Nic sat up, groaned, fell back.
I caught him before he cracked his head against the ground again. "Maybe we should get you to a doctor."
"You're a doctor."
"Not that kind."
"I'm all - " His voice faded, and his eyes closed as he slumped in my arms.
Concerned, I leaned close. He was out cold, so I gave in to the urge that had been haunting me since I'd first seen him in the doorway. Pressing my lips to his forehead, I breathed in the familiar scent of his hair.
All the feelings rushed back with a force that staggered me. I'd known I still loved him, but I hadn't realized that I always would.
Once we'd dreamed of sharing a life: marriage, careers, family. Together, we would never be alone again.
I longed for that normal life - a normal me. But I'd come to understand that even if I cured myself, there were things I'd done in the interim for which there could be no forgiveness. Nic was as lost to me now as he'd been the first night I changed.
The wind slapped snow against my face. The drop in temperature had turned the fluffy flakes into icy needles.
I smelled death - probably just Billy's. Nevertheless, we had to keep moving. With the clouds covering the moon, the road was dark. Though there wasn't much of a chance a car would come along and run over us... then again, one might.
Taking advantage of Nic's momentary lapse of consciousness, I lowered him gently to the ground and hurried to the ATV. After a quick glance to make sure he was still out, I picked up the machine and set it back on the road.
There was a dent in one side, a bit of dirt on the other, but when I started the engine, it worked.
Nic began to come around. I tugged on his arm, grunting as if he were "oh, so heavy," though I could have lifted him with one hand. "Wanna help me out a little?"
"Sorry, I'm - "
"Hurt," I supplied when he seemed to lose his thought again.
Thankfully, he was too spacey to notice how much I helped him as he got to his feet, too woozy to see that my clothes were torn and I had flecks of blood in my hair.
I hoisted Nic onto the ATY, crawled behind, then adjusted his body so that I could see, drive, and hold on to him. If I hadn't had superpowers, I wouldn't have been able to manage, making this one of the first times I was glad to be what I was.
Nic drifted in and out of consciousness. I'd wondered how to make him stop asking questions. I'd have preferred another method.
The wind shifted, or we were able to get ahead of the storm, because the highway outside of Clear Lake was dry, the forest surrounding it devoid of white. Most of the businesses on the main drag were closed, probably had been for a while. The town was small, innocent, clueless.
I'd been toying with the idea of dumping Nic with a doctor - they had to have one - then disappearing again. But an hour on the ATV with little to do beyond think had nixed that idea.
Billy might be dead, but Billy hadn't blown up the compound. Whoever had, could be right behind us.
I let my gaze wander over Nic's still face. He'd say he was a highly trained FBI agent; he could take care of himself. But I knew better. To werewolves he'd be an easy lunch.
No matter how dangerous it was for us both, I was going to have to take him along to Wisconsin.
I pulled into the only gas station in Clear Lake. The attendant stepped outside. His gaze wandered over my torn suit, the spatters of blood and the leaves in my hair, then flicked to Nic's lolling head. With the typical understatement that characterized inhabitants west of the Mississippi, he murmured, "Trouble?"
"Nearly hit a... deer. We flipped."
The story, close enough to the truth to be believable, explained Nic's injuries and my appearance.
"Need a doctor?" he asked.
"No." Nic struggled to sit up. "I'm okay."
The attendant's brows drew together. "If you say so."
Nic tried to prove it by climbing off the ATV. He wobbled, but he didn't fall down.
"You know where I can buy some clothes?"
As the word buy left my mouth, I realized I had no money. I glanced at Nic; he was already extracting his wallet.
"And a car," he added, pulling out an obscene amount of cash.
"Got some T-shirts and sweatpants for sale inside." The man scratched his head as he contemplated the money. "Car we'll have to talk about."
I hesitated, prepared to deal, but Nic waved me away. "I'll handle the car."
I let him. The less time we hung around, the better. Inside I snagged a pair of gray sweatpants and an equally cheery gray T-shirt.
Making use of the restroom, I stripped off my torn and dirty suit. After extracting the wolf totem, I tossed the clothes into the nearly full garbage can. Holding the tiny bit of plastic between two fingers, I stared into the sparkly blue eyes.
The idea that something this small, this tacky, could carry enough power to make me superduper wolf was laughable. But standing in a dirty women's restroom in the middle of nowhere, I didn't feel like laughing.
I shoved the talisman into the pocket of my new sweatpants just as I remembered the little wolf wasn't the only thing that had been in my skirt.
Both the list of names Nic had given me and his .38 were missing. I must have dropped them somewhere along the road. I didn't care about the list, but the gun might have been good for a bluff or two.
Since I couldn't go back for the weapon now, I shoved my bare feet into my tennies and picked one last flake of blood from my hair. My nails looked as if I'd been burying dead bodies in the woods, which was close enough to the truth to make me worry. I could only hope that the people we met between here and Wisconsin were less concerned with personal hygiene than I was.
When I exited the bathroom, I found the attendant behind the register. I peered around the station, which was packed ceiling to floor with chips, soda, candy, and borderline pornography. But no Nic.
"I sold your friend a car."
From the man's grin, the deal had been sweet. Of course, we couldn't exactly be choosy. We had to get out of here, and we couldn't do that on an ATV.
"He went across the street to pick it up."