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seemed to be
knotted in the pit of her stomach.
    “I heard about the
suspension,” Lena said quietly. “Is that what this is about?”
    Paige shook her head.
    “I have a…” She frowned, not
quite sure what to call Justus exactly. “I have a friend that needs
some medicine. He’s very sick.”
    “Why not bring him to the
hospital?”
    “He…doesn’t trust
hospitals.”
    Paige handed Lena the list of
medications she needed.
    Lena scanned the list and
looked up at her in surprise.
    “It’s for those hybrids,
isn’t it?” she whispered.
    Paige cringed. It really
would have been best if she’d not guessed at all, especially
considering her friend’s fascination.
    “I’m right, aren’t I?” Lena
beamed.
    Paige sighed and gave a
nod.
    Lena gave a little squeal of
delight.
    “I knew you couldn’t stay
away from all those hunky men.” She grinned.
    Hunky men. Paige’s cheeks
burned as she remembered what had happened the previous night. What
the hell was that? The man was half-dead, yet he tried to put the
moves on her. Not that she didn’t like it, it just was the very
definition of the wrong time and place.
    The smile slipped from Lena’s
face as she continued to stare at Paige.
    “Wait.” Lena frowned. “Why
would you need medicine for one of them? They have a doctor
there.”
    Paige looked away.
    “Oh my God!” Lena said.
“You’ve got one at your house!”
    Paige looked around, hoping
that they hadn’t put up the cameras in the breakroom like they kept
threatening to do.
    She held up her hand in hopes
of shushing her overeager friend.
    “Is he hot? Are you doing it
like bunnies?”
    Paige blushed despite
herself.
    “Shut up,” Lena said with a
grin. “You are!”
    She rolled her eyes in
frustration.
    “He’s hurt,” Paige said
stiffly. “I think sex is out of the picture.”
    The nurse she knew was back
in full force.
    “Right,” Lena said and looked
down at the paper and then back to Paige. “It would be better if I
went.”
    Paige nodded. She hated to
have her risk her job like this, but Lena was right. She was far
less likely to be questioned.
    On a mission, Lena left and
Paige took a seat at the table.
    Time ticked by slowly. It had
only been minutes but felt like hours. She jumped when the door
opened, and her friend popped back into the room.
    “Here,” Lena said and wrapped
the meds in the jacket Paige carried. “I was able to get enough for
a few days.”
    Tears prickled her eyes.
    “Thank you.”
    Lena smiled back at her and
then pulled her into another crushing hug.
    “Be careful out there,” she
whispered.
    Paige pulled back to look at
her friend.
    “He’ll likely be gone before
trouble can even start,” she said.
    Lena shook her head. “I’m not
talking about that. Things have gotten really weird around
here.”
    “What do you mean?”
    She looked around and leaned
in a little. “Something going on with the big guys here and not
just all that stuff with you. Not to mention all the crazies coming
in. It’s like some of the people around here have been huffing
paint.”
    Thinking on it, Paige had
thought the last few weeks that people had been a little odder. It
wasn’t uncommon though for people to be a little off around the
holiday, and so she’d just attributed it to that. Now Lena was
warning her, and Rachel had said something as well. What the hell
was going on?
    “Just make sure you get your
mystery man well, and don’t let people know,” Lena said. “More than
a few people around town would, I think, take a crack at one of
them if they were alone and outside their land.”
    Paige nodded, swallowing
once. Some people already had.
    Lena’s name came over the
loud speaker, making them both jump.
    They walked to the door and
stopped.
    “Thank you,” Paige said
quietly. “You be careful too.”
    Lena beamed happily.
    “You bet your ass.”
     
    * * *
     
    Paige drove home in
silence, the vital medicine still tucked away inside her
jacket.
    The