Page 21 of Fanged Desire
Addison nodded, biting her lip. "Yeah, there are cameras out back near the parking lot. They’ll have footage of the whole thing."
I cursed under my breath. "Perfect. Just perfect."
My mind whirled with options. If the footage got into the wrong hands, Addison would be under scrutiny, but there would also be evidence of my involvement – and, by extension, my coven’s. This could easily spark a diplomatic incident between the elves and the vampires.
"We need to get that footage," I said, low and urgent. "Before anyone else does."
"But how?" Addison asked, her voice panicked. "The manager’s going to check it, and if he sees me on there he might want to look into my history. I can’t blow my cover. I’ve been hiding my identity so far but just barely–"
"He won’t," I interjected. "We’re going back to the club. We’ll get the footage before they can review it."
Addison looked at me with wide eyes. "Nowyou want to take me back?"
"Do you have a better plan?" I snapped.
Addison fell silent, her face twisting in thought. “Why areyouworried about being caught?”
I stiffened, and the steering wheel creaked in protest under my grip. “I just – I can’t afford to have people looking into me either, okay? No one can know what I did tonight.”
She opened her mouth to question me further and then promptly shut it, leaning back in her seat with her arms folded. After a beat, she perked up again, eyes shining with renewed life like something just occurred to her.
“There are cameras all over the club. If we can get that footage, there might be record of Penelope on there.”
That right there was the bigger picture I couldn’t afford to think about at the moment. But she had a point, and it was clearly important to her. I shot her a sideways glance. “You want a lead on your missing sister, we need that footage.”
The dancer/doctor/potential secret third thing for all I knew, wiped at her eyes and fixed me with a look reminiscent of the first night I laid eyes on her. Driven, determined, and completely in control. “Let’s do it.”
I started the car again, pulling out of the quiet street and heading back toward the club. “You’re awfully calm for someone who was bawling on my shoulder a few minutes ago.”
“A moment of weakness,” Addison huffed, jutting out her jaw in defiance. “Won’t happen again.”
I kept quiet, but a moment later she spoke up again, softer than before. “Thank you, by the way. For – well, everything.”
I turned a corner, sharper than intended. “No problem.”
Truth be told, I didn’thateher crying on my shoulder. Her outburst was no different to my violent response to finding her in danger. Emotional overload. And it occurred to me then, that it was the first time I had ever had her in my arms. Despite the dire circumstances, it felt… good. But there was no time to dwell on that just yet.
My mind was churning, calculating my next move. We didn’t have much time, and I couldn’t afford any more mistakes. I just needed to get in, get the footage, and get out.
From the corner of my eye I saw Addison scrutinizing me, a kind of fascinated curiosity in her expression. “Take a picture, it lasts longer.”
"Are you a shifter?" she asked bluntly, as if the idea had just occurred to her.
“What?” I snapped my head in her direction, nearly speeding right into a stop sign at the disruption.
"You know, a shifter. Like a werewolf." Addison repeated. Her eyes were still red and teary, but her tone was oddly casual, like we were discussing the weather.
I could only stare at her and hope like hell there were no turns up ahead.
“I’d forgotten all about it until now.” Addison shrugged at my stupefied expression. "I saw this girl shift during a sleepover when I was a kid. I didn’t believe it at first, thought I was half-asleep and dreaming, but then when I was working in the ER, this guy… super hairy, he went nuts. Destroyed half the ward before security managed to get him. That’s when I realized maybe I wasn’t crazy."
I exhaled, trying to wrap my head around the abrupt change in the conversation. And the fact that Addison-Kinsley-Whateverthefuck was aware of the supernatural to some degree.
"No. I’m not a shifter," I said flatly, too encumbered to add another major concern to my plate.
"Then what are you?" Addison’s voice took on an almost teasing lilt, but there was genuine curiosity behind it. "I mean, you’re obviously something. No normal human can do what you did back there."
I shot her a sideways glance, trying to think of an answer that wouldn’t make things worse. "I’m just... good at fighting," I said lamely.
