, his footsteps silent on the marble floor. Thankfully, he didn’t pick up the scent of blood. Maybe it meant Sage was fully in control.
When they reached the end of the hallway, he heard soft voices coming from the main part of the church. Trevor couldn’t be sure, but it sounded like someone praying.
He stepped into the main part of the church, Alina right behind him. Sage was sitting in the front pew beside an older priest dressed in traditional black garments. Their hands were clasped in front of them as they recited a prayer together.
Sage’s head immediately came up, her eyes glowing as red as two Christmas tree lights. Trevor’s heart sank. If that wasn’t bad enough, her claws and fangs were out, too. Crap, she was in full-on hybrid mode.
Why the hell wasn’t the old priest freaking out? Unless he was blind, he had to have figured out that there was something seriously different about Sage. But the guy simply sat there, softly praying as if he were the only person in the church.
Sage shot to her feet, a growl slipping from her throat. Beside her, the priest’s prayers stumbled to a halt. He looked up, his eyes filling with alarm when he saw Trevor and Alina. He slowly shook his head, like he was trying to get them to back off.
Noise from the front of the church startled Sage, and she whipped her head around to look over her shoulder at Tanner and Jaxson as they slipped through the big double doors and fanned out to either side.
Trevor held up his hand, motioning for them to stay where they were. Taking a deep breath, he stepped a little closer to Sage, hoping she’d turn her attention back to him. As he moved, he caught the priest’s eye, trying to get him to slip away from Sage, but the old guy seemed intent on remaining where he was. It was like he thought Sage was the one in danger.
“It’s okay, Sage,” Trevor said gently. “We’re here to help. No one’s going to hurt you. We’re all friends here.”
Sage didn’t seem to believe that. Eyes blazing, she took three quick strides in his direction, her long, sharp fangs bared in a snarl. Hybrids might not have had much in the way of control, but they definitely had some serious fangs on them. If Sage ever truly lost it and sunk those teeth into someone, it would be all over.
He hadn’t seen Sage much since he and the others had brought her back from Tajikistan, but she looked like she hadn’t slept in days. From the wetness on her cheeks, it was obvious she’d been crying, too.
Trevor’s heart went out to her, it really did, but that didn’t stop him from slowly reaching behind his back for the tranquilizer gun. With her hybrid strength and reflexes, Sage was already close enough to attack. Even if he darted her in midair, the sedative wouldn’t take effect for fifteen to thirty seconds. A hybrid could do a lot of damage in that amount of time. He could probably survive an attack like that, but if Sage turned on Alina, his partner probably wouldn’t be so lucky.
The thought of Alina getting hurt bothered him a hell of a lot more than he ever would have expected.
“Alina, start backing away slowly,” he whispered. “Things are about to go all kinds of bad.”
He’d already figured out a while ago that his partner was stubborn, so he wasn’t surprised when she hesitated. But he didn’t expect her to completely ignore him, much less step in front of him to put herself between him and Sage.
Trevor’s gut reaction was to grab her and drag her behind him, but he knew if he did, it would only freak Sage out even more.
“Alina, what the hell are you doing?” he demanded.
“Sage, my name is Alina,” his partner said calmly. “You don’t know me, but I promise that I won’t let anything bad happen to you. We need to get you back home. It’s not safe for you to be out here like this.”
Sage growled, flashing her fangs again. But she made no move to pounce. In fact, he could have sworn the red glow in her eyes dimmed a little. Maybe Sage responded better to women than men? Or maybe she simply responded to Alina. He had to admit she seemed to have a way about her that put people at ease.
Alina must have taken Sage’s hesitation as a good sign, because she stepped closer and held out her hand, palm up. “Will you let me take you home, Sage?”
The gesture seemed to shock Sage as much as it did Trevor, and she took a step back. “It’s not my home,” she growled in a tone that was filled with anguish. “I don’t want to go back there.”
Trevor held his breath as Alina moved closer to Sage again. This was frigging insane.
