Glaring at the old female, he said, “Okay, so everybody else seems to know this. Great. You’d think it would have come up in conversation last night.”
“Youfedher.”
Kane rubbed his aching eyes. “Here’s an idea. Next time you do what you did to me? Lead with a helpful tip like that.”
“Poor, sweet child.” The old woman touched Nadya’s scarred face. “And she’s so hot.”
“I put her in the shower. You know, under the cold water, to try to cool her down.”
“You did the right thing with that.”
He caught the female’s arm. “Please, help her. You owe me this and you know it.”
With a sense of awe, Callum stood off to the side with the vampires as their friend disappeared into the Gray Wolf’s hut with the female. And while the other males spoke in hushed voices, he wanted to yell at them to shut up and pay attention. Pay some respect.
They had no idea what a rarity it was, that the Gray Wolf presented herself as corporeal, that she welcomed anybody into her place of repose. That she was willing to be of aid.
But then that was his clan’s spiritual tradition. Not the vampires’.
“What the hell happened to him?”
It was a hot minute before he realized he was being addressed, and as he swung his eyes away from the Gray Wolf’s shelter, he wasn’t sure what to tell his cousin, Lucan.
“It’s true, then,” the male prompted. “The Viper has taken him.”
“Not taken him. Heisthe Viper. They are one and the same now.”
The vampire he didn’t know, who’d been injured the night before, paced the periphery, the kinetic energy in that body bubbling, boiling, but not aggressively. He just couldn’t seem to stand still.
Callum glanced around, looking for his male. Not that the guy he’d given a blow job to was his. That Vampire had been there a moment ago.
“So it wasn’t just a myth,” Lucan murmured.
“No, it wasn’t, Cousin.” Callum glanced back at the tents. “Where’s your female?”
“Still sleeping in there.”
“You can stay here, you know. For as long as you want.”
Lucan nodded. “Thanks, but we have work to do.”
“Do tell.”
“We’re going to go back to the camp. We need to free everyone.”
Well. If that didn’t get a wolven’s attention. “You’re serious?”
“We are.”
“And what are you going to do with all those males and females?” Callum glanced at the hut again and wondered what was going on inside it. “I mean, how many of them are criminals?”
“Not many. Not all.” His cousin glanced at the other two former prisoners. “But first, we wait to see if Kane is okay.”
Translation:We wait to see if he loses his shit after his female dies because he tried to save her with his vein.
And people thought destiny didn’t have a sick sense of humor.
“Well, looks like you’ve got yourself a situation, Cousin.” Oh, hell. Why couldn’t they get a break. “Anyway, good luck with that—and you’re welcome here. Always. If you’ll excuse me? I gotta take care of some stuff.”