by Lori Drake
The world started to go gray around the edges… and then the wire went slack as the woman muttered a curse and yanked it away. Joey gasped in a ragged breath and clutched at her burning throat, fingers slippery with blood. The woman that seconds ago had been trying to kill her walked over to the gun and collected it, then ran off into the woods. Joey lay there in the dirt, confused and bleeding, but unable to do anything about it. The world spun on its axis, and darkness closed in.
18
Chris pulled into the parking lot just in time to see figures emerge from the tree line. He whipped into a parking place and slammed the transmission into park. The car was still rocking to a stop when he flung open the door and started running, Ben’s medical bag in hand, his heart beating a rapid staccato against his ribcage. Ahead, Sam and Itsuo had custody of a man in forest camouflage, his hands tied behind his back. Lucy and Jenny accompanied them, still in wolf form, with Adam bringing up the rear, binoculars dangling around his neck.
Frowning, Chris scanned the tree line behind them. “Where is she?”
Lucy separated from the others with a yip and motioned to him with her head before darting back toward the trees.
Chris slung the medkit over his good shoulder and followed her, smacking low-hanging branches out of the way as he crashed through the forest without any care for stealth. What had he been thinking, agreeing to wait with the car and play intermediary? Oh right, he’d been thinking that he’d already disappointed Joey enough for one day and shouldn’t push his luck.
Stupid, stupid.
Catching a glimpse of figures through the trees ahead, Chris pushed himself harder and burst into the small clearing, eyes wide as he took in the scene. Joey and Abby were both on the ground with Ben and Justin kneeling and hovering over Joey. The scent of blood hung heavy in the air.
“What the fuck happened? I thought you caught up to him before he got to them.” Chris dropped to his knees beside Joey, breathing hard. Her eyes were closed, face pale. Ben had his blood-soaked shirt pressed to her neck, while Justin had his own pressed to her thigh.
“We did.” Ben pointed at his bag. “I need saline and gauze. Now.”
Chris’s throat constricted. This was all his fault. He never should’ve let her go forward with this crazy plan.
“Chris! Now, bro!”
Blinking, Chris unzipped the bag and pawed around inside until he found what Ben needed. Then he sat back on his haunches and took Joey’s small hand in his and waited. When Ben lifted his shirt from Joey’s throat and Chris caught a glimpse of what lay beneath, his stomach clenched. How the hell had this happened?
The sight was burned into his brain, but he cast his eyes elsewhere in a futile attempt to banish it, and caught upon Abby’s prone form. “Is Abby…”
“Dead?” Ben said. “Not yet. She took a bullet to the throat. There’s nothing I can do.”
“Shouldn’t we put pressure on it at least?” Chris glanced between Ben and Justin, worried for Abby, if not quite as much as he was for Joey.
“I think the bullet nicked her carotid.” Cool as a cucumber—no doubt thanks to his EMT training—Ben squeezed saline over Joey’s neck, washing away the blood and exposing the angry red flesh beneath. “But it’d already sealed up by the time we got here. She’s not in danger of bleeding out, but I don’t know if she’s completely out of the woods. Once we get Joey under control, I’ll take another look.”
Chris’s vision swam, and he forced his eyes away again, inspecting Joey’s other injuries this time. She had a bloodied furrow on one arm. He peered at it with a frown.
“Probably a graze,” Justin said, as if reading Chris’s mind. He motioned at the leg his shirt was wrapped around. “This one went clean through. Doesn’t seem to have hit anything important.”
“She’s going to be okay,” Ben added. “Her neck looks bad, but not as bad as Gina’s did. No arteries were severed. He didn’t finish the job. Maybe he figured out we’d bagged his partner. I’m going to get a pressure bandage on it and then we can move her.”
Relief flooded Chris, and he lifted Joey’s pale hand to kiss her fingers. “You hear that, baby? You’re gonna be fine.” A tear slipped down his cheek, and he didn’t even care that Ben or Justin might see it. He didn’t have much pride left at this point.
When Ben finished, Chris bent to gather Joey up in his arms.
Ben frowned at him. “Are you sure that’s a good idea, with your—” He stopped mid-objection when Chris glared at him, but yeah… it really wasn’t a good idea. Joey didn’t weigh much, but Chris’s shoulder screamed all the way to the car. It was a small price to pay, as far as he was concerned.
Once he got her settled in the back seat, he motioned for Sam to come over. “I know we were going to take the hunter straight to the lodge, but…”
“Yeah, we need to find his partner, too,” Sam said. “Your place?”
Chris nodded, and they clasped hands briefly.
“I’ll call Cathy, see if she can meet us there,” Sam added before turning to get everyone headed in the right direction.
Cathy. Of course. Her magic had helped speed Joey’s healing along the last time she’d received a silver wound, though because it was a silver wound, there was only so much she could do. Why hadn’t Chris thought to call Cathy? As if he hadn’t failed Joey enough for one day. He shook himself before he got too far down that track.
Get your head in the game, Martin.
They were only on the road for about five minutes before Joey stirred beside him. Chris squeezed her hand and looked at her worriedly. Her eyes blinked open, and she sat there staring at the ceiling for a moment before looking around her. She touched her bandaged throat with her free hand and opened her mouth, but all that came out was a rough croak.
“Shhh, it’s okay. You’re safe.” Chris pressed the back of her hand against his cheek.
Her eyes darted to him and widened in alarm. She tried to speak again, growing more frantic with every passing moment.
Chris reached over and unfastened her seatbelt, then drew her across the bench seat and into his lap. “Relax, before you hurt yourself. Abby’s alive. She’s riding with Ben. Everyone else is fine, and we got the hunter.” He avoided mentioning the guy’s partner, not wanting to stress her out. She’d be angry later, but she’d get over it.
Joey clutched a fistful of his shirt and looked into his eyes with growing desperation. She tried again to speak and managed to croak out something resembling a word. “Partner.”
Well, so much for that idea. Chris nodded. “Yeah, we know. But we got one of them. We’ll get the other one. I promise. Cathy’s going to meet us at the house. Hopefully her magic can speed along your healing again. For now, you need to give that throat of yours a rest, okay?”
She didn’t look happy about it, but she nodded. Chris kissed her forehead and held her in his arms for the rest of the ride. There was a lot he wanted to say, but he didn’t want to say it in front of Adam or Lucy, who sat quietly in the front seat. So he held his tongue and let the contrition, worry, and inadequacies swirl around in his head, taunting him all the way home.
They beat Cathy back to the house, and by the time Joey was settled in his bed, Chris lost his nerve. Telling himself that it was not a good time to unburden himself, he kissed her gently and left her to rest while he went downstairs to make sure their “guest” was properly settled and await Cathy’s arrival.
By the time Cathy’s car pulled up out front, he was sitting on the front steps with his head in his hands. He looked up and lifted a hand in greeting, but didn’t move from the spot. Whatever she saw on his face as she approached sparked obvious concern, and though he knew he ought to jump to his feet and get her upstairs to Joey as swiftly as possible, he couldn’t seem to make himself move.
Cathy sat beside him on the steps and put a hand on his back, rubbing in small circles. “It’s going to be okay, child. Whatever it is… it’s going to be okay.”
She had no
idea just how bad it was. And before he could stop himself… he told her.
“I hear you went and got yourself into trouble again.”
Cathy’s voice prompted Joey to open her eyes. She’d been so out of it, between pain and self-recrimination, that she hadn’t even heard the door open. The words, even playfully spoken, stung. She turned her head away, but the act of doing so caused a fresh wave of agony in her neck.
Cathy walked around to the other side of the bed so Joey couldn’t help but look at her unless she turned her head back the other way. The bed dipped as Cathy sat on the edge of it and laid a soft, wrinkled hand on Joey’s shoulder. Joey opened her mouth, but didn’t dare try to actually speak. She pressed her lips together again as tears gathered in her eyes.
“Chris told me what happened, child. Don’t strain yourself. I’ll do what I can to help.”
Joey nodded, but even that minute movement hurt. Her neck felt like it was on fire, and she’d been suppressing the instinct to rip off her bandage in an effort to cool it ever since she’d awoken. She wondered just how much Chris had told Cathy. Did she know about the challenge? About Joey’s complete and utter failure as an Alpha?
Cathy’s kind eyes flickered over Joey’s face, but she made no move to remove the bandage. Nor did the glow of magic spring to life around her. “Before I start, there’s something you need to hear.”
Joey winced. Yup, Chris had told her everything. She averted her eyes and bit her lip, but remained silent. What choice did she have? She was basically a captive audience. She could hobble out of the room on her own, in theory, but she didn’t intend to.
“Your mother would be ashamed of you, girl.” Cathy’s normally kind voice had an edge to it.
Joey’s eyes darted back to Cathy in shock. It wasn’t that she didn’t see the truth in those words—hell, she’d thought them herself more than once in the last twelve hours or so—but she hadn’t expected Cathy to be so harsh. Cathy, her godmother, had always been nurturing, while Joey’s own mother was more inclined toward tough love. For those censorious words to fall from her godmother’s lips was almost too much for her to bear. Tears escaped the corners of her eyes and dripped down into her ears.
Cathy paused a few seconds while the words sank in, then let Joey off the hook. Sort of. “Not because you lost an Alpha challenge. Not because you’re letting your brother push you aside. Not even because you used yourself as bait in a completely reckless manner, but because of what you’re doing to that boy you claim to love by not talking about what happened this morning.”
Joey blinked again, rapidly. Instinct parted her lips, but even if she’d been capable of speaking, she didn’t know what she’d say.
“Zzt.” Cathy touched her thumb to her fingers in the universal gesture for closed lips. “Listen, remember? Now. I’m going to do the best I can to put Humpty Dumpty back together again, and then you and Christopher are going to talk about what’s happened. It’s eating him up inside. I don’t know where your head’s at—besides up your ass—but you need to tell him how you feel. If you’re angry with him, be angry. If you’re disappointed, be disappointed. But, for Pete’s sake, don’t leave him wondering. Are we clear?”
There weren’t many people who could get away with talking to Joey like that without pissing her off, but Cathy was one of them. She’d earned that right over the years, through love and friendship, and more recently through saving Joey’s bacon more times than she cared to think about. Did Chris really think she was angry with him? Disappointed in him? He’d put everything into that fight. It wasn’t his fault that it hadn’t been enough. It was hers, for putting him in that position to start with. But knowing Chris… of course he blamed himself. She was just so wrapped up in her own self-flagellation that she hadn’t given it a moment’s consideration.
Joey gave Cathy the barest of nods, doing her best to put her willingness to comply in her eyes.
Her godmother smiled and squeezed her shoulder. “Good girl. Now let’s see what I can do for you.”
The telltale glow of magic sprang into existence around Cathy as she leaned over to peel back the bandage on Joey’s neck. It hurt, and a whimper escaped Joey as the tape tugged at her skin. Ben had been careful not to put tape on the wound itself, but the way it pulled at her skin as Cathy removed it still tugged at the wound.
“Oh dear,” Cathy murmured as she saw the extent of the damage. Joey hadn’t seen it herself, so she could only imagine based on how awful it felt. After a moment, Cathy smiled gently and patted her shoulder again. “Well, I suppose it could be worse.”
The bandage was set aside, and Cathy looked around the room before rising and walking over to the closet. She rooted around in there a bit, and when she turned, she had one of Chris’s belts in hand. Joey widened her eyes, unsure what it was for until Cathy folded it in half and held it in front of Joey’s face.
“Open up, child. This is going to hurt, and I don’t want you doing more damage trying to scream.”
Joey got the idea. She let Cathy put the leather between her teeth and bit down, holding it securely while Cathy settled on the edge of the bed again. Her godmother put a hand at the base of Joey’s neck. Warmth flooded her body as Cathy poured magic into it. She felt the holes in her leg close first, which was uncomfortable. But the ache there vanished as the wounds healed, which was a welcome respite. The wound in her arm was next, taken care of just as swiftly, and Joey soon felt her focus shift to her abdomen. Her eyes flickered over Cathy’s face, taking in the look of focused concentration and the distant look in her eyes.
Joey felt a strange twinge in her stomach, as if something deep beneath the surface was mended. The ache there too faded, and Joey was sure if she’d lifted her shirt up the bruising from the savage kick she’d received would be gone. It was amazing how swiftly Cathy could erase mundane injuries, but Joey knew from unfortunate experience that the silver wound would be trickier. She braced herself for what was to come, but even so was taken by surprise by it.
The burning in her neck intensified, and Joey bit down harder on the belt as the agony threatened to overwhelm her. Not wanting to associate her godmother’s face with such misery, she shifted her eyes to the ceiling while Cathy did her work. The world went strangely muted and her ears tingled. It took a moment for her to realize that they were full of the salty tears leaking from the corners of her eyes. She shook her head in an effort to clear them, but the motion only caused the agony in her neck to spike.
Cathy’s hands clamped down on her head, holding it still. “Stop! Be still, child!”
Joey did her best to comply while Cathy went back to work, but worried she might bite right through Chris’s belt. She clutched at the comforter beneath her, nails shredding the soft fabric. Just when she felt like she couldn’t take anymore, the burning misery faded to a more manageable level. The magical glow around Cathy winked out, and Joey shivered as the sudden loss of the warm energy that had been swirling around in her body left her feeling chilled.
“Good girl. All done,” Cathy said, taking the belt once Joey’s jaw relaxed.
Joey clung to consciousness long enough to offer an only slightly hoarse “thank you” before letting her eyes roll back in her head and embracing the darkness once more.
It was pitch dark in the room when Joey opened her eyes again. She stretched experimentally, and a hand moved to her throat. The flesh was tender, and Joey winced as what felt like raw nerves lit up under her fingertips. The pain wasn’t too bad, though. As long as she wasn’t touching it. She put her hand back down and pushed herself up into a sitting position. Her muscles were stiff, but she felt fine otherwise. Cathy’s healing was a marvel. She hoped her godmother had had enough juice left in her to tend to Chris before she left.
And Abby… Shit, did she make it?
The last time Joey saw her mother’s old friend, she’d had a bullet hole in her neck. The memory and accompanying concern were enough to get Joey to swing her legs over the edge of the
bed and lean over to turn on the bedside lamp. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she found Chris sitting beside the bed in the chair that was usually on the other side of the room, sandwiched between the dresser and a wall to make a cramped but well-used reading corner.
He was asleep, his head drooping forward, chin almost resting on his chest. She wondered why he hadn’t stretched out beside her to wait, but if she were honest with herself, she knew why. He must think she hated him. She hated herself—a little more—for letting that happen. He looked so peaceful in slumber, she was loath to wake him. But there was too much to be done to rest now, and she owed him some honesty.
Joey slid off the edge and landed lightly on the bare wood floor. She leaned over and cupped Chris’s stubbly cheek, thumb stroking.
His head lifted abruptly, eyes snapping open. “Oh hey, you’re awake.”
Joey dipped her head in a tiny nod and smiled thinly as she sat on the edge of the bed. “I am.” Her voice sounded almost normal.
“How do you feel?” Chris asked, leaning forward in his chair. Tension had been creeping back into his face from the moment he woke, etching fine lines in his forehead and at the corners of his eyes as he peered at her neck.
“Much better. Cathy’s healing is, well, magical.”
“There’s still some redness, but the wound is closed. Wow.”
“What happened to Abby? Did she make it?”
Chris nodded. “She lost a lot of blood, but Ben says she’s gonna be okay.”
Some of the tension in Joey’s shoulders unknotted and she breathed a relieved sigh. “Thank goodness. I don’t know how I would’ve explained that to her girls. As it is, we’re going to have to get in touch with them and tell them she’s here. Assuming she still is?”
“Yeah. She’s resting in Jenny’s room. I’m given to understand she has a few choice words for you when you’re feeling up to it.”