Page 86 of Blood Magic

Chapter Thirty-Six

I waited until they’d disappeared into the building, then turned to Joe. “Joe—”

“Not this time, Kait.”

“But you—”

“Not this time.”

He leveled a cool stare at me, and there was nothing in his eyes that said he’d be willing to sit this fight out. He was coming with me, or he was coming without me, but either way, he’d end up at my mother’s house.

I sighed, then nodded. He had no idea what he was about to face, but Joe was a smart man. When he saw the wolves and vampires fighting, surely he’d keep his ass in the car.

Surely.

Also, I did not want him to see me shift. I wasn’t ready to show my wolf to the humans. Not even Joe. I saw that some of the nonhumans were letting themselves be seen, and gradually, supernaturals were going to be a not so well-kept secret. But I was not ready.

Maybe the humans, so accepting of demons and spirits, were already primed for the rest of it. Likely, they were. The supernaturals would probably have more trouble with it than the humans would, when it came right down to it.

I had emergency clothes and boots in the back of my car, and I pulled the boots on, and then climbed into the back of the car and pulled on a shirt before discarding the bloody jacket. I didn’t bother changing the jeans. They fit well enough.

“Joe, listen,” I said, as I drove us to Huntersburg. When I stopped and said nothing more, he finally prompted me.

“Kait?”

I sighed. “When the nonhumans start fighting, it won’t be like the humans fighting.”

“I’m aware.” He lifted his hand and fake shot the windshield. “No guns. Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself.”

“Can you text my mother again?”

“Sure.”

It seemed like I was always fighting and always worrying about someone getting hurt. One of these days, I was going to take a vacation.

“What does it feel like?” Joe asked me. “To be so obviously injured and keep going? Do you feel pain?”

When I glanced at him, I saw genuine curiosity in his eyes—and maybe some admiration. “I do feel pain. Oh man, do I ever.” I laughed, but it sounded so much like a sob that I clamped my mouth shut for a few seconds. “I go on because it’s…” I shrugged. “It’s what I do. My father taught me to be strong. Since I was a baby. It was important to him that I grow up to be strong. Anytime I feel like I can’t power through, I hear his voice. He pushes me to be better. Always has.”

“Maybe he should give you a fucking break,” he muttered. Then, “You don’t always have to be the strongest, Kait. It’s okay to just be—”

“Weak?” I curled my lip. “Would you say the same if I were a guy?”

“I wasn’t going to say that at all,” he replied. “I was going to say, it’s okay to just be normal.”

“Normal?” I wrinkled my nose. “What the hell is that?”

He laughed. “Damned if I know, Kaity Bug.”

I couldn’t help but grin. “I like you, Joe Patrick. Don’t get hurt at my mom’s.”

“Absolutely,” he agreed.

And then we were there. I’d had bad gut feelings all day—pretty much about everything—but I figured it was completely understandable with what I was facing. I wasn’t being paranoid. There was a lot of shit being thrown my way, and it was possible that I’d lose someone tonight. Or tomorrow night. Or the next night. But in that, I wasn’t so different from anyone else. Life was risky. People died.

Even before I was halfway down the long gravel driveway I knew the vampires and the wolves were fighting. It wasn’t a sound or anything I saw. It was just something I felt in my bones, in my heart. I belonged out there with those people.

Joe was human, and he did not. They would kill him without a thought. If he would stay in the house he’d be safe from vampires, but that wasn’t going to happen. Joe was eager to fight.