CHAPTER 27
Gina awoke in her own bed. She hurt all over, especially her head. When she tried to remember what had happened, the headache bloomed toward migraine.
“Shit,” she muttered, and pulled the covers over her face.
However, with the darkness came flickering images of blood and death and mayhem. They scared her so much she yanked the covers back down.
A gorgeous blond woman stood at the foot of Gina’s bed.
“You remember me?” the woman asked.
“Dr. Hanover.”
“Elise.”
“What kind of doctor are you?” Some kind of “ologist,” but Gina didn’t think it was psychologist. Which, considering what was in her head, was the only kind of doctor she needed.
“Virologist.” Elise sat on the side of the bed. She didn’t appear afraid that Gina might grow fangs and tear out her throat.
Maybe those thoughts, which had seemed like memories, were only dreams after all.
“I cured you,” Elise continued.
“Of what?”
“Lycanthropy.”
Or not.
Gina sighed and closed her eyes.
“Don’t worry,” Elise continued. “Moon comes up, you’ll still be you. I promise. How are you feeling?”
Gina’s eyes snapped open. “How do you think I’m feeling? My best friend is…” She paused. “What is he?”
Dead? Trapped?
Screaming?
“Gone,” Elise said. “He was gone the instant he agreed to let the Nahual in.”
“How did I get home?”
“Edward’s got all kinds of connections. He called in a helicopter. Got both you and Matt out of there and back here so I could—”
“Teo!” Gina sat up so fast the whole world spun, and Elise reached out to touch her shoulder with a hand that had a pentagram on the palm. Odd place for a tattoo.
“Whoa,” Elise said. “You’re still a little shaky.”
“Where is he? Is Teo okay?”
“He’s fine,” Elise assured her. “I cured him, too.”
Gina frowned. Teo had been bitten? Had she—?
No. He’d been bleeding when she arrived. She’d wanted that blood so badly. But then …
Images flickered. The fight. The Nahual howling. The door slamming. She’d gotten up, stomach rumbling, planning to make it stop with him, but by then he’d been more werewolf than human.
Hell.
“He hasn’t woken yet,” Elise continued. “He lost a lot of blood.”
Blood. Gina could smell it, almost taste it, and that memory brought back the hunger. The desire to rip into Teo’s flesh and—
“God!” Gina smacked herself in the forehead with the heel of her hand. Elise took that hand and pulled it back down.
“That wasn’t you,” Elise said. “It was the demon.”
“It was more me than you think,” Gina returned.
Even now what she’d felt bubbled within her—the thrill of the hunt, the excitement of the kill, the ecstasy that lay in the blood.
“I know what it’s like,” Elise said.
Gina peered into the other woman’s clear, blue eyes and saw the memories there. Elise did know; she would always know.
“You have to be strong. If you let yourself give in to the…” Elise searched for a word.
“Sadness?” Gina offered. “Madness?”
“Gladness?” whispered a voice that gave her a start. Had that been the Nahual?
No. That voice had been hers. Which almost made Gina want the Nahual’s voice back.
“Darkness,” Elise said. “If you let yourself dwell on that swirl of guilt and memories, you’ll never move on, and the demon wins.”
“I wanted people to die screaming because of me,” Gina whispered.
“But they didn’t, Gina. You never killed anyone. Edward got to you in time.”
That was good. That should make her feel better. Except—
“Will I always remember that I wanted to?”
Elise looked away. “Yes.”
“Teo,” Gina continued. “I didn’t … hurt him, did I?”
“You saved me.”
Gina glanced up and he was there, pale, shaky, on crutches—but alive.
Elise stood. “I’ll leave you two alone.”
She went out of the room and closed the door.
Teo crutched across the floor as if he’d been using the things for years. However, when he got to the side of the bed, he let them clatter to the ground and kind of collapsed where Elise had just been. He took Gina’s hands, and he didn’t let go when she tried to pull away.
“Don’t,” he said, his voice even rougher than usual. “I love you.”
“The woman you loved died.”
“No. The woman I loved saved me. Twice.”
At first she was confused—once maybe; what was he talking about? Then she remembered the cavern and she laughed, scaring herself with how unher that laugh sounded. “I wanted to be the one to kill you, Teo. I wasn’t trying to save you from him, but win you for myself.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“It does to me.”
His hands tightened on hers. “I felt it, too, Gina. The lust for blood, the passion for the kill, the craving for the rise of the moon that gives you power over life and death. That pounding hunger, which makes you want to do anything if only it will stop. But we’ll get past this. Together. You’ll see.”
Gina swallowed. “Jase is dead.”
“The Jase you knew, yeah. The thing he became…” Teo shook his head. “The Nahual’s still there. We’re going to have to make sure he never gets out.”
“What if I start hearing him again?”
“Have you?”
“No.” She tilted her head, listened. “Or at least not yet.”
“If we can keep people away from there, the creature’s voice will die.”
“The Nahual’s voice will never die,” Gina said. “And neither will he.”
“He’ll be silenced.” Teo’s eyes had gone the shade of gray-green smoke. “It’s the best we can do.”
“Jase—” Her voice broke. “It’s my fault.”
“McCord chose to give that thing access to his body and his mind so that he could hurt us, hurt you. How is that your fault?”
“When I chose you, I doomed him.”
“When he chose the Nahual, he doomed himself.”
Which was exactly what Elise had said. When the words were repeated in Teo’s reasonable tone, the truth of them began to unfold.
“Sacrifices have been made,” Teo continued. “If you don’t want those sacrifices to be in vain you need to live the life you were meant to live. In the sun. With a smile.” He touched her face. “With me.”
Though the memories still hovered, shadows at the edges of her mind, hope, which glowed like the sun, began to push them back. She’d no doubt have terrible dreams for a long time, perhaps forever. But Elise was right; she couldn’t let the demon win.
Gina leaned her cheek into Teo’s hand. She would never again crave the moon, but she would always, always crave him.