Eve turned away and headed for the door.
“Why?” His voice was raspy.
“Because you’ll love the sand between your toes.” She got the feeling Cain hadn’t enjoyed many free, fun moments in his life. That was going to change. She’d change it for him.
“No . . . why would you say you loved me?”
She glanced back at him.
“You don’t.” His words seemed so certain. “You can’t.”
It was her turn to ask. “Why not?”
“Because I’m a monster, Eve. I destroy everything around me.”
She kept her face expressionless. He said he was a monster, but he sounded like a lost little boy. He should have known love before this moment.
He’d always know it now.
“You haven’t destroyed me,” she told him softly, swallowing the lump in her throat. “And you won’t.” Then, because she thought he needed to hear the words again and because the guy had better start getting used to the fact, she repeated, “I love you.”
The pain that flashed on his face hurt her heart. It hurt even more when he whispered, “Don’t.”
Didn’t he realize that he deserved to be loved? Everyone did. Once Trace was safe, she’d prove that truth to Cain.
She headed into the hallway. Before she could leave the room, Cain grabbed her hand. “I know another way. A way unwanted guests won’t see.”
Frowning, Eve hesitated.
“I got in without being seen,” Cain said, “and I’ll get out that way, too. We don’t want the Feds following us.”
Or taking a shot at Trace.
“Trust me?” he asked, as he shut the door.
Her breath whispered out, but Eve nodded.
Cain led her back through the balcony door. The wind blew against her, carrying a faint chill. Eve looked down at the steep drop.
I can’t rise.
“No one’s on the floor below you. I made sure of it.” His lips twisted. “I booked the room under an assumed name.”
The room above her and the room below . . . the guy had been prepared.
He wrapped his arms around her. “Just hold on to me.”
She did.
He lifted her up. Stood on the edge of the railing. They fell. The wind whipped past them. One instant—
His body jerked, turning quickly, twisting impossibly in midair.
Then they were on solid ground. On the balcony just below her room. Eve could only shake her head. The man just kept being full of surprises.
“My reflexes aren’t exactly human . . .”
Nothing about him was . . . and she loved him for that. Eve didn’t want an average guy. She wanted Cain.
He led the way through the dark to the room’s main door. The door clicked open. Cain and Eve eased into the hallway. Instead of heading for the big elevator on the right, Cain guided her to the staff elevator nestled just a few feet away. He pulled a key card from his pocket and swiped it over the access pad. The door slid open.
“You’re a handy guy,” she told him, impressed. Cain had definitely thought of everything.
He’d make for a fantastic reporter . . . or a criminal.
One brow rose. “This elevator will take us to the hotel’s back entrance. Staff only. We should be able to leave without anyone seeing us.”
One problem solved. Now, if they could just stop a raging werewolf, well, then they’d be set.
Getting to the club district was easy enough. Finding the cops—yeah, another easy task. They just looked for the flashing blue lights and the crowd of people.
There were no bodies on the ground, but Eve saw two men getting bandaged and loaded into the back of an ambulance. Another ambulance had already left—they’d passed it when they arrived.
There was still blood in the street.
Eve and Cain hung back, blending into the crowd of spectators. She wished she had a shifter’s sense of smell so that she could find Trace but—
Cain inhaled. “That way.”
She had something better. Her own personal phoenix.
They slid back through the crowd, heading for the alley on the left. She felt like dozens of eyes were on her and tensed, glancing back.
But she just saw the crowd. So many faces. They were focused on the blood. The chaos. Not her.
So why was she so sure that she was being watched?
Trace.
Cain’s arm brushed against hers, and Eve almost jumped.
“There.” He pointed into the darkness because, of course, where else would he point? Not like a werewolf would be hiding in the light.
Eve followed him. They headed into the crack between the buildings. Moved away from the crowd. One block. Two. Then . . .