Free Touch of Darkness by C. T. Adams, Cathy Clamp

movement. I shuddered at the possibilities. There’s a lot of people who hate and fear werewolves and don’t consider them humans, or people at all. And the vampires, God, what would happen if the vampires found out about the drug?
    I couldn’t expose Mary to that. Hell, much as I disliked Janine, I couldn’t even wish that on her. Shit.
    “I want to go with them.”
    The redhead shook his head no as he slid an inflatable pressure bandage around my arm and hit the button to activate it. It hurt, a lot. I felt the air rush out of my lungs and it was all I could do not to pull the arm away from him. Not that it would’ve done any good. He’d been expecting it and had a good, solid grip.
    “Not a chance, Ms. Reilly. Not with that arm you don’t. You need to get a shitload of stitches. Plus, that bone might be broken. Won’t know until after an X-ray.”
    “How do you know who I am?”
    He snorted in derision. “I do read the papers. Please! Your face is on half the magazines they stock in this place.” He sighed. “How are the wolves connected to you?”
    I nodded toward Mary. “The black female is my sister-in-law.”
    A look of disgust flickered over the face of the younger man. He stifled it, but not quickly enough for me not to notice. I felt my face flush, not with embarrassment but with good, old-fashioned anger. It was enough to burn off a few of the cobwebs in my head.
    I could hear an ambulance siren in the distance. We needed to make a decision now.
    “Send them to the hospital with me.”
    “No.”
    I tilted my head to meet the redhead’s eyes. There was no hint of compromise there. None. I had to do something. The problem was, there wasn’t much I could do. Security Agent Evans (I just now noticed the neat brass nameplate on the breast pocket of his gray uniform shirt) held all the cards.
    “I can’t leave them like this. They’re completely helpless.” I hadn’t meant to glance at the blond, but I couldn’t help myself. Evans’s eyes narrowed, his lips tightening into a hostile line as he followed my glance.
    “You and the surrogate go to the hospital. I’ll stay here and stand guard.” I jumped at the sound of Annie’s voice. I was just that unused to hearing her speak.
    “Miss,” Evans turned to face her, his expression stern. “Under the circumstances, I can’t—”
    “No.” She interrupted him, her voice firm. “Kate’s right. Somebody needs to be here to make sure no one hurts them while they’re helpless.” She gave him a nasty, saccharine smile. “After all, we wouldn’t want the press to start poking their noses into what really goes on in those holding cells, now would we?”
    I didn’t like the sound of that one bit. What had been going on in the holding cells? My eyes narrowed and I glared at the guards. I’d protested on instinct, not based on any knowledge. But Annie’s words had definitely hit a nerve. I wouldn’t have thought Evans’s expression could sour more, but he managed it. All the other agents were looking to him to make the decision. It would be his head on the block if something went wrong and he knew it. If he refused us and something happened to the wolves, he’d be in a world of trouble with the law, his superiors, me, and the wolves. If he didn’t refuse, and something went wrong, he’d be in just as much trouble. I almost felt sorry for him. Annie turned to me, her eyes dark with meaning. “We have an attorney on retainer. I’ll have the Acca send him here to deal with whatever charges are brought once they’ve reviewed the security tapes.” She gave me a grim look that finally held some hint of respect before turning to the surrogate. “Ruby, stay with Kate until they take her to surgery. She’ll protect you until we can get somebody to the hospital.”
    “Thank-you,” I sighed. “Somebody needs to meet Tom’s plane, let him know what happened.”
    She nodded brusquely. “We have a couple people inside the airport. That’s