“Hold on a minute,” Derek said, keeping up with my pace without trouble. “I need to talk to you.”
“I’m busy, actually. I have a lot to do, so…” and I kept going.
He kept following. “I’m serious, Teddy. C’mon, I really need to talk to you. It’ll just be a second.”
A look his way and I caved. The memories came back to me—how he’d saved me from that wraith in San Francisco, what he told me…what Dominic had told me about him. He’d literally lost his wolf when he was a kid, and…
Wait.
Derek had lost his wolf.
I stopped and turned to him, a sudden calm falling over me. I looked at his wide green eyes, not a speck of gold in them. I looked at his hands tipped with fingernails, not claws. He never had claws because his wolf wasn’t there. Werewolf eyes turned golden when the beast within them started taking control, and I hadn’t really seen much of Derek, but I’d seen him long enough to know that his eyes hadneverchanged.
How had it not occurred to me earlier?
My God, I should have seen it before.
“Tell me something, Derek,” I said, keeping my voice low because I didn’t want to freak him out.
“Okay. Yeah. Sure,” he said in a rush, pushing himself up on his tiptoes then down again every few seconds.
“Remember whentheycame,” I started, and he flinched instantly. “They hit you in the head, right?”
“Yep. Yep. Right here.” And he showed me the side of his head where his hair no longer grew. That small scar I’d seen before in San Francisco, too.
“And your wolf is no longer there?”
Derek’s face changed completely. It was already starting to get dark outside, but I saw it with clarity, the way his eyes darkened, his face fell, his shoulders tensed. The way he stopped moving completely. I’d never seen him stand so still before. I’d lie if I said I wasn’t afraid.
“He’s there, all right,” he finally said through gritted teeth. “Why the questions, Teddy?” And he took a step closer to me. Though he didn’t have his bat with him that I could see, he was still much bigger than me and much,muchscarier.
I swallowed hard. “No reason. Just a case I’ve been working on.” About a drug that suppressed a supernatural’s magical side. Just like someone had done with Derek.
“A case,” he said, raising his brows and slowly starting to move up and down on his tiptoes again. The relief was instant. “What case? Are you on it with Dom? Is that why he’s not coming home?”
“I…wait, what?” I narrowed my brows, sure that I’d heard him wrong.
“Dom. You know—Dominic. My brother,” he said, stepping back again so he could play with the rock in his hand—throw it and catch it within the same second.
“Yes, I know who Dominic is. What do you mean, he’s not coming home?”
Derek shrugged. “He’s not. Hasn’t been for the past two weeks. Won’t pick up the phone, won’t return my texts. Is he on a case with you again, Teddy?”
I shook my head. “No, I…I just saw him today, Derek. He was in his office.”
“I know.” He pressed his finger to the tip of his nose. “I still have my sense of smell. I tracked him here, but he’s gone.”
Gone. Had he left while I was out on lunch break? Because I hadn’t seen him leave.
“Well, he’s not working any cases with me.” Hell, no. Not a chance. “But I did see him. He was here today.”
“What did he say? Why isn’t he picking up? Where is he staying?” He spoke so fast, it made me dizzy.
I shook my head, and the familiar stab in the gut came over me. “I don’t know. He didn’t say anything. Didn’t even look at me.” And why in the world would I still let that hurt so badly?
Because I couldn’t control it, that’s why.
“No, no, no,” Derek said, suddenly turning his back to me, covering his face with his hands.