by Ellie Pond
With a sigh, she realized that was the same thing Tad had done by going to the captain.
She ran her hands over his good shoulder, unable to keep from touching him. Glad that he was okay. He reached for her. His hand closed around her wrist. He tugged her closer. Elizabeth smoothed his hair back from his bruised forehead. His arm encircled her waist, and he tried to pull her onto the bed with him. She stayed on the ground and rolled her eyes at him.
“If you were one of my students, I would assign you an extra paper for rolling your eyes at me.”
“Good thing I’m not one of your students, then.”
Tad pushed himself up onto his elbows and grimaced in pain.
“Lie back down—you’ll hurt yourself more.”
“I’m fine,” Tad spat out.
“Lie back down.” She put a hand on his shoulder.
Tad flopped down, unable to hold his own weight. “We started in the middle, didn’t we?”
“Typical shifter. Why start at the beginning when you can go to the end first and work your way backwards? Your family is out there. They were asking to come in as soon as you got here.”
“They’ll wait. I want to talk to you. Come a little closer.”
Elizabeth complied. He tried to pull her on top of him. But his muscles didn’t respond.
“You need to rest. I want to talk to you too, but I have another patient to examine. One who lost a fight.”
“He did, didn’t he?”
“Don’t get too full of yourself, Theodore Larsen.”
“Two names, shit. Yes, sir.” His smile was a bit loopy.
Elizabeth left Tad in the infirmary hallway as she leaned against the wall and exhaled.
A quick check of Landon delayed her facing the Larsen clan in the waiting room.
She pasted on her warm, caring face. She’d met all of them on the first day of the cruise, but she didn’t know they would be her future in-laws at that point. Would they blame her for Tad’s fight?
Elizabeth peered into the waiting room without stepping inside. Aurora and Duncan sat in the corner. Gunnar stood in front of them, bouncing. What she didn’t expect to find was Violet sitting next to Aurora holding her hand. A green Violet. Not as green as the Broadway witch from Wicked, but close. Violet was obviously sick. She didn’t fear Violet like a lot of the crew did. But after this week, she wasn’t fond of her coming near Tad. Or sitting with Aurora. Not when the group of them didn’t understand what was going on with Tad. And she would not be the one to tell them. But there was no way in hell she was letting Violet back there.
With a deep breath, she waved as she entered and crossed the small waiting room. “Hey guys.” Hey guys?
Aurora rushed to her. “How is he? We had no idea he was on the roster.”
Gunnar glanced at Duncan with guilt. Obviously, Gunnar was aware of the match. She’d left the two of them alone with Oliver. She was going to have it out with him.
“Is he okay?” Gunnar asked.
Violet nodded at Elizabeth.
“He’s banged up, but he should be fine soon. He’s healing quickly. A bunch of stitches, some broken ribs—the usual for a match.”
They stared at her. And she didn’t have the foggiest idea why.
“Are you okay?” Aurora asked.
“Me? Sure. Yeah.” She sank into a plastic chair.
“It’s okay to not be okay.” Gunnar flashed his blue eyes at her, looking too much like Tad’s twin rather than his cousin.
“I’m—I’m mad. Furious, actually.”
“That’s okay too.” Duncan pushed his hat back. He sat in the chair next to her.
“Have you told him?” Aurora asked.
“Yes?” She’d told him she was frustrated. She’d even yelled at him before he shifted back from fur. But no, no, they’d only scratched the surface.
“No, like, really told him. Yelled at him and pulled on his ear and made him listen,” Gunnar said.
“Pulled on his ear?” Elizabeth questioned.
“It’s something his mother used to do when they didn’t listen. They were so much taller than her, and tall at a super-young age, so she’d tweak their ears,” Aurora said.
Duncan took off his hat. “See, this earlobe is a little longer than this one. It’s the one she could reach in the car.” Elizabeth couldn’t see a difference.
“I keep telling you it isn’t.” Aurora shook her head. “But Larsen men are stubborn. You’ll need to make yourself heard.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Do you want to see him?”
“If it’s okay with you? You want to go yell at him first?” Gunnar asked. How were they not twins?
“Thanks. I’ll wait until he’s healthy.”
“You are missing a golden opportunity, Doc. He can’t get away right now,” Gunnar said.
“I’ll keep that in mind. He’s in exam room two, to your left through the door.”
“Let me show you the way.” Duncan stood with a flourish. He marched Aurora and Gunnar to the back room.
Violet hadn’t said a thing during the whole conversation with Tad’s family.
“Why are you here, Violet?”
“I wanted to make sure he was okay. It got back to me that he was in a match.”
“He’s fine. But you’re not.”
“I have a certain pallor around me, don’t I?”
“What is going on? Can I help you with anything?”
“There’s nothing medically you can do for me. My blood is curdling. I can save myself or the captain. And I know this is a lot to ask, but I hoped that Tad would talk to the captain for me. Explain how he saw the vision and how it fed back into Sam and me. I’m not asking for me. But Sam. There aren’t any documented cases of a blood oath’s punishment passing on to an apprentice. But it is. Sam is failing too. As my bonded apprentice, the blood oath is taking her as an extension of me. It’s not a spell that is done often and for good reason.” She motioned to herself. Not only was her skin a visible green, but she was twenty pounds thinner at least. The oath was eating away at her.
She felt for the witch, but Elizabeth didn’t want the captain anywhere near Tad. “Tad needs to focus on healing. When he’s awake, I’ll tell him.” She would tell him, and she felt sorry for Violet, but also angry. Violet could have taken Tad’s hand and guided him through all of this. The way Elizabeth saw it, the witch had used him. And Elizabeth’s protective nature wanted to kick back at the witch.
“I understand perfectly. I’ll return.” Her silk robe hung limply on her as she left the infirmary waiting room.
30
Coxcomb
Through hooded eyes, Tad watched Duncan take Aurora’s hand. If he pretended to sleep more, they might get bored and leave.
“You’re not asleep anymore, dumb shit.” Duncan smacked his leg, and a lightning bolt of pain surged up his leg to his spine.
“Duncan!” Aurora held both of his hands now. Tad glared at them.
“See? I told you he was awake.”
“You smashed his foot. Of course he’s awake.” Aurora moved next to the bed.
“He was awake before that.” Gunnar towered over the other side of his bed.
“Still, don’t hurt him more. Give him some space.”
“I’m so glad you weren’t hovering over Duncan’s bed after his fight.” The plastic chair groaned as Gunnar sat down.
“I’m glad too. That would have made it even worse.” Duncan pulled Aurora onto his lap.
Tad would have smirked if it hadn’t hurt too much to move the muscles around his mouth. He glanced at the shit-eating grin on his cousin’s face.
“How are you doing?” It hurt to talk.
“You’re the one lying in bed—shouldn’t I be asking you?”
“Not what I meant, dip shit.” Tad tried to move as little as possible.
“For a man with a doctorate, you could come up with a better insult.”
“Okay, not what I meant, you Danish beetle-headed co
xcomb.”
“A Shakespearian insult? That’s more like it. He’ll be fine. We’re good.” Gunnar pretended to get up and leave. The chair groaned again as he sat down. His cousin wasn’t the buffoon he pretended to be if he got the Shakespeare reference.
“We’re great. And he’s healthy to boot.” Aurora gave Duncan a kiss on his cheek, and his youngest cousin blushed. Blushed.
“What in the world were you trying to prove?” Gunnar moved the blanket and sat on the edge of the bed, and it dipped low with his weight. Tad moaned. He might have told Elizabeth that he was fine, but she hadn’t believed him. Even when he tried to pull her onto the bed with him.
“Gunnar, get up.” Aurora tugged at him to get off the infirmary bed. Gunnar didn’t budge.
“Are you okay, cuz?”
“I’ll heal.”
“Indeed. But are you okay?” The somber tone from Gunnar gave him pause. Tad glanced at Duncan. Duncan picked up the water pitcher next to the bed.
“Aurora, let’s get Tad some ice water.” Duncan wrapped his other arm around Aurora.
“That would be great. Thanks, Dunc.” Tad’s blue eyes watered. He wasn’t crying watching his cousin and his mate leave the room. There must be some sand in the air.
Aurora squeezed Tad’s hand and left the room with her mate. Gunnar and Tad watched them leave. Gunnar shifted on the side of the bed. Tad groaned again.
“You want me to move?” Gunnar didn’t move.
“Yes. Your idea worked. As odd as it sounded, it worked.” He said that? Tad shook his head and moaned at the pain that radiated down his spine as he did it.
“Which part?”
“Having my wolf out. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m aligned with it. But I had a moment out there. Where I was . . .”
“Was it when you bit his underbelly and the two of you rolled?” Gunnar slid off the bed.
“Nope.”
“When you ripped a hole in his shoulder?”
“No.”
“When he tore open your leg?”
“No.”
“I don’t get it. Then when?”
“When I scented Elizabeth. And I—we needed the match over so we could be with her.”
Gunnar nodded. He saw himself in Gunnar. The same blue eyes. As much as he hated to admit it, they even moved the same way.
“Makes sense, I guess. Not sure I’ll ever understand it. A mate is such a foreign concept to me. But I wouldn’t fight it.”
Tad laughed and held his side as the pain exploded everywhere.
“Are you going to heal? Or are you too old?”
“Stop right there. I’m not old.” He felt old. Everything hurt.
“Almost forty-one. Are you going to tell me why you kicked Aurora and Duncan out?”
“I wanted to tell you first. Lauren, Michele, and Aurora aren’t the only witches.”
“Right, the ship has seers.” Gunnar’s hands were on his hips. He blinked. “I’m just kidding with you.” He sat back on the bed. “I can tell something wonky’s going on with you.”
“Indeed.”
“Guessed it a long time ago. Aunt Lara—she’s good at hiding, but I’ve always known. Duncan does too. Your mom’s important to me. She’s the best. Just because she’s a witch, it doesn’t mean I don’t love her. It’s never stopped me from thinking she’s part of the pack. Duncan and I talked earlier. We wanted you to know a long time ago. But it’s like you didn’t realize that part of yourself, even.”
Tad stared at his cousin. “My mother placed a binding spell on my siblings and me. And a spell that kept us from talking about it too, I guess. You can pick out witches?” Shock bubbled up. The average wolf couldn’t pick out witches.
Gunnar nodded. “Duncan and I both can. Spencer’s got no clue. We’ve known about Aurora for a long time. You too. We were trying to do what was best for all of you. And your mom. Spencer knowing about your mom would have been—probably still is—a bad thing. But no putting the genie back in the bottle now.” Gunnar snorted.
Tad nodded. “And here I thought I would be telling you the pack secret.”
“Sorry to burst your bubble,” Gunnar laughed. “How are you dealing with it?”
“Being a witch? I’m not. Violet, the seer . . .”
“Met her out in the waiting room.”
“She’s out in the waiting room?”
“Yeah, she looks like death. I think she wants to talk to you about something. I’m not sure that the doc is planning on letting her back in here, though. Elizabeth got her panties in a twist when she saw Violet sitting with us in the waiting room.”
If he could have moved his arm, he’d have smacked his cousin for talking about his mate’s underwear. Then a wave of pride rolled over him at his mate defending him. “Violet’s bound my powers again. But the binding isn’t as good as my mom’s, leaving me able to at least be conscious of my predicament.”
“Is that better, cuz?”
“Always. For me, always.” He heard Duncan and Aurora outside his room. Gunnar opened the door for them.
“Hey.” Aurora poured him a glass of water from the refilled pitcher. “Are you hungry? I might be able to convince the nurse out there to get you some food.”
“Yeah, I don’t think I’m Nurse Anna’s favorite patient right now.” He took a big breath. Was it getting easier to breathe?
“We can go get something for you.”
“I’ll be fine.”
His cousin’s mate was tucked under Duncan’s arm as they stood as one. “Are you really okay?” Aurora’s auburn hair bunched up on Duncan’s chest. He pulled her so she leaned against him.
The little sister he never had stared at him with her brown eyes.
“I will be, princess. I’m a little more drained than normal.”
“But—” She cut off her own words.
“I’ll be fine. Nothing a good nap can’t fix.”
“That’s his way of saying get out. Bye, cuz. Let me know if you need anything. I’ll send Gunnar,” Duncan said.
“Let me know if you need anything—we’ll all be here.” Aurora gave him a quick hug. A flash of purple surrounded her. He blinked, and it disappeared.
Duncan’s laugh echoed in the room as he tugged his mate into the hall. He turned around and saluted him as he left. Tad had always hated it when he did that. Like he was calling him out for being something different. Now—now it meant more to him. Like Duncan understood him.
31
Pocket Lint and Other Things
Elizabeth made her rounds, and when she came out of exam room three, Anna caught her in the hall.
“Elizabeth.”
“Anna.” Elizabeth pursed her lips.
They spoke at the same time, their words colliding, the way best friends’ words do at times.
“Go ahead,” Anna said.
She shook her head. “You first.”
“Men like Tad don't drop out of the sky. There won't be another one. That is your destiny.” Anna pointed to Tad’s exam room with a growl under her breath.
Elizabeth stood straight with her hands thrust in her lab coat pockets. She couldn’t make eye contact with her best friend, not when she made so much sense.
“Hear me out. Forget the whole thinking with your heart. Be you. Think about it logically. Where will you ever find another man as perfectly matched to you as Tad? His intellect matches yours. Hell, he would say the word ‘intellect.’ He’s a damn good listener to put up with all that crap you worked out the other day, and he is not bad to look at.”
“You spent the last twenty minutes yelling at him for bleeding all over the floor,” Elizabeth stated.
“Yes, well, he’s not perfect, but neither are you.” Anna’s eyebrows rose.
Elizabeth watched as Anna’s eyes softened.
“And watching your mate bleed out all over the floor . . . I couldn’t bear for you to lose him. I believed that he was in danger. He wasn’t shifting back and . . . I apologi
ze for my behavior. I acted unprofessionally.” Anna’s back straightened.
“Stop it, Anna. Your yelling at him kept me focused on his wounds. I should have had Katie and Mike in there instead of you and me. But I knew I wouldn’t be able to focus on working on the shifter who tore Tad up not knowing how Tad was doing. We both weren’t at our best. But mostly me. Don’t apologize—you did nothing wrong, and that’s what I was trying to say. Thank you for keeping me focused.”
Aurora and Duncan tumbled out of Tad’s room with an empty water pitcher. Anna took it and filled it.
“He can’t eat yet,” Anna snapped at them. Apparently she wasn’t completely over being mad at him.
Aurora thrust herself at Elizabeth in a full hug. “I’m so happy he has you now.” Elizabeth wasn’t a hugger, but she did her best. Aurora pulled back. “He has you now, right?”
She shook her head in a round motion that wasn’t yes or no. Anna laughed. Elizabeth patted Aurora on the back but didn’t answer.
“You’re going to work this out, right?” Aurora asked point blank.
“We’ll work it out,” Elizabeth stated. Because they would. They would work it out and either be together or not. Her statement appeased Aurora, who glanced at Duncan behind her. He seemed to understand that it might not be the ending that Aurora was hoping for.
Duncan kept the conversation going for a few minutes before Anna excused herself. Mike called Elizabeth away to a new patient.
They were gone when she finished. She poked her head into Tad’s room. He was asleep, the best thing for him. She watched him sleep from the doorway. Katie snuck up behind her.
“Why don’t you go get something to eat? Take a walk.” Katie nudged her with her elbow.
Katie had night duty tonight. Elizabeth didn’t want to impose. “I—”
Katie cut her off. “I’m on tonight, but do you want to swap with me? You’ll be here anyway.”