Page 47 of A Drop of Anguish
My stomach sinks. “He… died?”
Jarron nods. “He bit you. And you killed him. You did not fail; I did.”
My heart is suddenly racing. He died. I killed him.
I killed him.
“Candice?” Jarron asks. He takes another step toward me.
My breaths are coming too fast. I’m not even certain what I’m freaking out over. The fact that Ikilledsomeone. Or the very real fear that his pack is going to retaliate.
Jarron grips my forearm, it’s not hard, but it still sends a wave of pain up my arm. I whimper and pull it back.
“What’s wrong?” he asks, confusion on his face. “Is your arm hurt too?”
I bite the inside of my lip and nod. “Just a small cut,” I lie.
His shoulders tense, but he holds back any other reaction. “I swear to you, Candice, I will never let anyone touch you again.”
“His pack,” I whisper. “They’re—”
“They’re going to bethankfulI don’t hunt each and every one of them down for whathedid.”
I blink.What?
“The message has already been sent. You will never see a member of that pack so long as you live. They will cower before you. One word from you and they’re all dead.”
“Jarron—”
His jaw ticks. “It takes honest effort not to hunt them down and tear them all apart now. I’m almost disappointed he died by your hand. I would have enjoyed ripping him apart. If it weren’t for the extra level of protection it’s now giving you, I would be.”
I tilt my head. “Protection?”
“You haven’t heard the rumors yet? You will soon. People are scared of you. And not because of me this time, but because they think you’re an even better potion master than your parents.”
I suck in a breath, and then I realize. “They think I killed him by potion.” Ms. Bhatt said she’d keep it quiet about the obsidian blade. So, with that missing part of the equation, the school knows I killed him, but they’re assuming it was a potion that did him in.
He nods.
“So, his pack really won’t do anything?”
“If they know what’s best for them, they’ll already be in hiding. If a wolf, or any creature, for that matter, starts sniffing around you, tell me. Don’t ever hide that from me again. Ever.”
I press my lips together tightly, then I nod. Things between us are so complicated. I don’t understand it at all, but for now, while we’re here in school together, I’ll take it for what it is. He cares enough to keep me safe. That’s all I know.
“I’m sorry I made you feel like you couldn’t come to me.”
“I told you I don’t blame you. I knew if I told you that you’d stop it. But I chose not to.”
“Because of what I said.”
I shrug. That may have played a role, but he doesn’t need to hear that. “I was planning to talk to you. Just minutes before…” I swallow. “Thompson convinced me to talk to you. It was just a little too late.”
He absently picks at a loose thread on his cuff. “You and Thompson—”
“Are friends. Nothing more.” I like him, sure, and I guess under the right circumstances, I could be interested, but not now. Not like this.
Those are also things Jarron does not need to hear.
