boundless dean vivien

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."How many times have you told me being a werewolf doesn't make them any less human?""I'm not talking about that.I'm talking about being captive for so long.He was there longer than any of the rest." Corey paused."You should leave him with me for now.Give him time to acclimate being outside of a cage.""Oh, hell no." The words came out louder than I intended.Elijah stiffened against my legs, already numb from holding him for the past hour, and I heard rustling in the back as the others responded to my tone.I clenched my jaw, taking a moment to calm down before adding, "You of all people know how hard I looked for him when he left town.If you think I can turn my back on him now, you don't know me at all.""I'm not asking you to turn your back." Damn it, he was using his courtroom voice on me, the calm one meant to coax jurors into believing him.Fucker knew it worked, which only made me angrier."But a lot of time has gone by since you two saw each other last.He's going to have to deal with a lot of strong emotions coming out of this.I just don't think you need to throw yours into the mix unnecessarily.""They're already there.He was awake when I went in to get him.He knows it was me." My arms tightened around him."I promised him I wouldn't let him hurt anymore.I'm not going to break that.""You won't.""I will if you make me walk away.""Denny--""Listen to me.I know you have the power to lock me out.But you have to know, if you send me away tonight, I'm going to do the one thing left for me to keep Elijah safe."Though I hadn't said the words, I could tell from the way his knuckles went white on the steering wheel that he understood what I meant."That's suicide.""I'll have the element of surprise on my side.""You'll be outnumbered.""I don't care.If I can't stay with Elijah tonight, you can be damned sure I'm going to get in my car, drive back to that hellhole, and shoot anything that doesn't bark at me."He was right.It was suicide.But it was physically impossible for me not to fight back against men like those who'd used Elijah for sick fun and profit for the last six years.I would do it--ruin my career, risk prison--to make sure Elijah never had to worry about going back there ever again.And Corey knew that."All right," he finally said, though it didn't really feel like much of a victory."I'll put you two in a room by yourself.But until he wakes up, you're going to help me with the others.Talk to them, find out who it's safe to call for them, then contact those people so they can have the same peace of mind you have tonight."I would hardly call what I had peace of mind, but I wasn't going to argue.Besides, what he wanted from me was right up my alley.I had to do the same kind of thing on the job almost every night."Thank you.""Don't thank me yet.Our night's just begun.""I don't mean for that.Well, not just that.I mean, thanks for finding him." My eyes burned from unshed tears, but I blinked them away.It was too soon to break down, even as fragile as I felt.Corey relaxed a little."I'm just glad we got him out.For both of your sakes."Chapter 3By five in the morning, seven of the rescued werewolves had been picked up by family or friends, all of whom were subjected to rigorous warnings from Corey about keeping their mouths shut about everything that happened.As I watched him say goodbye to one after another, I marveled at how lucky he was he hadn't been caught out yet.I mean, think about it.Any one of the people he helped could make a mistake and mention him to the wrong person.Or any one of their loved ones.The more he did for the werewolf community, the greater the odds he'd get exposed, and yet, he'd been fighting for their rights behind the scenes for almost a decade.I'd always admired my big brother, but it wasn't until the last one left I realized how much he risked with everything he did.My various forays were nothing in the grand scheme of things.He was putting himself and his future on the line every time he broke another law.The five remaining included three men who claimed they didn't have anyone in the area to contact, the woman who'd thanked me--Elena Manning, I discovered, from Modesto--and Elijah.Corey had called a doctor to check out Elijah's injuries, but I'd been barred from the room while he was treated.The best I could manage was slipping away between phone calls to corner the doctor as he was on his way out."What do you know about werewolf healing?"His name was Will Zinn, and under any other circumstances, I probably wouldn't have considered him anything but what he claimed to be.Mid-forties, average height, dark hair that was starting to silver at the temples.Rimless glasses made him seem even more educated, but now that I got a good look at him, I could tell that the glasses were fake, the lenses too thin and uniform to have any practical purpose whatsoever."I don't," I answered in all honesty.He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his head, scratching at his nape before letting his arm drop.Exhaustion stooped his shoulders, and shadows haunted his brown eyes."In wolf form, it happens faster.Like this, he's just like any other human being.The difference is, whatever they burned him with was laced with silver."Even I knew what that meant."That's poison to wolves.""Which is why it's a very good idea to keep him from shifting until they've healed more.Lucky for him, it was all topical.If they'd injected him with it, he'd be dead.""Can I even do that?"He stared at me like I'd just asked him if the sky was really blue.After a moment, he said, "I gave him a sedative that should keep him out of it for most of the night, and there's antibiotic ointment to put on the burns.Tell Corey to call only if he really needs me.I'm on duty for the next forty-eight hours so getting away will be a bitch."I couldn't very well keep him any longer, so I thanked him and let him go.But now, with everyone else finally taken care of, I could finally get time with Elijah.The safe house was a rickety old thing, but Corey had given Elijah the larger downstairs bedroom so we wouldn't have to worry about bumping him getting him up the narrow stairs.It was located in the back of the house behind the kitchen, blanketed in a quiet I hadn't realized permeated this far.The chill from the worn linoleum seeped through my socks, but as I reached the closed door, a floorboard creaked behind me."Please don't tell me you need something else." I felt like I was whining.Maybe I was.But only one person would've followed me back.Only one person could stop me from going in."I just wanted to ask if you needed me to call in for you," Corey said quietly."You said you had a shift today."I had, and I'd completely forgotten about it."You wouldn't mind?""I'm used to covering your ass." His teeth gleamed in the dim light as he smiled."Why should tonight be any different?"Dr [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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