Mercy Thompson 01-05 - THE MERCY THOMPSON COLLECTION

too. I’d forgotten all about it. Presumably it wouldn’t have done anything except scare the begeebers out of whoever found it—since the body was gone—but I was just as glad to have that last bit taken care of as well.
    Tony looked at Bran more closely. “Do I want to ask who you all are?”
    â€œNo,” I told him.
    â€œSo why did you call me in?” Tony asked.
    I opened my mouth to answer and Samuel pulled the curtains aside and stepped in, an X-ray in his hands.
    â€œDr. Cornick,” Tony greeted him like an old friend—I supposed that cops might see a lot of emergency room doctors. Then something about the wariness of everyone in the room clued him in.
    â€œSamuel needs to have the shield of police business to hide behind,” I said before he could ask if Samuel was a werewolf, too.
    Tony frowned, taking a careful look at the people in the room—avoiding eye contact. “All right,” he said slowly. “You’re sure everything will get back to normal?”
    I started to shrug, but nodded my head instead. “As normal as it gets.”
    â€œFine.” He looked at Samuel. “Tell me that you’re not a danger to your patients.”
    I waited anxiously for a smart-ass comment, but Samuel was tired, too. He only said, “I’m not a danger to my patients.”
    â€œAll right,” Tony said. “All right. Dr. Cornick, if anyone asks about this, just tell them it was a police matter you were helping in.” He took out his wallet and pulled out a card. “Give them my number if you need to.”
    Samuel took the card. “Thank you.”
    Then Tony turned back to Adam. “Mr. Hauptman,” he said. “Mercy tells me that I ought to speak with you first on matters concerning werewolves.”
    Adam rubbed his face tiredly. It took him so long to speak that I worried. Finally he said, in an almost civil tone. “Yes. Did Mercy give you my number?”
    â€œWe didn’t get that far.”
    Adam collected himself and managed a small smile that made him look like a hungry tiger. Tony took a discreet step back. “I’m not carrying my cards tonight, but if you call my office, I’ll instruct them to give you my cell phone number—or Mercy usually knows how to get in touch with me.”
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    My ankle was just sprained. Stefan left while Tony was talking with Adam. No one but me seemed to notice. I don’t know if he did some vampire thing, or that no one else cared.
    Adam wanted me to stay at his house. But he had half the local pack, part of the Montana pack, and Kyle staying at his house. I had no intention of joining the crowd.
    After the others left for Adam’s house, Samuel carried me into my battered trailer and started toward my bedroom, but I didn’t want to sleep. Not ever.
    â€œCan you take me to the office, instead?” I asked.
    He still wasn’t speaking much, but he obediently switched directions and took me into the tiny third bedroom that hummed with various bits of electronics.
    He set me in the chair, then dropped to his knees in front of me. His hands were shaking when he closed them on my knees and pulled them apart so he could fill up the space between. His body was hot as he pressed himself against me and buried his face in my neck.
    â€œI knew you’d come,” he whispered and the power of his wolf ruffled my hair as it rushed over me. “I was so worried. And then…and then the wolf came. Adam kept control—he tried to help me, but I was in a worse state than Ben, who had been there far longer. I am losing control of my wolf, I’m a danger to you. I told my father that as soon as you are well, I will return to Montana.”
    I held him with my good arm. “Demons aren’t good for a werewolf ’s control.”
    â€œOf the three of us there,” he told my neck, “I had the least control.”
    That wasn’t true. I’d been there and seen him still fighting when Ben had given up entirely to the wolf. But before I took up that argument, I realized something.
    â€œThat church is less than half a mile from the hospital,” I told him. “Uncle Mike told me the demon’s presence causes violence anywhere near him—and the police records confirm that. When Tony worked it up for me, we found that the area of effect was over three miles in diameter. You’ve been fighting the demon since the