I woke, panting, to the sound of my cell phone ringing in my ear. Fumbling to answer it, I cursed whatever tech genius had decided phones no longer needed actual buttons.
“Hello?” I mumbled, still not fully awake. I rubbed my chest where the phantom sensation of fing
ers clung to me, nails digging beneath my sternum. So much for escaping the dreams and panic attacks they brought with them.
“Secret, it’s Dominick.”
That grabbed my attention, chasing off the last of my imagined ailments.
“Desmond? Is he okay?”
Dominick hesitated. “Okay is sort of a loose stretch. He’s not bad. He’s human again and he’s resting, but the forced shift did a number on him.”
“I’m on my way.” I was already halfway into a pair of pants as I said it.
“No.”
“No?”
“He’s healing. Lucas has insisted no one can see him until we know for sure this form will hold. If there are lingering effects from the medication he was given, he might slip back into his wolf form, and there’s no knowing how he’ll react. It’s not safe for you.”
“Bullshit. I’m coming.”
“No.”
My fingers hovered over the fly of my jeans, and I glared at the darkness as though I might be able to express my anger to Dominick just by thinking mean things at him.
“I swear I will update you the moment things change. I know you want to be here, and if I thought you being here was a good idea, I wouldn’t tell you to stay away.”
“Lucas told you to call, didn’t he?”
“He thought, and I agreed, you’d believe it more coming from me.”
Damn, they had me pegged, didn’t they? Dominick was Desmond’s brother, so if he said I shouldn’t visit, he had good reason to say it, and not just because his boss told him to.
Since I was already half-dressed, I finished the process and said, “Promise me you’ll keep me posted. I want you to call the second he’s stable enough to see me.” Selfishly I hoped it wouldn’t be long, because I needed to get to Manitoba, like, yesterday. The longer I waited, the more Grandmere was at risk. But I didn’t feel right abandoning Desmond.
“I promise.” He didn’t hesitate at all in saying it, which made me believe he would. Promises were no laughing matter in the supernatural community.
He hung up, leaving me to pace my bedroom like a caged animal. What did I do now? And where had Holden buggered off to? He’d been with me when I settled in to sleep, but I’d drifted off well before sunrise, so there was nothing binding him to the apartment. Since he wasn’t here, he must have slipped out before the sun came up.
I couldn’t blame him for not spending the night, considering I was impossible to sleep next to these days, and the loveseat in the living room wouldn’t make for a comfortable place to crash. Especially considering the living room wasn’t light safe.
After retrieving my gun from under the pillow, I shouldered my holster on and stalked through the apartment, either looking for something to shoot or some sign of what I ought to do next.
A tap on the apartment door brought my pacing to a halt.
Anyone who knew I was home had a key.
I withdrew a gun, erring on the side of caution, and unlocked the door—nice of Holden to think of that when he left. Maybe I’d get my wish of shooting someone sooner rather than later.
The door swung open, and Sig stood on the other side, as effortlessly graceful and relaxed as always. He reached out and lifted my fang pendant, rolling the tooth between his thumb and forefinger.
“I’m glad it was worth it,” he said, letting the necklace fall.
I swallowed hard, not liking his tone or his word choice one bit. I’d known I was going to get kicked in the ass because of my Paris trip, but I was hoping I still had a few more days.
“Sig, I—”