Charming the Beast (Purgatory #3)(28)
Author: Cynthia Eden

Now Connor’s only goal was to get Chloe the hell out of there. Eric jumped in the front seat, Duncan rode shot-gun, and Connor climbed into the back, holding Chloe close.

She died. She died.

But she’d come back.

Eric gunned the SUV, and it lurched forward. They were hauling ass, and Connor looked back, trying to see if the werewolves were following them.

He didn’t see them. Didn’t smell them—Eric had left the windows open, probably thinking that Connor or Duncan would sense a tail on them.

“What’s wrong with me?”

He looked down at Chloe.

“What happened in there? Why…why do I feel so strange?”

Connor didn’t know what to say. His gaze jerked to the front of the SUV. He caught Eric’s stare in the rear-view mirror. Eric shook his head.

Screw that. I won’t lie to her. Not to Chloe. Not anymore.

He pulled her closer. Buried his face in the curve of her shoulder. Her arms were around him, holding tight. Her sweet scent flooded him, reassured him.

“Tell me…what happened…”

His hold hardened on her. “Baby, you died.”

***

Everything seemed too loud. Too bright. And Chloe felt far too hot, as if she were burning from the inside. Eric had taken them back to the base, but only after he’d driven what felt like hell-of-forever. She knew he’d been trying to ditch anyone on their trail, but had he succeeded in losing a pack of werewolves? Was that even possible?

When he’d gone over the mission plan, Eric had said he was sending in a small group of agents to lower the risk that they’d be followed back to base. But then, she knew he’d also planned for a successful mission. One that had him returning triumphant.

He didn’t look triumphant.

Eric was pacing in front of her. Connor—now wearing jeans and a t-shirt that stretched across his chest—was at Chloe’s side.

I died? Again?

“We need Olivia in here,” Connor said, his face and voice grim. “She’s the one who did this—whatever the hell it is.”

Chloe flinched at Olivia’s name. Once upon a time, Olivia Maddox had been her best friend. As kids, they’d been inseparable. Then their lives had been shattered. At sixteen, they’d been attacked by a pack of wolves. Those wolves had been after Olivia, and Chloe had tried so hard to protect her friend.

But she hadn’t been strong enough. So she’d been bitten, again and again.

Then the real nightmare had begun.

Olivia had been bitten as well, only she hadn’t transformed, and she hadn’t died. Olivia had healed instantly. Chloe’s father had discovered that Olivia was actually someone quite unique, a djinn. A real, modern-day genie, and he’d made it his mission to take her power.

By any means necessary.

“Olivia is on her way,” Holly said as she took another blood sample from Chloe. Chloe held herself completely still as the needle went into her vein. “But she’s…different now, so I don’t know how much help she’ll be.”

Chloe hadn’t seen Olivia in weeks, not since that last, fateful encounter.

When my father killed me, Olivia brought me back…and then I murdered dear old dad in an act that I can’t even remember!

“Her heart rate is elevated, and her body temperature is a bit higher than normal,” Holly said as she stepped back from Chloe. “But otherwise, everything is normal. She doesn’t even appear to have her silver sensitivity any longer.”

Chloe swallowed. “That’s the way it was last time.” Because she’d lived this scene—well, almost this scene—before. The first time she’d died, she’d found herself in Holly’s lab, undergoing test after test after test.

Holly’s head tilted to the side. “Since the silver sensitivity came back before, we can only assume it will return again. Maybe your body goes through some sort of stabilization period…?”

Connor cleared his throat. “You need to check her strength.”

“My what?” Chloe asked.

Connor shook his head. “Your strength, baby. Because I saw you pick up a werewolf and toss him across the room as if he were no heavier than a pillow. I can do that, Duncan can—but you already know where our power comes from.”

Super wolf. Super vamp. She nodded, but rubbed her neck. It ached a bit. “I don’t…remember doing that.” Her hand dropped. “I just remember looking for you.” At first, she’d been looking for him as a man. She’d only seen wolves though. Then she’d looked into the eyes of a big, powerful wolf…and she’d seen Connor. His golden gaze had stared back at her.

“Dies…and comes back.” Eric stopped pacing and glared at Chloe. “You aren’t supposed to do that.”

She glared back at him. “Sorry. Guess I missed the memo on that.”

He pulled out his gun.

Chloe jumped off that exam table and Connor immediately stepped in front of her.

“What in the hell are you doing?” Connor demanded.

She peaked around his body and saw Eric contemplating his gun. “Holly should see what occurs when she dies and comes back. Then we might be able to figure out what’s really happening.”

Connor leapt forward and yanked the gun out of Eric’s hands. “We don’t have any guarantee that she will come back again! You shoot her, and that could be it. She’d be gone.” His voice lowered and it sounded as if he muttered, “Then you’d be gone, too.”

Chloe wrapped her arms around her stomach. “I think you’re all wrong. I-I didn’t die.” She laughed then, and the sound was hollow even to her own ears. “Keegan must have knocked me out for a few minutes, that’s all. I probably hit my head when I fell—because I was on the floor—and that’s why things are a little sketchy in my memory.”

Silence.

And in the face of that silence, Chloe just kept right on talking. “I don’t think…maybe my father didn’t kill me, either.” Her words were coming too fast. “He was my father, after all…he probably missed my heart.” Okay, that came out desperate. “I healed. Werewolves heal faster, right? I healed and that’s all that happened that time, too.”

Connor turned back to look at her. Everyone there was just looking at her.

Chloe tucked her hair behind her ear. “What? That’s what happened. I didn’t die. I know I didn’t.”

Connor stepped toward her. He caught her hands and held them in his warm grip. “I was watching you. I saw the bastard break your neck. I heard the snap.”