Chapter 24
Griffin
I’m still on high alert when we head back to the car. My beast hasn’t gotten the memo Quinn is fine yet, so every sound and every scent is amplified. If not for that fact I may have missed the sweet aroma of Quinn’s blood… I freeze, and everything stops except for my breathing. I drag in another lungful of air just to make sure I’m not imagining it.
Quinn looks up at me with big eyes. “What is it?”
I search her face, her neck, but I know the scent isn’t comingfromher, yet somehow, it’s her blood I’m scenting.
I look at Evan. “Do you smell that?”
Evan opens his mouth and inhales while Quinn delicately sniffs the air. Evan’s head jerks to the left. “What the fuck?” he curses.
“What is it?”
I’m torn. I want to hunt down where the scent is coming from, but I need to stay with Quinn, and I don’t want to risk taking her into a dangerous situation. A second later, the dank musk of marijuana covers the aroma of Quinn’s blood.
“Oh, now I smell it.” Quinn wrinkles her nose, unaware of the more worrisome odor.
“We need to find out who has that and where it’s coming from,” Evan announces, already stomping his way toward the scent.
There’s a park halfway down the block just off one of the side streets. It’s easy to follow the odor there. Right out in the open, two males are passing a joint back and forth. Neither of them even look in our direction as we head toward them.
“Are you going to bust them?” Quinn sounds slightly nervous.
One of the boys eventually looks up, and his eyes are lazy for a brief moment until they flare with recognition. He coughs roughly, and a billow of white smoke spews from his mouth. “Shit.” He beats on his chest, dropping the joint. I snatch it out of the air before it hits the ground.
“Holy shit,” the other male exclaims. I bring the weed up to my nose but can’t smell Quinn’s blood over the cloying odor of the drug.
“Where the fuck did you get this?” I snarl and fist the still lit joint.
One of the boys looks at the other, clearly hoping he’s going to be the one to explain. “It’s his,” he blurts, throwing the other boy under a speeding train without even giving him time to confess himself.
“I got it from some chick,” the other boy says.
“Who?” Evan demands.
“I don’t know, honest. She said she was from the school.”
“Give me everything she gave you,” I order.
The kid reaches into his pocket faster than what should be possible, but the blood in his system is helping him along as he pulls out a bag with three more joints. He drops it into my hand and steps back quickly.
I crack the seal and place it under my nose. The smell of Quinn’s blood is faint but unmistakable. I close the bag and pocket it. I’m fairly certain these boys are not from Havenfall, proving this problem extends far beyond the schools.
I reach for the boy who was holding the drugs and grab him by his neck. His entire body locks up except for the frantic beat of his pulse under my hand.
“Griffin!” Quinn yelps.
“I could kill you right now.” I hum. “Snap both of your necks before you could even blink.” The boy makes a weak attempt to pull my hand from his throat.
“Griffin,” Quinn calls, this time with a little more panic in her tone.
“I’m going to let you live,” I state more for her benefit than the boy’s, “because you are going to tell everyone that if I find them with drugs like these again, there will not be a second chance.”
The boy’s eyes are watering, and he’s making a wheezing noise as he tries to draw in air. I don’t let up. “Our laws are very clear that blood must be freely given. This was not.” The other boy starts shuffling his feet as if he’s thinking about running. I turn to look right at him and let him see just how serious I am. “I only need one of you to live so you can warn everyone.”
I release the boy’s neck, and he falls to the ground, coughing and heaving as lines of drool and spit leave his lips. I can see the red ring around his throat from my hand. Good, I hope the evidence stays for days to prove my point.
