“And the ones you don’t give to Cael?” she asked with a knowing smile.
“Why are you interrogating me?”
She laughed and waved good-bye, the door closing behind her. It was still pretty early. Maybe he’d take a nap and later order some takeout. He really didn’t feel like cooking. His smartphone rang, and he straightened. Shit, it was Dex. There was only one reason Dex would be calling him. Something had happened with either Sloane or Cael. He quickly answered.
“Dex?”
“Ash, it happened again.” Dex’s voice was shaky, and he sounded out of breath.
The hairs on the back of Ash’s neck stood on end. “What happened?”
“Sloane…. He lost control again.”
“Are you safe?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, I’m on my way.” Ash hung up and dashed to the front door, where he pulled on his boots and grabbed his coat off the rack. Shit. This couldn’t be good. He locked up quickly and called for a cab to hurry the hell over. The company he used knew who he was. They’d send someone over in no time. As he took the stairs, he wondered what the hell was going on with his best friend. This had never happened before, and now it had happened twice. There was no reason it should be happening at all.
The only Therians susceptible to losing control of their shifting were adolescents, but the government had taken care of that a long time ago, developing a drug to help the hormone imbalance, which they provided free to parents of young Therians. The first time Sloane lost control had been after having an argument with Dex. No argument, no matter how big, should’ve caused Sloane’s loss of control. Something was going on. When he got to the street, his cab was already waiting. He climbed in the back and gave the driver Dex’s address, telling him it was an emergency.
Was it because Sloane was on Therian medication? Sloane was hardly the first Therian to be on meds. If there was a problem, it would have been all over the news, with mass breakouts of shifting. In less than ten minutes he was at Dex’s
front door, using his key to let himself in.
“Dex! Dex, where are you!”
“Upstairs. It’s okay.”
Ash took the stairs two at a time and ran into the bedroom, stopping when he saw Dex sitting in the middle of the large bed with Sloane passed out, his head on Dex’s lap. Both were wrapped in white blankets from the waist down. Dex’s eyes were red, and Ash could tell he was trying hard to keep it together. Dex gently stroked Sloane’s hair, his lips pressed into a thin line. Beside Dex on the bed was a Therian jet injector.
“He’s tranqed?”
Dex nodded. He picked up the jet injector and stared down at it. “I tranqed him. I put this thing against his neck, and I shot him.”
Tears welled in his eyes, and Ash’s heart went out to him. Tranquilizing feral Therian perpetrators was one thing. They’d trained for it, learned to detach themselves from the disturbing reality of taking citizens down like animals. But to have to tranquilize your Therian lover? Ash wished he was better at comforting, or at least coming up with comforting words. Instead he gently took the injector from Dex’s hands. He placed it inside the nightstand’s open drawer.
“You had no choice.” Ash took a seat on the edge of the bed close to Dex, mindful of Sloane curled around Dex, as if he’d been trying to protect his partner before passing out. Ash reached out to Dex and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, look at me.”
Dex blinked a few times, as if snapping himself out of it, and raised his head, his eyes searching Ash’s. Most likely for reassurance Ash couldn’t provide.
“You know he’d never forgive himself if he hurt you.”
“I know. It’s why he insisted I keep the injector in my nightstand. After what happened last time, he was afraid of what he might do.”
“Tell me what happened.”
“We were having sex, and everything was fine. Suddenly he screamed. Like, a feral scream. It scared the hell out of me. Right away, I knew he was about to shift. So I made a dive for the nightstand, pulled out the injector, and….” Dex blinked away his tears. “You should have seen his face, Ash. He knew what was happening and couldn’t do anything about it. I’d never seen him look so scared. And there was nothing I could do to help him. I’ve never felt so helpless, sitting here, watching him suffer, hearing his screams as he tried to fight himself, the terror on his face.”
Dex covered his face with his hands, and Ash pulled him into his embrace.
“It’s okay. You did really good, Dex. You saved the both of you.”
With a sniff, Dex pulled back. “Why is this happening? We thought the first time was a one-off. The stress, the meds, something. But now….”
“I know.” The first time it happened, Ash had no idea what was going on. He’d arrived at Dex’s house and shifted downstairs in the living room to the sound of Sloane’s feral roar. He’d rushed upstairs, where his best friend attacked him. It had looked, smelled, and sounded like Sloane, but behind his amber eyes was only his best friend’s feral half. Sloane was gone. It had scared the shit out of Ash. And then Sloane pushed him down the stairs.
“We need to figure something out,” Dex insisted. “What if this happens while we’re on duty or out in the field?”