Shapeshifted (Edie Spence 3)

“Edie—I’m sorry. ” He jerked his chin at the doorway where Asher had been.

I held up my hand and passed the sheets over. “I don’t think I can take any more apologies tonight. ”

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

It was noon when I woke up. The rain had stopped, but it was still gray out, thick clouds with the promise of more to come. I stumbled into my living room, where Ti was lying on my couch. He nodded when I came in.

“Did you have a good night?” I asked him.

“I remember all of it. It’s a start. ” He was on top of the sheets and had his clothes on, though they looked worse for the wear. He still had the faint smell of rot. “I need to go now. I thought you should know. I wanted to stay to tell you. ” He swung his feet down so he was sitting. “I think we’re going to be fighting again tonight, and I don’t want to be at half speed. ”

I read between the lines. He was telling me he was going to go out to feed. If he and I had stayed together, how many times over would we have had that conversation in code? Would I be okay with it? Was I okay with it now? “Thanks for letting me know. ”

He stood and started walking toward me for the door at my back. “I didn’t want to just leave this time, you know?”

I nodded and hugged myself with my arms. Better late than never. “Thanks, Ti. I appreciate that. ”

“Edie—” he began, drawing up his face to one side like he was going to say something else.

I leaned back and quickly opened up the door. “You should really be going. I have to visit my mom soon. I’ll see you tonight. ” I didn’t want to let him in, not even a little bit.

He sighed.

“Okay. ” He nodded at me and walked out. I watched him go until the rain began again and hid him from me.

* * *

Once Ti was gone I folded into my couch. Was Asher at work today or not? I sent him a text message, one I probably should have sent last night. “That wasn’t what it seemed,” and “Again, tonight? Reina’s?”

Tonight was likely the last night we could save Adriana. It was officially the seventeenth at midnight tonight. And if we didn’t find Adriana, then I wouldn’t have any leverage over Luz, and Santa Muerte would belong to Maldonado, costing me the only thing I could trade to the Shadows for my mom. Tonight was the night. Wherever we went tonight, whatever we did—I wasn’t going to stay behind again.

I got up, went into the bathroom, brushed out my hair, and put on clothes. And then I made the hardest phone call of my life.

She picked up on the third ring. “Hey, Mom. ”

“Hi, honey!” She sounded happy to hear from me. “What’s up?”

“Nothing much. I just wanted to tell you that I love you. ”

“Awwww, that’s sweet of you. I love you too, dear. Are you coming by tonight?”

“No. We’ve got a meeting scheduled after work. ” If I went by now, and I was scared, she’d root me out. Mothers had a kind of magic too. “But I’ll come by tomorrow afternoon, if that’s okay. ”

“Sure.

I’ve got a doctor’s appointment at three—come over before then, or after six?”

“Can do. ”

“I always love hearing from you. ”

“Thanks, Mom. I love you. ”

“I love you too,” she said again, and I hung up. If she knew what I was doing for her, if she understood everything that was involved, she’d tell me to stop it, that she wasn’t worth it.

She’d be wrong.

* * *

My next phone call was going to be to County—I still had their main information line in my phone. But I didn’t know Catrina’s last name, and she might not be able to speak right now besides. I put on all my silver again, grabbed my purse, and ran out to my car in the rain.

The information desk wasn’t much help when I got there, without a last name. But County was a big facility—even though I hit one dead end, it wasn’t hard to leave and loop back in through another unguarded door. I had a suspicion where she’d be at, and it was late enough that some of my old co-workers might remember me as an occasional float nurse there. Through a combination of persistence and luck, I found her in medical ICU. I waved, and she waved back, and it was good enough for her nurse to let me in.

“What’s happening tonight?” she asked slowly as soon as I was close enough to hear her.

“Nothing you’re going to be a part of. How do you feel?” I read the numbers on her monitor. Everything looked fine.

“They found the bullet. It took them a while. ” She was pressed flat against the bed like someone who was on the good drugs. I knew if I started fondling IV bags I’d draw her nurse’s ire—but her pupils were wide and her movements slow. Even if she wasn’t on a narcotic drip, she’d been getting them frequently—and understandably, if they’d been fishing inside her guts for a ricocheted round. “What’s going on?”