Read Obsessions: A Monster Squad Novel 7 for Free Online Page B

is good enough, you shall accept it.”
    Foster prostrated himself in his seat and bowed his head. “Forgive me, m’lord. I meant only to keep you safe.”
    “The best way to keep me safe when dealing with wolves is to keep your mouth shut, your opinions to yourself and be grateful that they are willing to be of service. Regardless of your personal feelings toward wolves, they are a proud people with a strong sense of honor. You would do well to respect them and the power they wield.”
    “Of course. I meant no harm.” Foster cast his eyes to the carpeted floor and only chanced a glance upward when the plane pulled forward and began taxiing toward the runway.
    “Rest now, brother. We have a long flight.”
     
    *****
     
    “What’s in the case, Laura?” Evan continued to stare at the image of the aluminum case stuffed into the rear of her Jeep and listened to the phone while she shifted it, the sounds of traffic driving by highlighted by her breathing.
    “I don’t want to say.” Her voice trembled as she spoke. “If I don’t tell you, then you won’t have to lie for me.”
    “Nobody but the two of us even knows about it. I won’t have to lie, because nobody is going to know to ask me, will they? Please don’t make me do a complete inventory. It will take far too long and you know how I am. I will do one if I think you are less than truthful.”
    Laura sighed into the phone and Evan knew the truth was about to pour from her along with some kind of explanation. “My father isn’t well, Evan.”
    “And?”
    “And, he’s too young to suffer like this.” She shifted the phone again and he could hear her putting the Jeep back into gear. She began driving again, and he wasn’t sure if she was returning or driving away. “I had to do something.”
    “What did you take, Laura?”
    “I took the protocol for the squad members.” Her voice had changed to defensive, and Evan was too floored to understand why.
    “You took the… why ?! You know what that will do to him!”
    “Yes, I do. It will save his life!” He could hear the engine accelerate as she spoke, her emotions taking over, causing her to ‘run away’ as she admitted to him her wrong doings. She knew it was wrong, but she did it anyway.
    “Laura, you don’t want to do this. Take it from me. I know. If I could refuse or remove what I am and be human again, even if it meant death.”
    “But that’s because you’re a vampire, Evan. This is the wolf. He can live a perfectly normal life as long as he takes the bane. He may get a little antsy around the full moon, but…” Her voice trailed off.
    Evan felt his guts twist as she spoke. As if being infected with one virus wasn’t ‘as bad’ as the other. Apparently all of their talks about being human and what that truly meant had fallen on deaf ears. He tried not to take it personally. This wasn’t about him, this was about her. And her father. He inhaled deeply and blew it out slowly.
    “Laura, you still aren’t thinking this through.”
    “Yes, Evan, I am. When I left Nevada, I came back to Tinker to grab a few things from my office and grab this. He was sick then, but he’s getting so much worse. I was getting desperate. It was now or never. So I grabbed it. Not a lot, just a couple of doses. I needed to be sure it took.”
    “How many did you take?”
    “Two vials. That’s all I planned to take. I know that one will do it, but with two…it is a gene therapy ‘thing’, right? I mean, he’ll only need the one real dose.”
    “What color are the caps?” Evan rubbed the back of his neck as he saw the different dosages in his mind.
    “One is blue. The other is a burnt orange. Almost red.”
    “Give the red first. Three days later, shoot him with the blue. The day after that, shoot him again with the blue. Just make sure you destroy what you don’t use. Don’t give more than 15ccs per dose. You got that?”
    She sniffled into the phone. “Thank you. I mean it, Evan. Thank you.