Chapter 16

Corrigan’s POV

My eyes widen and I lean back, horrified. Carter is standing in front of me, his lips parting to reveal several rows of razor edged teeth. He stares down at me, leaving forward. I close my eyes, praying for it to be over soon.

So this is it, then. I run away from Lucien only to be killed by the first person I meet. I clench my jaw, waiting.

Suddenly, I hear it. A loud, consistent knock on the door. Carterhears it too. He stills, his lips closing over his rows of teeth. He looks extremely annoyed but he waits, as though hoping for the person knocking to go away.

“You bastards never respect a “closed” sign.” He growls.

The effects of the wolfsbane are beginning to wear off a bit. All I need is a little bit of it to wear off and I can break the bonds or claw them away. I need more time. I have to hope that whoever is at the door doesn’t go away or make him stall.

“Why are you doing this?” I ask. Of course I know why he's trying to steal my face, I’m not stupid.

I had been stupid enough to trust him, yes, but I’m not so daft that I don't know what a doppler wants with a face.

“You can’t really be that dense, darling.” He says, his face taking back its handsome mask.

I wonder how many faces he had mixed into that face. What part of me would he wear? My eyes? My lips? I shudder.

“You’re a beautiful girl, Corrigan. Lucien would have hardly taken you as a mistress if you had been anything but.” He puts on his glasses and his hair morphs back into its perfect, slicked back style. “And while other species see beauty as a reason to desire a whole person, mine have taken a step forward in civilization, craving to…adapt that beauty as ours.”

He strokes the side of my face endearingly, sickeningly. “Take it as a compliment, Corrigan. I’m very picky.”

The knocking happens again, this time more persistent. Carter growls, obviously annoyed with the disruption of his plans. I flex my hands behind the chair, feeling my claws unsheathe. Soon, I think. Very soon.

“Corrigan, I know you’re in there!” I hear Lucien shout.

Lucien! My breath catches and an obscene amount of relief floods me. Lucien found me! It doesn’t matter that Lucien is probably going to kill me too or that I was running from him in the first place. He’s here to rescue me from an identity-stealing demon so I can’t complain. I’ll worry about Lucien later.

Carter looks a bit torn between killing me and settling the problem with the person at the door. I’m totally sure Lucien will break the door down if he doesn’t get an answer soon.

He moves behind me in quick, jerky movements, gagging my mouth with a salty tasting piece of cloth. I want to sink my teeth into his hands, but he has the upper hand. Also, he thinks I'm still suffering from the effects of the wolfsbane.

If he realizes that I'm almost fully recovered, he might end up drugging me again.

“Don’t move.” He bites out through gritted teeth.

He walks out the door, bolting it behind him.

Lucien’s POV

I am geared up to kick the door down when the lights go on. An elderly man, depending almost wholly on a stick, makes his way slowly towards the door. He looks at Cormac and I in good natured confusion. I am almost tempted to go away, but Corrigan's scent has become even more potent now, urging me on.

I knock on the door, waiting till he stares at me through the peephole. “Who's that?” I hear him ask.

Cormac sniffs, I know what he's looking for, because I'm looking for it too. The peculiar scent of a werewolf. It's not here. Whoever this man is, he's definitely not a werewolf.

“I'm here for Corrigan.” I say in my most cordial voice. “The girl who's in here with you.”

“There's no one here.” I hear the man say.

There is something off about his scent. It is low, but a bit raw and pungent. Earthy. Cormac smells it too. His scent is unusual. Hardly even detectable.

“Please don't let me get in by force. I want to see Corrigan.” I say.

This is the last time I’ll ask nicely. I clench my jaw.

“Go away!” The man calls out through the door.

Without stopping to think about it, I step back and send my foot crashing against the door. It weddings back on its hinges, crashing against the wall. The old man makes a hissing sound as he steps backward, his face morphing and developing scales. His skin turns pale. His jaw widens to reveal several rows of teeth.

He is a doppler.

I can still smell Corrigan’s scent. It does not have the putrid smell of death around it. Corrigan is alive. A bit subdued, but alive.

I growl, ready for a fight.

I let him make the first move. He crawls up the wall, hanging from the ceiling before launching himself at me. I step back, letting him land on his feet. I pull and break off a piece of metal from one of the shelves and I begin to use it as a weapon. I don't want to shift, but if I must, I will.

He fights wildly, sending jars and vases at me. I dodge the jars and smash the vases, following after him. When I get close enough, I hit him in the neck with the metal bar and send its sharp edge plunging into his chest. He grunts and groans in pain, choking out a blue liquid from his mouth. He falls to the floor, dying immediately.

I flex my fingers, letting them clench into a fist. Next up, Corrigan.

It doesn't take long to find Corrigan. For one, her scent, and for another, the doppler had kept her in the only other room in the store. I am more than ready to throttle her the moment I see her. The key is still in the lock so all I have to do is to turn the key and push the door open.

I catch the chair swinging at me almost at the last minute, irritation flooding me as I send it soaring to the other end of the room, crashing and shattering against the wall.

Corrigan is behind the door, staring up at me, wide eyed. Apparently, she had been counting on a chair to save her from that freak.

I feel a flood of relief so strong I'm almost choked up with it. She is fine. She wasn't hurt. Then it was followed by blinding, murderous rage.

With a menacing growl, I grab her chin, pulling our faces together till our breaths mingle.

“Never.” I ground out, torn between kissing her and strangling her. “Do you understand? Never put yourself in this sort of danger again.”

She stares at me.

“Am I clear?” I say through gritted teeth. She nods the best she can through the grip I have on her face.

Corrigan’s POV

I sit in the backseat of the car, Lucien's jacket around my shoulders and a warm cup of coffee in my fingers. Lucien is still in the store, cleaning up a bit, I suppose. Cormac is sitting in the front passenger seat, staring blankly into the street.

“Why did you come with him?” I ask suddenly, drawing his attention.

Cormac looks at me through the rearview mirror. “He’s the alpha of my pack.”

“Bullshit.” I counter. “We both know he could have come alone today.”

“I didn’t want him to get hurt all because he was going on some sick search for you.” Cormac says, his voice almost incoherent.

“You could have left me out to die.” I point out. “Lucien would have been avenged then. I would have gone out of his life.”

“I would have.” He concedes. “If I hadn't been totally sure that your death would hurt Lucien more than anything you ever did to him.”

I don't know what to make of that, of the idea that someone as formidable and tough as Lucien could get hurt, so I remain silent, staring out the window.

“It gives you a bit of a rush, right? Having Lucien chase after you.”

I don't respond but Cormac continues. “Lucien is like the elder brother I never had. I will always want his happiness. So if chasing you around and making sure you're kept safe and alive would make him happy, then count me in.”

“But…” he says calmly. “If you do anything, and I mean anything, to hurt Lucien, I will hunt you down and kill you and myself, consequences be damned.”

He turns fully to me, letting it reach his hand so I can shake it. “Deal?”

I regard his outstretched palm for a moment before I shake his hand. “Deal.”