Free Cronin's Key II by N.R. Walker Page A

blood tests done.”
    “What are you looking for?”
    “Anomalies. I don’t know exactly,” Alec explained. “Something that wasn’t there before.”
    The doctor blinked and rubbed his wrinkled hand over his face. His eyes were a grayish blue, his eyebrows were bushy and matched his salt and pepper hair.
    Alec pulled a wad of neatly stacked bills from his jacket’s inside pocket. “To cover any lab costs.”
    The doctor put his black bag on the dining table and sighed. “Put your money away, son.” He looked around the room. “We okay to do this here?”
    Alec grinned. “Sure.” He took off his jacket and pulled out a chair, sitting in it. He laid his arm on the table and inspected the crook of his elbow and tapped the skin, searching for a vein.
    Cronin took a deep breath.
    When Doctor Benavides took a sterile pack of hypodermic needles from his bag, Cronin growled and took a step toward them. Kole was quickly in front of him with his hands to Cronin’s chest, and he coughed to cover any inhuman sounds coming from Cronin. “Care to help me in the kitchen?” Kole asked, pushing Cronin toward the door.
    Cronin could have easily stood his ground or knocked Kole through the wall if he wanted to—a human was no match for a vampire—but he knew Alec’s dad was right, and he allowed himself to be ushered out the door. As he entered the small kitchen, he heard Alec say, “Uh, yeah, he’s not a fan of needles.”
    “Whoa, Cronin, you with me, son?” Kole whispered. It was only then that Cronin realized Kole had his hands to Cronin’s face. The man looked worried, and when Cronin swiped his fangs with his teeth, he realized why.
    Cronin shook his head, trying to clear it.
    “It’s okay,” Kole said softly. “He’s not hurting him.”
    Cronin took a deep breath and realized that was probably not wise. The scent of Alec’s blood filled his nose, his throat, his senses. He wanted to taste it, and he wanted no one else to touch it. Every fiber in his body told him to kill the threat that touched his blood, his Alec. His body thrummed with danger and an energy he could barely contain. But he couldn’t allow harm to come to Kole or his doctor friend.
    He held his breath and shook his head again. His fangs wouldn’t retract, the urge was getting too strong. “I can’t be here,” he said, his voice strangling in his throat.
    Kole’s eyes went wide. He seemed to understand and he nodded. “Go.”
    And Cronin leapt.
     

CHAPTER SEVEN
     
     
     
    Cronin changed direction three times mid-leap, something he’d not ever done. He was so torn as to where to go, when all he wanted to do was to go back to Alec and tear the doctor apart for touching him.
    His first thought was to go to the fields of Dunadd in Scotland, where he’d taken Alec many times, the field where his human life had ended. He’d found such peace there with Alec, but there would be no peace. Not without Alec.
    Then he thought to go back to his apartment. Jodis and Eiji were there and they’d know what to say, what to do to calm him. But that wasn’t what he wanted. He wanted to rage, to let out the anger and frustration, so found himself in the darkened streets of San Pedro Sula. Rife with crime, this city was easy pickings. Murderers, rapists, the city was infested with human maggots, and when Cronin leapt to a darkened alley, he didn’t even have to look or listen. It was happening right in front of him. Two men held a struggling man down, face-first into the garbage-filled street. One held a knife to the back of his neck, the other was pulling his pants down. They noticed Cronin approach and they stopped, but before they could even speak, Cronin had them both by the throat, one in each hand.
    The man on the ground scurried away and the two attackers kicked the air with their feet, a good ten inches off the ground. Cronin didn’t waste a second. He threw one man into the alley wall, hard enough to render him unconscious. He grabbed the