Sunglasses at Night (Claws Clause 3)

He ran one hand down her clammy cheek, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. If tonight showed him anything, it was that this slayer meant more to him than a good time in the sack.

Now if only she would wake up again so he could tell her that.

19

There was no sign of Evangeline or her brutish mate when they arrived at the Bumptown.

Well, not inside, at least.

The moans of pleasure and excited yips told Adam that he was one hundred percent correct in his guess of how Wolfe would need to work off his aggression.

Again, there was no jealousy. Just want. The sounds of their mating were loud—on purpose, Adam decided, since Wolfe would want to prove to the entire territory that Evangeline was and would always remain his—and, instead of being envious of Wolfe, he wanted nothing more than to be making those same sounds with his Tabby.

But first he had to make sure she was going to be okay.

Though Colt offered to bring Tabby with him and Shea, Adam refused to let her out of his sight. So he laid her on the backseat of his coupe, putting boot to the pedal as he cut the hour-long trip down to barely forty minutes. Colt kept on his ass, zipping down the quiet roads, weaving through the limited traffic on the highway, pushing his truck to keep up with Adam and his lead foot.

They arrived at the Bumptown within minutes of each other. Once Colt led the way to his front door, Adam gathered the still-slumbering Tabby up in his arms as gently as possible, popping the driver’s side door closed with his hip, before eating up the ground between him and Colt’s house.

The shifter held the door for him, directing him to a spot where Adam could place Tabby down again.

The smart-alecky Dodge McCoy was haunting the front room when they showed up. Nearly transparent, and wearing a serious expression that was nothing like Adam remembered from the few times he had the “pleasure” of being around Colt’s ghost pal, Dodge zoomed in on Colt as the shifter tugged the door closed behind him.

Keeping his voice down, so quiet that Adam’s enhanced senses couldn’t even catch a hint of his exaggerated New Yawk accent, Dodge launched right into an intense conversation with Colt. Adam picked up on the nervous movements— the way his ghostly form flickered, the derby Dodge always had on him flipping between his fingers as he turned, turned, turned it in his hands—and decided that Dodge had more important things to worry about than being an ass.

“Where’s that room again?”

“Come with me. Let’s get her comfortable and see how she’s doing.”

Shea led him upstairs. It had to be a guest room. There was the scent of Colt’s animal permeating the entire space, Shea’s woodsy aroma, too, but it was weaker in the neatly furnished room with the royal blue drapes and the dark grey quilt on the bed. A hint of dust overlaid everything, the caustic stink of floor cleaner, all topped off with the very faint scent of Maddox Wolfe that immediately rubbed him raw.

Colt’s brother must have been the last one to stay over.

It was an irrational response, but Adam hesitated in placing Tabby down on the bed when Shea instructed him to. But then, because he knew it was irrational, he sucked it the fuck up and settled her with her head on the royal blue pillow.

“Why isn’t she up yet?” he worried. And, okay, it might’ve come out as more of a gruff demand, but he didn’t mean for it to. He couldn’t help it. “It’s been close to an hour. I thought you said she’d be alright.”

“These things take time,” soothed Shea.

“Yeah, but—”

“Adam. Relax. You trusted me with healing you, right?”

He tore his anxious gaze away from Tabby, spying the familiar magenta glow already covering Shea’s delicate hands. “‘Course.”

“Then trust me with your Tabby. Remember, it took Colton days to recover when he got hit by one of Priscilla’s spells.”

“That bitch threw him out of a window, Shea.”

Barely masked fury lit up her witch’s gaze at the memory. “Yes. She did. And Colton is a shifter. He would’ve shaken it off if Priscilla hadn’t hit him with magic first. Tabby… give me some time.”

“Okay. Yeah. You’re right.”

“Back up.”

He did. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before he bounced forward on the

balls of his feet, hanging over Shea’s shoulder, asking questions about what she was doing next. It was as if he was possessed. No matter how much he wanted to stay calm, it was impossible.