Kelley Armstrong - Broken

“Who are you?” I asked.

Clay shot me a glare. I returned it. As long as we were standing here, working on plan B, I might as well ask some questions. Not like anyone else was doing anything.

She gave a snuffle and wiped her nose on her gloves.

“I-I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t remember. I was…someplace awful. For so long.” Her shoulders bent with a stifled sob. “Purgatory, it were. That’s where ’e sent me. I might not ’ave led a Christian life, but I didn’t deserve that.”

“It was a mistake that will be corrected,” Jeremy said, and looked at us as if to say, “Well, go ahead. Correct it.”

Clay stepped forward, but I shook my head. His idea of mercy would be a quick death, but he’d let her see it coming, reasoning it would be over before she had time to think about it. I could do better. I motioned for Jeremy to ask her another question, so I could get behind her without her noticing.

“You said ‘he,’ ” Jeremy began. “You were murdered?”

As he spoke, I slid to the side, but her head whipped around, eyes following me.

“Almost due, ain’t you, luv?” she said with a gap-toothed smile. “Such a pretty girl. You’ll have a beautiful baby. Handsome and ’ealthy. You want me to tell you wot it’ll be?” She stepped toward me, her hands out. “It’s an old midwife’s trick, but it always works.”

“Um, thanks,” I said, “but I’d rather be surprised.”

“Humor me, child,” she said, still coming toward me. “It’ll only take a moment. I just lay me ’ands-”

Clay leapt between us. The woman stumbled back. Jeremy jumped to catch her. The shawl fell away. Clay yanked me away so hard I saw only a split-second flash of the woman’s face, covered with a red rash and dotted with lesions.

I moved to help her up.

“No,” Jeremy said sharply. “Don’t touch her.”

I frowned at him. “It’s not contagious. She must be decaying-”

“No, that’s not the problem. And this is contagious-maybe not by touch, but we aren’t taking the chance.”

“All ’ad a good eyeful, ’ave you?” the woman snarled, still on the ground. “Getting a good look at poor Rose?”

She turned to look at me.

“Do you think you’re safe now, girl? A big man to protect you?” She spat. “ ’E’ll use you up, and toss you aside. Weren’t me work that gave me this-” She lifted her spotted hand. “It was me own ’usband. Gave me the pox, then left me to die.” She smiled, showing teeth as rotten as her face. “But I got me revenge, yes I did. Sent many a man to ’ell looking just like me, and already got a couple more ’eaded there. Then or now, it’s all the same. Long as your cunny works, they don’t ask to see your face.”

Syphilis. I took a slow step back toward Clay.

“Your ’andsome man can’t protect you, girl. Not with that mark you’re bearin’.”

“Mark?” I said.

“ ’Twas your blood that opened the portal.” She smiled. “Long as you’re alive, we can find you. Just follow the mark.”

“Yeah?” Clay said. “Works both ways, though, doesn’t it? You can only find her as long as you’re alive, which-” He wrapped his hands in her hair. “-isn’t going to be long.”

A quick wrench, and her neck snapped, then he leapt out of the way before her falling body touched him. She’d barely hit the gravel before she started to disintegrate.

“We done here?” Clay said.

Jeremy nodded. “We’re done.”

We’d left the car back near Cabbagetown. A bit of a hike, so we stopped partway for cold drinks, taking seats on the outside patio just as an employee had been about to close it down for the night.

“So she had syphilis,” I said. “And she’s been spreading it.”

“If she has, it was the guy’s fault for not wearing protection,” Clay said. “Anyone stupid enough to do that deserves syphilis or whatever else he gets.”

I gave him a look, but didn’t argue. It wasn’t worth it.

“But if someone does get syphilis-”

“Then it’s his own fault.” Clay’s gaze met mine. “Not yours, because your blood opened some portal and let her out. Wasn’t even your fault the portal opened. I hit the mosquito. You want to blame someone, blame me.”

“Even if someone does contract it, it’s treatable today with penicillin,” Jeremy said.

“She’s dead,” Clay said. “Threat eliminated. Now what about this mark business? That must be why that guy came after Elena yesterday. Not following the letter, but the mark.”

I nodded. “If they-whoever-want the letter back, the fastest way to find it is to find the person whose blood opened the portal. But that doesn’t matter now. Like you said, the zombies are dead and gone to dust. So what are we going to do with the letter?”

“You want to head back tonight?” Clay asked as we walked back to the car, lagging behind Jeremy. “Or find a hotel and take off after we’ve slept?”

“If you feel up to driving, tonight’s fine with me. I know you want to get home.”

He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. You don’t sleep well in hotels, but you probably won’t sleep any better sitting up in the car. Your choice.”

I squeezed his hand. “Thanks. I am ready to go home, but maybe…” I shrugged. “I don’t know. I’d rather wait until morning, make sure everything’s back to normal.”

Jeremy slowed to let us catch up. “We should sleep first. We’ve had two late nights. Rest up, and then we’ll head home.”

Back at the hotel, Clay and I did what we did most nights before bed-when we weren’t going for a late-night run. We shared a drink and conversation, winding down for sleep. These days, the drink was more likely to be hot chocolate or herbal tea than brandy. Tonight it was tea, from the bags the hotel provided. Another deviation from the norm was that we were alone; Jeremy had retired as soon as we returned to the hotel.

So we were stretched out in bed, drinking our tea and eating cookies, trying not to scatter crumbs on the bedding.

“Well, I hate to admit it,” I said, “but I think I’ve had enough excitement to last me through the rest of this pregnancy.”

“Tired, huh?”

“Not really-” I bit back a yawn and laughed. “Okay, I guess I am. I’ve had my little burst of activity and now I’m ready to go home and hole up for the duration.” I smiled over at him. “Bet you’re glad to hear that.”

He handed me another cookie. “I am…but if you start going stir-crazy again? You let me know and we’ll do something. Get your mind off stuff with the baby.”

“Fretting about the baby, you mean. It drives me crazy. We spent three years of hashing it out. What if I have a girl? How would she feel, growing up with werewolves and not being one? Is that fair? Or what if it’s a boy and the genes don’t pass on? What if he does carry the genes-is that fair, putting that burden on our child? What if I can’t carry to term? What if-?” I growled and shook my head. “Every conceivable question debated and debated until we had all the answers.”

“Or thought we did.”

I gave myself a shake, turned around and slid under his arm, resting my head on his shoulder. “Time to stop talking and get some sleep. A few months from now, I’ll be dying for a quiet night like this.”

“ We will. It’s a joint venture, remember? I just wish I could do my share now, take half the burden of this part, half the worrying.”

I snuggled into him and was asleep before he turned out the light.

WHEN WE WOKE UP THE NEXT MORNING, IT WASN’T MORNING at all, but early afternoon. That’s what happens after two nights of staying up until nearly dawn. While I was stretching and yawning, struggling to wake up, Clay pulled on clothes, went downstairs and got breakfast. Jeremy wasn’t in his room, but had left a note, so Clay wouldn’t worry. Yes, fifty-seven years old and he still couldn’t walk out the door without letting someone know where he was. Such is the life of a Pack Alpha.