It was a junk room, filled with things—and now people—that weren’t important.
I shoved my hands in my pockets, reasoning that would stop me from lashing out again. “His real name is Hank, not Curtis. Hank Dobson. He’s my father.” I tried to keep my voice level, but it shook on every word. “I didn’t know he had LS. He hid it.”
Jason turned to Kyle. “Did you know?”
“Of course not,” snapped Kyle, surprise warring with anger in his voice. “It’s not like Mac keeps pictures of her dad around.”
He reached out to touch my arm and I moved away. “It’s not you,” I said quickly as hurt flashed behind his eyes. “If you hug me or touch me right now, I’ll cry.”
And I really didn’t want to cry.
Kyle nodded, then walked to the cot and sat a few feet from Serena. “He goes by Curtis Hanson. Eve introduced me to him when she brought me here a few nights ago. He’s the leader of the Eumon pack.”
“Pack leader?” I echoed just as Jason said, “Eve was the one who brought you here?”
Hank had always hated responsibility. The idea of him leading a club full of werewolves didn’t make sense.
“I met Eve my first night in Denver,” explained Kyle. “She tried to tear a chunk out of me before realizing I wasn’t local.”
Serena frowned. “Why? Everything I’ve ever heard makes Denver sound like the be-all and end-all for wolves. What difference would it make whether or not you were local?”
He shrugged. “Turns out there are three separate packs in Denver and they all have territories. I wandered into Eumon turf and she thought I was from another pack. She’s small, but strong.”
There was a strange note of respect in Kyle’s voice that made my stomach do a small flip. I told myself that I had nothing to be jealous of, but why had Eve lied about knowing him? What could she possibly have had to gain?
“Anyway,” continued Kyle, “she felt guilty so she brought me here. Introduced me around. Found couches for me to surf on. Eumon is the only pack in the city that takes rogues—people not infected by someone already in the group. It was come here or try to go it on my own.”
“You could have come home.” I shook my head and corrected myself. “You can come home.”
“It’s not that simple. I can’t just—” Kyle checked himself and flexed his hands. “You guys are safer without me around.”
Serena snorted. “Richie Rich joined a right-wing hate group and Mac’s legal guardian was dating a mass murderer. Compared with that, you’re about as dangerous as a carton of two-day-expired milk.”
I walked to the cot and crouched in front of Kyle. A knot formed in my chest as I rested my hands on his knees, and when I spoke, my voice came out high and a little unsteady. “Don’t you want to come home?”
Kyle’s gaze darkened, but he didn’t answer. Maybe he just couldn’t believe I had asked something so stupid.
With a sigh, I pushed myself to my feet and walked to the window. One board looked like it might be a little loose. I pulled at it, then tried ramming my shoulder against it.
Jason cleared his throat. “What are you doing?”
“Looking for a way out.” I glanced at my friends. “You don’t seriously want to stay in here all night, do you?” I hit the board again. “We.” Hit. “Are.” Thud. “Getting out of here.” With each hit, I visualized Hank’s face.
I stopped to catch my breath, and Jason was suddenly at my side, reaching past me to try and pull the board free. It groaned but didn’t give.
“Regs,” Serena muttered affectionately as she stood and nudged Jason aside. She bit her lip and lashed out with her fist. The bottom of the board moved just enough for her to slide her fingers under the edge. After that, she was able to pull all of the boards off in seconds.
She examined her nails. “And the manicure is still intact.”
Fresh air filled the room. I sucked it down until my lungs were close to bursting.
And then I took a closer look at the window. It was small. Too small for any of us—even Serena—to squeeze through.
I picked up one of the boards and hurled it at the wall as my eyes filled with tears. We were close enough to the outside that I could feel the fresh air on my face and hear the distant sounds of traffic, but we were still trapped.
I walked to the ripped futon mattress and sank down. Hank and his wolves had put us in a box and we weren’t getting out unless they let us. I pulled my legs to my chest and pressed my forehead to my knees.
After a minute, Kyle came and sat next to me. This time, when he tried to put an arm around me, I let him.
“Tess?” I pushed open the door to my cousin’s room. The mattress had been stripped and the closet stood open and empty. A lone wire hanger dangled on the rod.
“She’s not here.” Amy walked across the room and flopped onto the bed.
I swallowed. “You’re going to leave a stain.” As soon as the words slipped from my mouth, a pool of red appeared on Amy’s white cotton T-shirt.
She sighed and sat up. “You are such a buzzkill. Besides, it’s not like Tess is coming back here.”
A tasseled pillow had been abandoned on the floor. I picked it up and hugged it to my chest. “She’ll come back. She wouldn’t leave me.”
Amy shot me a small, sympathetic smile. “Everyone leaves you. Haven’t you figured that out yet?” I flinched and she frowned. “Sorry. You know everything gets twisted in here. I end up being the me you think you deserve.”
I didn’t argue.
I wondered, suddenly, if Jason and Kyle had their own versions of Amy, if their guilt, like mine, warped her like a fun-house mirror.
Amy reached back and touched a small indent in the mattress. “He laid his head here, you know.”
A shiver swept down my spine. I didn’t have to ask who she was talking about.
She stood and stretched, then frowned thoughtfully. “Doesn’t it bother you that Ben and Kyle have the same disease?”
“No.” I didn’t even have to think about it. “Kyle’s not Ben and a disease doesn’t change who someone is.”
“Ben thought it did.” She walked to the window and drummed her fingers on the sill, fast and furious like the beat of a werewolf’s heart. “Can you really date one of them? I know I was with Trey, but he never told me what he was. And you do have options. Jason wants you so badly, it’s a miracle he doesn’t spontaneously combust.”