Shapeshifted (Edie Spence 3)

Catrina screamed from inside the car. I didn’t know if it was anguish or pain.

“We’ve got to—” I said, looking at Catrina. If I had to pick between her and the man outside, I’d choose her. “Do you have keys?”

“No. The doctor does. ” She squinted into the distance. “He’s on the way. ”

Hector and Ti arrived just as sirens started down the street, ambulances and police cars fighting through the rain.

“Who is that?” Ti asked.

“Oh, no—Edie—” Hector said, looking at the man and then at Catrina. He leaned into the car and quickly assessed her.

“She needs help—but he might die. He’s going into shock. ”

Of course he was; he’d been bleeding out in the cold rain. Hector pulled his keys out and threw them at me. “I’m a local doctor. I can say I heard shots and came out to help. ” He shook his hand, and I handed him his emergency bag.

“In the rain?”

“I know the police. They’ll believe me. Take my car—get Catrina to County. You know where to go. ”

I didn’t want to leave him behind with this mess. There was no guarantee more Three Crosses members wouldn’t come out. I almost said his real name, and just barely caught myself in time. “As—Hector—be careful, okay?”

Asher nodded, and Ti put his hand out. I handed him the keys. I knew he’d been to County before.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Luz rode in the front seat while I cradled Catrina’s head on my lap and applied pressure to her side in the back. Was it a good thing there was no exit wound? I didn’t know enough trauma medicine to know. I petted Catrina’s hair with my free hand while she moaned.

“Can’t you just—” I asked Luz. She pulled her head back, as if I’d suggested something offensive to her. “Goddammit, Luz, it’s only a little blood. ”

“If I give blood to her, I’ll wake up Anna—and if Anna takes me back, who will rescue Adriana then?”

“How do you think Adriana will feel if you kill her sister?”

“Don’t,” Catrina whispered.

“You stay out of it,” I told her. Her blood was s

eeping up, gluing her shirt to my thigh. “Ti—what happened in there?”

“Nothing good. Maldonado wasn’t there. And the girl we were looking for wasn’t either. They seemed surprised, so it wasn’t a trap, but nothing was gained. ”

It was still pouring outside. Inside, the car smelled like humidity and rain, and blood—and rot.

“Did you get hurt?” I asked Ti.

“A few shots. Nothing I can’t heal. ” He pulled us onto the highway, and the rain didn’t stop.

* * *

We were silent on our way to County. I wondered what was happening with Asher, if they would keep him for questioning, if they’d find other members of Three Crosses, and what they would say. Catrina had been quiet—her eyes were open, but I could tell she was thinking, watching lampposts go by, upside down, outside the window in the night. I watched her breathing, and my free hand held her wrist to feel the strength and speed of her pulse.

We pulled into the emergency roundabout, and Luz got out of the car. “I’ll go in with her. You two go on. ”

I looked to Ti. He shrugged, and then I looked back to her. “Are you sure?”

“There’s still half the night to go. I can take her in and answer any questions—or stop them from asking them. ” Luz tilted her head to indicate what, as a vampire, she could do with her mind.

“Is that okay with you, Catrina?”

She nodded and I relinquished her to Luz, who picked her up easily, although she gasped and groaned. Once she was in Luz’s arms, she looked up at the other woman. “You’ll search again tomorrow night?”

Luz smiled down sadly at her. “Of course. ”

* * *

Ti drove me home. I didn’t know what to say, straight up until he put the car into park. I turned toward him. “Do you want to stay here? I’ve got a couch. ”