Head Hunter

by Layla Nash

  I thanked all the nurses for taking such good care of me, and tried not to react to seeing more of their pack in the hall, apparently guarding me. Still more lingered outside the hospital on the way to the doors. They drifted away to other vehicles once Deirdre helped me into the sedan that idled at the curb. Outside, it finally occurred to me that the hospital wasn’t one that I recognized from the city. We were definitely in the city and it was definitely a hospital, but it was smaller and not well-identified as such. I craned my neck, trying to sort it out, but then the car pulled away and Deirdre cleared her throat to get my attention.

  Todd drove the sedan and Mercy sat up front, so it was Deirdre and I in the back. The witch held out a small pouch. “A gift for you, Percy. Just a small token of my appreciation for helping figure out how to help Silas.”

  “Is he – is he fixed? I mean, is he back to normal?” I peered into the pouch before spilling its contents into my palm. A delicate silver linked bracelet slid cool and solid against my fingers. A few charms glittered in the sunlight that gleamed through the window. “It’s beautiful.”

  “Thanks,” she said a little absently, her attention on the bracelet. Deirdre reached out to tap one of the charms with the tip of her finger. “Silas is at least in his right mind, though his form is still stuck as the wolf. I think we’ve found a way to fix that, as well, but it has to wait until I can figure out the right spell. In the meantime, I wanted you to have this. If you press the oak leaf between your thumb and forefinger, it will send a message to me that you need to talk.”

  I lifted the bracelet to examine the charms more closely. “How?”

  “Magic,” she said. It didn’t even sound sarcastic when she said it. Deirdre helped put the bracelet on my wrist, then leaned back in the seat. “I’ll know where you are and can either come immediately myself or send someone in my stead.”

  “Wow.” I glanced out the back window at where the hospital had long since disappeared, and gnawed my lower lip with worry.

  “What’s wrong?” the witch asked, dark eyebrow arched. “Do you need your pain medication already?”

  “No, it’s not that.” I took a deep breath. “It’s just... that was a private hospital, wasn’t it? And I was in a private room and they did tons of tests and... It must be really, really expensive.”

  The last came out in a whisper as I struggled to find a way to say outright that I couldn’t afford the bill, whatever it ended up being. I knew with a hundred percent certainty the cut-rate health insurance I paid for wouldn’t help at all.

  Deirdre must have sensed my concern because she waved the comment away absently. “Don’t worry about it, dear. Miles has a standing retainer with the hospital to cover the injuries that inevitably happen in a pack. There’s no cost to you.”

  “That’s impossible,” I said, shaking my head. “I was there for weeks, in a private room, and from what you said, they had to give me a few whole people worth of blood just to keep me alive.”

  My voice broke and I had to stop talking so I didn’t free the tears that threatened every time I thought too much about how close I’d come to dying. It was something I couldn’t think about without feeling like I might be sucked back into the darkness. I needed an anchor. And every time I looked around for someone to keep me rooted in reality, I didn’t see the one person I was certain could do it: Dodge.

  Deirdre squeezed my hand gently, careful of the bruises and the bandages over where the IVs had bitten into my skin. “I promise you don’t owe anything. All of the shifters in the city pay to support that hospital. It’s the only one that their kind can go to without possibly exposing their existence to humans. It’s fully funded at all times, for all patients. There isn’t a bill. There’s never a bill.”

  It made me feel a little better, although it did raise a series of related questions: how often did shifters end up at the hospital, if they needed their own fully staffed all the time?

  Deirdre checked her phone and went on. “Miles will meet us at your apartment, with some friends we want you to meet. You’re on their territory, so if you ever need help and I’m too far away,” she patted the bracelet to remind me of the charm. “Then they’ll be in a position to help you.”

  More kindnesses that I didn’t feel I really deserved. I cleared my throat. “I don’t want to impose.”

  “It’s not an imposition,” she said. She arched a dark eyebrow and gave me a sideways look. “As I’ve said many times, and will continue to say – we dragged you into this world and it’s our responsibility to keep you safe. This is part of that. The lions can be a little hoity-toity and self-important – they’re cats, after all – but they mean well and they’re fierce when it comes to protecting those weaker than them. Plus they all have mates and young ones, so none of them will be interested in you.”

  It hadn’t even occurred to me that that might have been a consideration. She must have noticed my consternation, because Deirdre laughed. “Okay, so that part might not be a serious issue for you, but there are others who wanted to make sure you weren’t surrounded by single men.”

  “Others?” My heart stuttered, since the only person I could imagine would care about a thing like that was Dodge. But if he hadn’t bothered to visit me at all in the hospital after that terrifying fight, what difference did it make?

  “It’s nothing,” she said. Deirdre frowned as she looked out the windshield, as Todd maneuvered the car onto a side street and pulled up in front of an enormous high-rise with a beautiful lobby and a semi-circular drive out front. “Mercy will stay with you for the first few days until you’re settled; she can cook and help clean up, change the bandages, make sure your balance is okay, all of that stuff.”

  Mercy beamed at me from the front seat, then hopped out of the car as a doorman opened her door and reached for mine. “It’ll be fun, Percy.”

  I stared at the dude who stood next to my door, offering a hand like I was some fancy lady who needed help getting out of the car. “Where are we? I thought we were going to my apartment.”

  “We are,” Todd said. He got out as well, then the three of them waited on the sidewalk as a valet climbed into the driver’s seat. Todd bent slightly at the waist to peer at me, a hint of a smile on his normally stoic face. “It’s a new apartment. Your old one... had some issues. So we arranged something else.”

  Deirdre and Mercy got tired of waiting and caught my arms to haul me out of the seat. Mercy looped her arm through mine and dragged me into the lobby while I was still distracted by staring at everything around me. “It’s really nice here, Percy. Real nice.”

  “But...” I started, taken aback by the concierge desk staffed by a man and a woman, both of whom rose as we approached through the lobby. My heart thudded harder against my ribs as everything spun out of control around me. It was like being back in the sanctuary, trapped in the tiger enclosure. I couldn’t get out, couldn’t stay, couldn’t figure out what to do as nothing felt safe.

  I set my heels as panic fluttered around the edges of my emotions. I clenched my hands into fists hard enough that pain spiked in my fingers and wrists. I took a shaky breath. “Wait. I just need...”

  “Just breathe,” Deirdre murmured. She drew me forward to a bank of elevators, nodding to the people at the concierge desk and what could have been security guards across the lobby. She bent her head closer to mine as she went on. “We can talk more upstairs. This is all covered, you don’t have to worry about paying for it.”

  “You’ve got to be shitting me,” I said, far louder than I intended because I definitely got politely curious looks from the building’s employees. I lowered my voice as the four of us got into one of the sleek, pristine elevators that arrived silently and whooshed back up just as quietly. I leaned against the wall of the elevator, even though I felt self-conscious about leaving smudges and fingerprints all over the stainless, spotless interior. “This is... What the hell is this? I don’t get it. I really don’t get it. I can’t afford this, and
I sure as hell am not going to sit around while someone else pays for it. That’s not who I am. I pay my own way. I’m not going to... I can’t stay here.”

  Todd kept his attention on the door, his hands shoved in his pockets. “Your old apartment still has a lot of bloodstains in it, and there was a lot of damage to the door and some of the walls. The management wasn’t particularly open to welcoming you back, since they didn’t seem interested in having more police on their property.”

  My blood ran cold when he mentioned the bloodstains. Of course. When that awful man shot Dodge... I swallowed the knot in my throat and pushed away the uncomfortable memories. “Still, though, surely there’s a more affordable...”

  “This is already paid for,” Deirdre said smoothly as the doors whooshed open with a pleasant ding and a soft voice that said “twenty-two.” The witch nudged me forward into a surprisingly short hall with only half a dozen doors in it. She went all the way to the right to a door with an A on it, in the corner, and stepped inside without another word.

  Mercy beamed at me and hustled me forward, Todd following both of us silently, and dragged me into the biggest, fanciest apartment I’d ever seen in real life. It belonged in a movie or a magazine. The walls were a pleasant off-white and covered in neutral, soothing artwork – mostly seascapes and a few with horse herds racing through fields. The enormous great-room that included a living room, foyer, kitchen, and dining room had new furniture that didn’t look in the least familiar, although my old couch sat in the corner and looked sad and shabby in comparison. I stumbled to a halt just inside the door, leaning against the butcherblock countertop on the kitchen island as I tried to take in the magnificence around me.

  And then several men stood up from the beautiful new couches and my heart seized up once again. I froze, close enough to the door that I considered bolting for the elevator.

  No one else moved and the men remained where they were. One was Deirdre’s husband; Evershaw held his hands out and took a single step forward. “Easy, Percy. Just take a deep breath. You’re safe. These are all friends.”

  I didn’t know if I could believe him. Todd remained on my side of the room but didn’t get closer to me, though he gestured for Mercy to remain in the kitchen next to me. Todd nodded at the strangers. “We mentioned in the car that this building is the lions’ territory, right? These are two of the Chase brothers – Edgar, the second-in-command and security chief, and Benedict, a capital A asshole and lawyer.”

  The thinner of the two strangers, though he wasn’t skinny by any means, scowled at Todd. “Look, Evershaw, there’s no call...”

  The burly lion, with darker blonde hair and a few creases near his eyes, elbowed the younger one out of the way so he could ease from around the couch and into the open space in front of me. “I’m Edgar, Miss Lawson. We’re pleased to meet you, and even more pleased that you’re up and about.”

  I blinked and tried to process what was going on. “Uh... thank you?”

  The corner of his mouth twitched. His tone remained gentle despite his brother fuming and muttering about rude mutts and calling the dog-catcher. Edgar took a business card out of a small case he took from the inside pocket of his jacket, and slid it onto the end table next to the couch. “That has all of my contact information, Miss Lawson. Call me any time. I actually live in this building, as does Benedict. My wife and I are in the penthouse, and Benedict is on thirty-five with his wife and... several teenagers.”

  Teenagers? I peered at the younger lion, who definitely didn’t look old enough to have multiple teenagers, then back at Edgar. “You live in this building?”

  “Yes,” Edgar said, nodding. He smiled a little more and took another step in my direction, more confident I wasn’t going to flip out. “Our brother Logan is the lion alpha; he lives outside the city at the larger family residence. We’ll have you out there for dinner when the weather gets nicer, if you’d like. The pool is always refreshing in the summer. Our family – well, the corporation – owns this building. We’d been saving this unit for a cousin who thought they’d move closer, but she decided to stay where she was. When Evershaw called on your behalf, we were only too happy to save the unit for you.”

  “I really can’t accept...” I trailed off as my cheeks heated. Everyone else was looking at me; the weight of their scrutiny almost knocked me over. My legs wobbled and I held on tighter to the island so I didn’t pitch over in a dead faint. “I mean, it’s very generous, but...”

  “Surprisingly, we owed Evershaw a favor.” Edgar slid a dark look in the other man’s direction. Evershaw smirked, but didn’t otherwise share what he was thinking. “It was already furnished, though we made room for the furniture from your previous residence. If you don’t like the furnishings in here, just let me know and we’ll have them removed.”

  It was too much. It was way too much. I shook my head and started to sway; Todd jumped forward to catch me and then everyone moved around to mostly carry me to the couch. Deirdre gave orders and most of the men retreated to the door so it wasn’t quite so overwhelming, then the witch sat next to me.

  Edgar picked up a small box that rested on the console table next to the door, then took several key-chain like fobs out of it to hold up. “These are panic buttons, Miss Lawson. There’s one on the wall in the bedroom and bathroom, and one here by the door, in addition to these mobile passes. Keep one on you and if you hit it, it will alert Benedict and I, as well as our families, that you need assistance. Whoever is closest will be here immediately.”

  Between those and the bracelet from Deirdre, I had help coming out of my ears. Help from everyone but Dodge.

  I nodded and cleared my throat. “Thank you. I appreciate it. I’ll start looking for some place to...”

  “Don’t worry about it,” he said, placing the box back on the table. “And if you’re up to it in a few days, my wife and I would like to invite you for dinner upstairs. Only if you’re up for it. Feel free to stop by any time. Just take the elevator all the way to the top floor, and it’ll open right to our place.”

  I blinked and tried to thank him again for being so courteous, but my eyes took too long to open back up. By the time they did, he and his brother had disappeared. Todd and Evershaw had also retreated, so only Mercy and Deirdre sat near me. Deirdre said something about eating a little bit before taking the next round of medication, then she turned to Mercy and everything else melted away and I lost whatever they said.

  Chapter 46

  Dodge

  Dodge stood across the street in the window of a cafe as he watched Todd drive up and deliver Persephone to her new building. He clenched his fists at his sides, ignoring the quickly-cooling coffee in front of him, and counted the seconds as she hesitated in the street and lingered in the lobby. He sensed her discomfort with the situation even from across the street. The wolf fought to break free and protect her, to comfort her in her distress. He couldn’t stand it.

  Only the dire warnings that Evershaw shouted at him before they left the house convinced Dodge to stay where he was. The alpha had been clear that if Dodge couldn’t keep his shit together for the time it took to get Persephone settled in her new apartment, then Dodge wouldn’t see her again for months, if not years. Even though every part of Dodge insisted that no one would ever get between him and Persephone, he didn’t want to piss off Evershaw too much after the man finally released him from the cellar.

  He would have preferred having Silas next to him during the nerve-wracking wait for Persephone to arrive from the hospital, but Evershaw had been clear that wolves wouldn’t be allowed in that neighborhood, even if they insisted it was a ‘husky’ or ‘wolf hybrid.’ From the way the alpha muttered it, Dodge sensed perhaps he’d tried it before and failed miserably.

  Still, though. A few deep breaths the moment he stepped outside gave Dodge a fresh hint of Persephone’s scent, though it was complicated by hospital smells: pain, bleach, medications, and harsh soap. He wanted her to smell like herself again
. And him. He wanted her to smell like him, like his soap and his sheets and his bed. His skin. Dodge closed his eyes for a moment to try and absorb the pain before it destroyed him completely and sent him into another spiral of madness.

  He still lingered on the sidewalk when Todd, Evershaw, and Edgar Chase appeared and crossed over to stand near him. Chase shook his hand. “Dodge. Your girl is safe and sound inside with Deirdre and Mercy. They’re feeding her and giving her pain meds before Deirdre leaves.”

  Some of the tension eased in his chest, and Dodge nodded to the lion. “Thank you.”

  Edgar checked his watch. “There’s twenty-four hour security in the lobby as well as the garage entrance and the elevators. The concierge team has been informed that Miss Lawson has an aggressive ex-boyfriend who has threatened her, and thus we’ve upgraded the security system and require screening of every guest who enters the building. They’ve also been informed that she’s family and has access to any of the apartments and vehicles the Chases own. We’ll go back in a day or so to update her on all of this; she was pretty overwhelmed so we figured it was time to leave.”

  Dodge’s heart tripped at the other man’s observation that Persephone had been tired and at the end of her rope. He didn’t want to hear that, not when he couldn’t go and help her.

  Evershaw folded his arms over his chest and leveled a dark look at Dodge, as if he sensed his discomfort. “And the O’Sheas have mobile patrols throughout this neighborhood. If anyone is looking for her, they won’t be able to get to her. They won’t even get to the building.”

  It wasn’t good enough. Dodge’s throat went dry at the thought. She wouldn’t be safe until he could make sure of it. “The detective was confident they wouldn’t come after her. That the threat had passed. I don’t believe it.”

  Edgar nodded, his eyes dark with irritation. “Once she got to the bottom of the dirty cop who shot you and kidnapped Miss Lawson for Bridger, yes. O’Brien is confident that Bridger is gone and will not return.”