In the Light of the Moon (Dark War Chronicles) by A.L. Kessler Page B

him making Jax look up. “Lucius?”
    The vampire stepped out of the shadows and looked down at him. “Look
what I found, a kitty.” He snarled down at him. “What have you been up to?”
    “Can we talk about this later? I’m bleeding out.” He leaned against the
alley wall. “And the cops are coming. I’d hate to have to explain all this to
humans.”
    Lucius grabbed him by the shirt and flashed them back to the manor.
Throwing him to the ground once they materialized, Lucius snarled down at him.
“Explain. The scent of Kass’ family are all over you. What the hell have you
been up to?”
    “I went to see them.”
    “Why?”
    Jax leaned his head on the floor. The cold tile against his skin helped
clear his head. He calmed his breathing, trying to work through the pain. “To
get them to leave Kass alone.”
    “You’ve been working for them?” Lucius knelt in front of him. After a beat
of silence he grabbed a hand full of Jax’s hair and pulled his head up. “Answer
me.”
    “Yes, I went back to tell them I didn’t want the job any longer. I
hadn’t known that they were out to hurt Kass. I thought they just wanted their
family back and you were keeping that from happening.” He glanced at the
vampire. “I need help, please, I can’t heal all these wounds.”
    Lucius gave a wicked grin. “And give me a reason that I shouldn’t drain
the rest of your blood.”
    “Because I didn’t know and I won’t let them hurt her. I don’t want
anything to hurt her.” His cat stirred inside him, trying to hold on. “Please.”
    “You will stay away from her.” Lucius straightened and backed away.
“Agreed?”
    Jax closed his eyes. The thought of staying away from Kass made a
different pain spread in his chest. “Agreed.”
    The vampire disappeared and then reappeared with bandages, water and a
cloth. “Stupid to go up against two shifters of that clan.”
    “Three.”
    “Three?” Lucius asked as he started with the stomach wound, cleaning
the blood off and bandaging it. “Sarah was there as well then.”
    Jax tried not to arch at the pain. “Yes, she didn’t have control
though, it’s almost like she was a new shifter.”
    “She’s apparently being taught control, but has spent too much time in
kitty form, according to Kass.” He moved to the wound on Jax’s wrist. “Took a
bite out of you, did she?”
    “Where’s Kass?”
    Lucius put unnecessary pressure on the wrist. “She’s on a hunt, won’t
be back until morning, plenty of time to get you patched up and out of the
way.”
    “Of course she is, off being your little killer.” Jax whispered and
closed his eyes. “Why does her family want her? One of the brothers said
power.”
    “She’s special, her mother was special. Originally her family wanted
her killed, but now I think because of the war, they have realized that she
could be an asset to them.” Lucius tugged on the bandage.
    Jax gave a lazy smile. “Yeah, she really is special.” His eyes drifted
shut as his body told him sleep would help him heal.
    “And you’re going to stay away from her.” Lucius reminded him.
    Jax opened his eyes. “Yeah, and I’m going to stay away from her. You
going to be able to take care of the clan?”
    “Yes, as long as Kass listens to me, I can protect her.” He started out
of the room. “Be somewhere else come sunrise, Jax.”

 
    She listened to the sound of feet against the
concrete as she crouched by the bush, hidden in the shadows. Kass and her
panther both agreed that they needed to wait. The woman needed to be a little
bit closer before they tore out her throat. Kass wiggled her hind further down.
Her tail twitched back and forth as the shadow of the human came closer. Just
two more steps. One more step. Kassity pounced and took the screaming human
out. The human side tried to hesitate, but her panther counterpart decided it
was time to strike and tore out the woman’s throat.
    The blood felt warm as it slid down her throat,