A Shock to Your System (Dangerous Creatures #2) Read Online Free Page A

waiting to spring on
them.
    Just as Ethan thought, Jamie immediately
shook his head. His face was paler than usual, and his eyes wide
with horror. “Are you out of your mind? I’m not leaving again. What
if those crazy freaks come back here?”
    “ You want to be
arrested?”
    Jamie’s mouth thinned, and he yanked his
hand away from Ethan’s, staring at the screen of his phone,
constantly clicking on the home button, trying to get a reaction
from the thing. “I can handle it. I’ll just make something up.
Fuck, come on, turn on.”
    Jamie had too much confidence in his ability
to lie. Ethan didn’t share that confidence.
    The paramedics would arrive, they would ask
questions, and so would the police when they arrived. Ethan had no
trouble lying for Jamie, at least not right now. He owed Jamie his
life, and he wouldn't turn him in, but if the police decided to
bring Jamie in for questioning, then there wasn't much he could do
to get out of it.
    He would go in, answer the questions, and
then maybe someone would recognize him and lock him away. Anything
involving paranormals would immediately make Jamie a suspect,
regardless of whether or not Ethan vouched for him.
    Those interrogations could last for hours.
Lots of people cracked under the pressure and started to sing
everything the cops wanted to hear.
    It was kind of a funny thing for Ethan to be
so worried about. He was genuinely scared that Jamie would
incriminate himself as a paranormal and be arrested, and Ethan
didn't want that.
    Yeah, that was kind of fucked up,
considering he'd been prepared to do that exact same thing just
this morning.
    "No ambulance. I'm fine," Ethan said,
summoning every iota of strength in his body just to make sure his
voice came out sounding strong, instead of weak and tired. And he
was still so very tired. He grabbed the phone and looked at it,
only to realize it wasn’t even on.
    The battery must’ve died while Ethan
slept.
    "Jesus Christ, Ethan, you're bleeding all
over!" Jamie said.
    He was clearly losing it. He wasn't trained
to handle situations like this.
    "Her power was blood and skin," Ethan said,
clenching his jaw when he tried to move. All of his wounds yawned
open and flared with pain. "She didn't touch my organs."
    “ How can you be
sure?”
    “ I’m not,” Ethan said.
“She tore my pants a little. Unless that happened while I was
chasing you.”
    “ I saw this rip when I
threw your weapons away,” Jamie said.
    Thank
God . Ethan nodded. “I’ve read about this
power. It’s not strong. She can’t go deep. She can only control top
flesh.”
    With that in mind he was able to relax a
little in spite of the pain, since he probably wasn't going to die
from his wounds. He was just tired and in need of bandages,
disinfectant, and a lot of alcohol—the drinking kind.
    "So she was cutting you?"
    "Ripping," Ethan said.
    Jamie's eyes widened, and his face drained
of color until he was as pale as those spots of white hair patched
around on his head. "Jesus Christ. You really do need a
doctor."
    "I said no!" Ethan snapped, and even he was
shocked by the strength of his voice.
    Jamie stared at him. The man looked as
helpless as a rabbit in the road, just waiting to get run over.
    Yeah, there was no way Jamie would last in
the labs, and Ethan wouldn't last out here by himself, especially
if an animal smelled the blood. Or a crazed werewolf.
    "Help me up," Ethan said, reaching for Jamie
and feeling his strength being renewed, as he suddenly knew what
had to be done. "My truck, I left it on the side of the road."
    "Yeah, I remember, next to my car. I’ll take
you there, and I'll drive you someplace safe."
    "You'll drive me where I tell you to," Ethan
said, but then he was groggy and nauseous as the pain of being
lifted to his feet made him want to vomit.
    It felt good to be able to put an arm around
Jamie’s shoulders though. That helped.
    Fuck! His legs and his stomach were killing
him. He would survive, but it felt like he