Blood Lust (3 page)

The wolf was half on top of me, scrabbling at my legs as he
snapped his jaws repeatedly. I shoved the rake handle into the wolf’s mouth and
pushed as hard as I could. I heard it gag as its jaws were forced open by the
wooden handle.

Summoning my strength, I forced the wolf off me, sending it
sprawling in the grass, and ran for the driver’s side door. I managed to yank
it open, but as I was climbing inside, the wolf’s teeth closed on my leg
through the denim of my jeans. I screamed and kicked at the animal, but he only
gripped tighter and pulled, dragging me from the car. Still kicking, I grabbed
onto the steering wheel and held on for dear life. With one fist I pounded on
the steering wheel, sounding the horn in short, sharp bursts, praying that
somebody would hear. I could feel the wolf’s fangs sinking deeper into my leg,
and I started screaming, still clutching the steering wheel like a lifeline.

When the wolf finally let go of my leg, my entire lower half
hit the ground with a spine-jarring impact. I lost my grip on the steering
wheel and fell to the ground beside the car. Far from defeated, I grabbed the
rake again and swung it awkwardly, missing the wolf and hitting the car door.

The wolf leaped at me again, and for the second time, I
wedged the rake inside its jaws, narrowly preventing it from biting me.

In one abrupt, breathless moment, a black blur slashed
across my vision, and suddenly the weight of the wolf was off me and the rake
was clattering to the ground by my feet. I’d been screaming so loud that the
sudden stillness rang in my ears. I scrambled upright, wincing at the pain that
shot through my injured leg. Although they were outside of the illumination of
my headlights, I could see two dark shapes- the wolf, which was slightly
lighter in color, and the black blur, rolling around on the ground together. I
was too far away to tell what kind of animal the second creature was, or if it
was an animal at all- although the growls and snarls it was emitting certainly
indicated it wasn’t human.

I knew I had no time to waste, and I used the steering wheel
to pull myself upright. I was about to fall into the car when I hesitated. If I
got into my car, the horses would still be unprotected. I couldn’t leave them
like that.

I yanked my keys free from the ignition, then grabbed the
rake and hobbled towards the barn. At any moment I expected the wolf to attack
me from behind, but I managed to reach the barn door without incident, and
pulled it shut behind me, bolting it from the inside.

I flicked on the lights and looked around. No other wolves.

I could still hear the fighting going on outside.

My heart sank as I realized that I’d left my cell phone on
the ground by my car. How was I supposed to call the police now? I looked down
at my keys, wondering if I should hit the panic button. But Gram was the only
person close enough to hear, and if she heard the car alarm, she’d come
outside- placing her right in harm’s way.

I couldn’t bear the thought of putting her in danger like
that.

I heard footfall on the ground outside- heavier than I would
have expected for a wolf- and I held my breath, listening. The sounds of battle
faded as the two adversaries disappeared into the woods.

I looked down at my leg and blanched at the blood soaking
through my torn jeans. Should I risk going back outside? Even if I did make it
to my car, the house was a good fifty yards away, and I’d still have to get out
and enter the house. It seemed like a huge gamble, especially with the scent of
blood on me now.

I limped to the tack room and unlatched the door. At the far
corner of the room was exactly what I was looking for- a first aid kit. I
grabbed it and sat down heavily on the wooden floor of the tack room. I grabbed
the scissors and worked the blades into a torn hole of my jeans before cutting
straight down the inseam. Once the pant leg was cut open, I folded it up and
surveyed the damage.

I was bleeding from a number of puncture wounds. In some
places the wolf’s teeth had actually torn through my flesh, presumably when it
was trying to drag me, leaving long, bloody furrows behind.

I had no idea what I was doing, and wished again that I had
some way to contact my grandma. I felt a surge of irritation. If I’d called for
help instead of just waltzing into the barn like an idiot, this could have all
been avoided. I’d never been so disgusted with myself in my life. So much for
adapting to country living- I was still a clueless city girl.

There was a bottle of hydrogen peroxide in the first aid
kit, so I uncapped it and, taking a deep breath, poured some on my leg. The
pain as my wounds fizzled was excruciating, and I grit my teeth, banging one
fist against the floor.

Did peroxide kill rabies? I wasn’t sure, but it wasn’t like
I had any better options. If that wolf had been infected, chances were I would
be, too.

I couldn’t muster the courage to use the peroxide a second
time, so I wrapped my leg in gauze instead. At least this would stop the
bleeding, and when I felt like it was safe, I could go wake Gram.

I pulled a saddle blanket down from its rack and wrapped it
around me, leaning up against the wall and trying to slow my fluttering heart.

Despite my fear and the adrenaline coursing through my
veins, as the minutes ticked past, I found myself nodding off, too exhausted
from the day’s events to stay awake for long.

Chapter Two

I woke to Grandma Sam calling my name.

“Eve? Eve! Where are you?” Her voice was tinged with
desperation.

I blinked and looked around. I was in the corner of the tack
room, wrapped in a purple saddle blanket. “I’m here,” I tried to say, but my
voice was hoarse. I swallowed and tried again. “Gram, I’m here.”

“Eve?”

I disentangled myself from the saddle blanket and tried to
stand up, but my knees buckled beneath me, and I hit the floor hard. My head was
spinning, and my tongue felt like sandpaper against the roof of my mouth.

I heard the door rattle as she tried to pull it open. “Eve?
Are you in there? Answer me right now!”

“I’m here,” I croaked, and crawled to the door of the tack
room. There was a thin lip where the wooden floor ended and the dirt floor of
the barn aisle began, and I eased my legs around to touch the ground. My bite
wounds were throbbing in time with my pulse.

She was there in the next instant, kneeling beside me. She
must have come through the side door, since the double doors were bolted from
the inside.

“What happened? I found your cell phone outside. There’s
blood all over the grass. Oh, sweetheart, I’m so glad you’re all right.” She
pulled me to her, wrapping her arms around me.

I rested my head against her shoulder. “There was a wolf,” I
rasped, and pushed my left leg out a little further so that she could see the
blood-soaked gauze.

Gram had her cell phone out before I could say another word.
I let my eyelids drift shut. My head was heavy, pounding with the same
insistent beat as the wounds in my leg. The events of the night before came
rushing back to me all at once. Closing the bookstore. The carnival. Max.
Jericho. The parking garage. The barn. The wolf.

Strangely, the wolf was not the most prevalent thing on my
mind right at that moment. I was remembering the electric jolt I’d felt when
Jericho had taken my hand in the parking garage. When our bare skin had
touched, excitement had surged through my entire body, leaving me breathless
and flustered.

Did he think I was crazy now? I’d asked him, “Do you feel
that?” and he’d only bid me goodnight. Maybe he thought I was certifiably nuts,
and just didn’t want to be rude by pointing it out.

I must have drifted off to sleep again, lying there in
Gram’s arms, because the next thing I knew, someone was shaking my shoulders
gently. I opened my eyes and blinked, trying to force my paper-dry lips to
speak. I meant to say, “What is it?” but all that came out was something like,
“Wughiwuhhh.”

“Eve, tell me what happened.” Max came into focus above me,
his dark eyes concerned. Was that who Gram had called? I remembered suddenly
that he was a doctor. Ah. That made sense.

I cleared my throat again. “A wolf…was after the horses. It
bit me…by…the car. I used, um, peroxide on my leg. I think the wolf was rabid.”

Beside me, Gram’s hands flew to cover her mouth. “Rabid? Oh,
Max. What should we do?”

“She says she already treated it with peroxide,” Max said,
glancing at the mess I’d left in the middle of the tack room floor. He put a
hand on my shoulder as I struggled into a sitting position. “I’ll clean it up
and give you a rabies shot, Eve, and some antibiotics, but let’s get you inside
first.”

I nodded drowsily and tried to stand, but Max surprised me
by putting his arms around me and lifting me up easily. I let my hands rest in
my lap and rested my head against his chest, still too sleepy to object.

“You’re running a fever,” he said, and his voice rumbled
deep in his chest, vibrating against my ear.

I mumbled in agreement. The sun had barely come up when he
carried me outside. Gram had probably gotten up early to feed the horses and
discovered my car outside. I hadn’t meant to sleep in the barn all night.

The chirping of birds and the sounds of nature roused me
pleasantly.

“Do I have rabies?” I asked, still dizzy but feeling
slightly more alert.

“No,” Max said, and his voice was firm. “I’ll give you the
shot, but it’s just a precaution. You’ll be fine.”

Through my feverish haze, I could tell that his words were
clipped, almost as if he were annoyed. I grimaced, realizing he was probably
just as irritated with me as I was with myself. “Sorry,” I muttered. “Still a
city girl.”

I felt him shift slightly, looking down at me. “What?”

“I shouldn’t have gone into the barn,” I said, feeling
grumpier by the moment. My leg hurt, and my head ached, and I didn’t
particularly feel like explaining what had happened.

“You didn’t know. It’s not your fault.” He sighed as he
walked up the steps leading to the deck and the front door. “Are you sure it
wasn’t a coyote? Those are a lot more common around here than wolves.”

“I know the difference between a wolf and a coyote,” I
answered witheringly. “This was a wolf, and it had green eyes.”

I felt Max’s arms tense up. “Wolves don’t have green eyes.”

“This one did.”

He was silent for a moment, and then he apparently decided
it wasn’t worth arguing over. “I’m surprised it attacked you. Most wolves are
non-confrontational when it comes to humans.”

“Rabid,” I reminded him.

“That is a strong possibility.”

I heard a car door slam, and Gram came clattering up the
steps, carrying a black bag. She opened the door so Max could carry me in.
“Which room is hers?” he asked, and she pointed upstairs. I thought about
protesting, since he’d carried me so far already, but I honestly didn’t feel
like I was in any shape to be climbing the stairs. Besides, he smelled like
soap, and the fresh scent alleviated my headache somewhat.

We climbed the stairs, and he took me into my room. As he
put me down carefully on my bed, I sent up a silent prayer of thanks that my
room was reasonably tidy. I’m not normally messy, but it would have been
mortifying if I’d left a bra on the bed or something.

“Is there anything you can give me for my headache?” I
asked. “I feel like crap.”

“Ibuprofen,” he said, taking the black bag from Gram. “It’ll
help with your fever, too.”

“I have ibuprofen,” Gram volunteered. “I’ll run and fetch
some for you. And some water, too.”

That sounded wonderful. My throat was so dry I feared it
would crack into pieces at any moment.

When she walked out the door, Max put his fingers on my
wrist, looking at his watch to check my pulse. “Why did you pick this room?” he
asked, glancing up at me.

“You mean instead of the one on the bottom level?”

He nodded, eyes on his watch. It had been years since I’d
seen anyone wear a watch. Most people just use their cell phones.

I cleared my throat. “I like the balcony.” The curtains were
still drawn, so it was blessedly dark in my room. That helped my headache. I
took the opportunity to study Max a little more closely. He wore slacks and a
polo shirt- a far cry from the jeans and ragged t-shirt he’d been sporting last
night. His glossy black hair was pulled back into a low ponytail that fell
forward over his shoulder and brushed his thigh as he leaned towards me. I’d
never met anyone with hair that long before.

“Are you allowed to cut your hair?” I asked.

He released my wrist and gave me an incredulous look. “Why
wouldn’t I be allowed to cut my hair?”

“Because of…I mean…like, religious reasons. Or cultural
reasons. I thought maybe it was the source of your strength, or healing power,
or something.” I knew how immensely stupid I sounded. “I have a fever,” I said
lamely. “I’m not thinking straight.”

“We’ll blame it on that,” he replied. He ran a thermometer
over my forehead and checked the reading that came up. “104. That’s a good
excuse.”

“Um…thanks?”

“I’ve got it,” Grandma Sam announced, coming into the room.
She was balancing a pill bottle, a cup and a pitcher of water on a tray. She
set the tray on my nightstand and poured a glass of water.

Max was messing around with some stuff inside his bag, so I
turned my attention to Gram and waited patiently as she put two pills in my
hand. “Here, sweetheart. I’m going to leave the pitcher here so you can stay
hydrated.”

“Are you going to open the store today?” I asked, feeling
guilty. I’d been scheduled to work this morning so Gram could get some stuff
done around the house.

“Yes, but don’t stress over it. This certainly isn’t your
fault,” she said, running a hand over my tangled hair. “Olivia and I will
manage today. She’s been asking for more hours anyway.”