Chapter 19: Chapter 19

Swallowing the sudden lump in his throat, he stripped out of his shoes and shirt before kneeling at the side of the tub. The bloodstained gauze he’d taped over the injuries was destroyed and totally unusable. So was the shirt he’d given to Cole. Keeping his gaze from the worst of the injuries, he scooped an arm behind Cole’s back to pull the shirt over his head.

He froze. Scars mottled Cole’s shoulder blades. Skinny, thick, long, short. Most were white with age, but there were a couple still pink from newness. There were even a few puncture marks. Fangs. Unmistakably.

How had he missed seeing these last night? But he knew the answer to that. He’d been concentrating on the chest wound and doing everything in his power not to look at any other part of Cole. Would it have changed anything if I’d known?No way to tell. Pointless to dwell on it now, though. Cole wasn’t awake to explain them, no matter how badly Brady wanted to know their origins.