“You’ve gone really quiet. I don’t want to pry, but are you sure nothing’s wrong?”
Another nod. “I’m fine.”
“That truck was monstrous. On our abilities scale, you must fall on the strength side.”
“No, that’s Ryker.” His voice wasn’t improving, and she turned to study him as he forced out more words past the slow closing of his throat. It would continue to close, to ache, until he was able to—
Thirst. Thirst. Thirst.
“Tai?”
He swallowed a few times. “Ryker’s always been stronger than me. I’m fast, and I can run or swim all day, but brute strength takes more out of me.”
“How do you know Ryker’s stronger? This sounds like the two of you have put it to the test.”
A smile found his mouth despite the struggle inside him. For a moment, he felt something almost like relief, and his throat opened a little as he thought of his best friend. “We’ve done a lotof sparring. He can throw me farther than I can throw him, but he’s got to get hold of me first. He’s not much for speed.”
“Sparring partners? That’s amazing. I hope you keep each other humble.”
“Definitely.”
Thirst. Thirst. Thirst.
“Tai?”
“It’s fine. I’m fine.”
He tried to keep talking as the minutes crept by and the thirst grew claws that tore his throat. He tried. But the scent of blood. The aftermath of such intense exertion, physical and emotional, seeing the fear of those kids, the pain in George’s eyes while he yelled at Tai to hide it. The taste of blood in the air.
Half an hour. Trapped in the car. With the thirst. He tried to compose a melody in his head, something calm and quiet, but the notes pounded like a racing human heart, and the entire song flowed down the keys like blood from a wound.
His fangs were down. He was unraveling. Faster by the minute. With a witness. The worst possible witness.
“Tai.” Her voice spiked with fear. “Tai, talk to me.”
She’d been trying for the last ten minutes to get a response from him. But he couldn’t talk to her. He couldn’t look at her. Or she would know. He rested his forehead against the wheel. Another point of contact. The anchor. Hold on. Just hold on. Get through it. Outlast. Until he could start driving again.
Thirst. Thirst. Thirst. Thirst. Thirst.
Her hand rested on his shoulder, and she made a small sound of concern. Of course she felt the tension in him. He couldn’t breathe right now if he tried. Thirst. Cold. Needles moving over his skin. Throat closing, cleaving, aching. Thirst.
“I’m going to call Ryker. You said he knows you better than anyone. Will he know what’s wrong?”
He couldn’t let Ryker be the one to tell her.
No one was supposed to tell her. No one. Ever.
But if someone had to, it had to be him. No one else.
“Okay. I’m going to call him. Just stay with me. I’m here.”
“No,” he rasped.
Her hand tightened on his shoulder. “No?”
“No.”
“Then you have to talk to me, Tai. I know something’s wrong.”
