His smile dimmed to a smirk then faded completely. His eyes seemed to darken, deepening with purpose and responsibility.
I held his gaze, aware he was seconds from shutting down, and clutched the turquoise stone on my breast bone. “A wise man told me that turquoise strengthens one’s ability to love and connect with others.”
Though the stone was a gift from Jesse, Akicita had explained its value when he tied it around my neck the first time I left the Lakota in the mountains. It had been with me through some ugly shit, but it had done its job. I’d learned to accept love again, three times over.
Lifting the leather strap over my head, I held it up. When he lowered his head, I secured it around his neck. “Just a loaner. When it’s done doing its thing, I want it back.”
The corner of his mouth tugged up. “Indian giver.”
“Since you gave it to me, I think that makes you the Indian giver.”
His hand covered the rock on his chest, and the shadows on his face softened.
“Evie. Evie?” The voice called out behind me, drawled in an Irish accent.
I spun toward it, suddenly blinded by the beam of a flashlight. Jesse took two steps back, his movements rippling the water.
The stark light darted to the shore, and Roark’s worried expression appeared through the lingering spots in my vision. “Doc did a legger.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Jesse snapped, already on the move.
I rubbed my forehead, my attention on the trees. “Means he ran.”
Jesse threw his arms up. “You’re supposed to be watching him.”
Roark jogged to the water’s edge. “Have ye seen how fast the bugger moves? What was I supposed to do? Hack off his noggin?”
My heart gave a horrified thump. “No! If anyone—” My voice came out harsher than I intended. I softened my tone. “If anyone hurts him, I swear—”
“No swearing needed, love.” Roark waved the light over the trees. “He wanted to see ye. Couldn’t be arsed when I refused him, so—” The flashlight beam flicked back to my eyes. “Wha’ the feck happened to your face?”
“We’ll get into that after we find Michio.” I waded to the shore and dressed on autopilot, with Jesse glued to my side.
“Jesus suffering fuck.” Roark slammed his boot into a rock, sent it skittering along the shore. “Nothing worse than a standing prick.”
Whatever that meant. I pulled on the t-shirt, buttoned the jeans, and gathered my blades from the shore. “It’s not like we were keeping him prisoner, Roark.”
Of the four of us, Michio had always been the fastest and smartest, trained in hand-to-hand combat and a genius IQ to match. And now? He was a force of nature. Roark wouldn’t have been able to restrain him. And I didn’t want him to.
If they made an enemy out of Michio, the outcome would be devastating. My heart felt like it was folding in on itself, as if protecting me from some unimaginable decisions on the horizon. But of all Michio’s faults—his jealous possessiveness, his omissions of truth, his new craving—one thing was certain.
“He would never intentionally hurt me.” I finished lacing my boots and strode to the tree line in search of my guns. “I just need to tread carefully.”
“And always have backup,” Roark bit back in warning, matching my strides.
Jesse jogged ahead and led us to a drooping bush. As he removed my guns from the ground cover, his voice dropped low and growly. “I trust you to say no.”
I strapped on my weapons. “I told you—”
His finger pressed against my lips. “I don’t mean just me.”
Michio. When I glanced at Roark, he had an eyebrow cocked, watching our interaction.
Was this the time to remind Jesse my nightmares were a living hell if I slept without a bed partner, and with Michio out of the rotation, he might have to take a turn in filling the empty spot on my bedroll?
Jesse’s eyebrows slanted in a V, his gaze tapered with impatience.
Nope. “Fine.” It was anything but fine.
Michio was out there somewhere, alone with whatever was happening to his body, and no doubt worrying about me and his place in our group. I’d hated him once, but that hate had been misguided and eventually developed into something selfless and joyous and safe.
I held onto that as I walked toward the animal clinic. “Which way did he go?”
Nervous energy coursed through my veins as Roark led Jesse and me to a man-made island on the north side of the animal reserve. Took us thirty minutes to hike there in the dark, and not a single trace of Michio. I wasn’t sure what worried me more. Finding him mutated into a crazed monster. Or not finding him at all.
But how fast would mutation occur? It had been three months since he was bitten, and I’d noticed very little change, aside from the teeth and the inhuman reflexes, both of which he’d been hiding. What else was he keeping from me?