Free Blood and Bite by Laken Cane

much
worse. The least Rune could do was read her fucking emails.
    The door opened and the crew filed out, quiet and somber.
    She’d given them Jeremy—had owed it to them. He’d hurt them
as much as he’d hurt her and they’d needed a piece of him.
    But Llodra was hers and she wasn’t sharing him with anyone.
    He was hers to kill.
    Amy’s death hit Lex hard. She’d read Amy when they’d first
met and had seemed to take a liking to the girl. But after Amy had gone back
home to her father, the entire crew had just…forgotten about her.
    “Do you want to go home, Lex?” Rune asked, as the Other stood shivering between Denim and Levi.
    “No. I don’t want to go home to the quiet. I don’t want to
think about her.”
    Rune nodded though Lex couldn’t see her. It was easy to
forget Lex was blind. She took a deep breath. “Okay. There’s nothing we can do
for now. Let’s go to work.”
    Goodbye, Amy.
    They’d all lose themselves in work but tonight when it was
dark and quiet, the memories would come. And the guilt.
    Rune knew she needed to feed. When her body needed
nourishment she was more likely to spiral down into dangerous territory.
    “Sometimes it feels like there is something wrong with
Spiritgrove,” Lex said, walking beside Rune.
    “Bad shit happens everywhere, baby.”
    “I know,” Lex answered, her voice
dry. “I grew up outside River County and lived through some harsh things.”
    Harsh things. Yeah .
    “But still. Spiritgrove seems to attract more than its share
of nightmares.”
    “That it does,” Rune agreed.
    “I’ll ride with you.”
    “Okay.”
    Rune climbed into her SUV, starting up the car and turning
on the heater as Lex buckled herself into the passenger seat. She held her
fingers to the vent. Winter was never going to be over and she was sick of it.
    She waved as Jack pulled away from the curb and honked at
her. Levi was with Jack, and Denim was with Z. They’d all meet up at the office
after they’d checked out every vampire haunt they could find before darkness
started to threaten.
    “We could use Raze right now,” Rune murmured.
    “Tomorrow,” Lex replied. “He’ll be with us tomorrow.”
    “And eager to fight. Cooped up in
that jail all this time…he’s going nuts.”
    “He wouldn’t let us visit.”
    “I didn’t give him a choice.”
    Lex’s smile was faint. “You never do.”
    Rune lifted an eyebrow, not sure how to take Lex’s remark.
She shrugged and forgot about it. “Have you ever tried to read Raze?”
    “Yes,” Lex said, unashamed. “But I got nothing. I can’t read
Jack, either. But Z…” She smiled, but it wasn’t a happy smile. “You know Z
loves you.”
    “Z loves all women,” Rune said, and fiddled with the heater.
    “He’s a protector. He cares about women, but you he—”
    “Lex. Shut it.”
    Lex shrugged. “Sorry.”
    “Z is too good for me anyway.”
    Lex was quiet for two minutes. “Why did you ask if I could
read Raze? Is there something you need to know?”
    But it was not her secret to tell. “No. I just wondered.”
    “This summer, when I can put the windows down and feel my
surroundings, will you teach me to drive?”
    No one had ever called Rune a coward. “This summer I’ll take
you to a quiet country road and let you get behind the wheel.”
    Lex’s jaw dropped. “You will?”
    Rune laughed and reached over to give the girl’s arm a quick
squeeze. “Hell yeah!” It wasn’t Lex’s fault she was
blind. If she wanted to drive, she was going to fucking drive.
    “You’re a good friend,” Lex said.
    “Don’t get all gooey.”
    Lex had cheered up. “Where are we headed? I wasn’t paying
attention when you divvied up the county.”
    “Z and Denim are going to Blackfire, Jack and Levi to
Hawthorne, and you and I are headed to Wormwood. Tomorrow we’ll try a few other
places if Llodra isn’t found today.”
    And he wouldn’t be. It wasn’t going to be that easy to catch
the master. She just hoped he